chawke

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Decent action scenes and interesting story with its clearly divided chapters that each served their own purpose. I liked the dark atmosphere of the Gorge lit with streaks of vivid color. But, a few things: (1) Levi's adventure from the dropoff point to the West Tower felt extremely rushed and cut up as they squeezed all of that into like 20 seconds; I get they were probably trying to shorten the film but it was very noticeable. (2) The dynamic between the leads was too cliche and sentimental. (3) Most of the Gorge tree human hybrids belong better on the set of Power Rangers; too PG and costume-like. P.S. I got the brief nods to Anya's chess mini series (The Queen's Gambit) and Miles' drum film (Whiplash), which I've also seen. Those productions were also better in most ways, although I did mostly enjoy this ride.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Boring as sin. Definitely overrated. Nodded off and was half asleep for some of it, although I tried my best. The main issue was that not much happened during the film. The climax is literally Dylan performing music that the audience dislikes. That's supposed to be the most exciting part of the film. Second, Timothée Chalamet's acting. While I liked him in the Dune series, I'm seeing what people mean when they say he's not a good actor. At least, in some roles or films. Edward Norton did a good job though. Dylan's music was at times performed well in this film, but otherwise it mainly formed a good backdrop for a nap.

The introduction already had me intrigued as I hadn't realized before going to see the film that it would be shot from the point of view ****. From there on, for most of the film I was thinking, this is just okay, but where is it going? I was even drumming my fingers at a few points waiting for it to pick up. But it eventually came around. The climax and shocking end of the film dramatically assembled puzzle pieces I hadn't realized were there. Things that were said or done earlier suddenly made sense. I saw the whole film in a new light. I was thinking, wow, the filmmakers truly did an amazing job here. Afterwards, I immediately recommended the film to my girlfriend and family, and my thoughts kept coming back to the film. The last two films that sat rent-free in my head to this extent were Parasite and Everything Everywhere All At Once. After reading other reviews, I'm honestly surprised how many people missed the twist at the end. The answer to perhaps the biggest question in the film literally stares right back. It's crucial that the twist is understood for a review to be valid as it substantiates the entire film. Events from earlier including Lisa's dialogue when she first visits suddenly has new meaning. To those who didn't get the twist initially but reviewed fairly after understanding, thank you. Negative reviews due to somehow completely missing the twist (which seems hard to do unless fully inattentive or blind; perhaps not "present" - sorry for the pun) and not coming to understand it later, or walking out early, could be considered invalid. Likewise but to a lesser extent with the revealing dialogue from the antagonist directly preceding the end. As for the discrepancy between the trailer and film, addressing complaints the marketing was misrepresentative: I enjoyed both the trailer and the film. The trailer marketed the film as having more of a traditional horror plot with some interesting camerawork, whereas once someone starts watching the actual film they soon discover it is not this at all. Yet it still holds its own with an interesting premise and a twist that substantiates the entire film. In fact had the trailer marketed it as more of a family drama film, I would've been very unlikely to watch it, since I usually go for straight-up horror films. Nonetheless this turned out to be an exception to that and a delightful surprise. It's possible to like both a trailer and the actual film even if they seem to portray different things. Not mutually exclusive. You just need a somewhat open mind and be capable of more than an extremely narrow range of interests.