Sunday, October 21, 2018

I managed to watch some movies again.

Over the last few weeks, me and my friend have managed to watch some movies together again. We managed to watch some of the recently released films that we were hoping would turn out to be worth our time and worth watching.

After all, we didn't really have that high expectations for most of these movies. We were just hoping that some of these films would keep us entertained and that they would not be completely awful and horrible as movies.

In any case, below are my short reviews and opinions on the three films that we watched. We managed to see 'Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom', an action/sci-fi 'B'-movie called 'Upgrade' and 'Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation'.

So the first film that we managed to watch is 'Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom'. This is a movie that we decided to watch, even though we didn't have our hopes up - since we had already seen the first one (Jurassic World).

After all, 'Jurassic World' (2015), in all honesty, was a horribly weak and unnecessary remake itself. It had none of the good qualities that had made the original 'Jurassic Park' (1993) watchable and a well made movie.

Not surprisingly, even though we had tiny hopes that this new movie would be even remotely watchable or entertaining, it wasn't that. This sequel did not offer anything that would have made it better than the first remake.

On the contrary, 'Fallen Kingdom's' story was so awful that every aspect of the story reeked of desperation and the writers running out of ideas. There was nothing original or plausible in the story that was completely ridiculous.

Especially when it came to the 'plot' of the film (stealing & black market selling the dinos), I was only able to shake my head and wonder how idiotic the writers and the producers were. The movie really made no sense at all.


The second movie that we watched is 'Upgrade', a sci-fi movie about a paralyzed man who gets his life back when a microchip is inserted to his body. This microchip contains a program (and a 'master') that allows the protagonist to use his limbs again. 

When it comes to this movie, I have to say that 'Upgrade' wasn't actually a bad film per se. There are certainly positive aspects of the film that make it fairly interesting and watchable (my friend liked it a bit more than I did). 

For example, there's no question that the film has an interesting premise. The movie is well acted, its action scenes are pretty well made - considering the movie's low budget - and parts of the film even managed to be humorous. 

At the same time, 'Upgrade' suffers from a screenplay that isn't that well thought out. Especially when it comes to the movie's third act and finale, the story gets entirely too convoluted and doesn't have a clear point of view.

By that I mean that once the 'artificial intelligence' takes control of the protagonist, that stuff pretty much comes out of nowhere. The stuff doesn't fit in with the rest of the movie and I felt like I was watching an episode of 'The Outer Limits' instead.

Still, that doesn't mean that for those who like action films, this is a no-go movie. Even though the screenplay for the film isn't 'A'-grade and the movie is probably too violent, 'Upgrade' is still a film that you likely should watch at some point.

The third and final movie that we watched is the animated film 'Hotel Transylvania 3'. The series is about a Vampire family (father, daughter and her human husband) that keeps a hotel in Transylvania for its numerous guests.

The reason that we watched the film is because we had enjoyed the first two instalment of the series. The first two movies were pretty well made and you couldn't help but to like the characters and the uplifting tone that they had.

When it comes to the third 'Hotel Transylvania', it has to be said that the story in the third one is not as good as in the previous two instalments. The premise of the 'whole gang going on a holiday on a love boat' isn't that strong.

At the same time, just because the story is a bit laggy, that doesn't mean that I wasn't able to enjoy the film as a whole. I'm not saying that the weak parts (weak catalyst etc.) were able to outweigh the good parts in it.

On the contrary, especially when it comes to the dance scenes in the third act and the film's 'love' angle in the latter half of the second act, those parts made the movie. They were well executed and made me feel pretty happy.

In that sense, even though 'Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation' could have been a better film, it's still a solid movie. It's a solid movie that you should watch, even though its screenplay could have been more plausible and better written.

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