Barthalen
Recent Ratings
Check out Barthalen's...
| 79 77% | Aniara (2019) - Rated 06 Sep 2024
"A gripping and at times haunting slow burner of people dealing with being stuck in a location with no hope for the future, with dwindling resources and the laws of entropy leading to an inevitable conclusion that is more of a whimper than a bang, and I felt this was all the more powerful for it. Luckily a story like this is just escapism. It's not like it resem- woops, sorry, got distracted by a crowd of rude people with screaming babies, littering and complaining about minor inconveniences."
|
| 75 68% | Alien: Romulus (2024) - Rated 21 Aug 2024
"Exists in this state between being enjoyably-recognisably Alien and annoyingly-recognisably Alien. Many elements lifted from the previous instalments are combined here, mostly leading to some cool set-pieces and genuinely tense moments, but also a few 'don't think about it too much' situations. I do love how space feels oppressive and dangerous, and the many goopy physical effects pleased my inner (equally goopy) self. The sped-up lifecycles of the aliens remains my biggest pet peeve."
|
| 34 16% | Secret Invasion (2023) - Rated 13 Aug 2024
"Truly a low point. It wastes every character and story beat. Having a group of shapeshifters manipulating the world sounds like a great recipe for paranoia and great twists, but we end up with a toothless Fury stumbling around achieving nothing and shapeshifters who only shift shapes when the budget allows. That final battle is the culmination of bad decisions meeting lack of creativity. Embarrassing."
|
| 79 77% | Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024) - Rated 13 Aug 2024
"When this was announced I felt nothing; another prequel? Would this really add anything worthwhile? But while watching I quickly realised that yes, I truly enjoyed being back in this harsh and bonkers world and seeing its colourful characters make it through however they can. Hemsworth's character seems like half a joke until his great final monologue. A shame the CGI was more noticeable here, taking away from the great physical stunts. It's no Fury Road, but still a worthy companion piece."
|
| 74 66% | Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) - Rated 09 Aug 2024
"Two hours of me being DiCaprio on a couch pointing at the screen. The story here was the flimsiest excuse to make cameos and/or violence happen, but I was too giddy to care. Yes, I am the exact manchild target audience for this. The fact that D&W is so dependent on being familiar with previous superhero fare is both its weakness and strength; did this make any sense to people who had not seen the Loki series? But I got to see Age of Apocalypse Wolvie for 20 seconds, and life was good."
|
| 80 81% | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023) - Rated 06 Aug 2024
"What a fun, colourful, energetic and surprisingly wholesome reimagining of the Turtle concept! They really are teenage this time around, with distinct personalities and mannerisms that I would've absolutely loved as a kid / pre-growth-serum clone. I can see the animation style turning people off, but I thoroughly enjoyed the 'rough crayons come to life' vibe of this."
|
| 50 27% | Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024) - Rated 05 Aug 2024
"This movie proves Bill Murray is a good actor because he almost made me believe he was happy to be on set that week. Dragging the baggage of the last movie along unfortunately prevented this from feeling like an actual Ghostbusters thingee. I'd have loved to just focus on Ray assembling a team of esoteric knowledge geeks/experts, with Kumail along as the comedic odd man out. The threat develops too late into the story and once it arrives it's just a wet (cold?) fart. What could have been..."
|
| 60 38% | Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) - Rated 05 Aug 2024
"If this was your first Ghostbusters film, nothing about it will make any kind of lasting impact. So this being a kid-protagonist focused movie just did not work for me, even though it makes sense for the story. But it's all just so lifeless yet safe, and uninspired in its ticking-off-nostalgia-boxes process. Those tiny Stay Pufts are the perfect representation of desperate franchise callbacks mixed with marketing research for toy production. Busting makes me feel... kinda sad now."
|
| 68 48% | Immaculate (2024) - Rated 30 Jul 2024
"The great locations and cinematography do a lot of the heavy lifting here. Plot-wise there is nothing to be surprised by, though I enjoyed the setting and the general atmosphere. The climax was rather goofy (alt tagline; Her Water Breaks, But She Will Break Her Captors First) but the very end was haunting stuff. Not sure if I should be worried by the fact that my neighbours did not call the police after all the female screaming sounds coming from my living room."
|
| 70 55% | Boss Level (2021) - Rated 29 Jul 2024
"I was kind of pleasantly surprised by this one. Looks like one of those 'dumb action drivel meant for divorced dads' type of movies, but this mix between Edge of Tomorrow and, err, Gamer (My references are old just like me) with an above-average cast delivered an easy to digest product with plenty of shooty shoot action and some fun with the premise. Feels like a movie version of a big cheeseburger, though that might not go well with my previous 'easy to digest' statement."
|
