Patricia Denis

I haven’t read the books so the change in period setting doesn’t bother me. Enjoyed this lavish, sensual, violent and character driven series.

Do you like black and films of men drunkenly rambling incoherantly, interspersed with ocean views, a man doing lighthouse duty, mythic allegories, a fog horn soundtrack and toxic masculinity manifested? This is the film for you. Not for me.

I hadn’t planned to watch it but my partner was watching it and found myself drawn in by the engaging characters. Eastwood’s Walt is a grumpy, racist, macho dude yet that gruff, tough, hard exterior hides a fragile, sensitive heart with a moral core. It’s lovely to watch him soften with the friendship of his neighbours. So there’s something for everyone in this movie. The titular car has the last say and it’s beautiful.

Contains spoilers but I’m saving you 2.5 hours of your life you won’t get back. Valerian is a charmless character and thinks himself imposing physically on his underling so that she can’t move is not only appropriate but endearing. For some reason this stunning woman whose every line is 100% sass doesn’t slap him, because when she says no she really means yes. That might cut it in France but it doesn’t apply in many others places! I ended up fast forwarding through their scenes their relationship was so utterly unconvincing. Weak plot, unsympathetic and one dimensional leads, clichéd military bad guy commits genocide and it’s quite obvious after seeing his first on screen interaction with said (beautiful, gentle, wise cliché) alien species, but leads save day and boy gets girl for unknown reasons. It’s very pretty but like another reviewer said, just use it as a screen saver. It’s The Fifth Element mashed with Avatar. If you like action, and lush visuals knock yourself out. It you like a little more plot, ethical dilemmas and less black and white like the real world, look elsewhere.

Safe/predictable storyline. The landscape is well animated but why are the dinosaurs, particularly so structurally clunky? I’d expect a film like this from Dreamworks not Pixar.

This makes The Phantom Menace seem like briskly paced, wholly well acted, cleverly scripted, sharply edited film, with just the right amount of CGI! 🤣 While necessary plot points are covered to act as a bridge between movies, that is the only function of this movie. Everything about it is excessive if not convoluted. Overly long action sequences etc. at over two hours it would have benefited greatly from some judicious editing. Also Annakin is a creep and an unsympathetic character. The relationship between him and Padme is implausible and unconvincing. The dialogue is cringeworthy. It isn’t surprising that that Hayden Christensen got no further work after this. He can’t act. The only good thing in this whole film is Yoda. I have spoken.

Predictable, inoffensive eye candy. Without Jackman’s screen presence I doubt it would be worth watching. It is a classic revenge story. The outcome is foretold in the first act. I wouldn’t watch it again but it was entertaining nonetheless.