Michael Provenzano

I enjoyed Alan Wake 1. Control was incredible. For a game that exists in the same universe as the others, this game feels completely different. It’s repetitive, drawn out, and boring. The combat is weirdly unbalanced at times. The mind place is an exhausting chore that, at times is great and makes you feel like a detective, but also often insults your intelligence as the player and provides a tedious barrier to progressing the plot. If you liked the other games, great, but that doesn’t mean you will like this one.

I'm writing this review as I'm watching the finale of this movie - waiting for it's painfully drawn out, half-baked M. Night Shyamalan twist to get off it's pretentious soapbox. The end of this movie should have been where the movie started as its by far the most interesting part of this 1 dimensional plot featuring a 2 hour cinematography showcase. This is essentially a sci-fi drama where characters experience adversity that they somehow effortlessly overcome. If that's something you're into, dive right in.

The Midnight Club has some moving moments, great performances, and a wonderfully spooky mood. The seeds of a great overarching story are planted but, disappointingly, they never actually grow. The main plot, while it starts off intriguing, ultimately plays second fiddle to character development and the individual spooky (and sometimes not spooky) stories that are littered throughout. There are a bunch of ghosts that haunt a few residents of the hospice and it is never explained why (or if they are even real). There’s a secret, cult-like organization that is casually explored, while the same moral and existential themes are visited, revisited, explained, and over-explained to the point of absolute boredom. If you’re the type of person that can enjoy a very slow paced (sometimes spooky) ride to nowhere with some nice moments along the way, this could be for you. Otherwise, I would steer clear.