Joey Wu

I had high expectations. A disappointment. All the songs sound the same. Acting from minor actors is mediocre. Cheap transition animations. Chopped up plots. Just bad. Watch the first movie instead. This will traumatize you

I don't really understand the praise some of these reviews give. It was an okay movie with an okay plot. You're not missing out on anything if you don't watch it. There are much better things to watch on Netflix, but if you want to watch something just for the sake of watching it, watch this movie.

It was intense the whole way through and I was, metaphorically, on the edge of my seat. It's a FANTASTIC movie and I highly recommend that you give it a watch. The ending was predictable, but that predictability led to anticipation, and with that anticipation, there was a high payoff.

Okay, sure, sue me, I love Freddie Highmore so I'm biased, but I'm a big fan of heist movies and this one is definitely one of my favorites. You know it's good when I say that there's not much to say other than I loved it, and if you're looking to watch A movie...this is A movie. And it's a good one, too.

Bottomline: watch it if you like to frustrate yourself. This review has spoilers but you should know them. This movie is full of “that stupid person in the horror movie.” But if you like stupid people, be my guest, skip the review, and watch the movie. Here are my top three of the many many many stupid people moments in this movie: Going into this movie I was beyond excited. The trailer looked sick and I had high expectations. The first 30 minutes or so are great, but the characters and what they choose to do and what happens to them is so incredibly frustrating. Of course, the characters you’re meant to hate die. But that’s the only good thing that happens. Near the beginning of the movie, someone is fighting so hard for themselves and clearly has a chance of surviving if the people in front of her cared to help. “She’s a goner. There’s nothing we can do.” WHAT?! Afterwards, there are so many moments where the characters waste time talking to each other to create character development while there are TWO imminent threats on the way, one of which they are fully aware of (oh you know, a nuclear bomb is coming but yeah, let’s stand here and talk out our past. Let’s get real emotional. This conversation can’t wait. We need to talk about our regrets and our inner turmoil. It’s not like we can have this conversation when we get out of here!). The other threat was a zombie war that could have easily been avoided had the French girl heard the Queen zombie’s blood curdling scream and told the sketchy guy to stop sawing her head off!! And then there’s the stupid daughter, Kate, who wants to save a refugee who’s there in the first place because she wanted to get 5 grand for her daughters! And two other women joined the refugee! Kate gets to the other hotel and gets to the two women that remain. Bautista tells helicopter woman to get to the hotel Kate’s in. One of the women Kate tries to save dies. The Alpha of alphas arrives, and Kate runs out of bullets and basically accepts her death before her father saves her. The three of them get to the helicopter which originally left them for dead, but helicopter woman decided to come back. Kate gets on the helicopter. But Bautista doesn’t get on yet. Why? Because he has to take a second to give his daughter a fond stare. We have all the time in the world! Zombies are after us! A nuclear bomb is coming in 2 minutes! That’s plenty of time! Let me look into my daughter’s eyes! Oh what’s that? Alpha is back? Okay, NOW let me jump on the helicopter. Alpha jumps on, too? What a shocker! Dad gets bitten, helicopter woman gets shot, nuclear bomb comes, they crash, helicopter woman dies, last refugee dies. Kate fails her initial motivation to save the refugees, gets her dad killed, walks away with hundreds of thousands of dollars. It’s a shame really. The movie was visually beautiful and it’s clear how much work was put into this. Cheers to the VFX guys, the costume designers, the make up artists, the extras, the cameramen, and the rest of the technical crew. It’s just a shame that the plot was executed terribly, and Kate doesn’t die. Oh and the ending? Wow. Just when I thought someone who didn’t deserve to die survives, turns out he’s done for. Kate, your father told you in the beginning of the movie to not run off because you’ll get everyone killed, and those people have families too, and you did exactly what he told you not to do, getting your father and so many other people killed in the process and it’s your fault and I hope you die. Cheers, Someone who hates this movie way too much.

Usually when you watch a movie with a villain protagonist, the movie or show portrays them in a way that tries to gain empathy from the viewer. Nightcrawler does not do that. I've never hated a protagonist and wanted him to lose in the end so much. Jake Gyllenhaal's portrayal of Lou is incredibly realistic, and in doing so, his words, mannerisms, and actions are that much more unsettling. I am a fan of horror, but Lou's manipulation of people disturbed me a lot more than most things I've watched specifically because the ramifications of his actions can happen to anyone. As the plot progresses, you wonder what exactly Lou is capable of. The ending shows just that. Nightcrawler is a great movie, and it's more than I expected. I highly recommend it.