Sometimes I wish protagonists were more average and less improbably skilled. That whole nightclub scene is well shot, but Wick is so good at what he does that it undercuts the tension by a significant margin.
Sometimes I wish protagonists were more average and less improbably skilled. That whole nightclub scene is well shot, but Wick is so good at what he does that it undercuts the tension by a significant margin.
[+] closer to next rating / [-] closer to previous rating
- Dark (S3) ✦✦✦½ [-]
- Fall (Mann, 2022) ✦✦✦½ [-]
- Ms. Marvel (S1) ✦½ [+]
- Dark (S2) ✦✦✦✦
- Moon Knight (S1) ✦✦½ [-]
- Get Carter (Hodges, 1971) ✦✦✦½ [+]
- Prey (Trachtenberg, 2022) ✦✦✦ [-]
- Black Bird (S1) ✦✦✦✦
- Better Call Saul (S6) ✦✦✦½ [+]
- Halo (S1) ✦✦✦ [-]
- Slow Horses (S1) ✦✦✦½ [+]
- H4Z4RD (Govaerts, 2022/BE) ✦✦½ [-]
- Gangs of London (S1) ✦✦✦½ [+]
- We Own This City (S1) ✦✦✦½ [+]
- Thor: Love and Thunder (Waititi, 2022) ✦✦ [+]
I've seen that complaint a lot and I don't understand why people pick on this film for it when it's a trope in almost every action movie ever made.
Plus it's not like he's unscathed. The guy gets his ass handed to him multiple times. In fact he's only alive because someone saved his ass.
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
Precisely, and in fact, it's this element that helped make this movie standout all the more in comparison to, say, something like The Equalizer, which came out around the same time with pretty much the same premise, only whereas Denzel Washington was legitimately invincible in his movie, Reeves is actually shown to be quite vulnerable in this one. In fact, I'd probably go so far as to say that Willem Dafoe's character helping him out from the shadows quite possibly perhaps even played quite a role in what lead to his "invincible" reputation.Quoting megladon8 (view post)
Perhaps i'm just feeling this way because the shootouts got a tremendous amount of hype and although they're very good visually, they're not quite as pulse-quickening as I had hoped.
[+] closer to next rating / [-] closer to previous rating
- Dark (S3) ✦✦✦½ [-]
- Fall (Mann, 2022) ✦✦✦½ [-]
- Ms. Marvel (S1) ✦½ [+]
- Dark (S2) ✦✦✦✦
- Moon Knight (S1) ✦✦½ [-]
- Get Carter (Hodges, 1971) ✦✦✦½ [+]
- Prey (Trachtenberg, 2022) ✦✦✦ [-]
- Black Bird (S1) ✦✦✦✦
- Better Call Saul (S6) ✦✦✦½ [+]
- Halo (S1) ✦✦✦ [-]
- Slow Horses (S1) ✦✦✦½ [+]
- H4Z4RD (Govaerts, 2022/BE) ✦✦½ [-]
- Gangs of London (S1) ✦✦✦½ [+]
- We Own This City (S1) ✦✦✦½ [+]
- Thor: Love and Thunder (Waititi, 2022) ✦✦ [+]
the action is good but by the time we get to the nightclub, we've seen Wick be Wick. There's some nifty edits against the choreography but there aren't any new ideas. No new action beats.
that was the first time the movie dipped for me and became a little something of a chore. it doesn't hold up well on multiple views.
I like how holds the gun.
Was just re reading this thread. Care to enlighten me on this post? Typo or what your extended thought was?Quoting Dukefrukem (view post)
“What we are dealing with here is a perfect engine, er... an eating machine. It's really a miracle of evolution. All this machine does is swim and eat and make little sharks and that's all.”
If I had to guess... it was how he holds the gun.Quoting Scar (view post)
Damn, son.
I liked the knowing silliness of this movie. An oscillation between carnage and control seeps into a lot of the proceedings. There's this delightful rhythm wherein the barbarism of the eponymous assassin in one scene abuts against the decorum of a hotel concierge in another, and so on. These commingling sensibilities are there in the script, but also in the finessed choreography of the film, and Reeves' assured navigation of spaces that do not present bona fide threats but, rather, involuntary participants that he can draw into the orbit of his own idiosyncratic dance.
It's this undulating course of simmering portent and propulsive action. The skirmishes are nimble and varied: delirious spectacles that feel fascinatingly dynamic from moment to moment. All of this is deftly abetted by the visual and aural trappings (particularly in the flashy night club scene). The film works best when it really leans into its kinetic and lurid excesses (again, the night club scene), framing Wick as a marionette in a carefully calibrated dreamscape. To a certain degree, these aesthetic strengths are sapped by the end, as the visual palette becomes much more drab and industrial.
Still, the clarity of the action was startling. I think Christopher Nolan should sit down and watch this a few times, and perhaps consult with Stahelski.
Last edited by Gittes; 11-16-2016 at 07:36 PM.
This had a 25-2 ratio? Wow.
Wasn't a fan.
Wait for it....Wait for it......... (in all seriousness it's crazy what you can do in post production)