Rating: 5/10

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018) – Film Review

/ Joe Baker / Leave a comment

Based on the novel of the same name by Jenny Han and releasing around the same time-frame as many other Netflix teen rom-coms, such as ‘The Kissing Booth,’ ‘Tall Girl’ and ‘Sarah Burgess is a Loser.’ ‘To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before’ may have a fairly formulaic structure in addition to feeling a little cliché at points as it closely follows its source material, but mostly through its charm and great cast, this light-hearted teenage romantic-comedy manages to retain some entertainment value for any admirers of the genre.

Plot Summary: Since she was young, ‘Lara Jean’ has always lacked the confidence to tell any of the boys she liked her true feelings, choosing instead to write them down within individual letters for her eyes only. Until, one day, the letters meant for her alone are publicly released, throwing her life into chaos as her foregoing loves confront her one-by-one…

Although definitely not a must-see for Netflix subscribers, ‘To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before’ does feel like a slight improvement over the other previously mentioned attempts Netflix has made within the realm of romantic flicks. As, while the story is far from original, the film’s basic concept of a teenage girl locking away her thoughts and feelings only for them to eventually be released, is at the very least, a plot that entices some interest into how things will turn out for her in the end, and interestingly, all of the letters seen throughout the film were physically written by Lana Condor herself whilst on set, with the actress writing a total of seven copies for each letter, as ‘Lara’ later tears them up.

This leads into the best aspect of the film for me, Lana Condor’s portrayal of the film’s protagonist; ‘Lara Jean,’ as much of the film’s overall charm is really owed to Condor’s lead performance, as the actress excellently balances ‘Lara’s timidity with her likability without much issue. Noah Centineo also shares quite a large role within the film as ‘Peter,’ one of ‘Lara’s earliest loves, and while Centineo does give a decent performance throughout the film, he does ultimately play the same character he has portrayed countless times before in other rom-coms both before and after, the same also goes for Israel Broussard as another of the ‘Lara’s past love interests.

The cinematography by Michael Fimognari is serviceable, with the film’s thought out editing usually making up for the large number of bland shots through its clever cutting from past to present. The film also tries to implement a little style into its filmmaking by having text and emojis appear on-screen whenever ‘Lara’ is texting, which, unfortunately, is executed sloppily, as whilst I understand what the filmmakers were going for, the final design they chose is quite odd, as rather than having ‘Lara’s phone screen appear beside her, or have text bubbles appear above her head, the text is simply displayed in the same font as the film’s opening titles, which I feel is both distracting and confusing. Bizarrely, the film also contains a few shots of Subway product placement, which are very distracting even if they are fairly minimal.

Expectedly, the original score by Jon Wong is quite forgettable, but does still serve the film’s narrative well. It’s the huge variety of modern pop songs that rule over most of the soundtrack, however, with next to nearly every scene featuring at least one or two different songs, and whilst some scenes do benefit from this, a large majority of the time it does feel as if there is an overabundance of songs thrown into a singular scene.

Yet, the most obvious flaw the film suffers from is the way it utilises its supporting characters, as although the film does remain focused on the life of ‘Lara Jean,’ for the most part, the film also places emphasis on many of ‘Lara’s friends and family, and even though the film tries its best to convince its audience otherwise, many of the supporting characters serve very little purpose to the story, and by the end of the film, are virtually forgotten as most are given no conclusive scene with ‘Lara.’ But, its ‘Lara’s sister and father who I personally found the most obnoxious, as these two characters deliver a large portion of the film’s occasionally cheesy dialogue and cringey humour, as sadly the film does feature plenty of awkward comedic moments in-between its few successful jokes.

In summary, while certainly not as diverting or as original as many other reviews may lead you to believe, ‘To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before’ does still have some value, as the film retains many of the novel’s faults as well as its merits, and in spite of many of its problems, I imagine most fans of upbeat romantic-comedies will be satisfied with the film by its end. If you don’t usually drift towards rom-coms, however, I’d probably suggest you check-out some of the other original films Netflix has to offer. Final Rating: 5/10.

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Super 8 (2011) – Film Review

/ Joe Baker / Leave a comment

Five years before ‘Stranger Things’ hit our Netflix accounts, director J. J. Abrams (Mission Impossible III, Star Trek, Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens), tried his hand at creating an ’80s sci-fi throwback with ‘Super 8.’ While the film did get mostly positive reviews from both critics and audiences alike upon its initial release, I’ve never been a huge fan of this science fiction flick, with many strange decisions at play in addition to its overreliance on borrowing story elements from classic films of the 1980s. ‘Super 8’ has always seemed more like simple pandering rather than an enjoyable and nostalgic throwback.

Plot Summary: During the summer of 1979, a group of young friends making a short zombie film with their Super-8 film camera are witnesses to a devastating train crash. Soon after, the group find themselves investigating the subsequent unexplained events throughout their small town…

Even with legendary director Steven Spielberg on board as a producer, ‘Super 8’ mostly lacks the fun tone many of Spielberg’s classics usually overflow with, taking itself pretty seriously aside from a few short moments. Although ‘Super 8’ may not feature this aspect of Spielberg’s work, however, the film does utilise many different ideas from his filmography, as while most throwbacks do usually contain a few story elements taken from the films they are inspired by, ‘Super 8’ begins to feel a little derivative at points, eventually developing a plot which feels almost identical to ‘E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial’ and ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind,’ without much experimentation.

Although Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning, Gabriel Basso, Riley Griffiths, Ryan Lee and Zach Mills all do a great job at portraying their young characters, the writing throughout the film definitely has room for improvement, as many of the younger characters never quite manage to become incredibly amusing or likeable, with most of them receiving barely any development at all. Following this, as the film’s narrative becomes more tense and dangerous nearing its end, the group’s frustration and panic begins to surface, which although realistic, does result in them becoming rather irritating after a while due to their constant screaming and arguing. Kyle Chandler also makes an appearance within the film as ‘Jackson Lamb’ one of the group’s parents, who does give a decent performance as a strict yet caring father, even with his limited screen-time.

The cinematography by Larry Fong is visually pleasing for the most part, creating many different and attractive shots throughout the film. But, due to its colour palette and lighting, the film’s visuals are dragged down by simply how dark the film is, as a large majority of the story takes place at night, ‘Super 8′ relies heavily on dim lighting and shadows (alongside Abrams’ continued obsession with lens flares). The film’s CG effects are also serviceable, with many of the film’s more CGI-heavy moments taking place at night, meaning any of the CG effects that may be lacking are saved as a result of them being shrouded in darkness.

Michael Giacchino is a composer I usually adore, from his astonishing work on films such as ‘The Incredibles,’ ‘Doctor Strange’ and ‘Jojo Rabbit,’ Giacchino normally succeeds far beyond expectations. However, in the case of ‘Super 8,’ his score is simply ‘okay,’ as although it does serve the film’s story decently well, the film’s soundtrack isn’t very unique or memorable. Being a traditional orchestral like many other modern blockbusters, I couldn’t help but feel a classic ’80s synth score more along the lines of ‘Stranger Things’ would’ve worked extremely well for this kind of film, even with the film’s narrative technically being set in the 1970s.

An aspect of ‘Super 8’ I do truly enjoy is the film’s sound design, an aspect of filmmaking that I rarely mention, ‘Super 8’ actually does a fairly brilliant job of building tension or mystery through its eerie sci-fi noises. In particular, in the scene in which the young group of friends are attacked by an otherworldly creature whilst aboard a military transport, as mostly in part to its sound design, this is, in my opinion, one of the most effective and memorable scenes of the film.

In summary, ‘Super 8’ feels like a huge waste of potential, as whilst the film is far from awful and does have some interesting aspects scattered throughout its runtime. The film’s weak writing and forgettable original score make the film feel a little bland in areas, in addition to its lack of anything truly original (which I feel is the film’s biggest flaw). As, unlike ‘Stranger Things’ where the show’s story at least introduces concepts, like ‘The Upside-Down’ and ‘The Demogorgon,’ which are rather creative, ‘Super 8′ lacks much of anything that hasn’t be explored in sci-fi before. While this film is still a perfect example of J. J. Abrams’ talent for visuals, ‘Super 8’ never really manages to elevate itself beyond being just a simple nostalgia fest. Final Rating: high 5/10.

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Clash of the Titans (2010) – Film Review

/ Joe Baker / Leave a comment

In this modern remake of the 1981 classic, ‘Perseus’ takes on a variety of gods and monsters in this somewhat fun, yet still very generic and sometimes even over-the-top reimagining of the original story. As, this time around, director Louis Leterrier (The Transporter, The Incredible Hulk, Now You See Me) focuses more on action set pieces and enormous CG spectacle than ever before.

Plot Summary: When ‘Perseus,’ the demigod son of ‘Zeus,’ finds himself caught in the middle of a war between gods and mortals, in which, his mortal family are killed, he gathers a war band to help him conquer the mighty ‘Kraken,’ ‘Medusa,’ and ‘Hades,’ malevolent God of the underworld…

Going off of the negative reviews from both critics and audiences, I wasn’t expecting much from ‘Clash of the Titans’ on my initial watch. However, I was surprised to find the film is mostly entertaining, as although there isn’t much substance to this remake, I still find it to be a somewhat exciting action flick, having plenty of creatures and adventure throughout its runtime, despite its various flaws. But, this may also be due to my fondness for Greek mythology, as I’ve had an interest in this area of fantastical legends/history since I was very young.

Although there aren’t any particular stand outs when it comes to the cast, Gemma Arterton, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Mads Mikkelsen, and Jason Flemyng all do a decent job throughout the film. Sam Worthington, who, portrays the protagonist ‘Perseus,’ I personally found to be one of the weakest elements of the film, however, as despite him having a number of large roles in huge blockbusters, such as ‘Avatar’ and ‘Terminator: Salvation,’ in the past, he has always seemed extremely bland to me, never really coming across as anything other than a generic action hero with minimal charisma, and ‘Clash of the Titans’ is, unfortunately, no exception to this. 

The cinematography by Peter Menzies Jr. is also quite bland, as although I do appreciate the lack of incredibly shaky hand-held shots during many of the action scenes. Many of the shots throughout the film are usually very standard, as the cinematography never really attempts to enhance the visuals or make use of the story’s impressive and unique locations (aside from the occasional wide shot).

One very bizarre element of the film is definitely the original score by Ramin Djawadi, as although some tracks sound perfect for a fantasy epic such as this one. Other tracks almost sound as if they’ve been performed by a rock band, making them feel incredibly out-of-place within the film’s time-period. Yet, the film’s soundtrack actually does work quite well in my personal favourite scene of the film, as the scene set within ‘Medusa’s lair uses the score to build tension and atmosphere surprisingly well.

The CG effects throughout ‘Clash of the Titans’ are definitely one of the film’s better aspects, as regardless of whether it’s being used for creatures, Gods or locations, the visual effects always look great. However, this is also partially due to the designs of many of the creatures within the film, as the designs manage to perfectly blend the appearance of modern-day monsters mixed with classic Greek mythology. This also lends itself effectively to many of the various action scenes throughout the film (this obviously being the film’s main draw) as the action throughout the narrative is mostly pretty solid, making great use of the various different creatures abilities and always placing ‘Perseus’ in different dangerous scenarios.

In summary, I personally found ‘Clash of the Titans’ fairly entertaining for what it was, which is essentially is nothing more than your usual action blockbuster with some Greek mythology thrown in for good measure, as while the film is successful for what it sets out to do, the film does fall flat in many other areas, from Sam Worthington’s rather dull performance, to some of the weak writing and occasionally unusual original score, I feel only people truly interested in Greek mythology could get something out of this one. But, with all that in mind, ‘Clash of the Titans’ still isn’t the worst remake I’ve ever seen. Final Rating: 5/10.

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The Conjuring (2013) – Film Review

/ Joe Baker / Leave a comment

From director James Wan (Saw, Dead Silence, Insidious), comes another modern horror based on real-life events, this time focusing on one of the many cases of the Warrens set in the year of 1971, and while the film does succeed more so than many other modern horrors, soon leading the ‘The Conjuring’ to become an enormous horror franchise, with the likes of its sequels and spin-offs, such as ‘Annabelle’ and ‘The Nun.’ The original film does suffer from a variety of issues, which leads it to become more forgettable than anything else by the end of its runtime.

Plot Summary: In 1971, after ‘Carolyn’ and ‘Roger Perron’ move their family into a dilapidated Rhode Island farmhouse, they soon begin to suspect there may be a dark presence haunting them. So, as the abnormalities begin to increase, ‘Carolyn’ contacts famed paranormal investigators; Ed and Lorraine Warren, for help, who together, begin delving into the disturbing history behind the family’s new home in an attempt to stop the evil…

Whilst more enjoyable than a large number of other modern horrors as already mentioned, I wasn’t overly invested in the film’s story, as although the film is effective in some areas, in others the film simply doesn’t stick the landing. Feeling mostly like your standard horror story without ever delving too deep into the characters or time-period, as despite a few thrilling scenes with the spirits themselves, I always felt a slightly more character-driven narrative would have benefited the film.

The cast is definitely one of the film’s better aspects, as Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga do have a decent amount of chemistry together as the married paranormal investigators the Warrens. Lili Taylor also does a decent job as the family’s concerned mother, especially further into the film as the story becomes more intense. Unfortunately, however, Ronald Livingston who portrays the father of the family, is easily the weakest actor within the film, as he never really seems overly panicked or scared of these paranormal events, regardless of the scene (which becomes especially clear nearing the end of the film).

The cinematography by John R. Leonetti is definitely an improvement over his previous work on the ‘Insidious’ series, as the film does have a few appealing shots here and there despite never really being anything exceptional. The film does, however, make excellent use of P.O.V. shots during many of the tense scenes at night within the farmhouse, placing the audience in the position of the characters themselves, which I personally found very effective. As, according to director James Wan, much of the film’s visual design was actually inspired by classic 1970s horrors, such as ‘The Exorcist,’ ‘The Omen’ and ‘The Amityville Horror.’

Although not quite as distinctive as some other modern horror soundtracks, the original score by Joseph Bishara isn’t completely forgettable, as the score does help to build tension during quite a few scenes, as well as also back up some of the emotional moments between characters (as short as they may be).

I was also surprised to learn that the film doesn’t entirely rely on jump-scares, as although they are present within the film, ‘The Conjuring’ does feel more focused on creating an eerie atmosphere and having many creepy visuals throughout. Rather than the usual bombardment of jump-scares, which was definitely a breath of fresh air. One element I thought was a little weaker than some of James Wan’s other films was the design of the ghosts themselves, as the design of the spirit haunting family’s farmhouse is one of the most generic and dull designs you could think of when it comes to creating a horror antagonist. Especially when compared to the many memorable designs of the spirits/demons within the ‘Insidious’ franchise.

In summary, whilst ‘The Conjuring’ does have some great elements, and at least attempts to create something slightly different from your typical horror flick. I never really felt the film excelled in any particular area, as the majority of the film felt mostly bland, despite its decent cast and creepy atmosphere in some scenes. So, while there are definitely worse modern horrors, I feel there is also much better out there, perhaps even in this very same franchise. Final Rating: 5/10.

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The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) – Film Review

/ Joe Baker / Leave a comment

Only five years after the previous ‘Spider-Man’ franchise ended, ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ attempts to be a fresh and slightly darker reboot of the superhero’s classic origin story yet, sadly, falls pretty flat. Feeling too similar to the previous iteration of the franchise, as well as never really perfecting any of the interesting ideas the film introduces itself.

Plot Summary: When ‘Peter Parker’ is bitten by a genetically altered spider, he gains newfound spider-like powers and ventures-out to solve the mystery of his parent’s mysterious death. Meanwhile, a menacing new threat emerges on the streets of New York City…

Aside from the new focus on his lost parents, the story is far too similar to what we have seen before. Featuring all the classic scenes of ‘Peter’ beating up criminals, making his iconic costume (which now has an unpleasant redesign) and, of course, witnessing his ‘Uncle Ben’s death. This can make the story feel very bland and predictable for the majority of its runtime, if the film was to come out many years after ‘Spider-Man 3,’ then perhaps it wouldn’t have been as bad. But, due to Sony wanting to keep the rights to the Marvel character, a new remake had to be rushed out.

‘Peter Parker’ is this time portrayed by Andrew Garfield (The Social Network, Hacksaw Ridge), and overall, I think he does a decent job here, as while this version of the character isn’t incredibly memorable, he does portray the character as a nervous and awkward yet still likeable teenager, despite looking a little too old for the character’s actual age. The rest of the cast of Emma Stone, Sally Field and Rhys Ifans all do a decent job throughout, but are never really given anything interesting to do when it comes to the story.

The cinematography by John Schwartzman is nothing outstanding, as aside from the unique P.O.V. shots from ‘Spider-Man’s perspective, the cinematography mostly just stays at a consistent level throughout the runtime. However, this is easily redeemed by one of the best elements of the film for me, the great chemistry between Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone, as Stone portrays ‘Gwen Stacy’ (Peter Parker’s first love interest) all of their scenes together are very funny and charming, reminding heavily me of director Mark Webb’s prior film; ‘500 Days of Summer.’

The original score by James Horner is once again nothing amazing, but it does fit the film’s style. Feeling like a classic superhero score, mixed with some more emotional elements, equalling to a pretty varied but not very memorable soundtrack. The majority of the film could be described in this way, however, as many aspects of the film never seem to pass the level of ‘decent,’ which is a real shame, as I think this director and cast have some great potential. But, this simply wasn’t the film for it.

The writing is definitely one of the weakest elements of the film for me, as the film is full of cheesy lines and cliché moments throughout the story. My main issue with the film, however, is the film’s antagonist, the ‘Lizard,’ as his motivation, awful appearance and general lack of an intimidating presence really portray this classic comic book foe in a bad light.

The action sequences throughout the film are nothing really exceptional of note, as although they are decently entertaining, none of them ever manage to become as memorable as anything from the original ‘Spider-Man’ trilogy. My personal favourite most likely being the action scene set in ‘Peter’s high school, as the scene utilises the location very well. It’s also here when we get a great look at the various different CG effects in bright lighting, and I feel overall they look decent.

In summary, although I initially gave this film a lower rating, the actual filmmaking on display here isn’t terrible, and what the film does well such as great chemistry between the lead cast, ‘Spider-Man’s spectacular P.O.V. shots and the occasional entertaining action scene, I simply can’t ignore. Maybe check this one out if you’re a huge fan of the character, if not, you’re not missing out on much. Final Rating: low 5/10.

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Velvet Buzzsaw (2019) – Film Review

/ Joe Baker / Leave a comment

A strange, violent, and very unpredictable film, Dan Gilroy director of one of my all-time favourite flicks; ‘Nightcrawler,’ works all his charm and creativity into this horror/drama/mystery/black comedy? It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what the genre of this film is. Alongside this, similar to some other films I’ve reviewed, I’d say this is definitely not a film for everyone. But for those to who it will appeal, you will surely enjoy yourself.

Plot Summary: Following the discovery of a series of foreboding paintings by an unknown artist, a supernatural force enacts revenge on those who have allowed their greed to get in the way of art…

‘Velvet Buzzsaw’ is mostly built around the shocking deaths throughout the film, as various characters get killed off in different ways. Leaving the rest of the characters in a state of confusion and panic, this allows the film to delve into bits and pieces of characterisation (granted not a lot) in addition to exploring various ideas of what ‘art’ actually is and we criticise and commercialise it, and despite the film not going incredibly in depth with these ideas, I did still find many of them and the themes of greed and ego interesting.

Jake Gyllenhaal is essentially the main protagonist of the film: ‘Morf Vandewalt’ a very eccentric and strange character who seems to be a parody of over-the-top art critics. Rene Russo, Zawe Ashton, Toni Collette, Natalia Dyer, and John Malkovich also all lend their talents to the film. Along with the decent writing, their great performances really help give each character a distinct personality. Unexpectedly, however, Zawe Ashton is a true stand out of the cast for me, only really knowing her from Channel 4’s ‘Fresh Meat,’ here she portrays a very different character than ones before.

The cinematography by Robert Elswit also gives the film a very clean look, utilising many different shots throughout. I still think the film could’ve done more with the camerawork, however, especially when compared to Dan Gilroy’s previous films. The does also combine cinematography well with the beautiful sets and locations, giving the film a great visual appeal. The original score by Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders also lends its hand to the creepy atmosphere at multiple points throughout the film, yet can also change to more calming or light-hearted when it needs to.

Although the tone can vary throughout the film, it never comes off as unbalanced. Comedy is used at points during the story but never to the point of ruining the eerie atmosphere or character moments. However, when the film does shift into full on horror, we get easily my favourite moments of the film, as it’s these moments we get some interesting CG effects and unique visuals, as well as a great build up of intrigue and tension, with the eventual death at the end of the scene usually being very creative, despite not always being very gory.

My main two issues with the film resolve mostly around the pacing of the film, as the film can come off as very slow and can drag the story down at points, as well as the use of John Malkovich’s character, ‘Piers,’ as this character appears in the very first scene of the film and then again later into the runtime. However, he doesn’t really have any impact on the narrative, and felt to me like the film was just using his bland character to fill up screen-time.

In summary, I couldn’t decide as to what I thought of ‘Velvet Buzzsaw’ upon my initial viewing of the film, and I’m still not entirely sure now, as whilst the film does suffer from a fair amount of problems and isn’t the incredibly entertaining piece of gory fun I was hoping it would be. But, I still enjoyed myself due to its weird atmosphere and interesting ideas, and it is a film I could maybe see myself returning to at some point. Final Rating: 5/10.

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The Girl With All the Gifts (2016) – Film Review

/ Joe Baker / Leave a comment

‘The Girl With All the Gifts’ released in 2016 and based on the novel of the same name by M. R. Carey, is another zombie story, this time attempting to focus more on young children and how they would cope with an infection wiping out all of humanity, as well as leaning more towards the ‘fungus’ side of infections when it comes to some of the film’s visuals and ideas, and while I appreciate the attempt to turn this narrative into a film. I don’t think it was incredibly successful in the long-run.

Plot Summary: In a dystopian future where humanity has been ravaged by a mysterious fungal disease, humanity’s only hope is a small group of hybrid children who crave human flesh while still retaining the ability to think and feel. But when their base is later attacked, a teacher, a scientist and a group of soldiers must embark on a journey of survival with a special young girl…

Directed by Colm McCarthy, the idea of a group of characters going on a dangerous journey is a pretty standard outline for an apocalyptic story, sadly however, ‘The Girl With All the Gifts’ doesn’t manage to improve much on this structure as many of the decisions throughout the film were pretty strange, to say the least, as the film flips back and forward between horror and drama rapidly within some scenes (sometimes even implementing comedy as well). As a result of this, the film’s tone is very inconsistent, and can really take the viewer out of the story at points. Even the name given to the zombie-like creatures within the film; ‘The Hungries,’ I personally found a little too-ridiculous.

Sennia Nanua portrays the main character of the film; ‘Melanie,’ a young girl with the abilities of ‘The Hungries’ that still retains her human mind, and while I think her character is definitely interesting, I don’t feel her performance is up-to-par here. As she was only thirteen during filming, many of the emotional scenes with her feel very unbelievable. Alongside this, there are a variety of scenes with her character acting like a wild animal as her hunger continues to grow, most of which I found unintentionally hilarious. Perhaps if she was a little older when filming began this could’ve been avoided, although the weak writing also doesn’t help. The supporting cast do redeem this somewhat, however, as Gemma Arterton, Paddy Considine and Glenn Close are all fairly excellent within their roles.

The cinematography by Simon Dennis is easily my favourite element of the film, as there are many stunning shots throughout the runtime, as every shot really lends itself to many of the film’s more impactful or beautiful scenes, with the brilliant make-up effects and great set design also adding toward this, which is especially surprising considering the film’s budget, which was actually a lot smaller than many other zombie flicks. This does, unfortunately, affect the CG effects throughout the film, however, as a variety of shots throughout the story have some very out-of-place looking CG visuals.

The wonderful original score by Cristobal Tapia de Veer is another element of the film I also really enjoyed, as the soundtrack is very atmospheric and really adds to many of the tense scenes throughout the film, very similar to the composer’s other scores, with Channel 4’s ‘Utopia’ and Netflix’s ‘Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency’ being some great examples, with the tracks; ‘Gifted’ and ‘Pandora,’ being my personal favourites purely for how unique they sound. 

In summary, ‘The Girl With All the Gifts’ isn’t the worst zombie film I’ve ever seen, as the story does have some interesting elements and the cinematography and original score are pretty on point throughout the film, but sadly, the poor writing and laughable main performance combined really drag the film down for me. Final Rating: high 5/10

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