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The Batman (2022)
A movie with great promise that unfortunately doesn't know what to be...
I went to see The Batman with high expectations. Robert Pattinson has proven that he is a great actor, and I couldn't wait to see what he would bring to the role. I was also excited to see the new darker approach that they've been promoting for the movie.
I ended up disappointed. I'm not saying the movie is bad, it still held its own, the story had good moments and wasn't boring throughout its 3 hours, some action scene were really good, it looked good, but it could (and should) have been so much better.
I found the directing very uninspired. Making batman a dark detective movie is a great idea, but that was undermined by dialogues and monologues that were EXTREMELY cliché. The Batman monologue in his mind at the end about the scars was just so American blockbuster empty bullshit... It works against the whole gritty detective thing they've been trying to set up this whole time.
The writing lacked that realism that the photography and music were pushing. It made most characters appear quite empty, especially when such great actors are portraying them. Pattinson is a great actor and he's trying his best with what's given to him (when he looks at the kid in the church, it's powerful, he knows how to convey emotions) but he is not given much to work with. He is a charismatic Batman with a great voice, but his Bruce Wayne is horribly written as some broody teenager. When Alfred wakes up at the hospital and the first thing B says was "You lied to me", I just laughed. The man raised him and he almost died. No.
Zoe Kravitz does her best too, but she has some really unfortunate lines that are a hard sell.
Don't get me started on the romantic relationship between the two that is not only not needed and out of character, but just comes out of nowhere. Yeah sure, this incredibly pretty, strong and clever woman is going to throw herself at some guy she met twice, heard him spoke literally 5 sentences total and only saw the bottom part of his face. Nope. Hollywood would have gotten away with this lazy writing 10 years ago but it's 2022, time to step up.
The main issue is that the movie doesn't know what it wants to be. It does not fully commit to one direction. It could have been so great if it just really fully went into this s7ven-style realistic dark psychological thriller vibe.
But it finds itself stranded between a dark thriller and an empty Hollywood action blockbuster, and the empty part really works against the realism of the movie here. It just doesn't say anything, the characters are under developed, the characters are acting out of character for plot purposes (Batman is shown to be incredibly intelligent throughout, figuring out the riddles with (maybe too much) ease, but he has to be told by the riddler about the grand finale?), some plot holes are left open (the police was supposed to go after Batman after the police station incident, where they literally shoot at the guy, but it never comes up again, and he is seen working with the police in the Riddler's apartment like nothing happened?), and the characters just really don't get much development for a 3 hours run.
Finally, unlike a lot of people here on IMDB I was not a fan of the score. There were a lot of times when I thought the score what painting a very different picture than the actual picture I was watching. When Batman rescues people at the end (the kid and the mayor) the music is so dramatic when what we're seeing is actually quite underwhelming. Same with his empty monologue at the end, the music tries to push it as some meaningful thing but it clashed with the emptiness of the lines. Lots of times the music is super dark and suspenseful but what we're seeing just isn't. The poor writing is probably more at fault that the score, but we still ended up with a ripped-off Darth Vader theme for the last combat scenes, so... yeah.
Overall, I was disappointed that the movie didn't hold up to what it could have been. That said, I would 100% watch the sequels in the hope that they hire better writers, take a bolder stance, develop Bruce Wayne's character and make something that lives up to the potential of this franchise and this cast.
Dear Evan Hansen (2021)
The adaptation isn't perfect but it is worth your time (and tears)
I went to see this movie with high expectations being a HUGE fan of the musical and the score.
I don't think this is a perfect adaptation: the overall directing is painfully average for a story this powerful, some moments feel too long, too stretched... honestly a lot of things could have been better, especially comparing it to Spielberg's West Side Story that I saw about a week before (and thought was brilliantly directed). The visual direction (photography) was a big miss for me, I would have liked something sharper, more modern, hinting at the stage art direction.
That being said, the story, characters, songs and acting performances the movie is based on are just so strong, powerful and emotional that it still works. The emotions are definitely there, they are complex and beautiful. I get that the story can make some people uncomfortable but that's kind of the whole point, and what sets this story apart: the characters are incredibly real, they are not black and white, and despite their shortcomings, you get to empathise with every single one of them. You get to feel everyone's pain, everyone's point of view, everyone's flaws. The depiction of the different ways of grieving, of dealing with anxiety, dealing with being a single parent, or being a child of a single parent, etc. It is just very moving.
Ben Platt faced a lot of backlash for this but it is so uncalled for. He is absolutely incredible in every single possible way, his acting and singing are just out of this world. Word fail is my favorite song from the musical, and it was just perfect in this adaptation, he managed to make it even better than his own original recording. I hear the age point, and I agree that having a teenager play the role would have been nice (to bring something more candid to the character) but honestly his performance is the best thing about this movie.
I also appreciated Amy Adams performance as Connor's mom, it really sold Evan's lie for me, maybe better than in the play.
I would say that apart from Ben, singing-wise the rest of the cast is disappointing, but the songs being what they are, it works nonetheless. I read quite a few reviews here on IMDB saying the songs are bad, boring etc. And I just ...??? Excuse me?? You mean the score that won the Tony for best original score and Grammy for best musical album, that score is boring? Well, I guess some people just shouldn't have been granted ears to put them to such waste. These songs are gems, each of them a masterclass in songwriting, both music and lyrics-wise. I have been binging these songs for more than 3 years and I just can't get enough of them. I thought the new song "The anonymous ones" didn't bring anything to the story. However, I was sold to "A little closer" that just ties the story up in a better way than in the musical.
Overall, it's just an averagely directed adaptation of a really great story with great songs and a stellar performance from its lead actor. Worth the time and tears.
West Side Story (2021)
Turns out Spielberg can do anything, including musicals...
I saw both the stage version live and the 1961 movie in the past, and even though I always loved the music and dance numbers, I was never really sold or engaged by the storytelling. I would go as far as saying that the story almost bored me on both the movie and stage musical.
This adaptation from Spielberg however manages to turn the characters into real people, the situations get higher stakes, the emotion is palpable. The quality of the songs and musical numbers are impressive, but they always were, you can't do West Side Story without it. But those numbers are greatly enhanced by a really dynamic direction from Spielberg. A direction, that stays masterful throughout and that is really working with the score of the movie.
The acting is so much more real that the 61 movie, Ariana DeBose is simply incredible at both singing and dancing, but her acting chops are really shining here. She carried the movie for me, even though to be fair, all the cast did a great job.
The focus on giving an emotional story and emotional performances from the actors was the way to go, and it is what makes this adaptation a great one. I cried so much (mostly thanks to DeBose and Moreno's performances) throughout the second part of the movie, while I had never shed one tear on the stage musical nor the 61 movie that never managed to move me.
Overall this new adaptation is clearly a love letter to the source material, not trying to reinvent what was already working, but enhancing what wasn't to make it a movie that can move people from our generations.
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Lives up to the hype while staying true to this trilogy's DNA
Basically there's everything you expected and more (hello Daredevil!). It somehow manages to stay true to the lighter tone of Tom Holland's previous Spiderman movies, while having very dramatic moments (I cried like 4 times...) gearing him towards a darker new trilogy.
Having Willem Dafoe as the main villain was very smart. His acting is absolutely top notch (as opposed to most of the other villains, mainly Jamie Foxx), and he carries the movie on his shoulders.
The references are everywhere, it's obvious fan service and it works, that's what you want from such a movie.
I'm glad they stayed true to the original spidermen and didn't try to make them cooler than they were. I cringed hard during most of their scenes together for how lame they were, but it made so much sense with their personalities that their interactions would be cringey.
I can't wait for the new Dr. Strange now!
Death Note (2017)
A very disappointing adaptation
Comparing the movie to the anime, almost everything goes wrong.
The characters lack depth and are just plain boring. Light is supposed to be a mastermind, a very clever and popular kid that becomes a little crazy with ambition. Here we get 2 main characters, both lacking the cold cleverness of the original Light and sometimes basic common sense. And of course, they had to give us a tasteless romance.
The story line isn't much better. What made Death Note so great in the first place was the mind games, the amazing plots from both L and Light, that were revealed and left us in awe. Here, L knows who Light is almost right away, using only his deductions. And the only plot comes at the end of the movie and it is quite predictable and unrealistic.
Finally, the americanization of the whole thing just doesn't work. It's not about the cast or the location of the story, these don't matter much. But the movie just focuses on the usual American things (romance, simplistic visions of good and bad, action) and completely misses the point and qualities of the original.
I am usually an easy audience, and I can enjoy mediocre movies, but this one was just too bad. I struggled to stay awake.