Spencer

Tension: Will Adam get the sword? Will he stop Skeletor? Theme: You don’t have to try to be someone else. Writing: I came into this movie with low expectations but I actually really enjoyed it! Some jokes were hit or miss but the ones that hit, they hit hard. If you’re reading this wondering if it’s worth your time I’d give it a chance and stop reading before you get to all my spoilers lol. I felt like the writing was pretty self aware in a good way, especially of flaws. I loved the discussion of the villain “He’s just evil” “There’s got to be something more than that…” “He literally has a skull for a face”. And they really did just make him pure laughable evil which I think worked in a comedic way. I can understand why this movie would struggle in the box office, from the outside it looks like it should be more for kids/teens but it starts off surprisingly violent and has a strong amount of innuendos that I probably laughed a little too much at. I really liked how he worked for HR and tried to incorporate that into his strengths, which didn’t necessarily pan out which somehow felt like it still worked in his favor for the arc. He really did try to talk things out. The greatest strength of this movie is its ability to subvert expectations of tropes, I really though a few times I was about to have an eye roll moment and then I was surprised at what changed like suddenly being friend zoned. Starting off the story at a date was genius. And the incredible line of “have you ever thought your purpose in life was to just not be weird?” Really good mix of earth stuff and eternia stuff. I also loved how weird he was to everyone on earth with his obsession with swords. The enchantress lady felt out of place, almost like Deus ex machina but I couldn’t quite place it. I did love how it seemed like there was going to be one final blow to Skeletor but instead we got 10 different shots of a million punches lol. I don’t understand how that last blow could knock down those giant statues but Duncan who was closer was perfectly fine? Or what was that smoke stuff in the prison that made everyone cough for no reason? I did think it was interesting when Skeletor went into his memories near the end and showed up everywhere like the gym and HR and the date. There definitely was something that was trying to be said more about masculinity but I’m not exactly sure if it got across. Also no idea why this was called Masters of the Universe. Glad it wasn’t called He-man though and they were aware of that too.  Acting: I liked the actor for Adam, he wasn’t perfect but he was just really likable and had a good balance of competent and incompetent. I was torn on his crying scene because part of it felt fake since it was so different than other crying I’ve heard in movies but at the same time I’ve seen guys cry like that before. It may also help that this actor reminded me so much of one of my mission companions lol. Jared Leto as Skeletor did a great job, yes it was sometimes too much but I think it was needed in comparison to too nuanced for an overly simplistic villain. Also I think a big shoutout needs to go to whoever that HR lady was, she was phenomenal at trying to be a modern “cool boss” who was trying to have a serious conversation while not offending anyone.  Cinematography: I tend to get pretty engrossed in action-comedy movies and forget to notice cinematography, there was a lot of slow motion and closeups of Adam’s transfigured body lol. Lots of cool action choreography they were following throughout. Why there was one office like Zoom in of Cringer at the end? No idea.  Production Design: Loved the bedroom mostly full of swords. Adam’s clothing contrasts were very comedic, at the same time trying to make him seem puny compared to after even though he’s still a big guy isn’t easy, and they couldn’t go CGI like Captain America. I’m glad they took a moment for him to just react to suddenly being real shredded because that’s so real lol. The sword was dope, the world itself was pretty dope as well. Not perfect for sure, some parts felt a little Spirit of Halloween like, but it got the job done. The Tiger had better CGI than the Fox in Disclosure Day lol, but the baby tiger at the beginning not as much. Also not sure why he had the same voice as the little boy it was confusing.  Editing: can’t remember too much at the moment.  Sound: SUCH AN EPIC SOUNDTRACK. Probably one of the best parts of the movie tbh. It never got old.

Tension: Will they tell the world or will they die in the process? Theme: Freaking listen bro. Yeah they really just had to spell it out. Writing: This movie was trying to be so many different things and ended up being none of them sadly. So much exposition spelled out, pretty sure that's the only reason Hugo existed, and alos so many things that made no sense at all besides "aliens". There were no rules spelled out with all these special abilities, so it just felt like a free for all. I rarely felt like they were going to get caught or killed. And there were plenty of opportunities for someone to get killed but no one did, and I hate to say it, but somebody needed to die in this movie. The only thing that really made me tense was the knife in the hand. Also, the hiding behind the fence that you can clearly see through? The "are those children? Are they human?" lines just killed me. In her defense thoug I'm theorizing that she was given something different to work with than what the final product was. And their goal could have been accomplished the whole movie by posting on social media. Plus the bad guys gave up super easily in the end? And overall it became melodramatic and lacked complexity/nuance. The whole religion subplot? Didn't make sense for a faith crisis and was resolved in a phone call. I just felt like Spielberg wanted everyone to believe in aliens like he does so badly. And there were just a lot of gimmicks like the invisibility that came out of nowhere. And why did they need to stop by for a trauma revisit again? Had nothing to do with their goal but it was built up throughout the movie a lot. Now that I think about it, why did it start off at like a UFC fight? Super random. And Hugo was an "experiencer" beyond Margaret's character that they never cared to expand on? I did think the running over the phone part was funny even if a little over the top when she could have just smashed it. Proved she wasn't the smartest despite her empathy. Also why did we have 10 whole minutes of watching broadcasters yell at each other on air? I didn't find it interesting just annoying but maybe that's coming from my live tv days. And I got tired of watching the archived footage at the end. It was supposed to be emotional but I was trying not to laugh becuase Spielburg made the aliens look like funny little guys skipping around. Also it felt like there was romantic tension between Margaret and Kilner when you knew both were in committed relationships so it was just weird. Also WW3 was just lowkey starting and it was no big deal? Plus this felt like it was promising the aftermath of disclosure day (not very subtle title drop btw) when all we saw was everyone staring at their phones dumbfounded. Like no one had an opinion? No one was questioning it except that one guy asking about AI and they claimed "ground pixels"? I really thought the premise and concepts were unique at the beginning but it felt like it had no idea what it was trying to accomplish with that, and the characters felt more like plot devices that had emotional freakouts every once in a while. Acting: I liked Blunt's acting the first half of the movie, then she just was overacting after some point like the panic attack scene. O'Conner's I never vibed with in comparison to Knives Out at least. Jane's performance also suffered. Hugo's felt like he was impersonating Morgan Freeman. The villain felt too arch and didn't have a personality outside of his work life. I also had a hard time with the last reporter at times, I'm not sure why. I think it was the fact that she was getting sentimental during it all and I felt no emotion. And she just randomly says "you are not alone". Cinematography: I remember liking one shot at the beginning with the push through the car window. And the POV from the bottom of the sink. And some of the work with the mind control/travel stuff. But there were so many chase scenes to really be able to focus on much of it. Production Design: This was a really rough point. The CGI animals were objectively painful to look at. The Hansel and Gretel scene with the snow and everything looked AI. Heck at some points those kdis looked AI. Like I get wanting to avoid cruelty but c'mon there's so many movies that do CGI animals way better. And I could not take any footage of the aliens seriously at all when they just look like the alien emoji. It just felt like that aspect mroe more nostalgic than anything and lacked creativity. And it seemed like it was hinting that Blunt and O'Conner were aliens. Which I probably would have preferred. I did think the car and train scene was cool, and while Margaret could have definitely jumped plenty of times I do relate to just wobbling around in that kind of situation. Sound: Heard rumors of a good score but nothing made me emotional or really dial in. Might be worth listening to outside of the movie though. Editing: Pretty linear and action oriented so not too complex. I appreciated what they were trying to do with different characters meeting up by the end but it felt forced.

Tension: How far will Nicky go for those he loves? Theme: Gifts (as in attributes) can be taken too far Writing: I really enjoyed this film! The main character was interesting and had the right amount of solemn and mysterious to me, and all the other characters were very interesting. I felt like the romance was unique in that you don’t get to see this kind of relationship on screen often aka one that genuinely felt realistic and full of subtleties and imperfections. I wasn’t too concerned about the magnitude of the crimes so much as the relationships that were affected and the consequences for Corey. And dang he had some consequences I wasn’t expecting. There was a lot to be said about his disability and his gift, and how everyone around him seemed to have an opinion on it, I do feel like the mourning he was talking about at the end didn’t come across as much as it should have earlier on but I really felt for that moment where he said his goal was working towards being okay. And then the line of “I was a better piano player than you’ll ever be.” 💀 chill Nicky. I don’t get what he had to break into that other vault where he was kidnapped when he already knew the code and considering time was very much of the essence there? Also I didn’t completely understand if it was just cryptocurrency? I thought his relationship with Harold and Marla was tender and just made him really likable in general. I was really shocked how Uri hurt him in the end in such a savage way but also still gave him the watch he was asking for. I was pretty tense during that and really thought he cut off his ear completely when he was taking off the bandages.  Acting: I felt like all the actors did a solid convincing job, the most I felt was during the argument scene between him and Ruthy. At the same time, I did wish to feel a bit more which came more from the writing than the acting I’d say. Idk if they actually played the piano or not but I was looking for the cutaways and it was hard to tell if they did or not still so props to them. Uri and friends were really convincing and charming in ways that seemed both loving and ruthless which was some nice nuance. Just them telling people to shut up during the unlocks made them admirable.plus they were funny like the lie with the loan shark and the. Saying in Spanish “I thought you said this guy sold blenders?” “Yes the nutriblender” Cinematography: Lots of close ups and long lenses used which really gave me Whiplash vibes which I love. You can tell framing was really important for them because of all the editing. Also just putting cameras in the places that make you think, like inside a safe when everything is black all of a sudden. Appreciated the shaky takes when he was in pain from noise.  Production Design: Lots of beautiful pianos and locations from the rich, but surprisingly versatile. Surprised we never saw Nicky’s place, I guess the van was more like his place which had little figurines everywhere. Great design in that one hood house Sound: This was probably the spectacle of the movie. So impressive how they tried to put you in Nicky’s ears as often as possible even if it would annoy you because that’s the way he had to live. And just hearing the tiny details of every single thing. Plus all the piano moments were wonderful, especially the ending where Nicky finally plays (well held off until the end) and how Ruthy’s song matched so well with the cross cutting.  Editing: The other spectacle of this movie. The amount of match cuts were insane and worth studying, from safes to heads to watches to vinyls. Lots of montages that didn’t feel like montages which is a hard feat to pull off.

So proud of my friends who worked on this!  I appreciated so many of the acting choices. Loved the sinister vibe it gave and the absurdism with the job stuff. It’s a great premise to be able to fulfill in a short time. Plus a bold move at the end. And that pan? 😮‍💨👌