It's a horror/slasher/torture movie about an influencer... with a twist!

For the longest time I'm so sick of the kidnapper.

Of his fake façade of courtesy and benevolence.

I feel for the main girl - though it appears she's supposed to be portrayed as an asshole - yet when it's all over... I'm confused.

Maybe she wasn't the protagonist after all. Maybe he did have a point to prove. Maybe they really are making the world a better place doing what they do...

The filming's good, albeit with limited cast and setting. It looks good. It's immersive. And it really does make you feel one way or another about the people it portrays, just not the way I expected it would...

It's certainly unconventional, and ended unexpectedly.

For most of the movie I really didn't want to like it but... maybe it's not so bad after all.

 rated 3.5/5: not bad at all

The Scream movies seem to have lost their charm.

I remember when they felt new, like a parody on the whole movie industry - something fresh in a world of cliché horror. Yet somehow it seems they've become more so parodies of themselves. Their selling points ones that tie on to segments of their own franchise more so than others.

Though you can tell they try to be innovative it's like they're locked into their own world as well. Stuck in a loop. No longer willing to take the risks that made them stand out and be so special in the first place.

Everything's a repeat.

The characters, the jump scares, the whimsical chases, the violent stabbings, the overly complicating logic - that requel stratagem that did feel like something special and new in the reboot just two years prior - but now already feels used and unnecesary.

It's become more predictable too, with fourth-wall franchise calculation that worked once but starts to break the spell and feel repetitive, with characters that lack depth and relations that just keep playing on the same familiar clichés.

Boyfriend girlfriend. Girlfriend girlfriend. Families, brothers, sisters, cops, robbers, widows, victors, vicious icons of the old days...

I'm glad they spared Sidney from this one

And I wonder if she actually declined the role. Yet they mention her as if she's involved, casually, like Letty did with Paul Walker just after he'd died. Which feels wrong.

But Gale's there, at least. OG too.

I liked the spotlight the ladies of old received in the last one.

Now it seems to be all about the next generation. It's not that I don't like them too but... they feel childish somehow. In a grown up game.

Is every franchise these days just looking to appeal to a new age group? Do the 'kids' dig this?

I feel like if you have characters with substance it doesn't matter what age they are, and the old Scream movies definitely did have that.

As the franchise ages maybe it feels wrong to mix generations like this... like the originals have become adults now. Like they are the franchise, and these youngins may as well be what Boruto was to Naruto.

An entirely separate timeline. A whole new perspective on that cold horror world of old...

I don't know if that's it or not.

Maybe if the dad wasn't there it would've seemed more right. Maybe I'm just reaching for imaginary flaws. Like straws. Maybe this is just a subpar sequel, and the current cast members have all the potential they need to become as iconic as Sidney did in the originals. With a little better directing.

In the end the train scene felt like the only truly scary one though, otherwise it's more so just violent. Tara's bad at showing pain too, and rarely seems to be in danger after all.

Overall it feels like the cast have an oddly lacking fear of death, even when it really matters. Like when Mindy gets stabbed.

It reduces the terror. As does the violent attitude of the main two. It's cool maybe, but you relate less.

The soundtrack was hood, and visually it's good but... it's not special.

The reboot was. It seems we're in for a set of subpar sequels again.

As they say: It's a franchise. It's a game.

 rated 3.5/5: not bad at all

Keep on rollin'.

Goddamn. It's the end of an era, it is.

The movie didn't feel like three hours at all.

I actually felt it could've been longer. The more drawn-out encounters with Blofeld, and even more so with Lyutsifer, were great, but a lot of scenes ended quicker than it feels they should have. Especially the end. I was on the verge of tears there, closer and closer as the music increased in intensity and then... it's over. "No Time To Cry".

The scenes are beautiful, as always. The intro in particular, with the icy lake and Halloween-like touch with the mask. The skyscraper descent. The final phase. The escapes. The sad honeymoon.

They really are on another level in Bond movies.

The female Bond does get a good first introduction too, camouflaged as she is, but for the rest of the movie she doesn't contribute all that much, and the prospect of seeing her as the new Bond irks me a bit. Because... Bond's no female. James Bond. That's the Bond.

Not every franchise needs to cater to a particular ethnic minority or gender. It's OK. I think y'all finna lose some legacy with this. Bond doesn't compromise. Bond doesn't adhere to trends.

Same number? Different name. Give her another movie.

But this was great. Noble finale. The villain was amazing. The premise relevant - pandemic and all. And Daniel really goes out with the bang - as the title might imply is the fundamental synopsis of this here film.

Great movie, great end... but a little rushed sometimes.

 rated 5/5: friggin awesome

Sion Sono. There's a new director to look out for.

This movie reminded me a little of The Cell... it's similarly abstract, similarly meaningful, similarly strange and awesome and unexpected and everything, a rollercoaster of maybe not emotion, but of perception, and thrill. And I loved that aforementioned movie too!

Don't know where the Ghostland takes you before you get there, but you're not a prisoner. You're not.

The bubblegum reminded me of Six String Samurai, the dances of Zatoichi, the first awakening a little of Alice in Wonderland... but there's really no comparison is there? And Nicholas Cage might've been the last person I expected to see here, surrounded by legions of Japanese whose accents and slightly out-of-sync singing make certain things hard to follow.

But they're great, as is Nicholas, as is the girl (Sofia Boutella?), as is the samurai, as is the governor when he dies.

As he falls down I'm struck by a realization that death scenes in most movies just aren't that good. They're too violent somehow. Staged and theatrical like they seem if you look back at black and white action movies from the fifties now, but here... it's just perfect. Theatrical or no. It feels right. It's paced right. It's empty. They've mastered the notion...

And who would've thought Cage would lose a nut from the get go, huh? That definitely amplified the threat level a bit.

The less detrimental damage done to his arm later a little less so.

Can't decide if this movie's worth a five or no.

I feel like the fighting choreography's a little sloppy sometimes, though the sword duel at the end was just amazing. And unpredictable.

I wonder if his foes face sometimes conveys an 'oh shit Nicholas wasn't supposed to do THAT'... or if it more so mirrors the scene.

Maybe both.

It gets me thinking of Mad Max a bit too, this does. It's post apocalyptic in a dusty way. They've got cars. Tattered clothes and neon beneath the shrine entrances. Strange dances and miniguns and absolute madness that leaves you wondering if they're really alive after all...

What about that blue butterfly? It never comes to fruition. Or does it.

Old and new... I think I will give this a five after all.

 rated 5/5: friggin awesome

Ambiguous end? Check. Dystopian music? Check. Depressing yet artfully beautiful visuals and rough times? Check. Megan Fox? Check. Bad acting? On her part - unfortunately - check that too.

This could've been a good one.

I love the premise.

Though it took me a while to realize it was in fact not a dream.

It felt like she might as well wake up at any minute. But at the least the knight and savior's not the knight you expect. At least things don't always go according to cliché, though there is an awful lot of hide and seek and unnecessary aggression... though the villains feel real. They do amplify the threat. As do the nuances in the initial conversations between man and wife. You sort of know what's coming. Sort of.

I love how the raindrops on the windshield at the beginning go full circle with the bubbles against the ice at the end. I love how the top-down cityscape comes across almost Sci-Fi like - and dystopian - compared to older movies that portray that same scene. I love the colors, and the mood, and the ice and cold, and Megan is beautiful but...

The fear's not always there.

The special effects aren't all great either - like the initial blast. The camera sways a bit much sometimes, and yet the visuals remain clear. It's a bit artificial like that.

Imagine this, as is, but desperate and gritty, with the entire cast? With the filming too? It could've been brutal.

As it is it's not a bad thriller though. Not bad at all.

It leaves with the cold. Feels don'tchaknow but... with all icy persistence. The knife right in vision was gold. But something is missing. When the ice break's indifferent. Something, that's sold.

 rated 3.5/5: not bad at all