I think I've seen this one before...

It's a hostage scenario. Plus a keep-driving-or-something-happens scenario. But with less desperation. Since they stop sometimes. And then keep going. And certain actions they take have no repercussions!

They handled the edge way better with Liam Neeson's more recent chase movie, or more ironically with the classic Speed. This was... sub-par.

I like Selena Gomez. Initially she comes across quite the asshole here - and Ethan Hawke in contrast an an almost unnaturally calm and submissive guy - but she grows on you. Even if the scripting's fairly inconsistent, with her for example shouting 'this is awesome' during a particularly wild part of a chase - at a point you figure she's taken a liking to the main character - to just moments later tell him that she really hates him.

Their bonding process comes with both certain obstacles, and certain inconsistencies, you might say.

There's also a gap of realism in how timely the police show up after they've hotwired the cam, and how easy it was to hotwire in the first place.

Would they really immediately understand what's going on before they've reached the hangar? Would they also subsequently immediately allow Ethan to just drive away - intent on saving the girl as he is? And didn't he get shot?!

They just glance over that little detail.

But the one thing that bothers me absolutely the most is how much AWESOME car chase footage is wasted on all too many cuts, and close-camera footage. The explosions at the train park, the power plant - there's so much creative car-related choreography as they float through the city on robust wheels and that awesome shielded Shelby GT500 Super Snake (that does look realistically bashed up at the end of it all)... WASTED!

They have ONE continuous car-chase sequence towards the end of the movie that truly delivers. Where they blaze through intersections, overtake cars, and buses, and move through open but not entirely empty city streets in a mad pace - and you can clearly feel the speed and exhilaration. And they have a few scenes where they have a camera in a fixed location that allow you to survey a particular slice of action in a good way - like when that truck rams the vehicle at the intersection.

Other than that they waste so much! They cut from one driver to the other, to wheels, to chassis, to distance shot, to close-up shot, to rear lights, to windows, to characters, to vehicle side, and so on, and so on, and so on... and they never let you focus!

What's the benefit of this being a chase you can experience through a movie when it's cut up this much - to the point you lose all sense of speed and timing?

They do convey the chaos and carnage, but so much of that is lost too when you never get a more distanced view of collisions and explosions.

Did they get too much good footage they just didn't want to waste? They seem either overly ambitious or incompetent with the edits. And it's unfortunate, because the chases really ARE bad-ass.

You just don't get to see them that way.

Initially there is way too much focus on the characters inside the car as well, even though all of the intensity's situated outside it.

It ends well, and with a twist, and the cast and plot was good but... what a shame on all that good footage.

Props Jon Voight too. And that unexpected end.

 rated 3.5/5: not bad at all

Here's a spacey, post-apocalyptic, futuristic, sci-fi movie, about a world where the air's no longer breathable, and humanity is ruled by one great, benevolent corporation... with an unexpected NWA acronym - that worked better than expected! Nicely done.

The special effects suck, everything else is great. The tech, the props, the atmospheric lighting. But most of all the relationship between Crash Buist and Lauren Senechal. It's charmingly chaotic, and Lauren in particular is just wonderful. Great chemistry.

They turn a dystopian world into a better place... well not all the way. But they're working on it.

It ends a little like Alita: Battle Angle. But the other way around.

You'll get it.

Seems this could have a sequel but I wonder if it will... this is
wholesome too.

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle

The post-colonial powers in India decided to take advantage of the situation and continue to oppress the downtrodden.

There's a non-descript description if I've ever seen one. Though... it works.

And the visuals in this! The sensuality. The bad-assary. The slow-mo and battles... it all goes beyond what I was expecting.

The story's an epic one too. Of lordship and defiance. Of slavery and love. Of sacrifice and power.

Though Mallesh sometimes seems so strong, and sometimes... not so much.

There are cultural elements here that feel a bit too foreign for me. Like for example there's a whole lot of talk on the topic of drinking someone else's pee - as if the ultimate form of submission and shame.

But the fights are still magnificent, and the romances maybe even more so, and in the end it really makes well do with the saying that 'absolute power corrupts absolutely'. From one tyrant to another...

Wonder if it's a pike at the social hierarchies of India too.

They still have 'em, after all.

Great watch either way. Visually amazing. Script-wise? A little messy. A little all over the place. A little baffling - though I don't know if that's a fault of the story or of the subtitles, or my outsider reference frame.

It might be both. Still all but lame this game, from ball and chain to appall and reign.

Great watch.

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle

Here's an amateur horror movie for real, but they do do some things right! The effects are good. The props are good. The characters are readable and real. It's... not great though. It keeps you watching but doesn't amaze.

Gotta say though they managed a lot with little... solid production on very apparent tight budget.

It is atmospheric, and the cast ain't bad.

 rated 3/5: not bad

Here's the perfect heist movie if there ever was one! It still is. With the gadgetry, with the cast, with the settings and transitions and jives and jitteriness and everything in between.

The timing's a bit too impeccable sometimes - like how were they so sure Tess would turn on the TV quickly enough to see the right footage. Or not notice the phone when she sat down first, and discard it then. Or some-thing such but... it wouldn't make for as good a movie if she did huh?

These are details I definitely didn't consider the first two or three times I saw this now. Least I don't think so. IF I did maybe I didn't mind then - just like now. I don't now either.

What a grand, gallant and charismatic criminal movie this is! Criminally overrated too? No way. The score's deserved. It's just right. The sequels may not be all that but this is definitely one I'll keep coming back to.

Soderbergh you genius you.

Friggin' great.

 rated 5/5: friggin awesome

Crappy soundtrack. Too experimental. Too simple to be experimental. For the most part though there's no music at all; it sounds alright... that's my first impression at least. Maybe the music grows on me.

The characters are legit from the jump though - even if they come across more comical than they should sometimes. They're good guys - even the bad ones. Or maybe it's the other way around. Maybe even the ones that seem to have a little good in them are rotten apples... but maybe that doesn't matter after all.

And Jack's a tough old dude. A crackshot too. And the sons... the sons. What a story. Reminds me of Friday... they have a both frustrating and entertaining dynamic, where the bickering is but an iceberg tip of uncertainty.

Fate has it... yeah, fate has it.

Fake-looking blood, but a lot of real-looking gunfire!

Good movie. It's a farce. In the best way.

All about the money.

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle