10s Movie Review - Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

Director: Luc Besson
Genre: Science Fiction/ Action/ Adventure/ Fantasy
Runtime: 135 minutes
Year: 2017
Starring: Dane DeHaan, Cara Delevigne, Clive Own, Rihanna, Ethan Hawke, Sam Spruell, Kris Wu, Herbie Hancock, Rutger Hauer

Description: A dark force threathens, Aplha, a vast metropolis and home to species from a thousand planets. Special operative Valerian (Dane DeHaan) and Laureline (Cara Delevigne)  must race to identify the marauding menace and safeguard not just Alpha, but the future of the universe.

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2020 MOVIE CHALLENGE
WEEK 48: A MOVIE SET IN SPACE

Review: “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets”: a spectacular yet chaotic film, with ugly computer-generated aliens and a wooden love plot.
The stories about the intergalactic secret agent Valerian find their origin in a series of French comic strips released in the mid-1960s. Director Luc Besson must have been a big fan of the books, he tried to bring the phenomenon to the screen. Hoping for the new “Star Wars”. Well, that didn’t happen…
When it comes to visuals of the world of Valerian, it’s really good. It’s just such a shame that it has to have a screenplay attached to it. Because almost everything that can go wrong, goes wrong.
There is hardly a story. An artifact of an extinct civilization pops up and several parties want their share of it. The survivors of the race want to rebuilt their cultire, one group of people wants to investigate it and yet another group has nefarious plans to do so. Main characters Valerian and Laureline are of course the second group, that wants to make sure that the best possible solution is chosen.
So simple, but that’s not a problem when then background is a bit interesting and you are invested in the characters. But none of that is present. The two actors, Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevigne, miss every spark of charisma. DeHaan doesn’t come across as the rough space adventurer he has to portray. Instead, he feels more like a Keanu Reeves impersonator that completely misses the point. Delevigne is not much better. The love story is wooden and the dialogues are sometimes cringeworthy.
The list of error the film has is endless. Because despite the visual beauty, the context is missing. It’s messy, chaotic and it lacks interesting characters. “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets” doesn’t even come close to being the new “Star Wars”.

Rating: 1, 5/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2017 - # 119: Tulip Fever

Director: Justin Chadwick
Genre: Drama/ Romance
Runtime: 105 minutes
Year: 2017
Starring: Alicia Vikander, Christoph Waltz, Dane DeHaan, Holiday Grainger, Tom Hollander, Jack O’Connell, Judi Dench, Zach Galifianakis, Matthew Morrison, Kevin McKidd, Cara Delevingne

Description: An artist (Dane DeHaan) falls for a young married woman (Alicia Vikander) while he's commissioned to paint her portrait during the Tulip mania of 17th century Amsterdam.

Review: In the Golden Age, tulip fever drove everyone crazy in The Netherlands. Anyone with enough florins joined the trade. In shady bars the most exotic tulips were auctioned, sometimes even before seeing them. In “Tulip Fever” this sets the background of he story of a forbidden romance between a married woman and an artist. Together they scheme a plan to flee the life they are living now.
Cornelis Sandvoort marries the much younger Sophia. He want a beautiful portrait of them and he hires painter Jan van Loos. A decision he will later regret. Because Jan falls madly in love with Sophia and they start a passionate affair.
Cornelis is a old man, who someone you can never sympathize with. He is a cold man who only married Sophia for one reason: to get a son. His personal losses from a previous marriage make him not any more human. It’s not that strange that Sophia seeks the love of another man. But she doesn’t seem this unhappy with Cornelis either. The motives of the characters are so shallow and bland. Sad, because director Justin Chadwick managed to get so many fantastic actors.
Somehow Sophia feels the love for Jan right after the first portrait session and immediately wants to flee from her husband. The chemistry between Alicia Vikander and Dane DeHaan never really convinces. And they hardly pay any attention to Sophia’s conscience, only in the last couple of minutes of the film.
The film rushes, the ‘master plan’ feels a bit improbable and sometimes comes off as ridiculous. “Tulip Fever” lacks of subtlety and the characters are somewhat soulless.
I was so excited for this film, but man did this disappoint me! I hate when that happens.

Rating: 2/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2017 - # 80: A Cure For Welness

Director: Gore Verbinski
Genre: Drama/ Thriller
Runtime: 146 minutes
Year: 2016
Starring: Dane DeHaan, Jason Isaacs, Mia Goth, Celia Imrie

Description: An ambitious young executive (Dane DeHaan) is sent to retrieve his company's CEO from an idyllic but mysterious "wellness center" at a remote location in the Swiss Alps, but soon suspects that the spa's treatments are not what they seem.

Review: “A Cure For Wellness” is one of my most anticipated movies for 2017 (Dutch release) and it didn’t disappoint. It’s a visually interesting mystery thriller.
In “A Cure For Wellness”, the ambitious stockbroker Lockhart travels to a spa in Switzerland, to retrieve the CEO of the company he works for. The task to bring Pembroke back isn’t that easy though. Not only does the clinic seem mysterious and suspicious, the treatment by doctor Volmer sounds strange too. When Lockhart gets into an accident, he ends up in the clinic himself and he starts to discover the mystery behind the clinic.
The movie is visually stunning. Lots of great camera work and beautiful images. The story is interesting and captivating. But also scary and disturbing at times.
The film got mixed reviews, but I loved “A Cure For Wellness”. It’s a bit odd, makes bold choices and is risky. It’s definitely not for everyone. Especially not for the weak stomach. But I love how this film dares to be different and takes risks. It works. The movie is original and keeps you in the dark for a long time. This can frustrate you, but I liked that. It isn’t until almost at the end, that you see what is really going on in that clinic.
I seriously don’t understand why people hate this film.

Rating: 5/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 47: Devil's Knot

Director: Atom Egoyan

Genre: Drama/ Crime/ Thriller

Runtime: 114 minutes

Year: 2013

Starring: Colin Firth, Reese Witherspoon, Alessandro Nivola, James Hamrick, Seth Meriwether, Kristopher Higgins, Amy Ryan, Robert Baker, Collette Wolfe, Rex Linn, Bruce Greenwood, Kristoffer Polaha, Matt Letscher, Michael Gladis, Stephen Moyer, Martin Hednerson, Ted Huckabee, Elias Koteas, Dane DeHaan, Kerry Cahill, Jet Jurgensmeyer, Paul Boardman Jr., Brandon Spink, Kevin Durand, Julie Ivey

Description: The savage murders of three young children sparks a controversial trial of three teenagers accused of killing the kids as part of a satanic ritual.

Review: “Devil’s Knot” is based on the book with the same name by Mara Leveritt. The author was inspired by real life events. The trial of ‘The West Memphis Three’ was the inspiration for both book and movie. Director Atom Egoyan decided to make it into a movie.

In 1993 three children were murdered, in a town in Memphis. After a few weeks the suspects were arrested. Three teenagers, The West Memphis Three, were caught and they were accused of using satanic rituals. They were convicted for the murders. The end? Not exactly, because a lot of facts were wrong and the police wasn’t thorough enough. The question is: are the teenagers really guilty? The movie is almost two hours long and this is simply not enough time to tell the entire story. It’s a complicated case and there isn’t enough room for the characters, because there are so many people involved in the case. Director Egoyan bit off more than he could chew.

Reese Witherspoon plays the mother of one of the murdered boys. She does a good job. She manages to show desperation and despair, but her character doesn’t really add anything. Colin Firth’s character has the same problem. The three suspects don’t get enough screen time, which is a shame.

Atom Egoyan tried, that’s a plus. He didn’t want to give us a boring history lesson. But the movie simply doesn’t work that wellm when the source material is so interesting. It’s just an okay film, which could have been so much better. Shame.

Rating: 2,5/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 27: Lawless

Director: John Hillcoat

Genre: Crime/ Drama

Runtime: 115 minutes

Year: 2012

Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy, Jason Clarke, Jessica Chastain, Guy Pearce, Mia Wasikowska, Dane DeHaan, Gary Oldman

Description: A trio of bootlegging brothers are threatened by a new special deputy and other authorities angling for a cut of their profits.

Review: They are inaccessible, the legendary image of the Bondurant family. Wars, epidemics, nothing got to them for decades. This family is the focus of “Lawless” directed by John Hillcoat. Leader is Forrest, and we also have older brother Howard and the youngest Jack.

“Lawless” is set in the thirties of the twentieth century in Virginia. De brothers Bondurant are leading an okay life, with their own illegal trade in beverage. But when a new sheriff comes to town, this life changes. Sheriff Rakes wants everyone to live by his rules and the Bondurant family is his biggest problem. Where others surrounder to Rakes, the Bondurant brothers don’t give in and fight him.

Although the leader of the Bondurants is Forrest, the leading role is for Jack. Shia LaBeouf manages to keep up with the other big names in the cast. Jessica Chastain shines as always, but she isn’t given that much to do. Gary Oldman is hardly in it and Guy Pearce is a creepy, convincing Sheriff. But it’s Tom Hardy that steals the show. There is something about Hardy that I can’t resist.

“Lawless” is a good western/ gangster film. It’s a movie that does lots of good thing, like the setting, the actors and the pace. But the lack of depth is a negative, both in the story as the characters. This makes “Lawless” an uncomplicated enjoyable watch.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 1: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Director: Marc Webb

Genre: Action/ Adventure/ Fantasy

Runtime: 142 minutes

Year: 2014

Starring: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan, Campbell Scott, Colm Feore, Embeth Davidtz, Sally Field, Paul Giamatti, Denis Leary, Felicity Jones

Description: When New York is put under siege by Oscorp, it is up to Spider-Man (Andrew Garfield) to save the city he swore to protect as well as his loved ones.

Review: After Spider-Man took on The Lizard in “The Amazing Spider-Man”, he has become a hero and peace has come to New York. Off course not for long. The powerful Oscorp has a lot of secrets. When boss Norman Osborn dies, he hands it over to his son Harry. When in the meantime Oscorp employee Max Dillon gets into an accident, he loses his humanity and mental health. Spider-Man has no time to sit back and relax.

This pretty much sums up the story of “The Amazing Spider-Man 2”. In the two and a half hour runtime it’s mostly rough love scenes and action sequences full off special effects. The quality of the CGI is variable. It’s strange that they choose Electro as the main villain and not Spider-Man’s number one rival Norman Osborn. Electro doesn’t really contribute much. And not even to mention Rhino, whom I found ridiculous and he was only it for a few minutes.

It’s very obvious the actors enjoyed working on this project, which makes it a joy for the viewers too. But because the earlier series, with Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man, isn’t that long ago, it makes this newer series repetitive.

It’s the little details though that make “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” interesting. The secrets of Peter’s parents are revealed. It gives the man behind Spider-Man a history. And the film has some great action scenes. It also has catchy humor, human superheroes an very bad guys.

“The Amazing Spider-Man 2” never goes above average, though it’s entertainment level is pretty high. The movie is a bit too long, because it misses pace. Not Marvel’s best.

Rating: 2/ 5