20s Movie Review - Where the Crawdads Sing

Director: Olivia Newman
Genre: Drama/ Mystery/ Romance
Runtime: 125 minutes
Year: 2022
Starring: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Taylor John Smith, Harris Dickinson, David Strathairn, Michael Hyatt, Sterling Macer Jr., Garrett Dillahunt, Ahna O’Reilly  

Description: A woman (Daisy Edgar-Jones) who raised herself in the marshes of the Deep South becomes a suspect in the murder of a man with whom she was once involved.

Review: “Where the Crawdads Sing” is a film based on the novel of the same name, written by Delia Owens and released in 2018. The book became extremely popular, being piced up as a favorite for Reese Witherspoon’s book club, so a movie was the logical next step.

The story is about Kya, a young girl who lives with the family in the marshes of North Carolina. Her mother has a terrible life because her father is not averse to abuse. When Kya’s mom leaves and eventually her siblings are done with the violence as well, Kya is left hopelessly behind with her father. When her father later also leaves, she is struggling to survive on her own.

When Kya grows up, she is simply known as “the marsh girl”. When suddenly, Chase Andrews, a wealthy young man from Barkley Cove, dies in a strange way, everyone in the village has their judgment ready: it was Kya, the marsh girl.  

“Where the Crawdads Sing” has a well-constructed story. Kya is portrayed as an easy victim, simply because she is different. The movie is entirely consistent with the book, only little has changed. The ending, which I did predict when I read the book, is surprising to most. The tension persists until the end of the story.

But still, the book is better. Because the tension is more present there, the movie somehow missed that mark.

Rating: 3, 5 /5 

Movie Review - Army of the Dead

Director: Zack Snyder
Genre: Action/ Horror/ Crime
Runtime: 148 minutes
Year: 2021
Starring: Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Omari Hardwick, Ana de la Reguera, Theo Rossi, Garret Dillahunt, Matthias Schweighöfer, Nora Arnezeder, Hiroyuki Sanada, Tig Notaro, Raúl Costillo, Huma Qureshi

Description: Following a zombie outbreak in Las Vegas, a group of mercenaries take the ultimate gamble, venturing into the quarantine zone to pull off the greatest heist ever attempted.

Review: Director Zack Snyder was given all the space he needed at Netflix to make an off-the-wall zombie movie to his own taste. With that, Snyder created a crazy roller coaster ride, full of questionable characters and extreme bloodshed.  
Based on the title and the content, you might expect a sequel to “Dawn of the Dead”, the film with which Snyder broke through as a director in 2004. But nothing could be further from the truth: “Army of the Dead” marks the start of a completely new zombie franchise, which will later be supplemented by a spin-off film, an anime series and a (possible) sequel.
The opening of “Army of the Dead” immediately create high expectations, especially for the fans of gore. While the cheerful song ‘Viva Las Vegas” sounds, we witness the zombie outbreak in the famous gambling city: half-naked strippers bite, bullets fly around, blood splashes everywhere, limbs and heads all over the place. The Strip, after which the army decides to seal off the entire are hermetically with a wall of shipping containers. Nice start.
A little later we are introduced to Scott Ward, a roughneck with a small heart, who managed to escape from the quarantine zone just in time. Now he runs a burger restaurant, but even there he gets little rest. A Japanese businessman makes him an offer: Scott must return to Las Vegas, where the city is still filled with the undead, to crack a safe under a casino, where hundreds of millions of dollars are stored in cash. But he has to hurry, because within 48 hours the whole place will be bombed. Why would someone take a job like that? Obviously money. In Scott’s case, the reward is fifty million dollars.
Zack Snyder created kind of a kingdom for his zombies, where a number of specific rules and laws apply. For example, from time to time some sacrifices are required. And there is also a hierarchy within the zombie community, which is lead by the Alphas.
“Army of the Dead” is certainly not a dull affair. It only because the film has a warm beating heart in the form of Dave Bautista, who plays remarkably well. And the film only has a few moments of rest where you can take a breath. It’s a wild ride.
The film has a lot of side characters and they don’t come off equally well. The low point is Dieter, a German boy who starts screaming at every noise or movement. He is extremely annoying and completely misses the mark on the assembly line. The female characters come off a little better here. Take the Coyote, she is a really cool character.
The runtime is something that could bother you, because they could have taken off at least 15 minutes. But overall, for fans of zombie movies, “Army of the Dead” is a great treat.

Rating: 3,5/ 5