Genre: Drama/ Action
Posts tonen met het label Will Poulter. Alle posts tonen
Posts tonen met het label Will Poulter. Alle posts tonen
zaterdag 12 juli 2025
Movie Review - Warfare
Genre: Drama/ Action
zaterdag 13 mei 2023
Movie Review - Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Genre: Action/ Science Fiction/ Adventure/ Comedy
WEEK 19: A SEQUEL
Rocket, or experiment 89P13, turns out to be a creation of the High Evolutionary; a scientist who has set himself the goal of creating the perfect race and the perfect society. In the process, the self-appointed Messiah makes a lot of victims, lots of innocent victims. And with that he is by far the most evil Marvel villain yet. And I will add him to my list of most hated movie characters ever. The antagonist, strongly portrayed by Chukwudi Iwuju, holds the key to Rocket’s recovery.
The film clearly takes a darker path than its predecessors. The opening tune illustrates this perfectly. No upbeat song as usual, but an acoustic version of Radiohead’s melancholy “Creep”. “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” is definitely still a funny sci-fi action comedy, but the emotional depth and somewhat heavier subject matter make it a more mature film. The caption on the poster says it all: “once more with feeling”. And I felt all the feels.
The plot consists of two storylines that converge at the end in a blistering finale. In the main story, which has all the action and humor, we follow the Guardians on their crazy and beautifully designed space adventure, in which, among other things, they take on a copy of Earth and a completely organic space station against the genetically engineered misfits of the high Evolutionary. The subplot serves as an emotional counterpoint, telling the equally wry and touching, but also sad story of Rocket’s genesis. Rocket has always been my favorite of the Guardians, but he most definitely is my favorite Marvel character of all-time as well. This one hit me hard.
James Gunn shifts incredibly cleverly between the two well-written storylines, alternating dramatic seriousness with humor, and CGI action spectacle with story and character development. With a well-balanced phasing, he keeps attention firmly from beginning to end, and with his once again phenomenally compiled playlist, he adds an awful lot of color to the film.
The highlight of the film are the perfectly cast, imperfect characters. All Guardians have their flaws and this is precisely what makes them so interesting. Their noble actions are partly motivated by a desire for redemption from an often dark past. This provides the team of misfits with an approachable humanity.
Nebula, meanwhile, is a full-fledged fun-loving Guardian and finally begins to thaw out, while Gamora, returned from the past and remembering nothing, takes her place as the pessimist of the group. It is a stroke of genius to have the sisters switch roles because with the new group dynamic, Gunn avoids a repetition of moves. Peter Quill’s character steps a bit to the background this time, Groot is in the prime of his life and the ever-dry Drax along with Mantis, provide the film’s comedic highlights. But Rocket is everything to me in this film.
I’m giving “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” a perfect rating, purely out of emotion, because to me this trilogy is the perfect one and it’s very near and dear to my heart. The series had a perfect conclusion with this emotional rollercoaster. I literally cannot fault it.
Rating: 5/ 5
zondag 2 oktober 2022
TV Show Review - Dopesick (Mini Series)
Genre: Drama
The question, of course, is how on earth doctors, pharmacists and regulators could let this happen. The eight-part series “Dopesick” tries to answer that question, which is not easy. The creators portray the history through the Sackler family (owners of Purdue Pharma) and the sales representatives who convince doctors to prescribe the pills. In addition, we see the doctors and their patients, the cops who see how addiction in turn leads to crime and the drug enforcement agency DEA doing everything in its power to take down Purdue.
What makes “Dopesick” so brilliant is on the one hand the incredible but true story, and on the other the human way it is told. We are introduced to Samuel Finnix, played excellently by Michael Keaton. He is a family doctor in a mining town who initially gets great results with OxyContin, but then sees how addiction destroys lives and families. Betsy Mallum, played convincingly by Kaitlyn Dever, is one of his patients who slips into an existence as a junkie because of the OxyContin. Both actors shine in their performances and Keaton won an Emmy for his role.
Will Poulter also plays one of the better roles, as the smooth-talking salesmen Billy Cutler, who at first picks up fantastic bonuses, but then slowly falls into conscience. This does not bother Richard Sackler (Michal Stuhlbarg): as boss of Purdie Pharma, he sees the billions pouring in. Stuhlbarg manages to portray Sackler as an emotionless businessman only wanting more. Furthermore, Peter Sarsgaard, John Hoogenakker and Rosario Dawson, among others, play some of the driven agents who want to take the pills of the market. The good fleshing out of all these characters keeps the series from becoming a documentary.
Based on Beth Macy’s book of the same name, the creators of “Dopesick” so not tell the story neatly in chronological order but jump back and forth in time. And it actually helps to see the big picture and connections without confusion.
While watching “Dopesick” you will most definitely feel many emotions and the one most presence is anger. As in how so many people could be so greedy and corrupt to allow this drama of unprecedented magnitude to happen. We never really get an answer to that, which makes it even more frustrating. But “Dopesick” is one of the most intense and realistic mini series based on true events I have seen in a long time. I loved it.
woensdag 25 maart 2020
10s Movie Review - Midsommar
Genre: Drama/ Horror/ Thriller
Runtime: 147 minutes
Year: 2019
Starring: Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, Will Poulter, Vilhelm Blomgren, William Jackson Harper, Ellora Torchia, Archie Madekwe, Henrik Norlén, Gunnel Fred, Isabelle Grill, Agnes Westerlund Rase, Julia Ragnarsson, Mats Blomgren, Lars Väringer
Description: A couple travels to Sweden to visit a rural hometown’s fabled mid-summer festival. What begins as an idyllic retreat quickly devolves into an increasingly violent and bizarre competition at the hands of a pagan cult.
Review: With “Hereditary” director Ari Aster had a dream debut. The horror genre is a tough genre to rise in, since it lacks originality, but Aster manager to stand out. It also resulted in a fantastic leading performance by Toni Collette, that was totally ignored by the Academy, but that happens often with movies like this. Little more than a year later, Aster brings us “Midsommar” and it shows that his debut wasn’t just a lucky shot. Again a horror film that shows how great he is with visuals. And the first original part is that it’s a horror film in broad daylight. I can’t really explain fully what I just watched, but I am going to try. One thing is sure, it’s a good film that will haunt you for a while.
“Hereditary” was in basis a family drama that eventually turned in to a horror film. “Midsommar” presents itself as a relationship drama that undergoes a similar transformation. Dani and Christian are a young couple and their relationship is a bit lost. Christian has tried to end the relationship, but after Dani loses her parents and sister in a strange suicide pact, Christian decides to stick with her for a while longer. Since it would send Dani into a deeper depression. Christian thinks he can escape from all the misery when he plans a trip to Sweden with his friends. Eventually he asks Dani with him on the trip.
The Americans don’t take the typical eurotrip. One of Christian’s friends is Pelle, a Swedish exchange student, and they travel to his hometown. It’s not your standard village, but a commune that fully surrenders itself to pagan rituals during a 9-day mid-summer festival. It gives you an insight in the different culture, but you also know that this idyllic place has a dark side. Aster takes his time, it’s a so-called ‘slow burn’. There are hints along the way. Fortunately, during that descent into madness (which takes increasingly grotesque forms) the relationship drama is never lost. Even in the somewhat absurd finale, this remains the backbone of the film.
Despite this, “Midsommar is unmistakably a horror film, but in many ways Aster manages to avoid the conventions of the genre. Like the black friend in the company is not the comic relief this time, but and anthropology student with serious interest in the Swedish traditions. And, as I mentioned before, the fact that most of the film is set in broad daylight instead of during night time. And doing this and still manage to make this film creepy as it is and very disturbing, is a talent on its own.
“Hereditary” had all the film press applauding, but the big audience was a bit indifferent about it. And that will not be different for “Midsommar”. It’s dares to be different and doesn’t compare to any modern day horror films. No jump scares, no stereotypical characters or predictable storylines. Aster made some long shots, without cutting away and gives them time. As a viewer you feel discomfort settling in and it stars to feel a bit uneasy. “Midsommar” is not for everyone. but when you open up it, you can expect something you haven’t seen before.
Rating: 4 / 5
woensdag 17 februari 2016
100 Movie Challenge 2016 - # 23: The Revenant
Director: Alejandro González Iñarritu
Genre: Drama/ Adventure/ Thriller
Runtime: 156 minutes
Year: 2015
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson, Will Poulter, Paul Anderson, Lukas Haas, Javier Botet, Brendan Fletcher, Brad Carter, Kristoffer Joner, Kory Grimm
Description: A frontiersman (Leonardo DiCaprio) on a fur trading expedition in the 1820s fights for survival after being mauled by a bear and left for dead by members of his own hunting team.
Review: “The Revenant” tells the remarkable true story of Hugh Glass. The viewer is sucked in immediately, when we see a fight scene between the traders and natives. Glass, and a small group of survivors, manage to escape on a boat. But that’s when the real drama starts. When they find a place to stay for a while, Glass explores the area. He is attacked by a bear and he is severely injured. It looks like he’s not going to make it. A few men, one of them being John Fitzgerald, offer to stay with him. He however leaves Glass for dead. But Glass is not willing to give up.
Leonardo DiCaprio, who plays Hugh Glass, doesn’t have a lot of dialogue after his bear attack. But he manages to show us his emotions through his eyes and moans. DiCaprio and his will to live are the spindle of “The Revenant”. But Tom Hardy, as Fitzgerald, delivers an equally impressive performance. I think his portrayal of Fitzgerald is a bit underrated and underappreciated, because everyone talks about Dicaprio’s performance. The young Will Poulter, as Bridger, was also surprisingly good.
But the best and most beautiful thing about “The Revenant” is that the great acting goes hand in hand with gorgeous images of nature. It looks breathtaking. Everything was filmed with natural lighting. The camera work is fantastic, there are some shots in the film I still don’t know how they did it. This all makes “The Revenant” a cinematographic masterpiece.
Rating: 4,5/ 5
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