Posts from Recently viewed movies. Auto-translated

Steins;Gate 0 (2018)
At first, it was a bit slow, with something truly interesting happening roughly every three episodes. I thought it would continue like that, and I would have to significantly lower the rating.
But no, around the middle of the season, things started to pick up. It became very dynamic. So, I will only slightly lower the overall rating.
In general, I am grateful to this series (and the previous installments). I was starting to forget what it's like when you don't have a super cool "action" with battles and shootouts, when you don't have all sorts of beautiful, mind-blowing animations. When the special effects on the screen aren't particularly impressive, there aren't constant explosions, flashes of flame, and all that "boom-bang" stuff. When you just have a great plot, a couple of interesting characters, and that's enough to be so captivating that you don't want to stop watching. When you experience all of this very deeply and your mood changes accordingly.
Rintaro Okabe is a rare case where I really liked the main character (for some reason, I'm usually more drawn to secondary characters). He's quirky and depressive in turns, but very likeable.
Makise Kurisu is great almost all the time, except for the displays of tsundere-ness – a clear legacy of "novelism," alas. It's bad to spoil characters with silly clichés that don't even have any particular analogues in the real world! But she is a true "Goal," smart and reliable.
Daru is also a good guy, and his image is created in such a way that you even forgive his quirks. Well, almost.
Suzuha – no comment...
In season "0," there was almost no fanservice, which is a pleasant bonus! Except for the image of Maho with her complexes about her height, but you don't pay much attention to that; it's more like a humorous part to slightly relieve the tension.
And the special (episode 24, about Valentine's Day) – you don't need to watch it; it's pointless in terms of the plot and relatively fanservice-y. I won't include it in the overall rating; let's just say it didn't exist.

9/10

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

I don't really like superheroes in general, and Spider-Man is one of my least favorite in terms of design. I don't know why I even watched it.

+ The visual style is really cool and unique.
- The plot is cliché, and there are too many characters.
= 6/10, a plus for the animation, but it's a one-time watch.

Shadow (2018)



The film hasn't been released here yet, but I've already watched it in the Russian dub. At first, I thought I would write a lot... then I decided not to bother. So, in short.

Beautiful, with a more or less interesting concept... a simple plot is turned into complete nonsense due to pretentiousness and excessive complexity, especially when it comes to the characters. Even I, a fan of historical Eastern cinema, was disappointed by this film. And, of course, the realism is at zero.

Only General Yan and his son evoked sympathy; they are the only normal people in the film. This is symbolic, considering their role in the plot. And in the first half of the film, I felt sorry for the main character, but then... who likes cheaters with immortality?

After half an hour of watching, the music starts to irritate. It's very monotonous, and often it interferes with the viewing. Is this some kind of Chinese folk music concert?

Zhang Yimou disappointed me.

4 out of 10

Added 2 minutes later
To specifically explain why it's nonsense, I would have to retell most of the plot and give examples, so just take it as a fact.

Oscar (France, 1967)
This is Louis de Funès. They really went all out... and it was great.
Overall, it's a comedy with a classic theme – about love for women, money, and absurdity. It was funny, but towards the end, it felt a bit forced.
7/10

How to Train Your Dragon 3
I don't regret watching this movie – it's a good ending to the dragon story. But at the same time, I have to admit that the plot isn't great – the conflict wasn't enjoyable, and neither was the villain.
On the plus side, the dragons are charismatic, and there are some good action scenes. There were some beautiful landscapes, but nothing too surprising.
6/10

the villain too

To be fair, they all are like that when it comes to dragons. The only good (i.e., funny) antagonist in the franchise, in my opinion, is Dagur, but he only appears in the series.

How to Train Your Dragon 1, 2, 3
I wanted to go to the cinema to watch the third part (just to have something to do) and, to prepare, I rewatched the first two. In principle, I think all three can be rated together - on the one hand, it's not bad, but on the other hand, I can't say it's super good either. I didn't regret it, but I can't recommend it either. A solid okay/10.

The Lego Movie 2

+ It's decent, I like both this one and the first one, and Batman too. It's moderately funny, and the plot is decent. Also, there's the TARDIS. And there was one moment that floored me for about five minutes, but that's just my personal thing.
- Well, I don't know, there's nothing to really criticize. It doesn't have a "wow" effect, but I didn't really expect it to.
= 8/10, a decent cartoon, plus points for the TARDIS.

How to Train Your Dragon 3

I just rewatched all three parts in one go, and I don't remember the first two very well. But I'll only rate the third one.

+ The plot isn't too overused, which is good.
- Well, I'm not sure, it's not "wow." Surprisingly, I'm not a fan of this franchise at all. It seems cool, but it's not "wow."
= 7/10, the first part is still the best, but this is a worthy conclusion to the trilogy. I'm taking off a few points because I absolutely don't like this cartoon, and I don't know why.

"The White Lion Kimba" in Hollywood style

Once again, I'm trying to understand what's wrong with me. Or with this cartoon.

+ It's really beautiful, atmospheric, and visually stunning – the artists, and to some extent the composers, earned their money. The songs are surprisingly good. It's presented very well.
- Timon and Pumbaa are still annoying. And in general, from such a masterpiece, I want more originality.
= 7/10, I think the cartoon is beautiful and high-quality, but still overrated. I'll deduct a little out of spite and because I'm tired of the cries about "MASTERPIECE!!!111". However, I admit that my perception may be dulled because I watched it a lot as a child, and somehow the plot, the visuals, and everything else have become stale.
But so far, no full-length cartoon has surpassed "WALL-E".

Avengers 4: Endgame

I won't risk spoiling anything, but I'll just say that the movie is roughly twice as weak as the previous one. I didn't expect much, as it's rare for two high-quality hits to be released consecutively, especially in modern times. There are some good scenes, but there are fewer of them compared to the previous film. The ending is subject to most modern trends, which is not surprising, otherwise, why would Carol be needed (although she has relatively little screen time in the movie).

5 out of 10

There was no electricity, so I had to watch a movie on my laptop because, for some reason, there was no anime on it... It was pretty good, but only as an alternative.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

A murky film. The screen was dark, as I assume it was during that very night battle in Stranger Things, throughout the entire film. Even if it were bright, something strange and incomprehensible is still happening. By the middle of the movie, I more or less understood and remembered who all these people were, but why they are such idiots and what they are doing remained a mystery until the very end. The first part was still a comedy with a somewhat unexpected plot twist at the end; here, there are some underdeveloped intrigues instead.
4/10

Slayers (1995, anime series)
Finally, my eyes have reached a classic. A wonderful thing, I laughed a lot. And the characters are very colorful... The main heroine has such an exaggerated sense of self-importance that I actually liked it! Not to mention the other comedians. Zelgadis is also quite cool. However, when they switch from comedy to drama, it becomes worse.
7.5/10

Captain Marvel
Well... I expected something much more. There seems to be some intrigue and not entirely unexpected twists, and the heroine, within the universe, should have been interesting, but in the end, she simply, in the best traditions of shonen, OVERPOWERED AND OPENLY DEFEATED EVERYONE WITH HER INNATE POWER. It's not interesting to watch, frankly, even the Hulk has a more touching story. Oh, this girl-photon...
4/10

Avengers: Endgame
The first part was better... And here, at first, it looked interesting! A depressing world without half the people, Thanos in retirement, it looked psychedelic... And then they mixed in flashbacks and personal stories of the heroes, but since there are a million heroes and everyone needs a story, in the end, despite the indecently long duration of the film, not a single good story emerged.
I would like to discuss the spoilers separately.
1) Captain America and Thor's hammer -- seriously?! Is Captain America now worthy to be the king of Asgard? Why? I understand that the character was clearly under-buffed compared to his colleagues, but this is too much. By the way, you also have Hawkeye and Black Widow under-buffed, give them Thor's hammer too! Oh, wait...
2) Black Widow died... It would be fine, but considering the zero history of the character (literally! We know that she is Russian, an Avenger, and took virtually no part in all previous events)... No family or children. There were some kind of relationship with Captain America, but in the end, it didn't lead to anything? In short, after all this, she dies, everyone on the screen cries hysterically, and the audience in the hall is like: "So what?" Maybe I'm just too callous, but I don't know...
And all these people who care about each other, both Thanos and these guys, didn't even try alternative ways to get the stones, of course...
3) Tony Stark and the Infinity Stones... So, here's the deal. We have stones of super-cool, even cosmic power. We have a gauntlet that helps its owner control this power. We have the Hulk, who is very cool at resisting X-rays, which are emitted in large quantities by the working stones.
The Hulk tried to use the gauntlet, almost died, and has terrible, non-healing burns all over his body (and the Hulk regenerates!).
Iron Man, dying from the wounds that Thanos inflicted on him, stole the stones, put them directly into his armor, and successfully used them. How, you ask? Because he is Batman

Captain Marvel
Well... I expected something much more. There is some intrigue and unexpected twists, and the heroine, considering the universe, should have been interesting, but in the end, she simply followed the best traditions of shonen anime and openly overpowered everyone with her immense power. It's not interesting to watch, frankly, even Hulk has a more touching story. Oh, this girl-photon...
4/10

In my opinion, it's better than Black Panther, which they praised (*a word was omitted to avoid getting a negative review!*). It's more like a typical movie about an overpowered hero, like Superman. Such characters are initially less interesting than more ordinary ones. You watch it just to tick it off the list, so as not to miss a part of the overall universe's plot, just like with Black Panther.

Avengers: Endgame

There are just not enough battles, that's all. I didn't particularly expect epic battles (the massive battle at the end was even unexpected for me, because I thought they would figure it out and that would be it). I also like the time travel stuff, so I enjoyed that part too, as well as the jokes, which this film had more of compared to the first part, as it seemed to me. Maybe the first one is better overall, but this one is good as a conclusion. There was only one awkward moment))
1. They said that he was worthy from the beginning (maybe they came up with this later, but)
2. They will make a solo movie about her, but who needs it
3. We can attribute it to the protection and assistance of the suit, although I've already forgotten the initial reaction to the stones when trying on the glove

battles

Pew-pew-pew, I killed you, no, I killed you! I can fly, and I have eyes for hands that shoot lasers, whoosh, tr-tr-trrr.