Tag / gal gadot

by Jaime Rebanal

Justice League – Review

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My friend Noah Miles wrote in his Spider-Man: Homecoming review, “I don’t know if Jon Watts is a good director. I really don’t. It’s impossible to tell from this, although the direction here is probably the worst I’ve seen so far this year, because Marvel reshoots everything and rarely allows directors creative freedom to take risks and do something visually interesting.” It was the first thing that came into my head after having left Justice League, because from the many reshoots that came along since Zack Snyder left the production after the death of his daughter, you can really tell this isn’t so much of a Zack Snyder film. As a matter of fact, it seems more like the traces of a butchered plan that were haphazardly stitched together as a means of trying to appeal to the masses. The sad thing is, there’s barely enough about Justice League as it stands that truly works.

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by Jaime Rebanal

Wonder Woman – Review

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It’s already about time, we finally have received a live action Wonder Woman film. Among many things that surprise me, one that comes out the most is the fact that it had taken this long for the demigoddess to receive her own film and we’ve finally come this far, but at the same time comes the first female-directed superhero film with a female lead, with Patty Jenkins directing for the first time since 2003’s Monster. After the disasters of Catwoman and Elektra, what’s there to be said about Wonder Woman? The most pleasing thing to report is the fact that not only is it just a great superhero movie as a whole and one of the better ones to have come in recent memory, but just a great film all around. After all of these years without having her own live action film, not only does Wonder Woman finally manage to have the spotlight for herself but she’s also set an example for the very highest points of superhero cinema from recent memory.

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by Jaime Rebanal

Triple 9 – Review

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There’s a joy to watching heist films that felt so stunningly absent while Triple 9 was going on. Remember how expertly crafted the tension can be at least when done so perfectly under the hands of Michael Mann, Jean-Pierre Melville, or Jules Dassin when they were directing Heat, Le Cercle Rouge, or Rififi? Try to imagine any of those three films which I’ve mentioned without the suspense that kept everyone at the edge of their seat, and within no time, you’ll have whatever it was that Triple 9 was offering. Admittedly, you have two fantastic heist sequences setting the bar for the film, but my only wish was that John Hillcoat, whose own body of work I haven’t particularly been the most fond of, had chosen to handle them in a manner it would really stick within my head. Continue reading →

by Jaime Rebanal

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Review

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Somehow, Zack Snyder turned Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice into what it was that I wanted out of the drearily ugly Man of Steel, and the results are rather satisfying. Seeing how he’s willing to explore the potential that he had and turn it all into this, I’m only interested in seeing what more can Snyder do when he’s behind comic book films and seeing as I’ve not been all too impressed with his earlier offerings (Watchmen being a notable exception), I’m finding myself haven been proven wrong if he is indeed to direct more films where he shows his potential in the way he did with this. Continue reading →