Maul83's Reviews
Woke free on intial viewing.
This is a classic 80s style action movie plot, with modern day fight choreography. I didn't detect any woke traces here, some may say the character of Nik being a strong fighter because she is female and shouldn't be able to take on some of these guys, but there was no woke messaging behind that. They never elevated her above anyone, or made Chris Hemsworth weaker to make her look good, it was purely a movie expecting you to go with it, and she takes just as many hits as everyone else, she isn't a super woman.
There are some ridiculous elements to the movie that it expects you to just accept, for example (mild spoilers) the montage before he goes on the mission. Having barely survived his wounds in the last movie, Tyler has to recover. It takes him 9 months, but at the end of the 9 months he accepts this job and does a montage to train. It never shows him really struggle in the montage, he just does a couple manly things in the snow ala Rocky 4 and its done. It never really shows him struggle, this could be cheesy but the overall plot is serious, so shifting the tone a bit would have worked. Also he has his arm in a cast for those 9 months, and the movie could have used that previous injury during the main plot for tension but it never did.
The action is really good and easy to tell what is happening. The themes in the movie isn't super important but it does deal with fathers and father figures and their importance, but its surface level.
Worth watching if you miss the golden era of action films.
Created: 06-28-2023
Woke but not preachy about it
The worst thing about the movie is that Chris Pine does essentially nothing but get people to help him and make plans. Everyone else is effective but him, but he is so charming and has a good motivation that makes it watchable and I don't feel like the film actively disrespects him.
Now in this film I don't think having a female barbarian who kicks ass is necessarily woke, as we aren't talking about established characters here its like if a group of friends made D&D characters, they would make these characters. Like if Michele Rodriguez made a D&D character that would 100% be her character. And speaking of her, in every other performance she is in, I think she is a bit much, but because this is the first time that I have seen where its a bit tounge in cheek and her persona gets jokes at her expense, I actually liked her quite a bit here.
The main villain kinda sucked. Her powers were intimidating but she looked like a strong breeze would blow her over. Hugh Grant wasn't bad, he did most of the heavy lifting for her.
Justice Smith, who I've seen in other things and found him to be a wooden AF actor, is okay here. They could have gotten someone better, but he could have been worse.
There is quite a few rule deviations in the game, and before you scream nerd, I think they would have heightened the tension a bit. For example Druids can not infinitely shape shift unless they are level 20. I doubt the druid character here is, yet she can. While the chase scene where she does is exciting, I think bringing the number down would have made it more tense. And Bards should have spells. As I said Chris Pine does very little here, and giving him a sword and a spell or two would have taken away my biggest criticism.
Created: 06-20-2023
How did this get woke free?
The main character is a descendant of Christ, who works in an ABORTION CLINIC, and God is played by Alanis Morissette.
Created: 06-01-2023
Its a bit woke.
The character Shuri is a total Mary Sue, and barely out of her teens is as smart as Bruce Banner. Give me a break. Other wise, it isn't that bad, but you know what they were trying to do there.
Created: 06-01-2023
The intention behind the original novel was woke, but it doesn't judge you for rooting for the non woke`
Hopefully that subject makes sense.
I don't think its fair to say this film is non woke. It's author (of the original graphic novel) structured the world in response to Thatcher-ism (he's British) and his interpretation of Nixon is that he is serving his 4th term.
That said, the film itself does a good job of moral ambiguity, and making Rorschach into a fan favourite, however this is completely at odds with the original authors intentions. Granted that is the graphic novel, and I don't think Zack Synder who made this film made it with that interpretation in mind, hence why I say its only a bit woke.
It is very close to the source material (goes to show you that in the 80s even the left could write their political opposition well), but Alan Moore (the book's creator, who wasn't involved in the film) doesn't see Rorschach (who is a Objectivist) as the hero. When you look at it through that lens you do greatly appreciate how Zack Synder did not lean on that interpretation and choose to make it very close to the source material.
I still have to give it some woke, because I know the film is trying to be ambiguous on that ending (and don't get me wrong, it SHOULD do that), its a bit woke for even suggesting the alternative was a viable option.
But its a great film, I just can't let it get by with a non woke score because Alan Moore is a weird woke Anarcho Commie. Thankfully he had the good sense to tell a good story that didn't railroad his politics as the answer.
Created: 06-01-2023
Probably one of the most conservative films I've seen in years.
As the title suggests I felt this was one of the more conservative films I've seen in years. By that, I don't mean its openly conservative, its not overtly trying to make a political point but its telling a true story (with I'm sure embellishments) and the truth typically leans conservative, especially when you are dealing with a story largely set in the Soviet Union.
The themes I say are largely conservative are:
- Communism vs Free enterprise.
- The importance of a man trying to provide for his family.
- Collectivism vs the Individuals right to their creation.
Also its worth noting I saw this months ago (I just found this site) so if there was an element I missed, or a piece of history that was made misleading and it should be labelled has some woke to it, forgive me, but from my recollection it was very entertaining and very affirming of conservative values.
Created: 06-01-2023
