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Originally Posted by keirarts  The nun
Looks great. The film has a real Bava-esque look, with some psychedelic background lighting and impressive Gothic set design. There's also some very pointed references to Italian film-makers including one very noticeable homage to city of the living dead. I wanted to like this film far more than I did. I'm not the Conjuring's biggest fan and Annabelle (the first one at least) was a huge turd of the movie. For the most part though they do make decent theatrical experiences, even if they are ultimately very disposable.
The nun however is is beset with problems. There's not much plot to it. Not a big issue in itself as decent film-makers fall back on creating great atmosphere and suspense. The Nun however feels a little flat. There's very little suspense throughout and it at no point did I feel engaged. The other problem is some of the acting. Mainly the fella they hired to play 'Frenchie' who is absolutely terrible and almost single-handedly drags the whole film down. The only part I got engaged with was the finale, at that point they pretty much gave up and the film becomes very silly. I might pick it up when it appears in poundland or a charity shop (same thing I did with the other conjuring titles) but I wouldn't rush out for this.
The Predator
Another mess, however this was more entertaining. The Predator feels like the initial cut must have run well over the 2 hour mark at least and then was heavily re-edited. Someone pointed out to me that there appears to be several predators in the film and it looks like they cut it to look like there were 2. The regular predator and the big predator-hunter one. There's numerous glaring continuity issues and scenes that literally make no sense. Characters appear with small arsenals of weapons with no explanation. They also have a kid with Hollywood autism where its a superpower. I have autistic friends and while they are bright they're not Stephen hawking's much smarter brother. The editing is also terrible.
But...
Its actually fun. Shane Black delivers the goods with banter and carnage. It actually made me laugh in quite a few places. Its decidedly very un-pc without the usual internet nerd take on un-pc where they go full racist/sexist. It doesn't feel like at any point they are going PG-13 and the effects work is mostly ok. If you go in with expectations lowered the film may be an utter shambles from a technical perspective but its very watchable and silly. Better than either AVP film. |
Read the predator was heavily cut. Edward James Olmos was in it but he was cut, heard it was supposed to be about 2 and half hours, maybe we will get the uncut version on blu ray. Cuts made for pacing and to lower the rating