Movie Reviews in Five Dotpoints of Less - Part III

Fight Club (1999)

8.9/10 on IMDb
79% on Rotten Tomatoes

It's been 16 years since this film came out, so firstly I don't need to say what the plot is, and secondly I have already long known what the plot twist was and never really could be bothered to watch this film (also because, ages ago, my family watched less than half of this film and my parents got annoyed at it and turned it off)

Maybe because I already knew how the movie was going to play out, or what the plot twist was going to be, but I didn't find this film as enjoyable as it has been hyped up to be

Of course, the acting is superb (and Brad Pitt is perfection here), the writing and dialogue is amazingly profound, and the twist is great; but I just felt like after the enjoyable first half of the film, it drags out quite a lot and it just feels SO LONG (I was really surprised it wasn't 3 hours long when I finished)

But, as I said, maybe this reaction is just because I knew what the twist was already (although, apparently the film itself didn't have a good response when it first came out), and unfortunately I can't erase my memory and rewatch it completely afresh

I did enjoy, though, all the hints and subliminal images (I spotted two!) that were planted throughout the film; it was clever


Cast Away (2000)

7.7/10 on IMDb
90% on Rotten Tomatoes

A classic that everyone should at least know about

Tom Hanks gets stranded on a deserted island and the only way he can get off is to reveal how amazing of an actor he is

A must watch

One word: WILSONNNNNN!!!


The Impossible (2012)

7.6/10 on IMDb
81% on Rotten Tomatoes

In December, 2004, a family of five were vacationing in Thailand when an enormous tsunami struck and separated them; this is the true story of their experiences of the infamous Boxing Day Tsunami

While the acting and the script is not the best, the worst is really at the beginning of the film, so if you just deal with the bad beginning, then the rest of the film is a lot better; once the tsunami hits, it's an intense physical, emotional and mental journey as the family struggles through the tsunami, the injuries, and the separation

Naomi Watts was actually pretty good in this film; when you see her scream, you can feel her pain; when you see her cry, you can feel her pain; she did a great job

There is one scene in the hospital towards the end that was EXTREMELY INTENSE and because of the suspenseful build-up, it was SO FRUSTRATING and I got SO ANNOYED AT IT! WHY DID THEY HAVE TO DO THAT TO MY NERVES, I SERIOUSLY HATED THAT SUSPENSE

Anyway, I would highly recommend this film; it's intense, it's scary, it's very very VERY real, and it matches almost perfectly to the true story of the family's survival of the terrible tsunami that we all heard about in 2004; it gives you a better understand of the scale of this event and just how horrible it would have been to go through this


The Ides of March (2011)

7.1/10 on IMDb
85% on Rotten Tomatoes

Apparently my Chinese name is a flower that grows in a muddy swamp but still remains beautiful and clean; it's meant to symbolise how I, despite growing in a tainted world, can remain pure and innocent

That is essentially the plot of this film, but extended towards politics, where Ryan Gosling is the young and pure campaign manager who does things only when he believes in them and who follows a candidate only when he believe he is the right candidate; but what happens when such a naively innocent person enters the corrupt world of politics?

I think this film is very good and I would definitely recommend it; but it doesn't really have that re-watchability characteristic

George Clooney's directing is great; it was intense, it was serious, it was entertaining, and it made me interested in politics - something I'm not really into... like, at all

Beware, the Ides of March... (And, because I can't help it: Et tu, Brute?)


A Dangerous Method (2011)

6.5/10 on IMDb
77% on Rotten Tomatoes

Keira Knightley plays Sabina Spielrein, the mental patient that catalyses the relationship between Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) and Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen), and thus plays an important role in the development of analytical psychology and psychoanalysis

Fassbender, as usual, was great in this, and Mortensen was incredible in this - he completely disappeared into the role and there was no trace of Aragorn left whatsoever

The true star of the film, however, was Keira Knightley, whose portrayal of a mental patient with episodes of hysteria was so amazing (some may say it's over the top, but I think she did a good job; although granted I've never witnessed an episode of hysteria before)

The film is a great informative story on the development of psychoanalysis and psychology, but I think you need to be interested in or know a little bit about Freud and psychoanalysis to be able to appreciate it