Filmrecensies van Hope Madden

It obviously knows the story it’s supposed to tell, it just doesn’t tell it especially well. Recensie

The writing periodically drags 40 Acres backwards, particularly the budding romance and related choices. But for thrills-aplenty action with something on its mind, you could do worse than this. Recensie

The plot gets convoluted and silly, the message about AI holds no water at all, and Amelia’s true purpose is always beside the point, never driving the narrative. And abandoning horror entirely is a bit of a disappointment. Still, M3GAN 2.0 delivers some summer fun. Recensie

This feels like a short film padded to feature length, and a couple of the lengthening pieces don’t fit well. A solid b-story would have added needed depth, but there are some tense and satisfying moments to be had. Recensie

Dickey’s a treasure, and one filmmakers are finally, truly recognizing. Her finest moment might have been Max Walker-Silverman’s lyrical A Love Song, but Dale Dickey delivers no matter the role. Recensie

The story beats also lack the freshness of the best Pixar has to offer. Still, a first-contact film that retails a childlike wonder about what lies beyond the stars without resenting what waits at home is a rare thing. Recensie

28 Days Later remains one of the scariest films ever made. Circling back to see how humanity’s getting along a generation later is interesting, sometimes gorgeous, awfully bloody, and frequently very sweet. It’s just not very scary. Recensie

Conjuring both Pumpkinhead and A Nightmare on Elm St. sets a very high bar for an indie horror flick, and Eye for an Eye can’t deliver on that promise. Recensie

Materialists isn’t perfect, and to a degree, Song submits too much to formula. But the way she works within those confines is often magical. Recensie

Whatever its flaws, once How to Train Your Dragon is airborne, it’s pure cinema. Recensie

It’s a weird one, though, and certainly entertaining. Shimotsu can’t quite pull it all off, but it’s fun even as it falls apart. Recensie

Each story boasts a quick, engaging, violent narrative that adds a bit of fun to the canon. Recensie

The colorful shell feels pretty empty, but sometimes pretty colors are enough. Recensie

It’s a slow burn, a movie that communicates dread brilliantly with its cinematography and pacing. Recensie

The biggest let down is the updated script, which can’t match the original in terms of the delightfully, delicately human writing. But the contrast between the alien and natural world makes this a natural fit for the leap to live action, and the charming lawlessness of the story is as much fun today as it was in 2002. Recensie

Pee-wee as Himself is revelatory, nostalgic, glorious viewing for Pee-wee fans. Recensie

There’s a bleak beauty to it all that recalls Liam Gavin’s genre masterpiece, A Dark Song. The Surrender never reaches those heights, but Max knows how to ground the supernatural in relatable reality and wonders which is worse. Recensie

Bloodlines delivers as fresh an idea within the bounds of the mythology as you could ask for. Recensie

The scares are too telegraphed and borrowed to amount to much. Worse still are plot holes so deep and wide you could lose a combine. Recensie

Until Dawnis not a complete waste of time. Sandberg doesn’t skimp on bloodshed, and the cast really elevates the material. It’s no classic, but it offers a bit of bloody fun. Recensie

Skiles looks past knee jerk, self-congratulatory action in favor of context, his camera lingering on the blight of old suburbia. In this unglamorous world of perms and coupons, polyester and bus passes, two losers that life passed by just try to do one good thing. The humble simplicity is surprisingly moving. Recensie

The pace is slow, the performances stilted to match the dialog, and the resolution is nonexistent. The Shrouds has a grotesquely beautiful dreamlike quality, and it teems with notions both weird and fascinating. It just can’t pull that pull it all together into an entertaining whole. Recensie

Clarke opens strong and her cast keeps you guessing and engaged for as long as they can, but in the end, it feels as if she clung too closely to tales we already know. That can’t erase the mounting dread and nightmare imagery, though. Recensie

The FX are bad. The Raiders of the Lost Ark moment is silly. But in terms of reconsidering exorcism tropes, Shadow of God has some big ideas. They don’t entirely work, but at least it’s novel. Recensie