Tag: MatthiasSchweighofer

Elio

Published on by DanielaLeave a comment

Pixar’s latest offering follows Elio (Yonas Kibreab), a space fanatic whose life has been upended after the death of his parents. He moves in with his aunt Olga (Zoe Saldana), but the two don’t exactly see eye to eye. Elio can’t help but feel like he doesn’t belong and when he’s beamed up to a planet in the sky he’s hopeful that he’s finally found his place.

I’ll admit that I wasn’t overly excited for this film. Maybe that’s because there was little to no marketing for it. This was a pity because it had a lot of things going for it. It may not be one of the best Pixar films ever, but it was still solid.

Let’s start with the voice talents. While I was unfamiliar with Kibreab before, I felt like he perfectly encapsulated the titular character. Elio is someone you want to root for. He feels misunderstood and like he hasn’t found his purpose which is just so relatable. Saldana is similarly just as relatable as aunt Olga; nothing could have prepared her to look after her brother’s son and the fact that she gives up her dreams of becoming an astronaut to do so shows that she cares. In the Communiverse we meet an array of unique characters voiced by the likes of Brad Garrett, Jameela Jamil, Matthias Schweighöfer and Shirley Henderson, all of who gave their best to the performances.

The film is filled with some beautiful animation. It’s bursting with rich colors and zany designs. From there it almost seemed like an entirely different story which isn’t necessarily a bad thing – if anything it helped set aside the difference from Earth.

Perfectly blending humor, emotion and action, Elio was an enjoyable enough film for the whole family. Dealing with themes of loss, grief and the desire to belong, it’s unfortunate that not a lot of people seem to know about it. I’m sure the delayed release didn’t do the film any favors and I definitely think it’s still worth checking out.

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️

Heart Of Stone

Published on by DanielaLeave a comment

In Netflix’s latest attempt at jump starting an action franchise, Heart of Stone follows Rachel (Gal Gadot), an intelligence operative, who is racing to stop a hacker from stealing her agency’s most valuable and powerful weapon. With global chase sequences, hijinks and some twists and turns, it’ll be her most trying mission yet.

There is so much that went wrong here that it would be impossible to list it all down. I’m starting to think that once I’ve seen one of these films, I’ve seen them all. They are generic and predictable and not in a good way. This time around we had a bunch of action movie tropes thrown into one. As a result it didn’t make much sense and proved to be very confusing. I still don’t really understand what the plot was!

I will say that a few of the fight sequences were entertaining at least. The first one comes to mind, right at the beginning of the film, and sets the tone going forward. I also thought the scene in Lisbon was exciting as it had a lot going on.

With Gadot leading the pack, it could have really gone either of two ways. I personally like her as an actress, but I do not think she was given great material here. Thanks to a wooden and cliched script, her delivery was often off. Jamie Dornan, who I usually love, was kind of annoying and while I’d initially been so looking forward to seeing Matthias Schweighhöfer in something new, I wasn’t sold. Even with the likes of Sophie Okonedo as ringleader Nomad and Alia Bhatt as the hacker herself in her first ever Hollywood role, it all just fell short.

I don’t know what Netflix has been doing lately, but it isn’t putting out good movies. Heart of Stone was such a disappointment, I don’t even know why I bothered. Sometimes it’s not enough to watch something just for the actors who star in it. I’ll have to remember that going forward.

Rating: ♥️.5

Army of Thieves

Published on by DanielaLeave a comment

The prequel to Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead which came out earlier this year, Army of Thieves follows Sebastian (Matthias Schweighöfer), or more commonly known as Ludwig Dieter, your average every day banker who just happens to have a knack for cracking safes. Bored of the regular nine to five life, Dieter hopes for something more. Then one day, he is approached by infamous jewellery theif Gwendoline (Nathalie Emmanuel) to join in on a top secret heist during the beginning of the zombie apocalypse.

I was one of the few people who actually really liked Army of the Dead. When I heard the universe was being expanded, I couldn’t wait, especially when the next instalment would be about my favorite character Dieter. I instantly fell for his charm and nerdy ways and so to have the opportunity to learn more about him was awesome. He was the perfect protagonist to lead this film. It was also impressive to discover that in addition to starring in the movie, he also produced and directed it.

The other characters were a lot of fun to get to know too. They each brought something to the table and I wouldn’t be surprised if they popped up somewhere down the line as there is still so much we don’t know about them. Super hacker Korina (Ruby O. Fee) was sassy and oozed girl power, meathead Brad (Stuart Martin) while wonderful to look at was kind of a dud and sandwich loving getaway driver Rolph (Guz Khan) was severely underused.

Being transported inside the safes was really cool. In fact, the way in which the film as a whole was filmed felt like it belonged in a comic book. The character introductions, location names, music choices and fight sequences sucked me in and made me feel like I was in another dimension.

While the film was full of entertainment, the storyline itself was more on the predictable side. It was easy to tell what was going to happen next and there weren’t many surprises along the way. I also felt that what was going on outside of the heist didn’t do much to advance the plot. I guess I expected a lot more action considering the original movie, but I was wrong.

Still, for an origin story, Army of Thieves was an enjoyable caper that left me pretty satisfied. The various Easter eggs bridging the two movies together was done well and I cannot wait to see what happens next in this franchise.

Rating: ♥♥♥.5