I remember seeing this in the cinema and it was a stand-out experience. It was so loud and disorientating. Clearly watching it on the small screen doesn’t give you that but my previous colours any rewatch.

Since people have written some excellent reviews here talking about 9/11, I won’t rehash those. Although I still think the best post-9/11 film is The Dark Knight.

I’ll just talk about the monster. My wife says this movie is not “scary” once you see the monster. I completely disagree. All the tension comes from the struggle to survive, and the fear from a complete breakdown of security. In the latter parts of this movie, death is constantly a breath away and you have a real sense that survival is mostly blind luck.

In today’s world, I imagine that’s how it feels to live in places like Gaza or parts of Ukraine. And I think this demonstrates that the monster itself is pretty incidental. The monster is just the catalyst.

(I will just add that I love the monster, it’s great)

★★★★

My review

I liked this a lot more, and it “worked” a lot better, in those years post-9/11. Most notably the powerlessness of the US military and the expansive threat to the average person.

However, I’m not sure we really meet an average person in this. It’s extremely Cruise-centric and thus Ray has an air of invincibility. This is so pronouced you never really feel like Ray might be in danger. Maybe that’s a good thing as it helps focus our concerns on his children, in the same way Ray begins to.

But it is refreshing that when we first meet Ray he’s a more than a bit of a dick. He’s superficial and highly priviledged (in his own way). We gradually see that stripped away and Cruise totally sells it. However, it’s not anything we haven’t come to expect from him, so…

★★★

My review

I liked a lot about it but it all felt very “safe”. Did not, however, ruin my childhood.

★★★

My review

There are many great war films and this isn’t one of them. This movie has nothing to say about, well, anything. Unless… unless it’s US grunts are actually pretty dumb and “the baddies” are much smarter than other movies might lead you to believe…

The most notable moment in the whole film was when he opened the Skittles, and they were all smooshed into one sticky pancake. I fully expected him to roll some out onto his hand like a TV ad.

It was OK, though. I’ve docked half a star for the awful ending, which neither delivers a satisfying conclusion nor is very well executed.

★★½

My review

This review may contain spoilers.

It takes some skill to telegraph a twist in the first ten minutes and still deliver revelations 2 minutes before the credits and, in fact 30 minutes after the credits, when you’re trying to write your review…

★★★★ (contains spoilers)

My review

Started off well enough but it seemed more interested in putting the boot into hypocritical US values, then telling a good story.

Also, isn’t this basically the same plot as Netflix’ Fear Street trilogy?

★★★

My review

When we watched the trailer for this I did a little inward groan when I saw that Woody H was the antagonist. “Here we go, Tallahassee Mk 2…” but he was actually pretty good. The character also had a shade of complexity too, which is almost novel for a villain these days.

Still holds that deeply unsettling mirror up, though. Even in the apocalypse, we can’t get it together as a species.

★★★★

My review

My only take away from this is that, if my kid was a victim in a school shooting, they couldn’t text me because they don’t have a phone.

If Anything Happens I Love You, 2020

My review

This is a frankly astonishing movie. Not only does the story invoke genuine tension regarding the health and well-being of talking monkeys*, but also deftly holds a mirror to humanity and ably demonstrates the inevitable outcome of fear and hatred. It does all this without being even remotely preachy about it, which even lauded and “worthy” Hollywood fare often cannot avoid.

Then, just to top it off (and almost for fun), the main cast of characters are rendered in entirely believable CGI, captured using a revolutionary technique.

The fact that the sources of this fear and hatred are so recognisable today (2024), just elevates the whole thing even further.

★★★★★

My review

This review may contain spoilers.

If we pretend this is NOT based on a “true story”, the first part of this, up until they jump down the first cliff, is pretty decent war movie stuff. By this point, most of them have taken some flesh wounds that, I believe, guys like this could fight through.

What I don’t believe you can overcome with mental fortitude and pride in your unit history is falling 20+ feet down an almost vertical, rockstrewn hillside without breaking multiple bones. I’m even more skeptical that a weapon could take that much punishment and still, apparently, work perfectly.

From this point on, then, we’re in almost complete hollywood fantasy land and it’s bad. Saying it’s based on a true story makes it worse.

Apparently, even the “truth” of the base story is VERY sketchy. The size of the enemy force was estimated, by various sources, to be between 8 and 50. That’s a big enough variation that I’m taking double helpings of salt with the rest of the facts.

What does seem undisputed is that, three of the four SEALs were killed in fairly short order by the Taliban, and Marcus did indeed survive because he was protected by local villagers. This outcome does actually make the last 10 minutes surprisingly moving. The fact that Marcus was actually rescued several weeks later, and protected by the villagers for a much longer period than depicted, makes me feel there might be a better version of this story.

Apparently it’s not one that will sell movie tickets, though.

★★½ (contains spoilers)

My review