Skip to main content

In the Heart of the Sea (2015) - Review


This movie is about the true story, the encounter that inspired the famous novel Moby Dick. Now I had something different in mind when I started this movie up cause the trailers and advertisement painted a different picture. Nevertheless what I got was surprisingly better.

The performances in the movie were all really good. It is a well acted movie. Chris Hemsworth and Benjamin Walker, the two leads, both were great and the story had them pitch together in this sort of rivalry, that kinda reminded me of Ron Howard's previous movie also starring Hemsworth, Rush. And while it was no where near that good, it still resulted in tension and commotion between characters.

The movie takes its sweet time to get things going, the starting 15-20 mins can be a bit too slow for some, but I wasn't bothered by it. The characters and world set up was interesting enough that I was reeled into it. There was a bit of connection with the crew as well, which I liked and if the movie was longer, they could have expanded it even more. The retelling of the story in the movie was handled quite well and I got attached to the characters involved, which many similar movies usually fail to do, so kudos for that.

When things really get going, it's a blast. Tension filled scenes with beautiful imagery makes for some really thrilling scenes. The CGI was mostly good, especially of the whales. And I liked the soundtrack as well.

It is ultimately a survival film though, and it was pretty depressing to see that part of the movie. It was executed finely and shifted the tone to a lot more darker and somber region.

The pacing of the movie however was a bit iffy. There were scenes that went on for far too long and then there were moments which should have gotten more screentime but instead felt rushed. Also, the decision to shoot the movie in 1.85:1 ratio instead of widescreen 2.35:1 ratio was a kind of a double edged sword for me. At one point, I enjoyed the more close up cinematography nature of the film, gave it a bit more personal feel. But in more action oriented sequences, it got somewhat annoying and would have benefited more from wider nature of widescreen photography. Also, the lighting in those action scenes was often too artificial, which gave it a artistic look, but when the rest of the movie doesn't look or feel like that, it became too fake-y. The movie certainly would have benefited from a longer run-time, focused on more pressing scenes.

With all that said and done, I still really enjoyed the film, and most of my issues are towards the technical side, and while they do hamper the experience, the effect is mild.

8/10

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Baywatch (2017) - Movie Review

Baywatch is a movie based on the old TV series of the same name. It's about a bunch of lifeguards on a beach who try to uncover drug smuggling in their area...yeah, that is the plot. It's dumb, it's stupid, but I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't that bad. Don't get me wrong, it's not good, but it wasn't horrible either.  The movie actually had some fun in it. The Rock, as always, was charismatic, funny and likable; and Zac Efron, surprisingly, was similar to that. He got ripped AF for the movie. Alexandra Daddario was fun as well, although any movie gets bonus points for just including her in my book. Priyanka Chopra was in it as well, and between her in this and Deepika Padukone in XXX: The Return of Xander Cage, Priyanka definitely was the better one.  There were legit funny scenes sprinkled throughout, but there were also a shit ton of scenes that tried too hard to be hilarious but fell flat instead. Baywatch also had a large dosage...
Post a Comment
Read more

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2016) - Review

This movie is based on a true story about the attack on an american embassy and a secret CIA base in Benghazi, Libya, on the 9/11 anniversary in 2012. And how a few numbers of of Ex-Soldiers managed to repel the attack. Directed by Micheal Bay, I was surprised to see him holding back his Bay-ism and deliver a straight forward focused film. The story got a long build up at the start, setting up the location, the characters and the situation. And then chaos. What I liked most about this film was the fact that you felt just as lost as the soldiers and people in this movie. The confusion, the chaos, the uncertainty, it was delivered quite nicely, creating tension and thrill. There are a lot of characters in the movie, but ultimately it is focused on these soldiers, and while the movie could have done a better job developing them, what it did was good enough in a sense that it worked for the movie. I liked em. Acting varied, with some delivering pretty good performances. Also, again wi...
Post a Comment
Read more

John Wick 2 (2017) - Movie Review

John Wick 2 is a sequel to the 2014 surprise hit John Wick, and it follows him as he is forced to return to his former life once again. The trailers did a good job of not giving much away, so I'll keep it vague as well. The first one was great, so naturally, I was hyped for the sequel, and suffice to say it delivered where it mattered.  Keanu Reeves once again reprises the role of ultimate bad-ass assassin John Wick, with different character motivations this time around, resulting in a more subdued performance than last time, which nonetheless works for the story, and it's just great seeing Keanu again in style. There are some familiar faces from the previous film like Ian McShane (Winston) and Lance Reddick (Hotel Manager), giving similarly good performances. And new ones like Laurence Fishburn, resulting in a reunion of Neo and Morpheus, which should make any Matrix fan cheer up inside, and he gave a good performance as well. One of the things that stood out to ...
1 comment
Read more