These Final Hours (2013)

These Final Hours (2013) - Review

I love surprises like this.

This is a small budget Australian movie about an end-of-the-world story. A large asteroid impact somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean results in an extinction level wave of destruction making its way across the world. Australia has several hours before it is completely destroyed. People there go bat shit crazy, and amongst the chaos, a self-obsessed man decides to meet the end in an end-of-the-world party but along the way, he finds a little girl and decides to help her, changing him in the process.

Nathan Phillips, the lead, did a great job as this lost man in this unreal situation, trying to find an easy way to let it all go and meet the end. The little girl was also really good as lost child trying to get to her father and they both had a nice relationship that grew over the course of the movie and makes you care about both of them.

The movie has a somber and hopeless feel/look and the opening scene sets it perfectly. The accompanying score is ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC. The main theme plays in different variations in couple other scenes, particularly the ending, and whenever it's on, it makes the scene so much more engrossing. Composer Cornel Wilczek really did a great job with it.

Now I was not expecting this movie to move me the way it did, in certain scenes. There are a couple of them sprinkled throughout and they were just great.

My issues with the film is that the party part of the movie bogged it down for me because it went on for too long IMO and some of the acting there was either too over the top by supporting cast or just not that good.

All in all, a great end of the world story with an interesting premise, strong lead performances and beautiful score. Definitely a must watch.

8/10

Comments

Spartacus (2010) - TV Series Review (Complete)

Spartacus is a surprising series for me. I first watched it when there were only two seasons out, and back then it was kinda OK for me. Now, after re-watching the first two seasons along with the rest, I found it to be a pretty good series, great even. The series is about Spartacus and how he journey's from being a free man to a gladiator, and then to a leader. The whole series is structured in such a way that their is an overall forward progression with each season focused on a specific part. This results in focus on each area and ultimately they all come together quite nicely. Also, the series is divided into spartacus' related scenes and the roman leaders etc related scenes, developing both sides, side by side, throughout. This not only makes it easy to develop a large number of characters, it also develops both sides and not making it plain black and white. It makes things more interesting, and makes some outcomes way more satisfying. There are A LOT of characters t...

The Mummy (2017) - Movie Review

You know, I see people saying they're sick and/or tired of the whole shared universe style that has been the craze for the past almost decade or so. But I, personally, still enjoy it. Thing is, there is a correct way of doing it, and then there is a shitty way of doing. I don't know why Universal thought the shitty way was the path to be on. The Mummy should have been a movie about, well, THE MUMMY. But instead, it is an amalgamation of several poorly executed plot threads in an attempt to jump-start the new 'Dark Universe', with one of them being related to The Mummy. And it all comes together to create an incoherent messy movie. There are so many things going on with multiple changing rules that you just don't give a shit. Tom Cruise is the lead, and I will say that even in a movie like this, he still brings his charm and charisma to give somewhat of an enjoyable performance. His buddy in the movie made for some funzies as well. But even th...

Arrival (2016) - Movie Review

Arrival is a sci-fi drama directed by Denis Villeneuve, who I think is one of the better directors working today with previous films like Sicario and Prisoners under his belt, and it is about mysterious aliens spaceships coming down to our blue planet and our attempt at understanding why. The movie focuses on the character of Amy Adams, who's a renowned linguist and is recruited to help the US army communicate with the visitors. She gives one of the best performances of her career here, and I hesitate to reveal anything more in the case of spoiling anything, so I'll just say that her character arc was profoundly moving. She is accompanied by several side characters, notable ones being portrayed by Jeremy Renner and Forest Whitaker, and they both delivered good performances. Now the way this movie approached the aliens scenario was my favorite thing in Arrival. The focus on language and communication felt like a fresh take. It was really intriguing to see Amy Adams...

Reviews Reactor

Search This Blog