NERVE (3 STARS OUT OF 5)
by: Sara Novoa 10B
Vee (Emma Roberts) is a high school senior that seems tired of living a monotonous life. She gets pressured by her friends to start playing a highly popular game named Nerve. This game basically challenges its players to execute various bizarre dares in order to get money. The game pairs her up with Ian (Dave Franco), without knowing she was about to live an adrenaline-fueled adventure with him.
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The premise of this movie is amazing. It´s a great idea to integrate something so common to us, like technology (most specifically, social media and cellphone apps), into a movie. The top-notch teen actors in this movie attract the young into it, so it was not a surprise this would be a box office success, and it mostly was, but unfortunately it didn´t deliver quite as well in terms of quality.
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The movie paid too much attention to the technology involved with the real story. The app “Nerve” seemed more like the main character than Vee or Ian, and that doesn’t necessarily have to be bad, but in this case the app overwhelmed the movie in a bad way. Something that also affected the caliber of the movie was some of the acting choices. In my opinion, Roberts and Franco did a great job, but otherwise some other actors such as Sidney (Emily Meade) or Vee´s mother (Juliette Lewis) gave plastic and disastrous performances, making it clear that what you’re watching is a product of imagination, but well, I imagine it was really hard to act situations that made so little sense. Many of the scenes were illogical or had no foundation.
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Even though this movie was full of mistakes, it also had its pluses. It was visually stunning; you can notice the effort the director made to always provide “vividness” to the shot. Moreover, it presented some few breath-taking scenes where your heart will be pounding, filled with adrenaline and excitement, something few movies accomplish nowadays.
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In conclusion, this movie had a great proposal when talking of creativity, but failed trying to live to its expectations, being insipid and bland most of the times. It still included some fun-file sequences, making it a great movie for teens.
SUICIDE SQUAD (2 STARS OUT OF 5)
by: Sara Novoa 10B
One of the most anticipated films in 2016 was a box- office BOMB, to say the least, but a giant flop for all of the fans (or at least most of them). This was no surprise, since the last movies that DC has released have been disasters, for instance Batman vs Superman or Green Lantern.
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Nevertheless, at the beginning this looked like it was going to be an astounding film. The premise spins around a group of incarcerated; Deadshot (Will Smith), Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Captain Boomerang, Killer Croc and other despicable inmates. The government, finding the set “replaceable”, equips them with weapons to battle a mysterious and powerful entity alongside the Joker and his gang. The story, based on various editions of DC comics, is a great foundation, with colorful characters, a tragic but comic narrative and thrilling climax, but unfortunately David Ayer (the director), and his team didn´t take advantage of this. The movie had the opportunity to be refreshing, from all of DCU´s previous work, but instead, it became dark, dull and cold, the contrary of what the comics represented.
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I´d like to believe the fault was all on the script writers, producers and other production members. I presume these to be the ones who screwed up the storyline, assembling it as confusing and disorganized, creating unappetizing dialogue and producing long, unnecessary scenes.
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Even though this was a pretty disastrous film, it still contained two appreciable aspects. One of them were the performances of exceptional actors and actresses, such as Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn), Will Smith (Deadshot), Viola Davis (Amanda Waller) and Jared Leto (The Joker). Sadly the best two performances in this group, which in my opinion were Leto´s and Davis´ were barely appreciated, especially Leto´s. The joker was one of the most striking features presented on the various publicity campaigns, but he was barely in the finished product. The other admirable characteristic of “Suicide Squad” was its soundtrack, with many claiming that it was even better than the movie.
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Fundamentally, this movie was an immediate call for the audience but performed poorly, even when having amazing opportunities and different options that would have turned to be good. Regardless of this film seeming attractive, it isn´t, It is mostly a waste of money or time. I recommend not to watch it, even if it’s just for the curiosity caused by the terrible reviews this movie received.
RECOMMENDATION: THE HELP (FOUR AND A HALF STARS OUT OF FIVE))
by: Sara Novoa 10B
Set in Mississippi during the 60’s, Skeeter, a southern girl who returns from college with the dream of becoming a writer, turns her life -- and a Mississippi town -- upside down when she decides to interview the black women who have spent their lives taking care of the wealthy southern families.
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This movie will fill you with emotions, and meanwhile educate about racism, North America’s southern culture and bravery, among other things. The talent in this movie is invaluable, Starring Emma Stone, Octavia Spencer and Viola Davis among others. These actors are able to communicate perfectly the memorable quotes that can be found along many scenes that range from heart-breaking to humorous. The cinematic frames are worthy of analyzing, and outstanding among other great features like the soundtrack. In spite of the film being corny, it´s a cinematic gem and a must-see if you are interested in historical and dramatic films.
