The Netflix feature film trash heap keeps getting higher.

I think I actually like this a little less the Hold the Dark, which is saying something.

After this and the Raid 2, it is pretty clear Gareth Evans ambitions far outstrip his abilities when it comes to storytelling. The film manages to feel both rushed and overlong. There's no logic to the island, the cult or the actions of any of the characters.

It is a film that clearly wants to say things about religion, faith, corruption, redemption, patriarchy but is too stupid to utter anything sensible or worthwhile. There's certainly a kernel of a great idea here and in the hands of a capable filmmaker it could be great.

Evans even manages to work an awful performance out of Stevens which might be the movie's greatest sin. Stevens has been uniformly excellent in everything I've seen him in and has proven himself to have a chameleonic ability and a natural magnetism (see The Guest) but here you can just see him acting in ALL CAPS.

I know Evans has lost interest in doing a Raid 3 or even other martial arts films but after this, that's about all I'm interested in seeing him do.

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A lot of you players ain't okay.

We would have been better off with an okaycivics board instead of an okayactivist board

these are movies with entirely capable casts and directors (based on their recent work).

there arent any more 'beasts of no nation' in the deck?

At least in comparison to the TV side.

But in their defense, can anyone name a studio that gets both right? Maybe Disney? (Marvel / Pixar & ABC) Maybe Amazon?

But even Disney and Marvel haven't nailed many of their TV properties.

Amazon's quality may be better but they don't release near the amount of content that Netflix does.

I'm kind of wondering why Netflix releases so many projects considering that a lot of people would sign up for the service simply for their catalog. (at least that's my uninformed sense)

<--- Me when my head hits the pillow

>After this and the Raid 2, it is pretty clear Gareth Evans
>ambitions far outstrip his abilities when it comes to
>storytelling. The film manages to feel both rushed and
>overlong. There's no logic to the island, the cult or the
>actions of any of the characters.

I agree he has some difficulty putting a long narrative together -- both Raid 2 and this one were 15-20 minutes too lengthy -- but I'm a big fan of his imagery and give the narrative big passes.

>Evans even manages to work an awful performance out of Stevens
>which might be the movie's greatest sin. Stevens has been
>uniformly excellent in everything I've seen him in and has
>proven himself to have a chameleonic ability and a natural
>magnetism (see The Guest) but here you can just see him acting
>in ALL CAPS.

this is true, but it wasn't too detrimental to the movie for me.

overall though, it was captivating to me and really good for about 2/3rds.

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