The Villainess Review

The Villaness is one hell of a ride. It pretty much has everything you want from a summer blockbuster:
-Red Hearings
-Action
-A Bad Ass Protaganist
-Sexual Tension
-Nicholas Winding Refn Lighting
-A Decent Yet Memorable Plot
-Good Acting
and a bit of Comedy.

However, it's far from great, and does have some flaws. First and for most, the ending pretty much ruined the film. The amazing build up was stellar in the first two acts, but when it got to the final act, it just felt lazy and just plain stupid. If you have seen the Villaness, you probably already know about the narrative continuity mistakes. Not only that, it ends on the cliche last shot evil grin thing (In which A Cure for Wellness did earlier this year.) As for technicalities, the cinematography, in almost all of the action scenes, felt extremely shaky. Basically it was on Paul Greengrass mode times 10 with a bit of First Person-Hardcore Henry like cinemetography. This got so annoying to the point I couldn't even understand what was going on screen. To finish off the negative, the musical score was nothing new. Just a plain, boring, action score.

The Villaness was a lot of fun, despite it's flaws. I would recommend seeing it in a cinema, just as long as you don't take the ending so seriously. Bring your friends, maybe some alcohol, and you'll have a pretty damn great time.

Score:
6.5/10

Trophy Review

Even though Trophy is jam packed with great insight and information, it lacks in having an identity. This Sundance winner has gotten the attention of several different critics, including myself, when the trailer dropped. It look dark, mysterious, yet intelligent in it's own regard. Information wise, the film delivered in all fronts. I learn't plenty about the legalities and sustainability of poaching. However, the film is both edited and directed without any flare. The film is quite stale when looking at it from a film making point of view, to the point that it got quite boring and redundant. It did have some nice shots and composition here and there, yet it still lacked in the directing department. Trophy could have been an extremely emotional ride. But, because of the lack of overall visual storytelling flare, it just became an informative, yet dreadful two hours.

Score:
5.8/10