harbingerofapocalypse

Joker in Suicide Squad was close to cringe, but not quite - just an overzealous actor, eager to put his own unique stamp on an iconic character. Didn't work for me, but I respect the effort.

This film took that near-cringe, elevated it to full-on cringe, turbo-charged it, slathered a bucket of mayo all over it, microwaved it, fed it to the dog, put the droppings in a bag, and ding-dong ditched it at some other dude's house because it didn't really care enough about you to realize it had the right last name but wrong first.

From the first frame, this film is so cringe that the word cringe was created specifically for this movie.

I know, I know... not possible. Yet here we are.

This film's cringe-density tore through time and space, its essence leaking through just enough to spill into the past and create the need for the word cringe to be invented. Then it lay in wait for hundreds of years until just the right time for it to take physical form, creating the greatest-yet example of cringe.

A cringe so unique that it requires its own branch of study: cringeometry.

A cringe so terrible that the application of the word to any other object or idea in the history of mankind seems unthinkable.

A cringe so pernicious that it forces me to use the word cringe repeatedly, even though the use of the word itself had become cringe long ago.

A cringe so utterly perfect that all other matter has been squeezed out and nothing else exists within it; creating a ball of cringe so dense that it tears through time and space. Its essence leaks through just enough to spill into the past and create the need for the word cringe to be invented. Then it lay in wait for hundreds...

omg it's only 10 minutes in... kill me now.

Yet another movie that has been eviscerated by sheltered, basement-dwelling, anime-addled, comic book cretins because it dared deviate from the epic expectations or tone that they'd built up in their narrow minds (see ~in derisive sneer mode~ "Disney" Star Wars) or have been warped by the Nolan-ization of all things action/comic/sci-fi.

I think the main intent behind this new Predator, tone-wise, was just to be 'fun'. Would I have preferred a back-to-basics, serious and intense thriller full of great action, like the first? YES. But I watched this one with an open mind, and it was indeed, FUN.

Anyone giving this film 1-star should just be disregarded completely and never paid attention to again. They're the kind of person that would reject Jesus at his second coming because His return wasn't flashy or exciting enough, or was too jokey.

I'm at a loss. I've been hearing about this movie since it came out - it's been in my to-see list since then. I finally watched it last weekend.

The opening robbery was just ok. It could have been presented with way more tension. That goes the same for the rest of the movie - bits and pieces here and there were better than average, but they were short and few, and you could see all over the place missed opportunities for greater drama, emotional impact, and excitement. Parts were just plain boring. But then something semi-interesting would come along and (barely) keep me from turning it off.

There are vastly superior drug movies out there - my favorite being Requiem for a Dream. I don't know why this is singled out as such a great film. It certainly was not the first to tackle the subject - Panic in Needle Park, among others that came before it. Do I regret watching it? No. Will I ever watch it again? Absolutely not.

I don't think this is a case of built-up expectations either. It's like I just knew there was something off about all the praise it was getting at the time - maybe that's why it's taken nearly 30 years to get around to watching it. I didn't think it was going to be a masterpiece, but I did think it was going to be much better than it was. Sometimes I think a prominent, popular critic ends up liking something that is actually mediocre and then everyone else just feels like they have to jump on the bandwagon. Otherwise, I just figure this one out.