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What aunt_zelda Thinks: Morgan (2016)
Sep. 14th, 2016 05:31 pmEh, I dunno. This wasn’t a bad movie. It wasn’t exactly good though. It should have been much better.
But I recognize that it was very cheap, they obviously had a lot of limitations, and a lot of critics are (unfairly, I would say) comparing it to last year’s Ex Machina.
The cast is great, like omg, I would have watched a whole miniseries tv show about that cast hanging out together. Rose Leslie, Kate Mara, and Anya Taylor-Joy give really great performances in particular. Everyone acts like they’ve been living together for years, and that feels very comfortable and natural, which is difficult when shooting a movie with actors who have mostly never worked together before. The premise is, ok, not original, but it’s an interesting premise. I wanted more, much more, than I got. (Especially in light of the twist ending that I saw coming a mile away, and you will too, but it didn’t annoy me, it just made me wanna see more!) I liked how the art direction was, how I’m gonna see screenshots and gifs of this movie and be able to identify it compared to other films. This was not a hack job or a “eh, whatever, ship it out” movie. There was thought behind it.
The biggest failing I would say is the script. It just needed more. It felt like a very early draft, almost a rough draft honestly, that needed some heavy workshopping and beefing up in sections. More emphasis on specific relationships, maybe showing us a flashback to Helsinki, just ... more.
Gotta say though, I’m a fan of any film where the male characters are by and large pushovers, cardboard cutouts, weak, easily manipulated, and/or the easiest to kill, whereas the female characters are complex, varied, and overall much harder to kill. It’s a nice change of pace from the usual way movies function, especially sci-fi films. Pretty much all the major plot decisions and actions happen because of women. That’s sadly rare in films.
To me, the worst thing a movie can be is boring. This movie was not that.
To me, the second worst thing a movie can be is incomprehensible. This movie was not that.
To me, the third worst thing a movie can be is insulting or offensive, often in lazy or shock-value ways, the barest minimum of effort to create memorable moments in a script. This movie was absolutely not that.
Perhaps I’m more forgiving than most. I wouldn’t recommend this as a theater watch, but for a Redbox, or Netflix one night? I’d say give it a look if you’re interested by the trailer and cast. It’s worth a look.
tl;dr: robots are here, they’re queer(coded), and they can kill. Too bad the script didn’t deliver enough material on that premise.
But I recognize that it was very cheap, they obviously had a lot of limitations, and a lot of critics are (unfairly, I would say) comparing it to last year’s Ex Machina.
The cast is great, like omg, I would have watched a whole miniseries tv show about that cast hanging out together. Rose Leslie, Kate Mara, and Anya Taylor-Joy give really great performances in particular. Everyone acts like they’ve been living together for years, and that feels very comfortable and natural, which is difficult when shooting a movie with actors who have mostly never worked together before. The premise is, ok, not original, but it’s an interesting premise. I wanted more, much more, than I got. (Especially in light of the twist ending that I saw coming a mile away, and you will too, but it didn’t annoy me, it just made me wanna see more!) I liked how the art direction was, how I’m gonna see screenshots and gifs of this movie and be able to identify it compared to other films. This was not a hack job or a “eh, whatever, ship it out” movie. There was thought behind it.
The biggest failing I would say is the script. It just needed more. It felt like a very early draft, almost a rough draft honestly, that needed some heavy workshopping and beefing up in sections. More emphasis on specific relationships, maybe showing us a flashback to Helsinki, just ... more.
Gotta say though, I’m a fan of any film where the male characters are by and large pushovers, cardboard cutouts, weak, easily manipulated, and/or the easiest to kill, whereas the female characters are complex, varied, and overall much harder to kill. It’s a nice change of pace from the usual way movies function, especially sci-fi films. Pretty much all the major plot decisions and actions happen because of women. That’s sadly rare in films.
To me, the worst thing a movie can be is boring. This movie was not that.
To me, the second worst thing a movie can be is incomprehensible. This movie was not that.
To me, the third worst thing a movie can be is insulting or offensive, often in lazy or shock-value ways, the barest minimum of effort to create memorable moments in a script. This movie was absolutely not that.
Perhaps I’m more forgiving than most. I wouldn’t recommend this as a theater watch, but for a Redbox, or Netflix one night? I’d say give it a look if you’re interested by the trailer and cast. It’s worth a look.
tl;dr: robots are here, they’re queer(coded), and they can kill. Too bad the script didn’t deliver enough material on that premise.
