Ana de Armas – THE REVIEW MONSTER

“A whodunnit like no one has ever done it” is the phrase that has been used so prominently in marketing Rian Johnson’s latest film.
Coming off the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which was… let’s say controversial, Johnson returns with the completely different Knives Out, a film that follows the investigation into the death of millionaire, crime writer Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer).

Thrombey’s death drives the story with an interesting take on the murder mystery.

What follows is a constantly intriguing, suspenseful and humorous murder mystery with a star studded cast including Daniel Craig, Ana de Armas, Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, Lakeith Stanfield and many more.
The standouts of this cast are, without a doubt, Craig, de Armas, and Evans who all turn in fantastic performances.
Craig is brilliant as the wonderfully over the top detective Benoit Blanc, who has been mysteriously hired to investigate the also mysterious death of Thrombey.
Despite this pivotal role, I think the part of main character actually belongs to de Armas’ Marta Cabrera who has the most screen time, takes the most action out of any character, and plays into the themes of the film.

blanc and marta — De Armas and Craig both lead the film with great performances.

Then there is Evans, who plays the spoiled grandson of Thrombey, Hugh Ransom Drysdale, in a welcome deviation from the roles he usually takes.
Along with these three, the other actors of the film do a great job as well; supported by a witty script with plenty of suspenseful and humorous moments.
These two tonnes blend together so well that it feels like Johnson is taking the murder mystery genre seriously while satirizing it simultaneously, to gleeful results.
There are also so many well placed small details for viewers to notice as well, demanding a second viewing.

birthday death.jpg — Amazing subtle details, like how flashbacks change depending on who is telling their side of the story, appear throughout the film.

Knives Out certainly lives up to its phrase of “A whodunnit like no one has ever done it,” as it left me hoping for another adventure down the donut hole with Benoit Blanc.

With all the superhero movies and remakes, it is very rare that we get a stylish film that becomes a classic but Blade Runner 2049 is that movie.
Directed by Denis Villeneuve, Blade Runner 2049 is the sequel to the classic sci-fi noir thriller Blade Runner and stars Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford and Ana de Armas.
It really did surprise me how much I loved this movie, considering I first watched Blade Runner a week ago and did not think it was as good as everyone says it is.
It is a good film and I can see the impact it has left on cinema, but at the same time I don’t think it is the flawless classic everyone makes it out to be.
In fact I think the sequel is better than the original.
For one thing, I connected far more with Ryan Gosling’s K in this movie than I ever did with Deckard in the original Blade Runner.

I did not only connect with K but the other characters in this movie as well.
Ana de Armas was great as Joi, K’s love interest, and I found their romance sadly tragic given what we learn by the end of the film.
Even Deckard was done better here because I sympathized with him more than I did in Blade Runner.
The story is also a lot better as much more is at stake than there was in Blade Runner and the mystery is far more interesting.
There are so many twists and turns in the story that I couldn’t wait to see where it would go.
There is one twist about half an hour before the movie ends that I initially was not too sure if I liked but after thinking about it more I think it worked better than the alternative.
It is also kind of funny how they reveal something which could have been a big twist for the movie at the beginning of the film, and in a very offhand way.
It worked brilliantly for the story.
This film is also visually stunning.
Blade Runner 2049 is, without a doubt, the most beautiful film of 2017.
Every shot is full of life and colour.
The cinematographer definitely deserves an award for his work here.

Along with the cinematography, the music and visuals are also spectacular.
The music is epic and a real improvement on the already great music from Blade Runner.
Then there are the visuals, which are about as incredible as everything else.
They do something using CGI like they did in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, however, unlike then, the CGI is uncanny and looks incredibly realistic.
If you are going into this movie expecting to see Harrison Ford in a main role, do not expect much.
Despite what the trailers show you, Ford is not in the movie all that much and does not get much screen time.
However, his presence is still definitely required for the story to work and Ford gives a great performance as Deckard, as expected.

Although I loved Blade Runner 2049, I must admit this movie will not be for everyone.
This movie is two hours and forty three minutes long and it has a very slow pace.
That slow pace is definitely earned and the movie is better with it but I can see how some people might find this movie to be a boring slog.
I, on the other hand, loved this movie.
It has great characters, fantastic visuals, music and cinematography and, to top it all off, the story is engrossing.
I have no doubt that, despite it falling below expectations at the box office, it will be viewed as a classic by many, just as the original is.
I urge you to go and check it out.

Tag: Ana de Armas

Knives Out Review: Take a Trip Down the Donut Hole.

Blade Runner 2049: An instant classic