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Crunching the Numbers: (Year) Two For the Show

By 4815162342, in Create A Year Of Movies (CAYOM)

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THE ODYSSEY: THE SPOILS OF WAR

 

A disjointed film that is two stories crammed into one. I'm not sure why the producers felt the need to cram in exposition about Odysseus' childhood, growing up, and early rule into the movie, as well as tackle the entire Trojan War in about a bit over an hour of storytime. But it all feels like a giant, slow-moving preamble to the actual story that is a lot of sound and fury meant purely to at the 2/3 point or so establish Odysseus' pride and some of the gods being a bit annoyed at that. As a result we don't even truly start the titular Odyssey until the very end of the movie, when the ships are blown off course. The cast is mostly well picked and give solid performances, but they can't save a lot of the film from a plodding, sanitized and chopped backstory plot that swallows up the bulk of the film's running time and essentially gives a Cliff Notes version of the Iliad from mostly a single perspective. I suspect the next film, dealing with The Odyssey proper, will have a better, tighter handle on its pacing, story progression, etc. But if the filmmakers wanted to delve into the Iliad material, they should have just made a Trojan War film proper as a stage-setter for the odyssey to come.

 

5.8/10

 

 

Note: I was curious at some of the changes you made to Odysseus' backstory, etc., given the film's eagerness to make the bulk of the film about that.

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9 minutes ago, YourMother the Edgelord said:

Damn. Numbers didn’t like the Odyssey. So almost all the other films are fucked.

 

Well, I doubt all films basically include a giant, condensed minimovie in their plot before getting to the actual movie relatively briefly in comparison.

 

The Iliad stuff and the personal backstory, while condensed, and with some odd changes, was competently handled enough that the grade didn't dip lower.

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WAR OF THE GODS

 

Compared to the prior blockbuster, this dual-track offering is less narratively plodding, though it never quite escapes being a bit waffling about whether it's about Game of Thrones in Egyptian myth, or about humans showing a power and virtue surpassing the immortals. The film certainly earns its budget with a mammoth case of well known and famous actors, some of whom appear for essentially extended cameos. David Oyelowo does a good job at portraying Horus as a standoff-ish, self-righteous dick who learns humility and understanding as the Egyptian pantheon is essentially annihilated. Idris Elba is, as always, Idris Elba. The fights between the gods are some stellar action spectacle. In the end I would have liked to see a bit more of a narrative arc for Ramessu, who is more reactive and static compared to Horus' development.

 

7.0/10

 

 

Note: Djimon Hounsou plays Idris Elba's son, and is 8 years older than Elba in real life. I deducted only a couple decimal points for that since gods, makeup, CGI, and other effects can get around that onscreen.

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THE SIMULATION

 

I vaguely recall the old 2.0 version, so I'm entering this with a mostly fresh mind. It's a mostly well plotted sci-fi offering that suffers from not enough setup in the beginning. I think we could have spent some more time getting inside Arthur's head, as well as the nature of the Control System and his colleagues, and maybe show how a glitch or two in said system hiccups in the Simulation Life but get "smoothed over." I think a little more buildup like that would have made the sudden shift into escape and rebellion less janky. The plot once Chris and Nadine escape is a bit familiar, but it is well handled. I think maybe show a little more dissent on the inside to explain why some of the controllers side with Arthur.

 

All in all, it is a solid piece of work.

 

7.5/10

 

 

Note: Kovisson's face-turn in the final minute seems unearned, as he's never been shown to have any doubts or be anything other than a fairly generic dystopian dictator.

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Thanks, Numbers! I figured the redemption arc at the very end was admittedly forced, but I did want to explain it a bit. - with poisoned gas all over the Simulation, the operation would have taken years to rebuild, and watching the people on both sides help each other escape, he decides that t may be easier to just let The Simulation die.

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