tetraslash Reviews (21)

Despicable Me 4 (2024)

In a word, "Short."

[6/10 · 4 July 2024]

Honestly, this sequel had a strong foundation to be a good one, but fell, literally, short. That's the biggest issue with the movie. It's just too short.

A lot of funny and interesting ideas are brought forth to you, promising to be a great spectacle, and then they don't last more than a few minutes each before being completely forgotten for the following one.

The two biggest plot points, the super Minions featured in the trailers and the villain himself, don't get enough screen time worth mentioning.

It felt as though Illumination ran out of money and had to cut the movie short, turning it into an unfortunate cash grab. Or maybe Universal's shareholders pushed them to quickly release the movie as-is to boost their revenue for the next earnings release.

Even with top-notch production quality, the lack of substance only serves to undermine all of it and give viewers reason to stop following the franchise. I hope the next movie makes a strong comeback as an apology.

Squid Game (2021–2025)

A Must Watch Battle Royale-Esque Death Game Series

[8/10 · 23 September 2021]

Loved this series and how it kept me hooked until the very end. The very last game and conclusion were rather mediocre and was a cheap method at opening up the doors to a Season 2, but everything up until that point were a clear 9/10.

If you love competitive death game/escape room movies/shows, this is one you should not pass on.

The Vault (2011–2014)

A brilliant escape room series. Do not miss it!

[9/10 · 21 September 2021]

An underrecognized indie gem, this webseries encapsulates the best of truly thought-provoking escape room scenarios.

If this series were an actual movie instead of an indie release on YouTube, I'm sure it would've pioneered and even raised the bar for these kinds of mind game movies.

For those interested, this series is complete and available free to watch on the official YouTube channel, VaultShow. It is a must-watch for any fans of the genre.

Spiral (2021)

Viewers have too much bias against the actors and no objective opinion

[7/10 · 10 August 2021]

Don't believe all the terrible ratings this movie received. Just because the lead actor is Chris Rock doesn't necessarily mean that the movie is guaranteed to suck.

I've been a fan of the entire series, and I enjoyed the Jigsaw continuation as well. What you need to keep in mind is this: Spiral is NOT Saw. The culprit this time is not Jigsaw himself; he has his own way of exacting justice. So he is not going to do things the same way Jigsaw would have.

I for one like how this signals the return of the Saw franchise. I've always wanted more from the series, as it is unique in terms of horror films. I welcome more for the series, hopefully ones that improve from this point on.

Dolittle (2020)

Underrated family flick

[7/10 · 20 January 2020]

5.2 doesn't do this movie justice. Every character was portrayed quite nicely and the movie is overall enjoyable and has its funny moments. It's a family film through and through, and is a decent watch for that very reason. If you like adventure movies like Pirates of the Caribbean, you'll like this one too.

The House That Jack Built (2018)

Not for the faint of heart

[6/10 · 15 January 2019]

Unlike most serial killer thrillers that try to simulate a serial killer's actions, this movie is literally watching a serial killer take action and describing every bit of detail of what he does. It is genuinely uncomfortable to watch and I would not recommend watching it unless you can swallow down gruesome themes.

Being a 2.5 hour movie, I definitely could not bring myself to watch it in one sitting. I had to take breaks, and I even had times where I considered stopping myself from watching the rest. I've watched tons of horror films throughout my life, but this one really takes the cake.

Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan (2018–2023)

Mixed feelings

[8/10 · 2 October 2018]

I've never read the book before so I'm not sure how accurate this adaptation is compared to it, but this is an amazing terrorism show that's so much better than Homeland. It's engaging and very addicting to watch.

My only peeve with the show though, and my main reason for not giving it more than an 8, has got to be the MC himself, Jack Ryan. This isn't the actor's fault at all; it's the director's fault. All of the other characters are fine.

Jack Ryan is introduced as an ex-Marine who has had field experience in Afghanistan. Yet, after he became a CIA analyst, suddenly, he acts as if he's never held a gun before, and his morality kicks in every five seconds to protect the villains for the sake of plot armour.

If I was to rate this without Jack in the equation, I'd easily give the show a 9. But if I were to rate the show based strictly on Jack, then I'll only give it a 7, and that's being generous. It should be self-explanatory how shallow the character Jack Ryan is.

Hereditary (2018)

Starts off strong, and then heads a different direction

[6/10 · 28 August 2018]

Horror movies tend to have difficulty nabbing ratings of 7+ on IMDb, so I was intrigued after seeing this movie getting a 7.5.

To start things off, the movie is two hours long. But I don't think it should've been. You spend a minute or two watching someone go from Point A to Point B when you could skip that and it wouldn't make a difference. I'm not cutting points off for that reason though.

I think the acting was great and the effects were authentic. It didn't feel forced or fake; it felt natural. Everything seemed coherent. There were no jump scares in the movie.

So, if I liked the movie, why did I only give a 6? The reason boils down to the plot changing directions later on in the movie. I wanted to give the movie a 7 for the ambiance and suspense, but it just felt like the plot wasn't strong enough for me to give it a 7. The movie is more of a 6.5, if I can give it that.

How should I explain? Instead a 'specific' character being the expected cause of everything, the director decides to push on with an alternative ending that attempts to add in more explicit horror for no real reason. It was like the director knew exactly what he wanted, and then halfway through thought it wasn't scary enough and did something else.

Overall, this movie is okay to watch, but I recommend fast forwarding through slow scenes so you don't waste time and can just get straight to the point.

I Am Not a Serial Killer (2016)

A Decent Suspense Movie About a Sociopath and a Serial Killer

[6/10 · 2 October 2016]

I decided to watch this movie with an open mind in hopes that the idea of a sociopath hunting a killer would be interesting to watch. Unfortunately, the movie turned out to be mostly cringe-worthy.

Now, the movie does start off nicely. You develop an interest in the MC, who is an adolescent sociopath with a keen interest in serial killers.

He decides to go down the rabbit hole after being curious about a series of murders that occur in his town. His curiosity leads him to perform his own investigation, and eventually he finds out who the killer is.

However, he doesn't report him to the authorities. Nor does he try to stop him. He simply stalks him, seeking to learn more about why he kills. From this point on, you watch him doing everything he shouldn't be doing: putting himself at risk, making bad choices, not knowing when to back off... the list goes on.

This is where my gripes come in. I have a great distaste towards people who lack common sense. Making mistakes from time to time is understandable, but when a person has absolutely no idea that they're doing something wrong and blatantly chooses to put themselves in danger, I grow tired of watching.

The MC gives frequent reminders to viewers that he's a sociopath, and tries to lead you into believing that being a sociopath is a "Get Out Of Jail Free" card for being stupid. No, just no.

Being a sociopath does not mean you have the intelligence of a five year old. It means you think differently from others. And, more often than most, sociopaths are actually masterminds, and that's what makes them frightening.

To wrap things up, I would say that the movie is "watchable," but only if you are willing to put up with a MC who has zero common sense. Otherwise, you can safely pass on this movie as you won't be missing out on anything interesting. The movie isn't scary at all, nor does it give you the creeps.

Enemy (2013)

A symbolic movie which is a total hit-or-miss for viewers

[5/10 · 29 November 2014]

Summary: This movie is based on symbolism. If you are poor with figuring out symbolism, do NOT watch this movie. It will only bore you from start to finish, no matter how much you hope you will find something to justify watching it. You have been warned.

The rest of the review: I'll start by saying that this movie shouldn't really have a rating, as it's contingent on whether you understand the symbolism in the movie.

Being heavily rooted in symbolism, if you are poor with that field of analysis, you won't enjoy the movie at all. It's a total hit-or-miss; if you can understand the symbolism within the first 30 minutes of the movie, you'll be in for a pleasant surprise.

Otherwise, if by that time you still have no idea what is happening and just find it highly confusing, I suggest you stop watching and move on. This movie clearly isn't for you. If you make it to the end, you'll just end up wondering, "Why did I waste 90 minutes watching this?"

Unlike other movies based on symbolism, this movie doesn't go the extra mile to provide you with easy-to-grasp clues. The symbolism is there in plain sight, but the explanations for them are not. You either catch on really early, or you don't catch on at all, which will hinder the movie's enjoyability.

From the threads I've read on IMDb thus far, most people had to resort to watching an explanation on YouTube just to understand what the movie was about. That should give you an idea of the degree of symbolism in this movie. And that explanation video is 25 minutes long by itself.

When I personally watched the movie, I was unable to discern the symbolism within. I was bored all the way until the end, and I could not watch it in one sitting. I ultimately understood the gist of it, after reading some spoilers about what the symbolism meant.

There are better ways to provide symbolism AND enjoyment in a movie, but this movie focuses solely on symbolism. It doesn't try in any fashion to keep your attention, nor is it even remotely interesting. It's meant to be depicted and analyzed, like a school research project.

Anyway, long story short, I didn't really enjoy the movie, but if you don't mind trying it out, then I hope you understand it early on. If not, then as I mentioned, consider dropping it and move on. You won't miss out on this movie by not watching it.

P.S. You do get to see both female actors topless. That can be a plus, if that's what you're into.

The Last Days on Mars (2013)

This movie doesn't provide anything new, but was still solid for what it was worth

[7/10 · 11 November 2013]

My rating is a 6.5/10, with it bumped up to a 7 to weigh the IMDb rating higher. Based on the other reviews I read here, this movie could be a hit or miss depending on the viewer, but it wasn't a miss for me.

In essence, this movie is about zombies on Mars. That's about it. So right now, unless you're open to the idea of zombies being in a space movie, stop now and watch something else; It's not worth your time.

Even if you don't mind zombies, the movie still isn't a spectacle to watch. Simply put, the movie does not introduce anything new that another sci-fi and/or space movie has not introduced already.

You can rest assured that the movie is solid. Actors do their parts great, and the overall setting, CGI, and just about everything else is solid. The only reason why it may bore you is because there isn't a ton of action (as the movie was trying to head for realism), and that there's aren't any major scenes which make you go "Oh wow!".

---------- Regarding the premise, it's quite simple (which shows how the movie itself was simple): A group of scientists are collecting samples and are preparing to finish (leave) their mission on Mars.

One of the scientists near the end of the mission discovers a living organism and attempts to collect it, but instead he gets infected by the organism and turns into a zombie (not exactly a zombie, but basically one). The rest of the movie should be self-explanatory with the follow-up of a generic zombie premise.

---------- All in all, this movie isn't very memorable and doesn't pack any good reasons to justify a deliberate watch. It might be a good watch to pass the time if you don't have anything else to watch, but otherwise, you can safely skip this movie and watch something else.

The Purge (I) (2013)

Initial idea of the movie was great, but was barely used

[6/10 · 1 October 2013]

To begin, I am giving this movie a really nice 6.5 out of 10 just because the actors did a reasonably good job.

I think other reviewers are being too critical on the movie. A lot of the reviews weighed the entire movie on the fact that the original premise was essentially neglected, but didn't realize and/or recognize that the acting itself wasn't bad at all and was quite average to say the least.

The movie, in all honesty, was a solid movie. However, the media and ads shouldn't have heavily publicized the premise of the movie as being the one-day legalized purge system. This misled viewers and built up too much anticipation for an enticing premise that (although was used) was not to the viewer's expectations.

The movie should've just showed more than just the family being hunted down. Too much emphasis was placed on the family trying to survive as opposed to trying to actively promote or go against the idea of purging.

Neutrality was probably the main issue with the movie, since viewers would expect to see the premise being thoroughly portrayed by the protagonists, or the protagonists trying hard to combat that very evil.

All in all, I don't think I wasted my time watching the movie. I'm quite open, and understand when some movies don't quite hit the mark. I don't think I would recommend this movie since it's hard to introduce it, but if somebody asked me what it was about, I would tell them about it.

Riddick (2013)

Riddick was really just a retelling of Pitch Black, but in another setting

[6/10 · 26 September 2013]

I give Riddick a rating of 6.5/10, with it lowered to 6 to weigh on the IMDb rating. This is an honest review of what the movie truly desires, and is not a hyped up review.

When I watched this movie, I was going in expecting it to build onto the last movie and show him ruling as an overlord. What I didn't expect is for him to get thrown onto a random planet for the entire movie.

But well, sure, fine. I'll let that one slide. So at this point, I'm expecting something interesting to happen, if that's what the movie is to be about.

Turns out that it's just a filler movie, meant to earn a bit more revenue and not really serve any other purpose. There's going to be another movie after this, I assure you that (for those who haven't watched this yet).

To keep a long review short: Riddick is essentially a remake of Pitch Black with different characters, setting, and scenes. But the premise and objective remains the exact same: Reluctantly help other people while escaping from the planet. Heck, even the whole idea of darkness-lurking monsters remains the same.

I was relatively disappointed that the movie would just be a double of the original flick. The action felt a bit stale as well, and there weren't really any "OMG" moments added into the movie. There wasn't any truly unique scene to admire.

I think the main problem with this movie is originality. The scriptwriter and planners couldn't think of what they wanted the third flick to be about. It would've probably been a much better idea to watch Riddick be an overlord (as you were led to believe in the last movie), but no, the director decided to bin that idea to make him be a wanted criminal again.

At this point, since wasn't any character development, I'm not exactly sure where the series is headed. Riddick leaves with no friends or personal ties to anyone or anything in particular, and doesn't exactly have any goal in mind but to stay free. We all know that he's not going to be committing a crime anytime soon, so what will he come to? I just feel like the series is going to head downhill, unless the director twists his storyline and makes it head somewhere totally different.

The Conjuring (2013)

I think some reviewers are over-exaggerating on the scariness of the movie

[7/10 · 4 August 2013]

This is a review coming from somebody who is not easily frightened. In an effort not to make a review that's overly long and drawn out (like all the others), I'll just keep my review simple.

First off, the movie does have a solid storyline. A simple one really. A family moves into a house that's haunted, and supernatural hunters are employed to fix it. Nothing really much else happens beyond this premise.

The movie as a whole (for those who have watched it and should take a minute or two to reflect upon the movie after reading this review), isn't really all that scary. That is to say; If you take out all the jump scares put into the movie, there's nothing else to keeping you on your feet and biting your fingernails.

In some ways, if you think about it further, even the jump scares don't fit into the story. Heck, the story might have even been more eerie if the jump scares were replaced with the apparitions slowly coming into view. This would've made a more well-rounded setting as opposed to trying to make a movie half-scary and half-eerie. Horror movies can really either be one or the other, but not both.

In summary, I would say to you that this movie is worth it to watch, but it's not really high priority. The story isn't really original, but the solid acting and nice execution makes for a good watch. My rating is a 7.5 out of 10. I couldn't give it an 8 because there wasn't anything else in the movie to scare you apart from jump scares.

Byzantium (2012)

The movie was relatively a good watch, but could've been a lot shorter

[7/10 · 2 August 2013]

My vote is a 7.5/10. The story and plot of Byzantium is well-structured, keeps to the point without straying, and executed solidly, also being very logical. The only issue is the pacing of the movie, which gave me a bit of a bitter aftertaste, as I'm sure it has given the same to many other watchers of this movie.

There's really only one major flaw with the movie. The length of it. Usually, movies are plagued with other issues, but the problem with this one is the sheer length of the movie. Peaking at almost two hours, you're given a story that's realistically enough for the standard 1.5. 30 minutes doesn't seem like much, but when you incorporate the extremely slow pacing of the movie, you feel like an eternity's gone by by the time it's only halfway into the movie. Just think of a movie that's uncut, showing every scene, even if it could be shrunk down.

But moving aside from the slow pacing; This movie is a relatively simple one, with its own unique twists. Usually, most vampire movies either choose one or the other: vampires in the past, or vampires in the present. Byzantium decides to go with both, by having the two main characters live their lives in the present, but you as the watcher constantly receive flashbacks of their lives back 200 years ago.

The story is simple. Clara and Eleanor are vampires well over 200 years old, who have lived their lives over and over again, doing the same things without change. Sometime years ago, they reached a point where they needed to simply survive, and nothing more. The issue starts to come to light when Eleanor desires a life that's not purely monotone.

The rest boils down to this vampire organization set out to apprehend them, and the idea that the two can never let anybody know that they're vampires. These are the two main things that continue to warp the story as it progresses along.

Personally, I would say that this is a watcher. However, if you are expecting ANY form of action whatsoever, don't watch the movie. You won't get any significant action at all. The only thing that keeps you going is the great acting. If you have time for a 2-hour movie and want to watch something different for a change, Byzantium could be on your watchlist. Otherwise, you can safely ignore it, as it isn't really all that memorable.

The Colony (I) (2013)

Actually a 7.5/10, but I'll give it an 8 since it's a B-movie done well

[8/10 · 22 July 2013]

First off, since IMDb doesn't allow half-ratings and the current IMDb average is way below what the movie's truly worth, I decided to up my rating to an 8. I've been giving thought as to whether I should settle on a 7, but knowing that The Colony was a B-movie, I generously gave it an 8.

This movie is surprisingly done well. I have a personal liking for post-apocalyptic settings, and this one hits the nail on the spot, for what they chose. As the plot states, a small colony of survivors attempt to survive an ice age, and some unforeseen circumstances occur.

There isn't much I can say about the movie, apart from the fact that I felt that it was definitely worth the time to watch. It's a really solid movie, and you won't regret watching it. The acting was fine, there were no outrageous moments, and there were no issues with the other details in the movie, such as the CG (which was done pretty good).

The pacing of the movie is relatively nice, and the movie finishes just right. The movie wasn't stretched out, nor cut short. Any post-apocalyptic movie can easily be over- or underdone (trying to cram in too many subplots in a small timeframe, or not putting in enough to take full availability of the setting), but this one has just enough.

There's not much else I can say without spoiling the movie, so I'll just say that if you like post-apocalyptic movies, you're sure to have a kick out of watching this one.

Oblivion (I) (2013)

A solid 7 movie, nothing more

[7/10 · 21 July 2013]

My rating for Oblivion is a 7. A solid 7. Compared to Cruise's other movies, there wasn't as much action as I had expected. Once again, you have a sci-fi movie with an original premise (Minority Report was great), and great acting overall, and the CG and other effects were done brilliantly.

However, the reason why I could've give this movie a solid 8 (which means that the movie was done perfectly, without any issues) was because it left me with the whole "What was the point of the movie, anyway?" mindset afterwards. It didn't seem like there was much a point with the movie. Enough that when my mother asked me if I could watch it with my nephew, I replied, "She probably wouldn't like it; It's nothing special.".

The plot isn't defined clearly until halfway into the movie (to allow for a progressive, slow start), but by the time you realize what's happening, it's already ending and there isn't much action to help intensify the severity of the issue at hand.

Your interest is held by you hoping that the movie will get better as it moves along, but with the pace of the movie held constant, you end up just watching it and not really trying to consider which parts of the movie were done well.

If you ask me whether this movie is worth the time, it is, but, only if you're a sci-fi fan and/or a Tom Cruise fan. Freeman isn't a major character, so don't bother looking for some spectacular performance from him.

Drug War (2012)

Honest review of how disappointed I was with the movie

[6/10 · 11 July 2013]

Sadly, what almost ended as a solid 7 ended up dropping to a 6 because of a really poorly done shootout scene. I really couldn't take it seriously. I had to facepalm the moment I saw that horrendously unrealistic scenario.

I gave some points for Zhang (Sun) doing a great job acting as the captain of the task force and performing his part extremely well. I liked how they had him play as a con artist, pretending to be various different drug lords. He was basically my favourite character throughout the movie.

At the very beginning, I was extremely bothered with the script telling Tian (Koo) to just give in to the police without even a little retaliation. This just isn't realistic at all. What kind of high profile drug dealer just gives in to the police without even trying to feign innocence? This kept bothering me throughout the movie because he continues to do it throughout, selling his colleagues out to the police in the blink of an eye without even trying to fight back.

The director tried to be unique by making about every drug dealer completely different. You have some drivers who are stoned out of their minds when they shouldn't be, you have a group of dealers who are deaf, you have one who constantly laughs hysterically, and you have somebody who talks doubles. The list goes on. I mean really, is every drug lord so radically different? This wasn't very realistic. But whatever.

However, that wasn't really the factor that affected the movie so much. It was the final shootout scene that was a complete failure. It not only stalled time, it had no point, didn't solve any actual problem, and was just plain stupid from start to finish.

It's hard to explain my pain with this scene without explicitly spoiling it, if I haven't spoiled enough already. Hence the spoiler warning. You're plagued with infinite ammo, diehards who don't die even when they're shot many times, and those opposite the diehards who just die in a single random shot. But that's not the worst of it. The worst comes when the main antagonist essentially survives and kills everybody else.

I'm not sure what people liked about the movie. There wasn't even a message to the plot. It was just your average ordinary drug case. A story has a beginning, middle, and end. This movie has the beginning and middle, but no end. This movie just ends as "Everybody dies, the end.". Really, that seriously disappointed me.

You're free to watch the movie if you wish, but from what I've seen of Louis Koo and Johnnie To within the last few years, this is once again another movie you can safely avoid the pain of watching.

Hotel Deluxe (2013)

Relatively enjoyable comedy that's not too over-the-top like other HK comedies

[6/10 · 11 July 2013]

Generally, I have low hopes whenever I watch HK comedy movies since most of them these days revolve around stale gags or heavily over-the-top jokes. My nephew wanted to watch this movie, so I watched it with her.

In terms of how I felt after watching the movie, I actually thought the movie was fine. The premise is good and original, and the characters are unique and funny. There isn't much development, but you get your bang for your buck for the time you spend watching the movie.

The story revolves around the President of a wannabe five-star hotel that tries to convince her sleazy "four-star" employees to work harder in order to make it happen. A hotel ranking appraiser is due to arrive very soon, so she decides to invite two major actors into the hotel to help endorse it.

The rest of the movie is just fun and games, and a lot of pleasant surprises. The band of employees doesn't like the President for being so egotistic, so they constantly try to indirectly mess with her.

The major twist happens when more characters enter the scene, but I won't spoil it at this point. Just know that you'll certainly go "OMG" once you realize who the appraiser was actually posing as :).

Conspirators (2013)

Not that great of a movie, but it's not awfully done

[6/10 · 11 July 2013]

This movie wasn't really that great, and I can't say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. The story isn't really worth noting, and the action scenes weren't special at all. My suggestion is that you could probably save your time and watch another movie instead.

Story wise, the movie is about two detectives, one from Thailand and one from Malaysia, both Cantonese, who solve the same case together. The case revolves around the Thailand-based detective wanting to find out who murdered his parents 30 years ago. He begins his search in Malaysia after catching wind that he should start his search there, and he hires the Malaysia-based detective for local assistance.

Really, there's not much to say. There weren't any "wow" moments, and all the chase and fighting scenes were average at best. You can find them in any other generic HK crime movie. My nephew couldn't watch past halfway because she found it boring, and I agree that there's really nothing that tries to keep your attention.

Triad (2012)

Movie was executed relatively nicely, albeit the lack of depth

[7/10 · 9 July 2013]

To be honest, I started to watch this movie expecting the usual "cops try to resolve an issue that involves the Triads" premise, but was thoroughly surprised to see a movie built in this unique sort of structure.

Before you begin, know that this movie is certainly NOT your usual HK Triad crime movie. It isn't meant to be. The idea of this movie is solely to give a more realistic take on what it means to truly be within the Triads, and is not meant to be "good guys always win". If you're looking for cops, you won't see a single one in this movie.

I'm relatively open when it comes to movies, and I don't like jumping on any biased bandwagons. I'm sure those who watched may have been a bit turned off from the movie lacking depth, but I personally did not think so.

I thought the movie was done nicely, and at a nice, progressive pace. There was plenty of character development, and it was very logical, not "movie fake". My attention stuck throughout, and heck, I even wondered halfway how I managed to get so far into the movie without already feeling bored. I was genuinely interested in seeing how far the main character would reach.

The plot is relatively simple. Three friends, "blood brothers", make a pact and devote themselves to becoming the best within the underground Triads, in order to prove themselves. They work their way up the ladder by killing rival enemies and doing some errands, working under one of the major turf leaders.

The turning point of the movie arrives when one of the turf leaders desires to "ascend to the throne" and wishes to replace the current head of all the turf leaders. He starts stirring problems within the turf of the three brothers, and their turf leader catches word of his actions.

He sends the three brothers to teach him a lesson in order calm him down, however, one of them ends up deciding he wants to kill him instead. This ends up creating a major divide between the major turf leaders, since the dead leader's wife is a major turf leader as well, and she does not want her husband's death to simply be ignored.

Then comes a time skip of a few years to the next election for the new head of the turf leaders, and the remaining turf leaders battle it out in order to ascend to the throne, and to change HK into serving their own ideals.

All in all, I personally thought that this movie was a good watch and worth the time, however, if you're personally looking for a premise you'd normally see in a HK crime movie, then you may want to look elsewhere. My rating for this movie is a 6.5, but since IMDb does not allow half-ratings, I upgraded it to a 7 for the good pace that's not too fast nor too slow.