pamleo65 Reviews (4)

Black Bag (2025)

Too quiet, too muted

[5/10 · 16 March 2025]

I was expecting a grown up version of Mr and Mrs Smith, and it's a little of this, but they dialed back the action too much.

I can handle a talk movie, but you need to balance it out. Establish the stakes. Give something that the audience can care about.

My biggest problem with this movie is that I came away feeling like I didn't care how it ended.

It was only 93 minutes long. I'm not sure if there were budget constraints, but they had the time to throw in something. A dance scene, a scene to establish what was at stake, maybe a scene to further bolster the threat Pierce Brosnan's character felt about Cate Blanchett's character.

A less muted, repetitive soundtrack would have helped as well.

Detective Chinatown 1900 (2025)

Fun film, one speech too many

[8/10 · 11 February 2025]

I grew up watching the old Charlie Chan movies on TV, this had a flavor of those. It also reminded me a bit of Kung Fu Hustle.

The mystery was a little predictable, but this is a family movie and the laughs were well earned.

The action scenes were well planned and executed.

John Cusack does a great job portraying a xenophobic, anti Chinese, local political figure.

Chow Yun-fat is excellent as the main suspect's father and Chinatown's main benefactor.

He delivers a great speech at the end, which was the one I felt was well timed.

As some others have said, the other speeches were not always well timed. It's difficult to lose yourself in a funny story if you're being pulled into a serious moment right after a funny scene.

The one monolog by the main suspect could have been handled better, displaying more heartache and less anger. He seemed more upset about how he was treated as a Chinaman than he was about losing the love of his life.

Overall, I left the theater feeling I had enjoyed myself.

Decoded (2024)

A Solid movie

[8/10 · 27 August 2024]

I went into the movie thinking it's the Chinese Oppenheimer. It is that, but it's also influenced by Cloud Atlas, Inception and A Beautiful Mind.

The film is visually beautiful. The dream sequences were the most visually interesting and reminded me of the epic scenes in Cloud Atlas.

The acting was well done. This is a Chinese film, a Chinese story, a love letter to China. The theme of love runs throughout, juxtaposed against the backdrop of war. Love of family, love of a mentor/student, romantic love, and all culminating in a love of country.

The reason I felt A Beautiful Mind and Inception were more influential is the main character's struggle to know what is real and what is the dream world.

What could have been better:

Pacing. Some parts were slower, followed by a fast paced scene. Seemed like a piece of classical music with adagio movements leading up to crescendo parts. While it works in music, for me, it doesn't work as well in film.

I would have liked more references to when things were taking place. There are a few, but at a point they stop and maybe it's to make the audience feel as lost as the main character, but it didn't help the story.

Also, more cross language scenes. The film is predominantly in Chinese with English/Chinese subtitles, but when John Cusack is on screen he predominantly speaks English.

John Cusack's character at the beginning is a Polish math professor in China teaching to all Chinese students and there wasn't even an interpreter.

Logically, I was looking for some demonstration that the students knew English or the presence of an interpreter.

I could say more but I don't want to give out spoilers.

Overall, a good solid movie.

Active Measures (2018)

Must watch

[10/10 · 4 September 2018]

I've followed the Russia story closely since Trump's stolen sham of an election. I still learned things watching Active Measures that I didn't know. If you believe in democracy you should watch this and learn.