jesse o
I make the effort, at least as far as I can tell, to watch as many movies from other countries as is humanly possible. Well, for the moment, before the current president makes it illegal for us to watch movies from certain countries. Perhaps, lately, I've not kept up with foreign movies as much as I have in the past, but I still try to broaden my horizons. I don't mind reading subtitles. I just enjoy the different storytelling techniques used by people from varying cultures or the technical tricks they use to tell their story. It's interesting to learn about how different countries make movies. But, really, I don't think I can use that reason for this movie. There was only one reason that I decided to watch this movie and that reason was the fact that I just wanted something goofy to watch. Something that I could put on, shut off my brain and laugh for a couple of hours. And, if I'm being honest, it didn't really even matter if the film was good or not. Which is why, really, I shouldn't be surprised to find out that, in fact, this movie was not good. I've certainly seen worse comedies out there, like most of Adam Sandler's filmography is worse, for example. And the idea, while not necessarily the most inventive, could have at least been used to get some laughs. Basically, this elite secret force went on a mission that left all of its members, except one, dead. So the government has to go after some new recruits in order to retrieve this nuclear warhead. Naturally speaking, this being a comedy, the recruits in question are just a disaster as a team. One of the film's first problems is obvious. And that is the fact that there is no real narrative to speak of. The movie, obviously, relies on a lot of banter and silly antics between the team in order to carry it as opposed to having an actual story. I mean, obviously there's SOMETHING there, even if it's the most basic shit you've ever seen. Essentially, the team was being set up from the start, a predictable "twist", in order for them to be the scapegoats. The person that set them up did so in order to help his own chances of being elected president. This, of course, breaks the team up and they go their separate ways, before reuniting one last time to stop the would-be president's terrorist plot. You've seen it all before and will likely see it again. The point is that the story just isn't anything special and they really didn't even try to tell one. And that's fine, there's plenty of films that get by simply on the chemistry between their casts and not because they have a narrative you're invested in. The fact of the matter is, though, that the movie is an inconsistent comedy. And perhaps that's giving this movie far too much credit, because, as I see it, this movie peaked way too early. And I really do mean too early, like 35-40 minutes in is when the film is at its peak. Everything else after that is just missing something. I'm not saying the first 40 minutes were some of the funniest you will ever see, but I laughed at some of the jokes. None of them are really super memorable, but I know I laughed. The rest of the movie is just a series of chuckles. And not even inspired chuckles. They're far more pitying chuckles. That should make sense. Part of me also felt that this came across more like a TV movie that would, hopefully, serve as the pilot for a series. I assume that this movie was released in theaters in Spain, but it feels like the beginning stages of something bigger. Well, maybe not bigger, but a taste of things to come. And maybe they'll make a sequel for this, who knows? The cast was good enough, but if a sequel is being planned, then they're gonna need a far stronger script than the one they had here. This was only good for 40 minutes of material. Everything after that is just a little dull. I don't know if I should go 2 or 2.5 stars for this. I think 2.5 stars is way too high for the inconsistencies at hand, but it's definitely better than 2 stars. Fuck it, I'll go 2.5, I'm in a good mood. Not a bad movie, but one that just doesn't have enough good material to justify it going slightly over 90 minutes. Watch at your own risk.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
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