Red Mosquito

Not a perfect movie, by any means, but I really enjoyed it and there were a couple of “whoa” moments that really elevated the film. Saw it in a packed IMAX theater and there were multiple rounds of applause at the end (stay for the entire credits).

All hail the queen of Bills Mafia.

Spoiler: show

I suspect some will say they were bored for the opening act of the movie before all hell breaks loose but I found it anything but. A very slow burn getting to know our characters with whom I was happy to spend time.

The main whoa moment for me was the temporal fever dream in the juke joint climaxing with the place burning down. Sadly, the movie never reaches that high again for the remainder of its running time but, at that point, it had me thinking anything was possible.

Jack O’Connell was outstanding

Jorge enjoyed this one

lennytheweedwhacker wrote:Jorge enjoyed this one

Opinions in an aggregated movie thread don’t count.

It's clear that a lot of passion went into this, it's not lazy or hacky. You can really tell that, and it's no small thing. But all throughout I kept thinking "wow, it sure would be nice if there was any tension to this whatsoever." Just a complete slog from the moment it started, and every horrific thing that happens feels weightless and inconsequential. There's no real atmosphere, no escalating tension, no sense of dread.

The big exuberant scene everybody will point to as being great is certainly interesting but it starts feeling oddly out of place the moment you stop and think about its thematic relevance, or what it means within the context of the story.

Hey you stole my review.

this looks peak, can't wait to see it

Jorge wrote:It's clear that a lot of passion went into this, it's not lazy or hacky. You can really tell that, and it's no small thing. But all throughout I kept thinking "wow, it sure would be nice if there was any tension to this whatsoever." Just a complete slog from the moment it started, and every horrific thing that happens feels weightless and inconsequential. There's no real atmosphere, no escalating tension, no sense of dread.

The big exuberant scene everybody will point to as being great is certainly interesting but it starts feeling oddly out of place the moment you stop and think about its thematic relevance, or what it means within the context of the story.

I disagree with most of this but I think it’s a perfectly valid take that many will share.

Out of curiosity, what kind of screen/theater did you see it in?

Just a regular cinema screen, not IMAX

Part of it is that I really don't like Ryan Coogler's last several films, he's taken a very Hollywood-slick, kind of anonymous turn in his framing, blocking, lighting and color grading, the Marvel house style has rubbed off on him. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is legitimately one of the worst movies I have ever seen, and I think this sucks in similar ways.

There are also some choices that detract from the experience and leave me wanting for more of that foreboding sense, that GRAVITY that I wanted from this. Like the constant score with some or the corniest music you've ever heard (I'm not talking about the musical numbers, which are kind of fun, but the synth, dobro and fiddle score you hear throughout that sounds like a bad blues pastiche). The weird decision to insert audio cues while a character's telling an anecdote, which feels like a weird radio play and takes away from the actor's performance. And the over explaining. My god. So much yapping in this movie. One of my least favorite movie conventions is when characters just stand around and explain the mechanics of the plot or their emotions to each other and this movie has like 3 long scenes like that, including one really terrible and overlong one near the end when the (spoilers) are trying to get into the (spoiler). That one's the worst because the movie is finally picking up some steam and it just grinds to a halt for some of the worst dialogue ever spoken

Also the climax is so deflating... it's just

Spoiler: show

a big brawl? Shooting and stabbing the shit out of them? So blunt, so straightforward. No surprises. I kept hoping that music would play a part somehow, that the tool of their damnation also served as their ultimate Demise, I dunno, SOMETHING to tie it back to the film's themes and spirit, not this half assed and honestly pretty generic feeling action scene

Jorge wrote:Also the climax is so deflating... it's just

Spoiler: show

a big brawl? Shooting and stabbing the shit out of them? So blunt, so straightforward. No surprises. I kept hoping that music would play a part somehow, that the tool of their damnation also served as their ultimate Demise, I dunno, SOMETHING to tie it back to the film's themes and spirit, not this half assed and honestly pretty generic feeling action scene

Spoiler: show

I'm with you on the music piece -- it felt like they were setting up something akin to that with the "whoa" scene I loved but nothing came of it.

That said, he did take out (or at least stun them long enough for the sun to come up) the big bad and his horde with a guitar...

The Edward Cullen post credits cameo really felt out of place

I think I'm largely in agreement with the naysayers on this one. I think I was largely on board with the first half being-cool-building-a-juke-joint movie but when the vampires showed up the air just went out of the thing. I felt it was oddly edited, weirdly paced, somewhat jarring to follow at points, attempts at humor that felt out of place and didn't land, just kind of weak overall.

And some logical holes. Some of the vampires are crazed, others seem to be logical and intelligent, Stack is even emotional and loving, some are mindless and apparently can't resist Delroy Lindo's spurting wrist as he yells "come over here" like they are mindless Walking Dead zombies.

I wouldn't fault anyone for loving it, though, just didn't hit 100% for me. Michael B. Jordan is cool as hell, I really dug the music sequence in the middle actually, the music throughout was great, and the epilogue sequence was kind of touching and I liked that, too. Not my movie but I'm glad others are digging it and that it is making money

I feel like the native vampire hunters plot point was abandoned pretty quickly

Was pretty disappointed by this. Had high expectations given metacritic and audience scores. I expected GET OUT like quality. I agree w/ the criticism posted by Jorge and others. The best part was probably the music.

I fucking loved it.

Nice to hear. Will be a while until I plan to see it, but I do feel hopeful that I will enjoy it.

I enjoyed this, but the "throw money around" all day, then using "need money" as an excuse for her to go outside felt really forced

well, I loved it overall, but everything prior to the juke joint night could've been cut by 15-20 minutes

I do slightly agree with Jorge's point about the Marvel slickness of the cinematography, but I knew this going in, his style is what it is; I do think the style is older than the MCU though and has always been a trapping of "action horror" in particular

@SkitchP wrote:I enjoyed this, but the "throw money around" all day, then using "need money" as an excuse for her to go outside felt really forced

I don't remember what you're talking about.