The Invitation
So this week there isn't anything on at the cinema that I either haven't seen, or want to see. Therefore I thought 'let's watch a movie on Netflix'. My friend Dominic recommended The Invitation which, at least in the UK is available on Netflix for all too watch.
The trailer for the movie looked brilliant and the cast was pretty decent too. It featured John Caroll Lynch, who was in the brilliant movie The Founder, Toby Huss, who stars in the awesome tv series Halt and Catch Fire plus many more. The lead actor Logan Marshall-Green was also in Spiderman Homecoming.
It's directed by female director Karyn Kusama, who has directed a few films now, but as far as I can tell, nothing that would be described as a Blockbuster Hollywood style movie.
As always I will comment on the lighting, sound and direction. The lighting is actually very good. Considering it's set at night you can see the characters very clearly. Sound wise you can hear them too but musically there didn't seem to be much eerie type music in the film and that is definitely an area it is lacking in, especially for this type of movie. The director, however, clearly got the best out of the script she had as you can tell all the cast put a huge amount of effort into their very convincing roles.
Where the movie goes wrong is the storyline to be honest, big time. The story is that two years ago a guy split up with his ex after the death of their son. He is since in a new relationship and has moved on. Yet, out of the blue he and his new partner receive an invitaton to go to a dinner party hosted by his ex and her new partner.
Firstly, that is absurd. It just doesn't happen. When I split up with my ex I didn't invite her to dinner a couple of years later! Absolutely ridiculous. So the story isn't realistic for one thing.
Then the problem is the dinner itself, well it's not just a dinner, the evening. It drags, big time. You sit there watching them all talk thinking 'something is going to happen in a minute'. But it doesn't. On top of that there are long periods of the movie where you just see the lead actor either outside or in a bedroom staring into space, not for a few seconds, but for a few minutes!!! Zzzzzzz is what I was thinking lol. Boring!
So, the build up to anything major actually happening is very, very long and drawn out. This is very dissaponting.
However, the movie does have some very good features. The scene with the coyote at the start of the movie is awesome, very tense and very well acted and directed. Also, without giving the game away the movie is also a great lesson in not joining a cult. That road can only end in tears, so don't do it.
The main redeeming feature is the last 20 minutes of the movie. The rest of the movie up to that point can be regarded as a drama, but in the last 20 minutes it's a pure horror movie up there with the best. Tense, dramatic, not knowing what is going to happen next. Just brilliant. To be honest the last 20 minutes saves the movie but 20 minutes alone isn't enough to make it really good.
If you have to have the ridiculous premise of going to your ex girlfriends for a meal then make the whole movie a horror movie. Have scary things happen to members of the dinner party one by one throughout the movie to build up the tension. That would be brilliant. However, for the fact that the movie isn't like that you can only blame whoever wrote the script.
The movie isn't all bad, but it's not all good either. If the whole movie was like the past 20 minutes this would be a 5 star movie. Sadly it's definitely not.
An average movie, with a great ending. Feel free to press fast forward to the last 20-30 minutes, you won't have missed anything! Watch the brilliant coyote scene then press fast forward!
An average movie with a great ending gets a just above average score. Three and a half stars awarded. At least it's free on Netflix as long as you are a subscriber! :-)
*This review is all my own work, please don't reproduce without my permission. Please visit my advertisers pages as they help keep the blog going. Thankyou.
The trailer for the movie looked brilliant and the cast was pretty decent too. It featured John Caroll Lynch, who was in the brilliant movie The Founder, Toby Huss, who stars in the awesome tv series Halt and Catch Fire plus many more. The lead actor Logan Marshall-Green was also in Spiderman Homecoming.
It's directed by female director Karyn Kusama, who has directed a few films now, but as far as I can tell, nothing that would be described as a Blockbuster Hollywood style movie.
As always I will comment on the lighting, sound and direction. The lighting is actually very good. Considering it's set at night you can see the characters very clearly. Sound wise you can hear them too but musically there didn't seem to be much eerie type music in the film and that is definitely an area it is lacking in, especially for this type of movie. The director, however, clearly got the best out of the script she had as you can tell all the cast put a huge amount of effort into their very convincing roles.
Where the movie goes wrong is the storyline to be honest, big time. The story is that two years ago a guy split up with his ex after the death of their son. He is since in a new relationship and has moved on. Yet, out of the blue he and his new partner receive an invitaton to go to a dinner party hosted by his ex and her new partner.
Firstly, that is absurd. It just doesn't happen. When I split up with my ex I didn't invite her to dinner a couple of years later! Absolutely ridiculous. So the story isn't realistic for one thing.
Then the problem is the dinner itself, well it's not just a dinner, the evening. It drags, big time. You sit there watching them all talk thinking 'something is going to happen in a minute'. But it doesn't. On top of that there are long periods of the movie where you just see the lead actor either outside or in a bedroom staring into space, not for a few seconds, but for a few minutes!!! Zzzzzzz is what I was thinking lol. Boring!
So, the build up to anything major actually happening is very, very long and drawn out. This is very dissaponting.
However, the movie does have some very good features. The scene with the coyote at the start of the movie is awesome, very tense and very well acted and directed. Also, without giving the game away the movie is also a great lesson in not joining a cult. That road can only end in tears, so don't do it.
The main redeeming feature is the last 20 minutes of the movie. The rest of the movie up to that point can be regarded as a drama, but in the last 20 minutes it's a pure horror movie up there with the best. Tense, dramatic, not knowing what is going to happen next. Just brilliant. To be honest the last 20 minutes saves the movie but 20 minutes alone isn't enough to make it really good.
If you have to have the ridiculous premise of going to your ex girlfriends for a meal then make the whole movie a horror movie. Have scary things happen to members of the dinner party one by one throughout the movie to build up the tension. That would be brilliant. However, for the fact that the movie isn't like that you can only blame whoever wrote the script.
The movie isn't all bad, but it's not all good either. If the whole movie was like the past 20 minutes this would be a 5 star movie. Sadly it's definitely not.
An average movie, with a great ending. Feel free to press fast forward to the last 20-30 minutes, you won't have missed anything! Watch the brilliant coyote scene then press fast forward!
An average movie with a great ending gets a just above average score. Three and a half stars awarded. At least it's free on Netflix as long as you are a subscriber! :-)
*This review is all my own work, please don't reproduce without my permission. Please visit my advertisers pages as they help keep the blog going. Thankyou.
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