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Alive (2020) : Movie Thoughts

Posted by absolutebadasses on September 19, 2020

Posted in: Movie Reviews, Reviews. Tagged: actors, actress, alive, cinema, comedy, film website, filmmaking, horror, Jo Il-Hyeong, korean cinema, korean movies, korean zombie film, korean zombie movie, love cinema, love films, movie blog, netflix movie, netflix movie alive, new movies, Park Shin-hye, Won-ho Son, Yoo Ah-in, zombie. Leave a comment

A city is infected by a mysterious virus, which causes it’s people to spiral out of control. Two survivers struggle to survive in an isolated apartment complex from those infected with the virus : Jo Il-Hyeong’s Korean thriller ALIVE is everything you’d like from a new movie in the Zombie genre, utilising the digital age in a smart, inventive way and has a whole shit load of savy special effects that make your eye’s twitch with nervous excitement : Yoo Ah-in is bloody brilliant as the gamer kid Joon-Woo who lives for his technology but fails to converse much with the outside world, that is until one day he has too, his dopey appearance & care free attitude endears himself to the viewer and his tag team partner Park Shin-hye’s Yoo-bin is my type of girl, fighting off the undead with everything from an axe, gun and home made killing trolley and oh yeah did I say that these zombie’s are not slow either but more like the hyperactive speed demons from World War Z, Won-ho Son’s work in capturing these delightful creatures rampaging through the apartment blocks is glorious & a sight to behold : ALIVE is SMART, INSANE and FLESH EATING FUN ★★★★

It was tough but here it goes : Christopher Nolan’s Top 8 Movies in order : (1) MEMENTO : 2000 : Nolan’s least pretentious movie, was shot for $9 million in less than a month, it’s story is exciting, fresh & edge of the seat and to this day it’s the filmmaker’s finest achievment with great turns by Guy Pearce & Joe Pantoliano : (2) THE PRESTIGE : 2006 : a hidden gem that I like to annually revisit & then think about for days after : Christian Bale & Hugh Jackman are immense as is Rebecca Hall who gives a stella turn playing Borden’s wife, from the sets, sound & story the film’s pure magic : (3) INCEPTION : 2010 : It’s been 10yrs and I still find myself marvelling at the effects, the rotating sets & Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s gravity fight scene which is so awesome to watch : breathtaking cinema built around a beautiful love story : (4) INTERSTELLAR : 2014 : Nolan’s ambitious scifi thriller blew me away whilst tugging at my heart strings from start to finish, the scene of Coops as he watches the clips from back home are tough, that enthralling docking sequence & the enormity of the tidal wave scenes are stunning : Hoytema’s work on this is quite simply wow : (5) THE DARK KNIGHT RISES : 2012 : Darkness rains down on Gotham & I for one loved the chaos & the ride Nolan brings to this trilogy ending masterpiece : in Tom Hardy’s Bane Batman has met his most demented nemesis & that delicious Talia twist in it’s finale gave the franchise the explosive ending it deserved : (6) INSOMNIA : 2002 : showcases the masterclass that is Al Pacino, his performance captures every essence of Will Dormer and it’s up there amongst the actors best work : Of course Wally Pfister’s DP and his canvas of British Columbia doesn’t help either – a tense, character driven remake that still holds up well today : (7) BATMAN BEGINS : 2005 : has sheer depth, towering action scenes, Liam Neeson & Cillian Murphy’s villainous pair, Michael BLOODY Caine, a cameo by Lucy Russell & of course Nolan’s ace in the pack Christian Bale who’s easily the “best actor” that’s played our Caped Crusader : (8) THE DARK KNIGHT : 2008 : Heath Ledger’s Joker waddling out of the hospital dressed in nurse atire as it explodes is one of many highlights from Nolan’s stupendous action packed sequel : lots of love here for Aaron Eckhart’s Harvey Dent & Batman’s custom made bike is craaazy good too !! (also worth mentioning that I really enjoyed Dunkirk, Following and of course Nolan’s latest Tenet)

Armed with only one word, Tenet, a secret agent known as The Protagonist is sent on a mission to stop the end of the world : Having just revisited the Christopher Nolan back catalogue I was intrigued to catch TENET in the cinema and on IMAX as the film itself was shot by Hoyte van Hoytema, the DP on this movie using both 70 mm film and IMAX : As an overall film experience Tenet is thrilling from start to finish, from it’s breathtaking european locations (you’d never guess that Nolan is a big fan of 007) and heart pounding score from the Black Panther maestro Ludwig Goransson to it’s cast including the likes of John David Washington, Robert Patterson & Elizabeth Debicki who are all mightly impressive, especially Patterson who in my opinion is the star of the movie : my favourite moments include the astonishing car chase, the opera scene which is chaotic but brilliantly shot and all the screen time Elizabeth Debicki & Kenneth Brannagh share, with Brannagh playing a Russian villain with a complex insanity that terrifies Debicki and in turn motors the heart of Nolan’s story : there were reports on my social media timeline that the sound/dialogue was poor, but in my experience it was the opposite, totally clear and incredible allround : IMAX showcases Nolan’s latest in a dazzling way, an intriguing mind melt with spectacular action blended with an exciting, facinating narrative, however I do feel that the film could have been 20mins longer, it seems some of the early exchanges could have benefited with it’s story being fleshed out a bit more : that being said If your a fan of Christopher Nolan’s movies then TENET is a must on the big screen, take your mask and enjoy the experience it’s truly worth it ★★★★