Us (2019)
★★★
This review may contain spoilers.
I am in different about this movie, I find it hard to rate this one, there is a lot of really great stuff in here, from being loaded with symbolism, to the callbacks and setup and pay off, to some really gorgeous action scenes, and some really stellar acting from the main cast, but I do feel like the movie has a bit of a whiplash of a tone, it feels like we bounce between comedy and drama too sudden, while I also feel like the score is pretty good there are a few places where it feels a little generic which would be great if it didn't have the stellar I got 5 on it remix and a bunch of other little moments where the score is phenomenal like the scene where they are walking on the beach holy god the music in that scene goes so hard, over all I think the movie is really good but has a lot to work on, there are improvements over Get Out mainly the annoying jump scares aren't here which is great love that glad the jump scares are super rare and far between, maybe this caught me on an off day but I feel like it didn't hit as hard as it did the first time I watched it.
the acting is stellar, everyone in the main cast does a great job the stand out being Lupita my god is she a good actor, there are so many subtle things that she is doing that sell her characters current reality shivers, struggles, gulps that kind of stuff that are really subtle character work that she is doing, like smiling and crying which is some impressive acting, everyone is playing two different characters and I feel like she really makes you believe that these two characters are two different characters more than anyone else in the film, I liked Winston a character who hides there more serious side in laced in comedy can be a hard character to get right and I feel that he really nails the charisma and charm that, that kind of a role needs. and I also liked Shahadi Wright Jones and Evan Alex, they do some great work as well, really strong actors can't wait to see other stuff that they do.
I liked the sound mixing for the film, sound for a horror film is very important because that can make or break the film and while I do have a little bit of an issue with the sound design, a couple effects sounding cliche and such, the sound mixing is particularly great here, like when Addy is facing the window talking to Gabe there is a bit of distance to the sound, you can hear her but there is a subtle echo that I picked up on, that is some stellar sound mixing, there are tons of other moments scattered throughout the film but the sound mixing is really good.
I wanted to also mention the stunt team / the stunt coordinators because they did a superb job, the car fight, the subway ballerina fight so many great fights that required a strong stunt coordination team and I think this film had a great one, so hats off, standing ovation
notes below
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- I really like the slow moving camera, how we are hanging on things.
- also thriller is foreshadowing correct, MJ represents the ending.
- the blocking of these shots at the beginning must have been insane, as they have to recapture them later.
- really like the lighting in the movie, people casted in half shadows/darkness, people entering full shadows / darkness
- "find yourself" literally,
- this opening choir song is good,
- dabbing is still cool right, I still unironically dab.
- "you could do anything you set your mind to" bit of foreshadowing.
- I really like this mirror shot, clever to show her discovering her parents thought a reverse image of them.
- I like the sound mixing for the film.
- I like this soundtrack on the beach while they are walking, so much grit.
- I like the dialogue in the film, so natural sounding for the characters.
- seems to be this reoccurring thing with luck / coincidence in the film.
- oops they just mentioned it.
- I really liked the sound design, she sounds turned away from Gabe, usually we would just hear them at a normal volume and stuff but she literally sounds turned away from them, good sound design.
- also Lupita is doing some stellar acting, wow.
- that monologue holy shit man, the delivery everything was amazing.
- using scissors feels significant because the two blades are almost holding hands.
- sound like the clickers from the last of us.
- I love this little moment where Dahlia is putting on lipstick.
- love the lighting of this fight on the boat, very cool.
- also her cutting her face is to mirror kitty's facial sugary, and this moment where she laughs as Gabe kills Tex is to mirror the scene where kitty says she could murder him, those I believe but a bit of a side theory on top of this is the beginning cry / whaling is intended to be kitty's reaction, it seems the attempt to untether isn't a complete untethering, the other's still seem to want to imitate there themselves.
- also names are starting to coincide, Dahlia sums up pretty much Kitty in a nut shell and it goes the same with everyone else, like umbrea and zora being reference to both light and dark representing them being light and dark mirrors of each other or Abraham being a reference to the bible and so on and so forth.
- she is still handcuffed / tethered to herself.
- liked the action scene in the car, very cool.
- I do like how the movie starts with telling us about the subway stations and that expands our mind to think oh my god that's crazy but to see them is another thing, a luminal space.
- that dance fight is well choreographed, really well done.
- I mean that death my god the acting in that whole scene is sooooo good, the little twitch that her mouth is doing as she is trying whistle my god that whole thing is jaw dropping.
- wow I got five on it has got a layered history
