So, this isn’t a review of these films or anything, and HATE is a strong word. I just had expectations that i would like them based on the genre or previews, but the actual film was just not good. In my opinion. YMMV.
The Grey was just awful. And like you, I was led to expect something better.
So many problems with this movie. Wolves that in no way act like wolves. Liam Neeson making stupid decision after stupid decision. (Hmm. This fuselage could be fortified against the wolves. Also, the plane’s black box will lead rescuers to us. Gosh! We’d better get away from all this safety and potential rescue RIGHT NOW! I know! Let’s head for the woods! 'Cause wolves wouldn’t go into the woods, right?) And then there’s Liam Neeson’s magical resistance to hypothermia after spending 20 minutes or so immersed in freezing water.
Gaaah! Liam Neeson is too good an actor to keep making crappy movies like this.
Both “The Grey” and “Chronicle” have respectable ratings at Rotten Tomatoes. 79% and 85% respectively, from critics, though both have lower scores from audiences 65% and 73%.
“Immortals”, on the other hand, is a certified turkey with a lowly 36% critics and 50% audience.
Bottom line, check Rotten Tomatoes or MetaCritic before investing time and money in a movie. If you deliberately choose to see a low-rated movie, at least you’ll be going in with low expectations so you won’t be surprised when it turns out that you just wasted the time and money.
Between The Grey and Battleship, I think Liam Neeson is turing into the next generation Michael “I never saw the movie, but I saw the house it bought” Caine.
At least I had no doubts from the previews thatBattleship would blow.
That’s what led me to watch both The Grey and Chronicle. Chronicle, IMO, was worthwhile, but I am flummoxed by the good reviews of The Grey. It was like a dumbed-waaaaay-down remake of The Edge.
I suspect maybe it got good reviews because it was released in late January, when the studios start releasing a lot of dreck. Maybe it just looked good by comparison to the other crap that was coming out then.
Ok, and as far as Chronicle is concerned, i would probably have liked the movie ok if they had just filmed it like a normal movie, and not tried to squeeze the found-footage aspect into every frame. There’s a scene near the end where the kids levitates cameras and phones out of a building JUST so the audience can have an inkling of what’s going on up in the sky.
Couldn’t even finish w The Immortals it was so unwatchable. Didn’t hate The Grey even though I knew there was a lot of stupidity in it, Kind of liked Chronicle more than I thought I wold actually, but I had low expectations for that.
The Grey was pretty much a waste of good actors. although I have to say they gave it their best. There were a lot of problems with it, which I mentioned in a thread I started a couple of weeks ago or so. Wolves roaring like lions made me roll my eyes the hardest.
I thought the premise sounded interesting enough if not exceptionally groundbreaking. But the “REAL LIFE EXTREME” shaky-cam nature of the commercials put me off from ever planning to see it.
I had low expectations for Chronicle and only saw it because I got dragged to the theater to see it. I think my dad saw The Gray and hated it. Never heard of Immortals.
While I agree that the reason for that in the movie is so the viewer can keep up with what’s happening, I also think that it works within the context of the movie. The kid has been filming himself and everything that’s been going on the entire time, and it’s become part of the experience for him. Towards the end as he starts to lose control, he loses control of that as well, and his mind subconsciously gathers any available cameras in the area.
Total WAG, of course.