Movie Reviews: The Night Comes For Us/Bird Box

Another day, another Netflix original film. Two actually, I’m trying to see as many movies as I can before the years end so that my end of the year list is as robust as possible. Also it’s really hard to avoid the allure of staying home when Netflix has pumped out so much original content this year.

The Night Comes For Us is easily the most violent and gore filled martial art film that I have ever seen. Seriously if you get queasy at stuff like that then this third act will fuck you up. It’s really a testament to the director’s fucked up vision and some truly top notch practical effects.

The plot is kind of just a thin excuse for the amazing and frequent fight scenes, it’s something about a big crime lord turning against his fellow crime lords in order to save an innocent little girl from death. I mean yes there a little more to it then that, but the whole mythology behind the Six Seas seemed like a convoluted excuse for a barrage of action. The action was awesome of course, I just would have preferred a better written lead up.

Acting may not be the best exactly, but I gotta give props to the leads Iko Uwais and Joe Taslim for giving particularly intense performances. Heck it was seeing them in the poster that got me to watch this in the first place. The rest of the cast is a little weaker in the acting department, but they all hold their own in the action scenes.

Timo Tjahjanto directs here and does so with just as much flourish as the martial artists on screen, making this old genre feel new. Overall I would say that if you’re a fan of martial art films then you own it yourself to check this out, if you’re not then this probably won’t change your mind. 8.5/10

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Bird Box is the latest in a long long line of apocalypse movies. This one is caused by something something religious component? I don’t know exactly, it was never really made clear one way or another.

The acting is easily the best part of the film. Sandra Bullock is amazing as the lead and I always enjoy an angry John Malkovich. It was also nice to see Trevante Rhodes for the first time since Moonlight.

The story is broken into two timelines that connect just before the end. The first starts as the apocalypse starts, the second is something like five years into the apocalypse. Parenthood is a major theme here, but it’s competing for attention with a bunch of other elements that feel like their from another story. It sort of feels like it wants to be a sequel and an origin at the same time, with each one having it’s own unique feel and style.

Overall this film works pretty well but I can’t help but feel like this story would have better served as a series with maybe two to three seasons. There just feels like there’s a lot more going on then what we’re told in the film. It is good though, check it out if you like Sandra Bullock. 7/10