Daemonium: Underground Soldier (2015)

Sometimes movie is such a complete mess you can't stop watching because you want to know where it goes. Daemonium: Underground Soldier is one of those movies. Weird things just happen. You don't know what is going on or who these characters are. You just want to see where this goes next. Even after seeing it I am not completely sure what happened.

This happens in dystopian future where demons and angels are real. Wizard is forced to open portal and summon demon. Soldier makes deal with demon and he becomes some kind of gang leader or something. He has limited time. He wants more time. His ex-wife is brainwashed to become dominatrix assassin by disfigured assassin who wants Soldier killed. Wizard is thrown back in to mix with brainwashed archangel.

All this happens very little explanations. Things just happen. Movie is series of weird scenes which may not make any sense. Some things may be explained but most are not. Director had clear vision he just didn't bother explain what is happening.

I have no idea where subtitle Underground Soldier comes. Soldier makes deal with demon but he is not soldier nor stays underground after that. If you want cheap weird bloody science fiction action fantasy Daemonium: Underground Soldier might work. Otherwise you shouldn't bother. There is no satisfactory payoff unless weirdness and violence is enough for you.

The Pyramid (2014)

The Pyramid starts as bad found footage movie. At some point they drop found footage gimmick. Beginning is bad because it feels forced found footage. It jumps from scene to scene and it doesn't know what it wants. When they get into pyramid found footage gimmick is almost completely dropped. It is the point movie starts to work better.

Movie never gets really good but it starts to work better. Group of people get lost inside pyramid. There is something waiting for them. The Pyramid have few interesting twists. When it starts to work it becomes average but working people trying to escape from somewhere horror movie.

The Pyramid works as short horror movie. It doesn't have anything memorable. After they drop found footage gimmick there is nothing annoying. It is just a movie about a group who get killed inside pyramid. Movie has good cinematography and sound which makes it work better than it deserves.

Superhero movie fatigue

If you can't see the video you can find it here.

I decided to make video update to my most read post. I go through what I think is wrong with superhero movie genre at the moment and tell why I didn't see Guardians of the Galaxy vol 2 in theaters and why I skip Wonder Woman.

Gantz:O (2016)

Gantz: O is science fiction anime based on manga series Gantz. It expects us to know the source material. If you don't know you have no idea what is going on. You can follow the story but you don't know what is happening or why it is happening. There is some kind of game where dead people are fighting demons and getting points doing it. Protagonist doesn't have any idea what is going on. He even ask it and gets no reply.

Watching Gantz: O is like watching random episode of Dragonball Z without knowing anything about the series. Sure there is lot of action but you don't know if characters are in danger or not. We should feel they are in danger but you don't know what actually hurts them when nothing seems to stop them. In Ganzt: O it is players trying to kill demons. Nothing seem to work and then demon dies for some random reason.

I kind of want to like it. It looks good. It have few good ideas. Story had its moments. But then it gets to action scenes which don't seem to end. Ending left me wondering what just happened. Sometimes style is enough even if the backstory and world doesn't make sense. That is not the case with Gantz: O. Looking good and few good moments are not enough.

Hellboy (2004)

I reviewed Hellboy 2 some time ago. I didn't remember much about first one when I watched it. When I saw first one available I had to check it. After watching the movie I can understand why I didn't remember much about it. Everything making Hellboy different than other similar movies was boosted in sequel. When Hellboy was released it had its own identity but after Hellboy 2 it doesn't feel as different because Hellboy 2 took everything further.

Sequel was dark fairy tale with too much tone changes. Hellboy is more lovecraftian. It has tentacle monsters without being hentai so it must be lovecraftian. Ok, it has more lovecraftian themes than only tentacle monsters. Hellboy keeps the tone better than sequel. Humor fits better to everything else.

Hellboy tells origin story of Hellboy. Hellboy is demon from another dimension who is fighting for humans. Bad guys who brought Hellboy to our dimension are back to finish what they started. Bad guys are the problem. One of them is interesting. Other two are quite forgettable and rather boring.

It is hard to say which one was better. Both are entertaining and fun while they last. Hellboy is more even without as great moments as sequel had but lowest points are not as low as sequel's lowest points. For me Hellboy is better because it stays together better, keeps the tone and I like summoning demons from another dimension stories better than dark fairy tales. Granted Hellboy doesn't have anything getting even close to death of elemental scene of the sequel.

Ghost in the Shell conclusion

If you can't see the video you can find it here.

This is conclusion video of all the Ghost in the Shell reviews. I tell what I think of movies and Stand Alone Complex now after I have seen all of them. Well, Ghost in the Shell Arise and new animated movie have to wait for next time.