Once Upon a Time in Venice (2017) Directed by Mark Cullen
It's obvious what type of movie this one is trying to be but it's also being very obvious that it fails to be successful at what it's trying to be.
The movie is trying to be a hip, fun- and deliberate simplistic type of movie, about a man, on a seemingly small and insignificant mission, while running into all kinds of crazy situation and getting himself into all sorts of trouble. To make things easy, let's just say that it's trying to be Mel Gibson's "Payback". Movies like this can be great and fun to watch, as long as the main character is cool and compelling enough and the story provides the movie with plenty of good and fun, memorable moments. This movie really has none of that, though Bruce Willis really isn't to blame for that, in my opinion.
Really, Bruce Willis has never really been all that great in comedies but he's definitely improving. I wouldn't call him miscast and he actually does act very well, but it's just that the movie gives him- as well as all of the other actors, far too little to do. The situations and moments the character's get themselves into seem trivial and far from compelling and the dialog and comedy is lacking far too much for the movie to work out as a very entertaining one.
It besides is being a big problem that the movie seems to lack a clear goal and purpose. What's the main story supposed to be all about? What do any of the side-plots and characters add to the story? And what is supposed to be the big conflict of main villain in this movie, for instance? There's not much to grab onto and the movie isn't really all that pleasant and engaging to follow. The events and many different characters are all too random, without adding all that much to anything. It's all a big waste of some fine actors really. I for instance have absolutely no idea why John Goodman and Famke Janssen agreed to appear in this. They play such throwaway roles.
It's not necessarily a terrible movie to watch (though things do get pretty messy and even somewhat annoying to watch at parts, probably due to Mark Cullen's inexperience as a director), but it most definitely is an extremely forgettable and overall pointless one. No good comedy, not much of a story and not much action to speak of either. Disappointing from a movie with such a good sounding title and a cover that makes it seem like another "Die Hard" movie...
5/10
Watch trailer
The movie is trying to be a hip, fun- and deliberate simplistic type of movie, about a man, on a seemingly small and insignificant mission, while running into all kinds of crazy situation and getting himself into all sorts of trouble. To make things easy, let's just say that it's trying to be Mel Gibson's "Payback". Movies like this can be great and fun to watch, as long as the main character is cool and compelling enough and the story provides the movie with plenty of good and fun, memorable moments. This movie really has none of that, though Bruce Willis really isn't to blame for that, in my opinion.
Really, Bruce Willis has never really been all that great in comedies but he's definitely improving. I wouldn't call him miscast and he actually does act very well, but it's just that the movie gives him- as well as all of the other actors, far too little to do. The situations and moments the character's get themselves into seem trivial and far from compelling and the dialog and comedy is lacking far too much for the movie to work out as a very entertaining one.
It besides is being a big problem that the movie seems to lack a clear goal and purpose. What's the main story supposed to be all about? What do any of the side-plots and characters add to the story? And what is supposed to be the big conflict of main villain in this movie, for instance? There's not much to grab onto and the movie isn't really all that pleasant and engaging to follow. The events and many different characters are all too random, without adding all that much to anything. It's all a big waste of some fine actors really. I for instance have absolutely no idea why John Goodman and Famke Janssen agreed to appear in this. They play such throwaway roles.
It's not necessarily a terrible movie to watch (though things do get pretty messy and even somewhat annoying to watch at parts, probably due to Mark Cullen's inexperience as a director), but it most definitely is an extremely forgettable and overall pointless one. No good comedy, not much of a story and not much action to speak of either. Disappointing from a movie with such a good sounding title and a cover that makes it seem like another "Die Hard" movie...
5/10
Watch trailer
