Review Detail
8.4 2 10
(Updated: July 16, 2023)
Overall rating
7.4
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
7.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
5.0
Enjoyment
5.0
If you're familiar with Barry's work on Bond, then this is interesting stuff, for the most part. It can feel a little too heavy at some points when silence or some suspense stings would do, such as when Eddie's character is going through a test to retrieve a McGuffen and some of the music there can be a mixed in on the loud side. But I never figured he'd worked on neo-noir stuff.
There is a minor audio error at 34:15 after hard cut, though I'm not sure. The rest is seamless.
Now, you shouldn't think that any criticism I have for the plot or my enjoyment is a knock on the editing work that's been done here. Robulon did a great job with what they had to work with, and the failings of the film shouldn't reflect on their efforts. Their edit is the better film, but only insofar as there's less of Eddie ad-libing and spoiling gags by not keeping quiet and letting the good gags linger. And, I guess, it's over sooner too.
The problem is how sparse the plot is, when it should be utilitarian, and most of the sets look like they should be exploding, or hosting a shoot-out, or being fought on, but they're doing none of those things. It needed a script rewrite, and I suspect Murphy ad-libed a lot here because of the thin script.
The villain (and Charles Dance as an actor) is a good example of wasted potential, too. He rarely reacts to the heroes' actions, which is especially noticeable in the middle of the film. On top of that, he has a boss who only shows up once in the film and then disappears, and he has very useful powers that he either uses once and/or uses powers with no set-up before using them. I'm left with the strong impression that he's too stupid or useless to have held on to the eponymous child for as long as he has....
Charles Dance must have been bored too with all the glaring he does in this one, and this is especially noticeable when he checks out of the film in its big show-down and can't be bothered to do a bit of ADR for the puppet that's replaced him. And I don't blame him; He's got his paycheck and he's off to work on a project that won't waste his talent.
There is a minor audio error at 34:15 after hard cut, though I'm not sure. The rest is seamless.
Now, you shouldn't think that any criticism I have for the plot or my enjoyment is a knock on the editing work that's been done here. Robulon did a great job with what they had to work with, and the failings of the film shouldn't reflect on their efforts. Their edit is the better film, but only insofar as there's less of Eddie ad-libing and spoiling gags by not keeping quiet and letting the good gags linger. And, I guess, it's over sooner too.
The problem is how sparse the plot is, when it should be utilitarian, and most of the sets look like they should be exploding, or hosting a shoot-out, or being fought on, but they're doing none of those things. It needed a script rewrite, and I suspect Murphy ad-libed a lot here because of the thin script.
The villain (and Charles Dance as an actor) is a good example of wasted potential, too. He rarely reacts to the heroes' actions, which is especially noticeable in the middle of the film. On top of that, he has a boss who only shows up once in the film and then disappears, and he has very useful powers that he either uses once and/or uses powers with no set-up before using them. I'm left with the strong impression that he's too stupid or useless to have held on to the eponymous child for as long as he has....
Charles Dance must have been bored too with all the glaring he does in this one, and this is especially noticeable when he checks out of the film in its big show-down and can't be bothered to do a bit of ADR for the puppet that's replaced him. And I don't blame him; He's got his paycheck and he's off to work on a project that won't waste his talent.
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
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