Warhawk’s review published on Letterboxd:
Enjoyable, but not as gripping as I had hoped considering the film needs to drive so hard at the box office to get the rest of it made. It wouldn't be so much of a problem if this movie was a standalone, but it isn't, not even slightly. It does feel like a high budget miniseries, which for me is hard to invest in because I have no guarantees as to whether or not the full telling of the story will be realized. This is a 25 book series we're talking about, with only half of the first book showcased here!
Impeccable casting except perhaps in the case of Zendaya, who is hard to take seriously as a rough and tumble warrioress. The same is true of the actor who plays Paul, as he looks very much the opposite of intimidating. Aside from that I enjoyed both of their performances. The cinematography was framed quite well, but when I was watching a lot of the scenes hurt my eyes with out-of-focus shifty camera issues. Admittedly not sure if that was the camerawork or the projector at the IMAX theater I went to having issues. It was distracting and drove down the quality of the experience for me if it was deliberate.
There isn't much to say about the movie itself because like a pilot or origin story it had little substance and admirably performed the task of setting up the next installment. This more than anything drove down the rating for me, because despite nearly three hours of runtime there is little to no character growth. Paul is in many ways a Mary Sue, but at least has a lot of obstacles in his way to make his journey meaningful. Despite my somewhat negative review here I actually really enjoyed myself and the immersion into the world-build was great. Hope the next one knocks my socks off, I'm excited!
