Review of Proud Mary (2018) by Amber G — 29 Apr 2018

I was really looking forward to this movie, because it had Taraji P. Henson in it. The trailer was very promising too! But when I got to the actual movie, the first thing I noticed was the awkward cutting.

The shots were too fast at times and some cuts were a little too on the nose. In dialogue scenes, it's better if we have breathing space in between cuts because it's supposed to be relaxed, but it's all one character said something, next shot, another character says something, next shot, sometimes, it cuts mid dialogue too.

The flow is also messed up at times, it goes from crane in pan left far shot, cut to a medium shot, cut to the rest of the crane in pan left far shot again, and cut to another medium shot. The effect feels like I'm shaken in the conversation.

Sometimes, the 180 rule was broken mid-dialogue. I was confused at what I was looking at sometimes. It needs a lot more polish. Usually when dialogue cuts, there's a specific reason for it. Some movies keep cutting closer and closer as the dialogue gets more interesting, then cuts to a far shot once we and the character lose interest.

The trailer on the other hand was very exciting and well paced, which mirrors the nice pacing of the action scenes! There was a rhythm that was going on and it felt about right. I think Babak Najafi worked hard on this, but I got to say.

.. it was not well assembled. I suggest storyboarding the shots to see if it flows first and then go from there. Planning is 80% the battle after all. It's also on Sony for not telling us the release date until the very last minute.

This isn't Cloverfield where the trailer tease is a well known signature of the series. I will give Proud Mary 2 stars for good action sequences and color design.