_"My, that's a big one."_

I'm not sure if I was expecting more or what, this film was _alright_. Maybe the slow-yet-fast/consistent pacing and filmmaking had to do with that, not in the sense of that being a bad thing: but rather in the sense that, what was happening, didn't necessarily make up for it.

Take Nicolas Winding Refn's _Too Old to Die Young_ for example. That's the only work of his I've seen so far, besides _Bronson_. And I don't remember much about its filmmaking. But I'm aware he's done his thing similarly before. That show/long film seemed to almost rely on these super long shots: and the camerawork; it seemed to express passion for one's craft. His style seems to be divisive: a lot of people hated that in the show, from what I've seen, in some of his films, too. I can understand that, but I liked it, possibly because the narrative was captivating.

In this film, that style could've been an aspect more negative than positive. At the same time, the story/narrative didn't seem all that captivating to me. That likely made the directing style stand out more which, in turn, affected the already-lacking captivation in a domino effect. If you're to go that route, the story should carry its weight, or that route will probably have the opposite effect.

The best aspects of this film were undoubtedly the directing, camerawork, the cinematography, and to a lesser extent, the soundtrack. At first, the soundtrack was alright; _different_. But upon some reflection, I concluded that 'different' is good, and it was eerie and all that, fitting each instance. The other aspects were the cream of the crop, though.

I liked that ironic scene with the monologue. The way Clint Eastwood did that scene, said that monologue, and his smirk at the end, were great, and how it came full circle at the end. The first time was so smooth and chill, which added to it tremendously. It's no wonder that moment became a classic. It's very memorable. I'd say that, and how it came full circle, was the best part of the film.

Performance-wise, it seems like people have commended Clint Eastwood. It didn't stand out to me. Neither did most of the performances, but not in a 'these performances are bad' way. But Andrew Robinson's performance was slightly notable, I suppose. Besides him, nobody's performances stood out like a sore thumb, in a good or bad way. They were all acceptable.

**[Upon further reflection, Clint Eastwood's performance was pretty good. I don't know what I was thinking.]**

One thing about the ending that stood out to me was the lack of a score. I'm not too sure how I feel about that. It was a change of pace from the usual; I guess that's good in and of itself. Not only that, it acted as a way to set that feeling of seriousness to what was happening. Yet, I don't know: something was _lacking_. That way of doing things should be utilized more, for sure. It just didn't seem to be cut out for this film.

All-in-all, I'm pleased with this film. It was an alluring watch due to the elements I've mentioned. It could've been more entertaining, but that's not a big deal. It's a good thing that I got lucky seeing this film on Youtube off to the side as I was watching another video. That's the reason why I ended up watching it. Who knows how far down the road it would've taken had that not happened. It'll probably be a while until I watch the next film in the series.

Other thoughts:

- The woman at the beginning sort of looked like Maggie Lawson.

- "Yeah, well, when an adult male is chasing a female with intent to commit rape, I shoot the bastard. That's my policy." vs. "When I see five weirdos dressed in togas stabbing a guy in a park, I shoot the bastards. That's my policy." in _The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!_ I'm guessing inspiration for that line came from this film.

- I was shocked that this film wasn't a one-off but rather the first film out of a film _series_. Not even a trilogy: a _series_. I did not know that. At all. I think that was a mildly good thing, though. If I had known, I probably wouldn't have watched it yet. Film trilogies and film series make me feel obligated to watch all of them in a row.