Leaves you hanging usually in middle of fight scene
938605
The creativeness and plot was unique, but absolutely hated not having a conclusion in at least 80% of her books. I respect authors that provide an ending and still leave you wanting for more...not the ones that force you to the next book just to find out how the climatic last scene finished.
3545513
the gameplay is fun, albeit repetitive. the lack of story-line makes it a bit boring, it becomes a complicated fighting game.
4030977
By the end of this book I wanted it to finish.  I got bored with fight scenes, and the storyline didn't seem to make sense to me.  Constant switching between first and last names made following the storyline even harder.

I wouldn't recommend this book, however some may enjoy it.
1800841
The story, action and gameplay are awesome except for tediously long Boss Fights. I actually gave up half way after ten minutes of trying to take down a Boss. Duck, run, shoot, duck, run, shoot... NOT FUN. Such a great game ruined by few tedious moments, I wish you could just bypass super long boss fights.
1842075
It's very short compared to historic FFs. Ending felt tacked on with a big missing story gap from the break point and the start of the final scene.
2749089
If you're looking for ninjas, you'll love the opening credits... and not much else. The movie opens with a Shaolin monk being randomly attacked in the forest by a team of ninjas. Not a bad way for any movie to start! Following this attack, the ninjas disappear. For the rest of the movie.
What can I say? The acting and dialogue through which the viewer must drudge in order to get from fight scene to fight scene is horrible and awkward, but what Kung Fu movie fanatic hasn't paid their dues in this respect? The problem with this movie is that the the dialogue/acting are worse even than one might expect. It gets to the point where it's distracting, you know? Also, I think the male lead... MIGHT have down syndrome... Nothing wrong with that, of course. It's just a little surprising to see in a Kung Fu movie.
Still, the fight scenes themselves are fairly well done. The choreography doesn't quite stand out, but the enemies against which the Shaolin brothers are pitted, including ghost-and-zombie type dealies as well as masked attackers, make for some colorful fights.

In summary:
Don't get too excited about the ninjas, it's a trick. Skip past anything that isn't a fight. Make your own story!
2785914
We so enjoy gratuitously violent movies; but this piece lacked the story behind the violence to pull it off. The actors were all fine and we kept wondering if we should just turn it off or hang in there for a payoff at the end. We hung in there but the payoff never showed up. We really wanted it to be fun, and scary, and fine, it just wasn't.
1028306
weak story.  Good if you are into action and fight scenes. I'm not- I need more of a substantial story.
2833166
I rented this movie because I am a big Michelle Yeoh fan, but she only had a small non fighting role. Nevertheless, I was still enjoying the movie a lot until the story changed into the drunken kung-fu plot line. After that, I sort of lost interest in the story and the over the top fight scenes.
4486786
The concept is fascinating and the scenes are graphic, but two things ruin this game: 1) Teammates get stuck in place.  You can order them all you like, but they don't do anything.  You'll march into a firefight thinking your team is behind you; wrong, they could be stuck in place behind and you're alone.  Two, you cannot switch between players.
1877196
The story was good and the actors. The issue was the fighting scenes turned into an old Kung fu movie equipped with 50 feet jumps either straight up or sideways, crazy sky falling landing flat with nothing broken, just way over the top.
4331261
I don't mind getting thrown into a fast paced action movie.  But when the main character can perform moves in a Kill Bill fashion without the intentional camp factor then it get boring really fast.  The plot was a flop for me though I didn't know about a series before I watched the movie.  Apparently she gets driven into moral action outside of her duty when she begins remembering things from a past life she had some 400 years ago, goes against the orders of some all knowing rebel leader, begins figuring out things that no human logic could jump to, and manages to fit a sex scene in all at the same time.  I will say though, the cg was pretty good, but other than that there is no reason to see this movie.
2561002
I chose to read this for the naval battle scenes during the Civil War.  I did not read it to learn about the lover of one of the most menacing pirates toward the Union Army.  The romance part of this story became distracting.

While the dialogue at times stole the show, what bothered me were the four scenes going on:  once scene in Alabama, another scene off the southern coast of Africa (this part I enjoyed), another scene in DC...stop it already!  But I understand why the scenes are necessary for a war battle.

Had there been tighter editing this could have been such a good read.
2631218
The film has its moments but is plagued by way too many flashbacks and flash forwards. The main actor Sergio D'amato is corny as the hitman hero. The main problem is that this movie's story could easily be told in half an hour and it is stretched to a grueling 76 minutes. The shootouts lack impact but there is some great cinematography. The film is okay but shouldn't be feature length.
1271136
It was okay but lacking in every part. Half of the problem came down to directing and the rest was bad cutting of the scenes, acting that was dry, and setting up interesting characters then getting rid of them in the next scene so that the viewer doesn't feel connected enough. A good example is they knew where the monsters are headed yet they don't evacuated until right before they arrive. The amount of minor detail they skipped over just kept stacking up like this until it destroyed the story.

Many of the scenes felt unfinished or cut off such as battle scenes would start up then like someone hit a skip button the battle would be over or unfinished making the viewer lost to what happened.

I think for the sequel planned for 2018 they need to pay closer attention to these details and maybe just maybe they can make a great movie instead of an okay movie.
2450207
Andaluz nails it in the review, saying that it is tiresome to watch these people fight and carry on when they really don't have it so bad.  They are so overwrought and picking fights and pushing each other's buttons that it becomes overwhelming after a very short time.  The first fight that we see, after April performs in a play, seems to come out of nowhere and to have no context.  But then, having the context and the backstory later doesn't even help all that much.  Also, the music is too loud and rather pervasive and distracting at times.

On the plus side, the photography of the lovely yet sterile-looking homes and the washed-out faces is absolutely appropriate for the subject matter and tone of the film.  A late scene with April trying to perform a procedure on herself at home is especially haunting.  Winslet and DiCaprio can't be faulted for doing the best they can with what they're given.

It's just hard to give much of a care about two folks who create their own problems and are their own worst enemies.
930896
Key worked hard on characters and story with this one, sadly sacrificing the action that has been a hallmark of the series. there is a big battle and a lot of tension, but it all gets kind of bunched up at about the two-thirds mark. there are a lot of loose ends that need to get tied up, weighing down the end of the book.

it comes together okay, but ONLY okay. too bad, really