Part of my issue with PQ reviews, is how one looks at it. To me, if the movie looks like crap, regardless of artistic decision, it gets low marks. A lot of these reviewers give the same 5 stars, because it looks like crap and the director intended it that way
I liked the movie. What did you think of PQ? Maybe 3 stars for me. I found it muted, some noise, looked like some EE around faces, while soft and blendy in other places.
You described it better than I could. It seemed to vary, I did see noise in solid areas, and sometimes it was sharp, then sometimes not so much. Also felt some detail was lost. Overall, it looked OK, but I dont think was stellar.