I used to love Harry Potter. I really did. When I was in 4th grade I swore I was going to beat WB to making a Harry Potter movie with myself as the lead, Kyle Klicka as Ron and Sarah Lansbergh as Hemoine. Sadly that never happened, but I still loved the books... until I read Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix. "What the hell is this?" I thought while reading it. "Harry is emo... drastic changes in character, style, this isn't a Harry Potter book." It truly felt like those teenage vampire novels that are clearly trying to be the next Interview with the Vampire. I got halfway through the book and never opened another page again. Can this movie correct all the problems that existed with the book?
We begin this movie with Harry still getting his emo on, when a dementor attacks him and his cousin. After the attack, Harry is expelled for using magic. He is taken in by the order of the pheonix, which is a group of people who believe that Voldemort has come back and is willing to fight him, but the ministry of magic doesn't believe he is back and are calling Harry and Dumbledore liars. Harry returns to school where there is a new teacher and the ministry is taking over the school. These changes are lead by Dolores Umbridge, the new defense against the dark arts teacher. I don't want to give away too much, but if you have read the book, you know what happens.
Since people have already made up their mind about the acting in these films, I bet, I'm only going to cover 5 peole: Ralph Finnes, Gary Oldman, Daniel Radcliffe, Imelda Stouton and Michael Gambon. A lot of people complained and bitched when Gambon took over the role of Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I must admit, I was one of the people who felt he was too aggressive and too lively to play Dumbledore... then. In this movie, I could not picture anybody else as Dumbledore. No matter how perfect Richard Harris was as Dumbledore, I could not see him kicking ass and bringing to the role what Gambon did in this movie. It is the first time we have actually seen Dumbledore use hardcore magic, and it is awesome and something I would not have believed from Harris' Dumbledore. Gary Oldman returns as Sirius Black, and you can really tell that he loves Harry so we really feel for him by the time the end comes around. Radcliffe does a fine job in bringing Harry to a more "I HATE EVERYONE" place. It made for a much smoother transition between the last movie and this than between the books, but sadly he cannot topple Ralph Finnes as Voldemort. He rocks, and god damn it, I want more Voldemort. Finnes is absolutely perfect and incredibly evil in this movie. My favorite shot in the movie is simply him standing in that all black suit at the train station. Finnes has always been a good villian, and while it is not as good as his role in Schindler's List, it is better than him in Red Dragon (I really liked him a lot in that movie). Imelda Stouton really steals the show in this though, at the same time she is funny and down right evil. She is so perfect and I did truly love her in this movie. Damn she is evil... but not as evil/good as Ralph Finnes.
While all the acting and such was good, all my complaints that existed when I was reading the book, existed with the movie, but to a lesser degree. Emo Harry is just not fun to watch, and almost totally unneccessary because by the end he isn't emo and he has learned the value of frienship... which has happened before in the books. Nothing really happens to add anything to the universe until the 3rd act. Really, if that is all that was in this movie, it would have been much much better. Truthfully, that is the biggest problem with the movie, nothing really important happens until the final moments of the film, which are great moments (especially in IMAX 3D, that is how I saw it).
This is the first thing of David Yates that I have seen, and I must say that it was a good directorial debut (for me to see.) He creates an apporpriately dark universe and combines different aspects and looks that the other directors have included. In the first 2 movies Columbus stuck exactly with the book, so the costumes didn't change, Curon then decided to go with an extremely naturalistic stance to it and had them wearing their wizarding clothes almost none of the time, Nichols brought symbolism to the story, and Yates was perfect in tying in all their styles together. They wore their uniforms when appropriate, and the symbolism in the death eaters is still there, but less severe. My one problem is that once in a while he would chose to use handheld camera very badly. It took me out of the scene, but luckily he would bring me right back in.
In all, even though this seems like a fairly good review, this movie felt pretty mediocre to me. I did not leave with a sence of excitement or waiting to see what happens in the 6th movie. I will say this though: if you liked the first 4 Harry Potter books and not this one, check the movie out because it is much better than the book. I know there will be die hard fans being pissed off at me, but it is the truth.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Live Free or Die Hard
Bruce Willis is a badass, not matter what, and it all began with the original Die Hard. He was swearing, and taking off his shoes and walking across glass. Every other word the bad ass said was "FUCK" as he was going back and forth with the great dialouge written between him and Alan Rickman, the greatest action villian of all time, in what I still consider the best action movie of all time. This much time later, with a PG-13 rating can it still be as good? Can it still be as fresh and original as the first?
No. This movie, for the most part, does not feel as if it belongs in the DIE HARD franchise, and by showing all the best acting sequences (except for one) in the trailer, it sort of ruins the movie. Not to say that there aren't entertaining parts of the movie, but it just never reaches the excitement or originality of the first three movies (and when I say that, I do include With A Vengence). Not to say that this movie isn't fun at moments, just to say that it is a purely mediocre movie.
The basic plot is this: Bruce Willis is John McClane (DUH!) and he is estranged from his family. When somebody hacks into some high up security section of the Government, McClane is told to escort a hacker (Justin Long) who might just know what is going down. Guess what? HE DOES! It is something called a firesale, and the entire country is going to pretty much get toppled. It is up to McClane to take down the digital terrorists.
Willis will always be McClane, but sadly the McClane that we all know and love has matured, and that is not what I paid to see. While he played a very good jaded McClane well, and I could see how he got to the level, but the moments that are the best is when Willis is loving what he is doing and just faces daner head on, and seems to out right have fun (especially when he is laughing after he "killed a helicopter with a car.") Justin Long is here as sort of the buddy character, even though they never really become friends which is exactly how it should of been. He is funny here and is a good addition to the movie. I very much like how he attempted to get McClane to like him and understand, but McClane never gave enough of a shit to care. Timothy Olyphant plays the villian, and would have been good... if Alan Rickman wasn't the villian in the first. He just can't compare. Kevin Smith plays The Wizard and adds another good comical scene to what could have been a very boring predictable role.
The action though, is not that hindered by the PG-13 rating. It is big, explosive, and one scene, hardcore. The thing that hurts the action is that we have seen it all in the trailer, except for his fight with Maggy Q. Which is a great fight scene. McClane throwing insults at her and she kicking ass back, all ending in an elavator shaft, which is a classic Die Hard set piece and it is pure awesome. If you have seen the trailer on the big screen, you have seen all the big explosions and the big set piece of the airplane. There is no other big fight scene.
Now, for the famous line. It has been widely reported that it is "yippy ky yay mother f *GUN SHOT*!" But the way that this line is deliver is so incredibly badass that it doesn't matter. I mean... I don't want to spoil it for you, but it is totally McClane and totally awesome.
If you have seen all the big movies of the summer already (other than Harry Potter 5, cause I enjoyed that), I would recommend it. It isn't a bad movie, but nor is it a great movie. There are moments that I was having a great time with it, but in general I thought it was just okay.
No. This movie, for the most part, does not feel as if it belongs in the DIE HARD franchise, and by showing all the best acting sequences (except for one) in the trailer, it sort of ruins the movie. Not to say that there aren't entertaining parts of the movie, but it just never reaches the excitement or originality of the first three movies (and when I say that, I do include With A Vengence). Not to say that this movie isn't fun at moments, just to say that it is a purely mediocre movie.
The basic plot is this: Bruce Willis is John McClane (DUH!) and he is estranged from his family. When somebody hacks into some high up security section of the Government, McClane is told to escort a hacker (Justin Long) who might just know what is going down. Guess what? HE DOES! It is something called a firesale, and the entire country is going to pretty much get toppled. It is up to McClane to take down the digital terrorists.
Willis will always be McClane, but sadly the McClane that we all know and love has matured, and that is not what I paid to see. While he played a very good jaded McClane well, and I could see how he got to the level, but the moments that are the best is when Willis is loving what he is doing and just faces daner head on, and seems to out right have fun (especially when he is laughing after he "killed a helicopter with a car.") Justin Long is here as sort of the buddy character, even though they never really become friends which is exactly how it should of been. He is funny here and is a good addition to the movie. I very much like how he attempted to get McClane to like him and understand, but McClane never gave enough of a shit to care. Timothy Olyphant plays the villian, and would have been good... if Alan Rickman wasn't the villian in the first. He just can't compare. Kevin Smith plays The Wizard and adds another good comical scene to what could have been a very boring predictable role.
The action though, is not that hindered by the PG-13 rating. It is big, explosive, and one scene, hardcore. The thing that hurts the action is that we have seen it all in the trailer, except for his fight with Maggy Q. Which is a great fight scene. McClane throwing insults at her and she kicking ass back, all ending in an elavator shaft, which is a classic Die Hard set piece and it is pure awesome. If you have seen the trailer on the big screen, you have seen all the big explosions and the big set piece of the airplane. There is no other big fight scene.
Now, for the famous line. It has been widely reported that it is "yippy ky yay mother f *GUN SHOT*!" But the way that this line is deliver is so incredibly badass that it doesn't matter. I mean... I don't want to spoil it for you, but it is totally McClane and totally awesome.
If you have seen all the big movies of the summer already (other than Harry Potter 5, cause I enjoyed that), I would recommend it. It isn't a bad movie, but nor is it a great movie. There are moments that I was having a great time with it, but in general I thought it was just okay.
Friday, July 6, 2007
Hot Fuzz
Bad Boys II. Leathal Weapon. Die Hard. Mad Max. Dirty Harry. What do they all have in common except for being totally bad ass? They are all referenced in "Hot Fuzz," the new comedy by Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg. The men that brought us the modern comedy classic, Shaun of the Dead, have done it again... and it is now out on DVD!
The story is of Nicholas Angel. He's a policeman who's 400% more efficient than the average London policeman. So, they decide to make him sergant and transfer him to a small village where nothing bad ever happens. Within a week of him arriving there is an accident... and a few more accidents follow leading to death. Angel and his new found best friend, Danny Butterman, start investigating them as murders. Which leads to something no one would expect, and a giant action sequence.
For fans of all of this comedy team, you will notice that Nick and Danny's friendship is very different than what it has been in the other projects they have made. Namely, they don't start off as life long friends, and Danny isn't holding down Nick from attaining what he really wants. This has been a staple in both "Spaced" and "Shaun of the Dead." It is very interesting seeing this beginning to a friendship that we can assume will end up like the others, except more bad ass. You see, while "Shaun" could very well have been a movie of "Spaced" but with zombies, there is a fundamental difference: Pegg's performance. Here he isn't playing the average joe he has before. He is playing a straight laced, all about his work, bad ass cop, and he pulls it off very well. While he is not what we think of as an action star when we see him, when he is working, it is awesome and he captures it very well. Which leads to Frost's performance as the lovable man-child we all know and love. He is here to get Danny to care about somebody more than his job, and to introduce him to movies like "Point Blank" and "Bad Boys II." When they are together, there is a very good chemistry, but a very DIFFERENT chemistry than what we are used to seeing between them.
So, I have now seen this movie twice and I will judge the comedy on the re-watchability. Which is fairly decent, but it falls much more flat upon your second viewing. It isn't because the comedy isn't as funny, it is just that most of the jokes are more simple than those in Spaced and Shaun and have a "one really good laugh" value. Also, a large amount of the comedy is supplied in the last 3rd of the movie, during the big action sequence and the 2nd time you just don't have the same shock value you do the first time you see it, but it is still very funny. The problem with watching this movie on the small screen is the same problem that almost all action movies have with being shown on the small screen:
The action. While on the big screen it was big and bad ass, on the small screen action just doesn't live up. In the theaters though, you could feel every little rumble and shake because of the speakers, and the explosions were 30 feet high. It was AWESOME! But once more, shock value comes into play with action and the shock value has just sort of rubbed off a little after the first one. Not to say there aren't very cool parts on the small screen, there is, but it was just so much better on the big screen.
If you have never seen this movie, check it out any way you can. It will be hilarious and awesome to you at the same time. But if you have seen it on the big screen already... wait until you see a local theater re-running it at 10 o'clock at night to see it again, so you can have the same movie going experience. All in all, it will be for the greater good.
The story is of Nicholas Angel. He's a policeman who's 400% more efficient than the average London policeman. So, they decide to make him sergant and transfer him to a small village where nothing bad ever happens. Within a week of him arriving there is an accident... and a few more accidents follow leading to death. Angel and his new found best friend, Danny Butterman, start investigating them as murders. Which leads to something no one would expect, and a giant action sequence.
For fans of all of this comedy team, you will notice that Nick and Danny's friendship is very different than what it has been in the other projects they have made. Namely, they don't start off as life long friends, and Danny isn't holding down Nick from attaining what he really wants. This has been a staple in both "Spaced" and "Shaun of the Dead." It is very interesting seeing this beginning to a friendship that we can assume will end up like the others, except more bad ass. You see, while "Shaun" could very well have been a movie of "Spaced" but with zombies, there is a fundamental difference: Pegg's performance. Here he isn't playing the average joe he has before. He is playing a straight laced, all about his work, bad ass cop, and he pulls it off very well. While he is not what we think of as an action star when we see him, when he is working, it is awesome and he captures it very well. Which leads to Frost's performance as the lovable man-child we all know and love. He is here to get Danny to care about somebody more than his job, and to introduce him to movies like "Point Blank" and "Bad Boys II." When they are together, there is a very good chemistry, but a very DIFFERENT chemistry than what we are used to seeing between them.
So, I have now seen this movie twice and I will judge the comedy on the re-watchability. Which is fairly decent, but it falls much more flat upon your second viewing. It isn't because the comedy isn't as funny, it is just that most of the jokes are more simple than those in Spaced and Shaun and have a "one really good laugh" value. Also, a large amount of the comedy is supplied in the last 3rd of the movie, during the big action sequence and the 2nd time you just don't have the same shock value you do the first time you see it, but it is still very funny. The problem with watching this movie on the small screen is the same problem that almost all action movies have with being shown on the small screen:
The action. While on the big screen it was big and bad ass, on the small screen action just doesn't live up. In the theaters though, you could feel every little rumble and shake because of the speakers, and the explosions were 30 feet high. It was AWESOME! But once more, shock value comes into play with action and the shock value has just sort of rubbed off a little after the first one. Not to say there aren't very cool parts on the small screen, there is, but it was just so much better on the big screen.
If you have never seen this movie, check it out any way you can. It will be hilarious and awesome to you at the same time. But if you have seen it on the big screen already... wait until you see a local theater re-running it at 10 o'clock at night to see it again, so you can have the same movie going experience. All in all, it will be for the greater good.
Spider-Man 3 (Spoilers)
Spider-Man has been my favorite superhero since I was about 6. I loved the cartoon show from the 90's, the live TV movie that was made that nobody seems to remember, even the cartoon show "Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends" that I used to rent all the time. I can still remember when I saw the teaser trailer for the first Spider-Man movie. You know, the one with the twin towers? Well, I loved the first Spider-Man, the 2nd Spider-Man raised the bar, and I followed Spider-Man 3 since the 2nd movie was released. I was shocked when I got to see the trailer before Superman Returns at midnight (which was better than the movie). Sadly, there has been a lot of negative things said about this movie.
Many of which are undeserved since this is a great movie. I does something original and doesn't just keep with the same plotline the other two have had. They build on how the stardom as effected Spider-Man in the years between 2 and 3. We open the film with a monolouge by Peter telling us that Spider-Man is now a celebrity and just from that point, it makes us realize that Parker has let his ego grow. Brief glimpses had been seen in the last movies whenever he was hailed for something, but his ego was never really allowed to grow because Spider-Man was viewed as a villian. It is now there and permeated all intances in his life, which isn't good because things are getting very complicated in his life. MJ is now the lead in a Broadway musical, Harry is finally the Green Goblin. Gwen Stacey has recently entered his life, there is a new photographer at the Bugle named Eddie Brock who wants his job and is willing to do anything to get it, and recent revalations in his Uncle's murder show that his real murderer just escaped from jail. Oh right, he is also going to propose to MJ and there is a new black substance that has latched onto him and become his new suit that enhances his ego and his agression. I also forgot to mention that his Uncle's murderer has recently been involved in an accident making him into the Sandman. There are things that I'm missing, but that should give you a good idea of what is going on.
Everybody reprises this role in this film, with 3 notable inclusions: Thomas Haden Church (Flint Marko aka The Sandman), Topher Grace (Eddie Brock Jr. aka Venom) and Bryce Dallas Howard. Church is the 2nd main villian in this (other than the symbiote, NOT Venom). He does a very good job of bringing a life and purpose to this character in his screen time that is limited to pretty much action scenes with a scene at the beginning and a scene near the end which gives a larger depth to his role. Church is such a good actor though that he always looks as if he is in desperation trying to find a cure for his daughter. From what I have heard, he had the most cut from his story including extra scenes with his daughter at the end and a scene where he breaks into a doctors lab which is too bad because even though Church did a fine job, it would have been nice to spend a little more time with him. His character does recieve the biggest "Holy crap!" moment of the film though. Howard does a fine job at bringing Gwen Stacy into the movie mythos. She brings a sensitivity and understanding to her scenes that would make it very easy for us to believe that Peter could fall in love with her eventually. I have not liked Howard in the previous movies I've seen her in (the terrible "The Village" and "Lady in the Water"), but she is beautiful in this film and does a good job. Especially when she realizes that she has been used in one scene, the sheer shock that somebody like Peter would do that to her is very good because it is not over played. Now, the person everybody has been arguing about since he was cast is Topher Grace. "Can he pull it off?" "He isn't big enough!" and so much more about him have been said about him. I was always a supporter of Grace, and apparantly for good reason. He is great in this movie. He is the one of the new people who gets the most screen time. Grace has instilled a huge ego and cockiness in Brock that when you see him at his lowest you know it had to take him a very far way to reach there. He lies, he cheats and is outdone in everything he does by Peter.
The 3 leads in the movie have each stepped up their performances. Each person adds another level of their character and takes their character farther than they had before. Kirsten Dunst returns as MJ and now instead of a girl who is in puppy love with Peter, she is a woman that is starting to understand what being inlove with Spider-Man is doing to their relationship. She is starting to realize that things will never be perfectly happy and that they will constantly be in danger. Her character is full of sadness when she is with Peter, but on the flip side she starts falling for Harry when he loses his memory and is happy again. She sees that she can have the life that she wants with Harry now happy again. He does all the right things for her and is extremely sweet, and James Franco nails every note of his character. When he needs to be he is evil, vicious, and much more meticulous than his father was but when he loses his memory of the past years he is happy again. Just the way he was when we first met him, and he is incredibly likable. Which is the perfect contrast to Maguire's Peter Parker in this movie. From the opening moments we are supposed to see how Parker is going away from his original morals and it is just taken to extremes when he embraces the black suit. Maguire makes Parker almost unlikable in this film, which is exactly what this film needed. We needed to want the return of Peter from the first two movies that we loved, so when he returned near the end that we loved him all the more because we had missed him.
While the acting is very good in this film, the credit for how good this movie is belongs to Sam Raimi who decided to make the best out of a bad situation. You see, Sony forced Sam Raimi to insert Venom into the movie when Raimi had already done a draft of the script with only Sandman. Well, Raimi did it and he finally made the character of Venom something I like. Of course, Raimi also had the balls to make the movie with Venom that he wanted to make. He had his ideas of how it needed to happen and he did it. While fans might complain about a "dancing emo nerdy" Spider-Man in the black suit, they seem to forget that when he was angry he was vicious and didn't care who was hurt. Personally, I felt that the dancing Spider-Man was necessary because it showed how he only thought that he was that much cooler now and how it made him even less likable. The dance number in the jazz kitchen is extremely exciting and shows that Spider-Man's agility and balance have been great improved because, well, Spidey was NEVER able to dance. It also created a great parallel with the final scene of the movie. Raimi knew what he was doing the entire time. I don't even feel I should be required to mention the action scenes since Raimi is the master at great action sequences. The creation of the Sandman is a truly incredible/awe inspiring scenes and is one of the highlights of this film. Raimi treats this scene with so much love that it is clear it is something he has wanted to bring to life for a very long time. They are always exciting and original with new elements. The four way action scene that concludes the movie is INCREDIBLE. The camera dips in and out of different fights and creates a real sence of danger for Spidey. It is the first time that we believed that Spider-Man could actually die, and it keeps the fans on the edge of their seat the entire movie.
I loved this movie and can't wait for it come out on DVD, even though I will probably pick up the director's cut which is 30 minutes longer. I have to say though, that I was a little bit dissappointed because I expected it to be better than Spider-Man 2. If you haven't already seen this movie, sadly you will have to wait for DVD because this truly is a great spectacle to see.
Many of which are undeserved since this is a great movie. I does something original and doesn't just keep with the same plotline the other two have had. They build on how the stardom as effected Spider-Man in the years between 2 and 3. We open the film with a monolouge by Peter telling us that Spider-Man is now a celebrity and just from that point, it makes us realize that Parker has let his ego grow. Brief glimpses had been seen in the last movies whenever he was hailed for something, but his ego was never really allowed to grow because Spider-Man was viewed as a villian. It is now there and permeated all intances in his life, which isn't good because things are getting very complicated in his life. MJ is now the lead in a Broadway musical, Harry is finally the Green Goblin. Gwen Stacey has recently entered his life, there is a new photographer at the Bugle named Eddie Brock who wants his job and is willing to do anything to get it, and recent revalations in his Uncle's murder show that his real murderer just escaped from jail. Oh right, he is also going to propose to MJ and there is a new black substance that has latched onto him and become his new suit that enhances his ego and his agression. I also forgot to mention that his Uncle's murderer has recently been involved in an accident making him into the Sandman. There are things that I'm missing, but that should give you a good idea of what is going on.
Everybody reprises this role in this film, with 3 notable inclusions: Thomas Haden Church (Flint Marko aka The Sandman), Topher Grace (Eddie Brock Jr. aka Venom) and Bryce Dallas Howard. Church is the 2nd main villian in this (other than the symbiote, NOT Venom). He does a very good job of bringing a life and purpose to this character in his screen time that is limited to pretty much action scenes with a scene at the beginning and a scene near the end which gives a larger depth to his role. Church is such a good actor though that he always looks as if he is in desperation trying to find a cure for his daughter. From what I have heard, he had the most cut from his story including extra scenes with his daughter at the end and a scene where he breaks into a doctors lab which is too bad because even though Church did a fine job, it would have been nice to spend a little more time with him. His character does recieve the biggest "Holy crap!" moment of the film though. Howard does a fine job at bringing Gwen Stacy into the movie mythos. She brings a sensitivity and understanding to her scenes that would make it very easy for us to believe that Peter could fall in love with her eventually. I have not liked Howard in the previous movies I've seen her in (the terrible "The Village" and "Lady in the Water"), but she is beautiful in this film and does a good job. Especially when she realizes that she has been used in one scene, the sheer shock that somebody like Peter would do that to her is very good because it is not over played. Now, the person everybody has been arguing about since he was cast is Topher Grace. "Can he pull it off?" "He isn't big enough!" and so much more about him have been said about him. I was always a supporter of Grace, and apparantly for good reason. He is great in this movie. He is the one of the new people who gets the most screen time. Grace has instilled a huge ego and cockiness in Brock that when you see him at his lowest you know it had to take him a very far way to reach there. He lies, he cheats and is outdone in everything he does by Peter.
The 3 leads in the movie have each stepped up their performances. Each person adds another level of their character and takes their character farther than they had before. Kirsten Dunst returns as MJ and now instead of a girl who is in puppy love with Peter, she is a woman that is starting to understand what being inlove with Spider-Man is doing to their relationship. She is starting to realize that things will never be perfectly happy and that they will constantly be in danger. Her character is full of sadness when she is with Peter, but on the flip side she starts falling for Harry when he loses his memory and is happy again. She sees that she can have the life that she wants with Harry now happy again. He does all the right things for her and is extremely sweet, and James Franco nails every note of his character. When he needs to be he is evil, vicious, and much more meticulous than his father was but when he loses his memory of the past years he is happy again. Just the way he was when we first met him, and he is incredibly likable. Which is the perfect contrast to Maguire's Peter Parker in this movie. From the opening moments we are supposed to see how Parker is going away from his original morals and it is just taken to extremes when he embraces the black suit. Maguire makes Parker almost unlikable in this film, which is exactly what this film needed. We needed to want the return of Peter from the first two movies that we loved, so when he returned near the end that we loved him all the more because we had missed him.
While the acting is very good in this film, the credit for how good this movie is belongs to Sam Raimi who decided to make the best out of a bad situation. You see, Sony forced Sam Raimi to insert Venom into the movie when Raimi had already done a draft of the script with only Sandman. Well, Raimi did it and he finally made the character of Venom something I like. Of course, Raimi also had the balls to make the movie with Venom that he wanted to make. He had his ideas of how it needed to happen and he did it. While fans might complain about a "dancing emo nerdy" Spider-Man in the black suit, they seem to forget that when he was angry he was vicious and didn't care who was hurt. Personally, I felt that the dancing Spider-Man was necessary because it showed how he only thought that he was that much cooler now and how it made him even less likable. The dance number in the jazz kitchen is extremely exciting and shows that Spider-Man's agility and balance have been great improved because, well, Spidey was NEVER able to dance. It also created a great parallel with the final scene of the movie. Raimi knew what he was doing the entire time. I don't even feel I should be required to mention the action scenes since Raimi is the master at great action sequences. The creation of the Sandman is a truly incredible/awe inspiring scenes and is one of the highlights of this film. Raimi treats this scene with so much love that it is clear it is something he has wanted to bring to life for a very long time. They are always exciting and original with new elements. The four way action scene that concludes the movie is INCREDIBLE. The camera dips in and out of different fights and creates a real sence of danger for Spidey. It is the first time that we believed that Spider-Man could actually die, and it keeps the fans on the edge of their seat the entire movie.
I loved this movie and can't wait for it come out on DVD, even though I will probably pick up the director's cut which is 30 minutes longer. I have to say though, that I was a little bit dissappointed because I expected it to be better than Spider-Man 2. If you haven't already seen this movie, sadly you will have to wait for DVD because this truly is a great spectacle to see.
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Pirates of the Carribean: At Worlds End (Spoilers)
I love Pirates. I really do. Used to have pirate chat rooms and used to play puzzle pirates. Swashbuckling is just such a fun idea to think about. Disney thought so too and made the great "Pirates of the Carribean." I loved that too. In fact, saw it 3 times in theaters. When they greenlit 2 sequels, I was excited. Especially when it was unvieled that Bill Nighy would be the main villian. Bill Nighy as a pirate? AWESOME. Bill Nighy as the lord of the sea? AWESOME. Well, in theory it could have been awesome. Instead it was just a boring movie that made me really want to get out of the theater within the first hour. Never did I think this would happen again and was waiting for the sequel to see if, hopefully, things got better. Sadly... they didn't. In fact, they got worse.
This movie was just terrible. In fact, while the 2nd movie made me want leave an hour into it, this one made me want to leave 10 minutes into the damn thing.
The plot? There really is no plot to this movie. It goes from one tangent to another tangent never really concluding anything in the movie. Plot holes right and left. Very few things explained, or if they are explained, they are explained badly. It is very clear that they began shooting this without a completed script. The writers seem to not care about making a coherent movie, but a movie that blows people away with special effects.
Speaking of special effects, for a movie with such a large budget, a lot of these effects are laughable. It isn't that they are pulled off badly, it is just that the stunt they are trying to do is down right retarded. The world literally flips. We see the water go from one side to the other? It looked like something out of a shitty cartoon. In fact, there is one effect that had me howling in laughter. In fact, I don't care if you know it. Throughout the movie they are talking about releasing Calypso, this giant sea goddess, who was once the lover of Davy Jones. Ends up to be that crazy ass lady that gave Captain Jack Sparrow the jar of dirt (speaking of that... what the fuck happened to it? It is just totally gone, no point to the plot). Well, during her big unviel, where she becomes a sea goddess, what could have saved this movie from being incredibly shitty, they take the easy/hilarious way out. She just grows, Until she is as tall as the ship... then she turns into a bunch of crabs... Why? I don't know, but for some reason she has crabs.
There are so many plot holes right and left in this damn movie . They build something up and then it just changes right away. All of a sudden they find the Kracken dead. How did it die? Why did Davey Jones let it die? Who knows. It just is. Elizabeth and Will are fighting throughout the entire movie. In fact, up until they get married. They are still fighting and all of a sudden Will goes "marry me." and they get married... in the middle of an action scene. It was the most retarded thing I've ever seen... other than giant crab lady.
It is also extremely sad when one of the strengths of the original movie has become one of the weaknesses: the acting. In fact, everybody is a step down, but the real disappointment is Johnny Depp. I think Johnny Depp is a great actor, and one of the best (if not THE best) of his generation but in this he is terrible. The first time he stepped into the boots of Captain Jack Sparrow he was hilarious, charming, and selfcentered, but all his comedy was drawn from the fact that he only cared about himself. This one makes him act like a chicken and mug for the camera constantly. It seems that he feels if he just says a line it will be funny. It isn't. In fact, there are hundreds of Johnny's in this movie and none, let me repeat none of them are funny. In fact, there is one scene where he has one Johnny on one shoulder and another Johnny on his other shoulder and it is like the little angel and devil on the shoulder thing and it is NOT FUNNY! The only person who did remotely well in this movie is Keith Richards and he was on screen for all of... 2 minutes? If that. I'm sorry Johnny, I have loved all your work until these last 2 movies.
One more note: Why do all of these sequels have a musical number? Spider-Man 3 had dancing Spider-man (which I actually really enjoyed), Fantastic Four had dancing Mr. Fantastic (which was... not that good), and the opening singing of in this movie, which was the perfect opprotunity to throw in the classic song but for some reason they conjured up a new song.
In summation: avoid this movie at all costs. I don't even want to keep thinking about this anymore.
This movie was just terrible. In fact, while the 2nd movie made me want leave an hour into it, this one made me want to leave 10 minutes into the damn thing.
The plot? There really is no plot to this movie. It goes from one tangent to another tangent never really concluding anything in the movie. Plot holes right and left. Very few things explained, or if they are explained, they are explained badly. It is very clear that they began shooting this without a completed script. The writers seem to not care about making a coherent movie, but a movie that blows people away with special effects.
Speaking of special effects, for a movie with such a large budget, a lot of these effects are laughable. It isn't that they are pulled off badly, it is just that the stunt they are trying to do is down right retarded. The world literally flips. We see the water go from one side to the other? It looked like something out of a shitty cartoon. In fact, there is one effect that had me howling in laughter. In fact, I don't care if you know it. Throughout the movie they are talking about releasing Calypso, this giant sea goddess, who was once the lover of Davy Jones. Ends up to be that crazy ass lady that gave Captain Jack Sparrow the jar of dirt (speaking of that... what the fuck happened to it? It is just totally gone, no point to the plot). Well, during her big unviel, where she becomes a sea goddess, what could have saved this movie from being incredibly shitty, they take the easy/hilarious way out. She just grows, Until she is as tall as the ship... then she turns into a bunch of crabs... Why? I don't know, but for some reason she has crabs.
There are so many plot holes right and left in this damn movie . They build something up and then it just changes right away. All of a sudden they find the Kracken dead. How did it die? Why did Davey Jones let it die? Who knows. It just is. Elizabeth and Will are fighting throughout the entire movie. In fact, up until they get married. They are still fighting and all of a sudden Will goes "marry me." and they get married... in the middle of an action scene. It was the most retarded thing I've ever seen... other than giant crab lady.
It is also extremely sad when one of the strengths of the original movie has become one of the weaknesses: the acting. In fact, everybody is a step down, but the real disappointment is Johnny Depp. I think Johnny Depp is a great actor, and one of the best (if not THE best) of his generation but in this he is terrible. The first time he stepped into the boots of Captain Jack Sparrow he was hilarious, charming, and selfcentered, but all his comedy was drawn from the fact that he only cared about himself. This one makes him act like a chicken and mug for the camera constantly. It seems that he feels if he just says a line it will be funny. It isn't. In fact, there are hundreds of Johnny's in this movie and none, let me repeat none of them are funny. In fact, there is one scene where he has one Johnny on one shoulder and another Johnny on his other shoulder and it is like the little angel and devil on the shoulder thing and it is NOT FUNNY! The only person who did remotely well in this movie is Keith Richards and he was on screen for all of... 2 minutes? If that. I'm sorry Johnny, I have loved all your work until these last 2 movies.
One more note: Why do all of these sequels have a musical number? Spider-Man 3 had dancing Spider-man (which I actually really enjoyed), Fantastic Four had dancing Mr. Fantastic (which was... not that good), and the opening singing of in this movie, which was the perfect opprotunity to throw in the classic song but for some reason they conjured up a new song.
In summation: avoid this movie at all costs. I don't even want to keep thinking about this anymore.
Transformers
One of my earliest memories involving movies is me sitting infront of the TV crying because I just witnessed Optimus Prime die at the hands of Megatron. So, as you can tell, I've been very much invested with how this movie would turn out. I've been following all of the news on this movie ever since the first teaser trailer was released (which is explained in this movie). So did Michael Bay fuck this movie up?
NO WAY IN HELL! This has been the single best movie of the summer so far, and the 2nd best movie of the year so far (Grindhouse still number 1). It was a kick ass movie and was the perfect groundwork for what can end up to be an incredible trilogy. There were so many things that I had wanted to see since I was about 3 years old, and they were all brought to life perfectly to make a great Transformers movie.
The story is basically this: The Allspark, which created life for the Transformers, fell to Earth about 100 years ago after the fall of Cybertron (the Transformers home planet). Since Cybertron has been destroyed, Megatron followed it to Earth, just to end up trapped in ice. So now all the Autobots and Decepticons are coming to the planet to find the Allspark cube, which the directions to are inscribed onto Sam Witwickey's grandfather's glasses. Basic plot. There is a lot more going on with the military and a romance, but it is, at its heart, all about the robots.
LeBeouf gives a very likable performance here as Sam Witwicky, the boy who unknowingly holds the key to the location of Allspark and thus, gets sweeped up into the war between machines. He is, of course, on the side of the Autobots and his car is Bumble Bee, at first a crappy beat up Camero, and then a freakin' awesome Camero. Le Beouf brings a lot of charm and comedy to his role and never feels faked. The way that he interacts with the Transformers helps to tell the giant robots 100%. In some reviews I've read, people have knocked Turturo for being so over the top in his role as a Sector 7 agent, but truthfully, I loved him. He was exciting and you never really knew what crazy thing he was going to say/do next. He is crazy and a total asshole in this movie. Oh, and Megan Fox is fucking HOT AS HELL! Damn. At the same time she made herself very approachable and it wasn't a GIANT leap to believe that she would go for somebody like Sam. But this acting paragraph would be nothing without Peter Cullen, the one, the only Optimus Prime. Shivers were sent up and down my spine right from the beginning as he gives the history of Cybertron and the Allspark. If there was anybody else voicing Optimus, it just wouldn't have worked. He is still the great moral role model for children that first taught me about doing the right thing. Even when other Autobots are doubting why they are helping humans, Optimus stands strong and tells them how it is. Of course, my personal favorite line of his in the movie was "Autobots- roll out." That is the line I have been waiting for since I first heard this was greenlit. I just have to say that while Hugo Weaving was good as the voice of Megatron, because of how much they clearly put it through a computer, it might as well have been Frank Welker doing the lines. Don't get me wrong, Megatron is big, bad and awesome, but it would have been nice to know that Welker was the one we were hearing and not a way to put another name on this movie.
The effects in this more are truly mindblowing. This is the first time in years that the effects have actually been special. The first transformation that we see in the movie is great as is the following action sequence. The big moment in the film though comes with the unviel of all the Autobots. Bay takes time from this fast paced movie to slow things down and show us the transformations in all their glory and introduce each character one by one. You have not seen anything until you've seen giant robots transforming during a giant fight scene on the highway, changing back to cars, then back to robots and keep fighting.
A lot of people have bitched about Michael Bay as the director for a long time, but I've said it from the beginning: Bay is the perfect director for this, and you know what? He was. Bay's movies are usually cheesy with great action. Know what the Transformers cartoons were? EXTREMELY cheesy with great action. In fact, while there are cheesy parts of the movie, he nails every little beat of this and delivers a movie that all fans should like (but not all will because they are stubborn). The final act of this movie is one of the greatest action sequences ever put to film. I never thought I would see some of the things that are in this movie because of how only fans know about them (don't want to give what the main thing I'm talking about is, but it is a weapon that one of the Autobots use).
There are cheesy moments in the film, but they work in this. In fact, there was only one thing that bothered me in this movie and it was not enough to detract from the entire movie for me. It was one little comedic moment in the film involving Bumble Bee and John Turturo which was useless and didn't fit with the rest of the film, but it got a big laugh.
Don't wait to see this movie on the small screen. If you do, you will regret it. The explosions, the transformations, the granduer, everything is a must see on the big screen. The action is unlike anything you have seen before and frankly, I loved this movie. In a summer of disappointments so far, this movie stands far above the rest.
NO WAY IN HELL! This has been the single best movie of the summer so far, and the 2nd best movie of the year so far (Grindhouse still number 1). It was a kick ass movie and was the perfect groundwork for what can end up to be an incredible trilogy. There were so many things that I had wanted to see since I was about 3 years old, and they were all brought to life perfectly to make a great Transformers movie.
The story is basically this: The Allspark, which created life for the Transformers, fell to Earth about 100 years ago after the fall of Cybertron (the Transformers home planet). Since Cybertron has been destroyed, Megatron followed it to Earth, just to end up trapped in ice. So now all the Autobots and Decepticons are coming to the planet to find the Allspark cube, which the directions to are inscribed onto Sam Witwickey's grandfather's glasses. Basic plot. There is a lot more going on with the military and a romance, but it is, at its heart, all about the robots.
LeBeouf gives a very likable performance here as Sam Witwicky, the boy who unknowingly holds the key to the location of Allspark and thus, gets sweeped up into the war between machines. He is, of course, on the side of the Autobots and his car is Bumble Bee, at first a crappy beat up Camero, and then a freakin' awesome Camero. Le Beouf brings a lot of charm and comedy to his role and never feels faked. The way that he interacts with the Transformers helps to tell the giant robots 100%. In some reviews I've read, people have knocked Turturo for being so over the top in his role as a Sector 7 agent, but truthfully, I loved him. He was exciting and you never really knew what crazy thing he was going to say/do next. He is crazy and a total asshole in this movie. Oh, and Megan Fox is fucking HOT AS HELL! Damn. At the same time she made herself very approachable and it wasn't a GIANT leap to believe that she would go for somebody like Sam. But this acting paragraph would be nothing without Peter Cullen, the one, the only Optimus Prime. Shivers were sent up and down my spine right from the beginning as he gives the history of Cybertron and the Allspark. If there was anybody else voicing Optimus, it just wouldn't have worked. He is still the great moral role model for children that first taught me about doing the right thing. Even when other Autobots are doubting why they are helping humans, Optimus stands strong and tells them how it is. Of course, my personal favorite line of his in the movie was "Autobots- roll out." That is the line I have been waiting for since I first heard this was greenlit. I just have to say that while Hugo Weaving was good as the voice of Megatron, because of how much they clearly put it through a computer, it might as well have been Frank Welker doing the lines. Don't get me wrong, Megatron is big, bad and awesome, but it would have been nice to know that Welker was the one we were hearing and not a way to put another name on this movie.
The effects in this more are truly mindblowing. This is the first time in years that the effects have actually been special. The first transformation that we see in the movie is great as is the following action sequence. The big moment in the film though comes with the unviel of all the Autobots. Bay takes time from this fast paced movie to slow things down and show us the transformations in all their glory and introduce each character one by one. You have not seen anything until you've seen giant robots transforming during a giant fight scene on the highway, changing back to cars, then back to robots and keep fighting.
A lot of people have bitched about Michael Bay as the director for a long time, but I've said it from the beginning: Bay is the perfect director for this, and you know what? He was. Bay's movies are usually cheesy with great action. Know what the Transformers cartoons were? EXTREMELY cheesy with great action. In fact, while there are cheesy parts of the movie, he nails every little beat of this and delivers a movie that all fans should like (but not all will because they are stubborn). The final act of this movie is one of the greatest action sequences ever put to film. I never thought I would see some of the things that are in this movie because of how only fans know about them (don't want to give what the main thing I'm talking about is, but it is a weapon that one of the Autobots use).
There are cheesy moments in the film, but they work in this. In fact, there was only one thing that bothered me in this movie and it was not enough to detract from the entire movie for me. It was one little comedic moment in the film involving Bumble Bee and John Turturo which was useless and didn't fit with the rest of the film, but it got a big laugh.
Don't wait to see this movie on the small screen. If you do, you will regret it. The explosions, the transformations, the granduer, everything is a must see on the big screen. The action is unlike anything you have seen before and frankly, I loved this movie. In a summer of disappointments so far, this movie stands far above the rest.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
