Directed by Michael Bay
Starring Ewan McGregor, Scarlett Johansson
Now here's a movie that had some promise and could have been a great suspense/mystery into the foundation of self and soul, but they totally went after the Chick, Bang, Boom audience instead by
A) Revealing the truth of their existence in the first 10 minutes of the film and making the rest of the story one huge effects-laden chase scene.
and...
B) Hiring Michael Bay
Story
CloneBoy meets CloneGirl in controlled lab habitat. CloneBoy saves CloneGirl which threatens to expose Evil God-Complex Scientist. Evil God-Complex Scientist hires Mercs to hunt down CloneBoy and CloneGirl with apparent bonus if they can destroy FutureLosAngeles in the process. CloneBoy and CloneGirl escape by hiding in the Speederbike scene from Return of the Jedi. CloneBoy and CloneGirl discover the world, their sexuality, and that people - in general - suck. Evil God-Complex Scientist never learns any lesson. CloneBoy and CloneGirl return to save their CloneFriends with the help of MercLeaderWithAHeartOfGold. Evil God-Complex Scientist has a nasty experience with his Pocket Fisherman and dies. CloneBoy, CloneGirl and their Clone Friends emerge from the ground and signal that there will be 6 more weeks of winter.
Jeez. There are days that I seriously wonder about Hollywood and the people that go see movies and then I remember that the target audience for this fiasco was probably pre-pubescent. I can only pray that Transformers doesn't suffer from the fact that it shares 2 of the 3 screenwriters.
From a purely subjective standpoint, this movie is full of plotholes and omissions. There's a really cool jetbike sequence, but you never see anything like this vehicle anywhere else in the movie. Lincoln Six Echo, the main character, who is so nosy and curious that he's called into the "Principal's office" is freely allowed access to a restricted area and then somehow manages to keep the key, allowing him to learn the truth and escape. The clones are supposed to be kept in a vegetative state according to law, but this causes them to die prematurely so they're implanted with memories and made to live a THX-1138 style reality where everything is monitored and controlled. Considering the staffing requirements, that's a pretty big secret to keep hidden, especially from the Defense Department which is supposedly the big funder of this project. The list goes on. Better to just check your brain at the door and get a new one from your clone on the way out.
Acting
Ewan McGregor manages a good accent and I thought it was a nice touch that his "Original" has the full "shite"-laden Scottish accent and that they play into this in a scene you see coming the moment the two meet. My only gripe is that at times the pacing is awkward when the two share the screen. Clone-Ewan speaks, then there's a gap of dead space before Original-Ewan responds. This is especially evident in a scene where they're arguing over who's going to drive a $500K Cadillac. Scarlett Johansson does a good job, though her Original is in a coma and you never see her except for an ad in a storefront so there's no interplay there. Sean Bean as the head scientist plays self-righteously evil to a "t", which I'll admit he's very good at.
Effects
Repeat after me:
This... is... a... Michael... Bay... film...
Granted, Bruckheimer isn't producing, but there's still an incredible number of practical and CG effects and as usual they're all over the top and reminiscent of how 5-year-olds play with Matchbox cars. In one scene, featured heavily in the previews and which you'd think would spell certain death for anything larger than an amoeba, the characters are miraculously saved by netting attached to construction scaffolding. The guy who rescues them even says "Jesus must love you". No, just Michael Bay.
And they say Sean Bean's character has a god-complex.
Music
Hard to hear through all the explosions.
Atmosphere and Immersive Details
Although they create a very nice compromise between a utopian future and a dysfunctional one better than Minority Report, there's still not much to really draw you in. Most of the technology is familiar but just evolved enough to feel strange. My earlier gripe with the jetbikes... you'd think these would be all over the LA skyline but there are only 2 in the entire movie. The action sequences are comicbook fantasy with enough speed and debris to turn the main characters into chunky salsa many times over. All the cars (Cops, Mercs, etc) are Dodges (except for a Chevy truck that was nicely aged and gets credit for being well thought out). Even the basics of the story are full of holes. There's almost nothing believable to be had in this film, which is good because I'd hate to believe that an operation like the one depicted would ever exist.
Summary
A lot of action, too little story, and too much external inspiration makes this just an "ok" flick. They could have taken it down a slightly different route without getting too cerebral and added a bit more originality (they actually used the speederbike sounds from Return of the Jedi in the Jetbike sequence) and I think it would have been better for it. 2 Stars, Didn't Like It.
Showing posts with label 2005. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2005. Show all posts
Friday, July 13, 2007
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
The Jacket (2005)
Directed by John Maybury
Starring Adrien Brody, Keira Knightley
I remember seeing the previews for this movie and thinking initially that it would be a horror film. I mean, what other genre is there where you're tortured in a straight jacket? The premise seemed strange as well, and in hindsight still does, but perhaps that's what sets this movie apart from others like it and makes it memorable, even if other similar movies could be considered better.
Story
A gulf war (the first one) veteran (Adrien Brody), wounded in the line of duty and discharged, is charged with a heinous crime and committed to an institution because he has been found to suffer from a delusional state and deemed mentally unstable. As part of his treatment he is routinely drugged, strapped into a full body straight-jacket and slid into a morgue drawer where the boundaries of reality break down and allow him to travel to another time. During his time in the drawer, he comes to find out about his own impending death and helps a woman (Keira Knightley) who is haunted by the semi-abusive relationship she had with her mother.
Ultimately this is a movie about self-sacrifice, good deeds and redemption, though it does break a few of time-travels unspoken rules in Hollywood. Namely that the future is either flexible or immutable in any given movie, but in The Jacket, it's seemingly both.
Acting
I still haven't seen The Pianist, Brody's Oscar-winning performance (though it is in my queue) so I can't compare this performance to what can be assumed to be his best work, but he does a good job playing crazy and off balance in this role. Keira Knightley does a good job and isn't her usual monotone self. She plays dark and damaged decently, but not convincingly. It's like when they try to ugly up an actor/actress to play a role... you still know they're good-looking underneath.
I was impressed by the supporting cast which included Kris Kristofferson, Jennifer Jason Leigh (who amazingly stays fully clothed... though she isn't a starring role so maybe this doesn't count) and Daniel Craig (the new James Bond). Kristofferson plays his usual grizzled old man who could kick your ass and Leigh's character is good but relatively forgettable, serving as the yin to Kristofferson's yang. (Ok, that sounded bad.) Craig was a bit of a surprise in the sense that it's always fun to go back and see movies that now-famous actors were in before they became the big names they are today. Like watching Kevin Spacey in The Ref. One thing's for sure, I'm glad they left him blond as Bond, he's a bit odd looking as a brunette (or is that just him playing his role as a fellow patient well?)
Effects
There are plenty of flashes and surreal effects while Brody's character is in the morgue drawer. They're quite disorienting, which I'd imagine is a pretty good representation of what the character is supposed to be going through. Flashes of the past, the present, the future, the war, etc. A few of these sequences tend to go on for a while, but that just helps you to empathize I guess. There are no effects when the character arrives in or leaves a different time, he just disappears between camera cuts.
Music
I seem to remember a lot of very quiet scenes with sound effects playing a bigger role in this movie than music, especially during the time in the morgue drawer to try and bring you into the character's experience in a sort of sensory deprivation chamber. Amusingly, the song that opens the credits seems to be an answer to the question posed in the final spoken line of the film.
Atmosphere and Immersive Details
You really feel you're in the drawer with Brody. The silence, the darkness, the flashes of light and images and staccato noises all really draw you in. Character motivation was weak, with some apparently sadistic orderlies who took a bit too much pleasure in their work and some reversals that seemed to come out of left field in the usual "I hate you, I love you" fashion.
My biggest issue is the premise of the movie: that if you're drugged and restrained and stuck in a dark cramped "womb-like" place, you'll actually start traveling through time. They hinted at the fact that one of the drugs causes visions and hallucinations, but I'd have been happier if they'd explored that avenue a bit further, really making you question if the character was actually traveling or just simply delusional as everyone else believed.
Summary
A good movie, but not a rewarding movie. I'd recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the actors or the genre, but if you're looking for a really good "mental patient traveling through time" movie, go check out 12 Monkeys. 3 Stars (Liked It)
Starring Adrien Brody, Keira Knightley
I remember seeing the previews for this movie and thinking initially that it would be a horror film. I mean, what other genre is there where you're tortured in a straight jacket? The premise seemed strange as well, and in hindsight still does, but perhaps that's what sets this movie apart from others like it and makes it memorable, even if other similar movies could be considered better.
Story
A gulf war (the first one) veteran (Adrien Brody), wounded in the line of duty and discharged, is charged with a heinous crime and committed to an institution because he has been found to suffer from a delusional state and deemed mentally unstable. As part of his treatment he is routinely drugged, strapped into a full body straight-jacket and slid into a morgue drawer where the boundaries of reality break down and allow him to travel to another time. During his time in the drawer, he comes to find out about his own impending death and helps a woman (Keira Knightley) who is haunted by the semi-abusive relationship she had with her mother.
Ultimately this is a movie about self-sacrifice, good deeds and redemption, though it does break a few of time-travels unspoken rules in Hollywood. Namely that the future is either flexible or immutable in any given movie, but in The Jacket, it's seemingly both.
Acting
I still haven't seen The Pianist, Brody's Oscar-winning performance (though it is in my queue) so I can't compare this performance to what can be assumed to be his best work, but he does a good job playing crazy and off balance in this role. Keira Knightley does a good job and isn't her usual monotone self. She plays dark and damaged decently, but not convincingly. It's like when they try to ugly up an actor/actress to play a role... you still know they're good-looking underneath.
I was impressed by the supporting cast which included Kris Kristofferson, Jennifer Jason Leigh (who amazingly stays fully clothed... though she isn't a starring role so maybe this doesn't count) and Daniel Craig (the new James Bond). Kristofferson plays his usual grizzled old man who could kick your ass and Leigh's character is good but relatively forgettable, serving as the yin to Kristofferson's yang. (Ok, that sounded bad.) Craig was a bit of a surprise in the sense that it's always fun to go back and see movies that now-famous actors were in before they became the big names they are today. Like watching Kevin Spacey in The Ref. One thing's for sure, I'm glad they left him blond as Bond, he's a bit odd looking as a brunette (or is that just him playing his role as a fellow patient well?)
Effects
There are plenty of flashes and surreal effects while Brody's character is in the morgue drawer. They're quite disorienting, which I'd imagine is a pretty good representation of what the character is supposed to be going through. Flashes of the past, the present, the future, the war, etc. A few of these sequences tend to go on for a while, but that just helps you to empathize I guess. There are no effects when the character arrives in or leaves a different time, he just disappears between camera cuts.
Music
I seem to remember a lot of very quiet scenes with sound effects playing a bigger role in this movie than music, especially during the time in the morgue drawer to try and bring you into the character's experience in a sort of sensory deprivation chamber. Amusingly, the song that opens the credits seems to be an answer to the question posed in the final spoken line of the film.
Atmosphere and Immersive Details
You really feel you're in the drawer with Brody. The silence, the darkness, the flashes of light and images and staccato noises all really draw you in. Character motivation was weak, with some apparently sadistic orderlies who took a bit too much pleasure in their work and some reversals that seemed to come out of left field in the usual "I hate you, I love you" fashion.
My biggest issue is the premise of the movie: that if you're drugged and restrained and stuck in a dark cramped "womb-like" place, you'll actually start traveling through time. They hinted at the fact that one of the drugs causes visions and hallucinations, but I'd have been happier if they'd explored that avenue a bit further, really making you question if the character was actually traveling or just simply delusional as everyone else believed.
Summary
A good movie, but not a rewarding movie. I'd recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the actors or the genre, but if you're looking for a really good "mental patient traveling through time" movie, go check out 12 Monkeys. 3 Stars (Liked It)
Thursday, June 28, 2007
The Brothers Grimm (2005)
Directed by Terry Gilliam
Starring Matt Damon, Heath Ledger
Honestly, the previews for this one looked pretty bad and the reviews were bad to match, but I put this on my list because it was directed by Terry Gilliam, one of my favorite directors. I'll have to admit, it wasn't the best movie I've ever seen, but it wasn't the worst either.
Story
The beginning has a twist that you'll probably see coming a mile off. Needless to say, the Grimms' reputation is more noble than they are and the characters are setup to take you down the road of a buddy-cop film format.
Wilhelm Grimm (Matt Damon), the elder brother, is the realist, the thinker and mastermind behind the Grimms' successes to date. Jacob Grimm is the dreamer, his head always in his book and his mind on his stories, tormented by his brother and his conscience over the death of their sister when they were younger. Jacob went to sell the family cow to get money for medicine and came back with "Magic Beans" instead. And so the first fairy tale corruption is foisted upon the audience.
The references come faster than you can recognize them at times: Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, Rapunzel, The Princess and the Pea, Snow White (sooo many references here from the mirror to the woodsman to the apple), Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella somehow get thrown together, and even The Wizard of Oz makes a pseudo-appearance when a girl repeatedly clicks her glass slippers together at the climax of a scene near the end.
Most of these are twisted, either together to help frame the story, or darkly in a bizarre manifestation more like a nightmare. The Gingerbread Man sequence is especially dark with a girl's face falling off into the mud only to be absorbed by a mud creature so it can see and capture her. Once the capture is complete, the creature flattens and hardens and shouts out the famous "you can't catch me I'm the Gingerbread Man" line, totally out of left field.
The key to the ending is hinted at early and some of the lines are almost expected (how many times have you heard "Well that went well" after something that didn't?) but overall it's an imaginative yarn and that counts for something, doesn't it?
Acting
Nobody's winning an Oscar for this movie and let's face it: you didn't go see it for the incredible performances.
Effects
Overall not bad. There is one notable CG glitch that I saw immediately (mentioned below) and a few bad green-screen shots, but considering how many effects were necessary in this film it's not a bad effort.
Music
Most of the memorable moments of the soundtrack are variations on children's songs like "Lullaby, and Goodnight". Kinda creepy when the evil man with the axe is coming to take/kill the little girl and whistling a lullaby.
Atmosphere & Immersive Details
Gilliam is here in force, bringing back imagery from Time Bandits and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. Even the most microscopic details are not overlooked for the most part, such as an egg rolling out of a gargoyle's mouth filled with a bird's nest when Jacob Grimm grabs it to keep from falling. Other moments are dramatically presented in a dreamlike manner seen through the eyes of a character, such as a regal dinner seemingly attended by innumerable guests at an infintely long table, only to be revealed as a very small gathering of people seated on large, tall mirrored chairs when the dream is shattered by an interruption. Gilliam's over-characterization and seeming contempt of the empiric Napoleonic French is everywhere, from their thick exaggerated accents to their bloated pride. It makes me wonder how he would portray colonial Americans in a movie like Dances with Wolves if given the opportunity.
However, some details are missed or just plain missing such as a moment during an upward shot of the tower Jacob is scaling. The needlelike spire on top (in the "background" of this specific shot) appears from nowhere during a quick cutaway. I couldn't believe what I was seeing and had to rewind to double-check, but it wasn't there and then suddenly it was.
Summary
All in all, I liked this film, if only for the facts that Gilliam directed it and that it wasn't painful to watch. It could have been better, but it might have been a lot worse. In the end I gave it 3 Stars on Netflix (Liked It).
Starring Matt Damon, Heath Ledger
Honestly, the previews for this one looked pretty bad and the reviews were bad to match, but I put this on my list because it was directed by Terry Gilliam, one of my favorite directors. I'll have to admit, it wasn't the best movie I've ever seen, but it wasn't the worst either.
Story
The beginning has a twist that you'll probably see coming a mile off. Needless to say, the Grimms' reputation is more noble than they are and the characters are setup to take you down the road of a buddy-cop film format.
Wilhelm Grimm (Matt Damon), the elder brother, is the realist, the thinker and mastermind behind the Grimms' successes to date. Jacob Grimm is the dreamer, his head always in his book and his mind on his stories, tormented by his brother and his conscience over the death of their sister when they were younger. Jacob went to sell the family cow to get money for medicine and came back with "Magic Beans" instead. And so the first fairy tale corruption is foisted upon the audience.
The references come faster than you can recognize them at times: Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, Rapunzel, The Princess and the Pea, Snow White (sooo many references here from the mirror to the woodsman to the apple), Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella somehow get thrown together, and even The Wizard of Oz makes a pseudo-appearance when a girl repeatedly clicks her glass slippers together at the climax of a scene near the end.
Most of these are twisted, either together to help frame the story, or darkly in a bizarre manifestation more like a nightmare. The Gingerbread Man sequence is especially dark with a girl's face falling off into the mud only to be absorbed by a mud creature so it can see and capture her. Once the capture is complete, the creature flattens and hardens and shouts out the famous "you can't catch me I'm the Gingerbread Man" line, totally out of left field.
The key to the ending is hinted at early and some of the lines are almost expected (how many times have you heard "Well that went well" after something that didn't?) but overall it's an imaginative yarn and that counts for something, doesn't it?
Acting
Nobody's winning an Oscar for this movie and let's face it: you didn't go see it for the incredible performances.
Effects
Overall not bad. There is one notable CG glitch that I saw immediately (mentioned below) and a few bad green-screen shots, but considering how many effects were necessary in this film it's not a bad effort.
Music
Most of the memorable moments of the soundtrack are variations on children's songs like "Lullaby, and Goodnight". Kinda creepy when the evil man with the axe is coming to take/kill the little girl and whistling a lullaby.
Atmosphere & Immersive Details
Gilliam is here in force, bringing back imagery from Time Bandits and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. Even the most microscopic details are not overlooked for the most part, such as an egg rolling out of a gargoyle's mouth filled with a bird's nest when Jacob Grimm grabs it to keep from falling. Other moments are dramatically presented in a dreamlike manner seen through the eyes of a character, such as a regal dinner seemingly attended by innumerable guests at an infintely long table, only to be revealed as a very small gathering of people seated on large, tall mirrored chairs when the dream is shattered by an interruption. Gilliam's over-characterization and seeming contempt of the empiric Napoleonic French is everywhere, from their thick exaggerated accents to their bloated pride. It makes me wonder how he would portray colonial Americans in a movie like Dances with Wolves if given the opportunity.
However, some details are missed or just plain missing such as a moment during an upward shot of the tower Jacob is scaling. The needlelike spire on top (in the "background" of this specific shot) appears from nowhere during a quick cutaway. I couldn't believe what I was seeing and had to rewind to double-check, but it wasn't there and then suddenly it was.
Summary
All in all, I liked this film, if only for the facts that Gilliam directed it and that it wasn't painful to watch. It could have been better, but it might have been a lot worse. In the end I gave it 3 Stars on Netflix (Liked It).
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