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Reviews
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
My expectations were too high
All of the X-Men movies were great. And I mean all of them, including the long hated X-Men 3. They had solid characters (Magneto and Xavier were the best ones, in my opinion), and a good story arch.
I was all excited when I heard this movie was on production, and my expectations grew bigger and bigger until I saw the movie. I was so disappointed.
Hugh Jackman is not a bad actor (his best movie is The Fountain, although you won't hear about this movie when they talk about the actor), and his acting is not what screws the movie up.
The whole film is plagued with lots of meaningless characters that add nothing to the plot (like Blob or Gambit), which were tossed there to make fans believe that the film makers had read the original comics.
I am a fan of XMen, I have read many, many of their stories and this movie respected none of them. None. Not even the continuity. It doesn't respect Weapon X project, or the relationship between Wolverine and Sabretooth, or Emma Frost, the motivations for wolverine are plain stupid and seen in millions of movies: Revenge for the death of a loved one.
Oh. What I was expecting the whole darn movie was a Berseker moment for Wolverine similar to the one he has in X2 in the school when Stryker men come in and he alone decimates the enemy forces, but hey, this is Fox, this a family flick and you will not see explicit violence from the most violent and gruesome Marvel hero.
Besides, I had a feeling of constant dejá vù with this movie because Wolverine's Origins are already explained in X2, we already know how he got his adamantium skeleton so it kind of does not make sense to make a movie of something we already know.
I personally believe that wolverine is one of those few characters that does not need a solid back-story because mystery is the nature of the character. Do we really want to know how the Joker got his scars?
Shinobi (2005)
lolwut
Boring. You can say I didn't get it, you can say whatever you want, but this is like the 100th movie that is just exactly like the house of flying daggers, hero, and many others.
Predictable, flying people, "ninjas", stereotypical love (a ripoff from Romeo and Juliette, two lovers that have to be apart because they belong to different clans) and so many things.
I would really prefer to do so many other things: read a book about Japan's History, watch Blade Runner, Taxi Driver or the GodFather. These are all things that can not be considered a waste of time, they may even add something to your life, beyond culture and a few enjoyable conversations with your friends. This "movie" will not.
A total waste of time.
Dragonball Evolution (2009)
Flag waving ignorant geeks, waving their hate flags around
When the first notice was heard that a movie was going to be made based on the DragonBall franchise, everybody started saying things like their childhood was going to be destroyed, that there couldn't be a good movie based on it, that oh my god Gokuh is not Asian, etc.
And when the first images and info were leaked, people just couldn't believe their eyes, that Gokuh was on High School when he was supposed to be a child, that he has no tail, that casting was plain wrong, and that Gokuh's hair was a failure if compared to the manga/anime's, therefore movie was faeces.
Seriously, how can ANYBODY dare post a comment like that based on the hair of character of a movie that has no had any kind of official nothing released? (If you don't know what I am talking about, I am talking about the picture of Gokuh with a backpack in a parking lot, the first image leaked)
I am saying this because I have read MANY comments like this, and I don't mean written by any stupid basement dweller blogging around, I have read these on truthful, reliable movie blogs (spanish blogs, I have to say), sources of information that are not supposed to take a side on anything, just inform with a little degree of subjectivity.
And yet, people do not stop bashing their heads on the keyboard and see that the original DB manga/anime was not that good. We deem it good because we saw it through a child's eyes, we saw people flying around, shouting, throwing energy balls with their bare hands, GOD (which was a green alien) and those things that fit so well in the real world we live in.
Anyway, there cannot be such a thing as a faithful DB movie. The original manga tells the story of an alien kid with a tail that becomes a huge monkey when full moon shines,rides a cloud and waves a stick that can become longer or shorter at command, is taught martial arts by an old man, has a friend with no nose, a friend who is afraid of women, a flying blue shape-shifting ¿cat?, a talking pig, and has to find 7 dragon balls to summon a dragon that will grant him one wish. I have to remind you geeks around the world who hate this movie, that the talking pig asks the dragon for some knickers, and oh my,the dragon gives him those knickers.
Now imagine this on a cinema screen with real people. OH MY GOD it cannot be made, leave my childhood alone. Cluck you. Cinema is a business that can and does earn MILLIONS of dollars basing the scripts of their movies on things that already exist, whether these things are anime, manga, TV series, books, short stories, other movies. So if there can be a DB movie, there will be a DB movie.
They had to change things from the original, of course they had, everything would have looked plain stupid otherwise.
Gokuh is on HighSchool as his son was in high school in DBZ (right before the BuBu saga). And he is older because if you don't have a GOOD script(and I am thinking about AI, by Steven Spielberg) and the main character is a kid, your movie will be FOR kids. Who the cluck wants to see a kid doing stuff anyway?
I have seen all the videos that there are around on the internet, and of course, people complain about action and humor and acting and everything, without regarding the original source, which was and is full of slapstick humor, and they complain about this very fact, arguing that if they change something, they should change it for good, this is, if they try to give it a more familiar and "adult" look, they should completely reject humor parts.
I will make a FULL review WHEN I SEE THE MOVIE, I don't have my expectations high because I know EXACTLY what I am going to see, that is, a good dose of action, kicks, energy balls and entertainment. Yes, entertainment. Because entertainment is what the movies are for.
And to finish, I have to say I grew up watching Dragon Ball and DBZ, and I was a really big fan, but hey, I grew out of it. I didn't like at all the first DB, I preferred DBZ much much better. And for those people that say that the final confrontation in the movie should be like the one between Neo and Agent Smith on MAtrix Revolutions...I simply have to say that in the Manga Gokuh cannot fly YET, mostly because he has not trained enough (why would he move around on a cloud if he could fly?). And I don't think that in the introduction movie of a saga (oh yes, I do hope they do more, usually sequels of "hero" movies are better than the first installments, suck on that) the main character will learn how to pull Kame Hame's, fly and fight, since all these three things are supposed to take a little training.
The Office: Stress Relief (2009)
Stress Relief
Oh, man.
I saw the first four season of the office in about three weeks, just to catch up with the fifth season.
And this is BY FAR the best episode of the office i have had the pleasure to see.
EVERYTHING for this episode is worth mentioning. The crazy beginning, which got me cracked up with Angela's effort to have her cat saved, the Hannibal Lecter CPR moment, the Lily movie, Andy crying, Pam and her parents, Michael feeding pigeons.
It all adds up to the climax, Michael trying to offend Stanley and Stanley laughing.
It just made me realize that Michael Scott is like a grown up child in a playground. A playground called Dunder Mifflin.