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davidwwalsh
Reviews
Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Typically Lacklustre Sequel
Damn, I had high hopes for this one. After X2 did so well last year - I was sure Spiderman would follow suit. They managed to keep the director and the cast - what could go wrong? In two words.... the dialogue. It could be compared to Brotehr Bear on its style. It a typically overly-sentimental, moralistic style of dialogue, that achieves only, the comlpete loss of beleivability in the movie. Especially bad are any scenes involving Aunt May. However, even the scene with Peter in the kitchen of (pre-accident) Doc Ock, with the aformentioned Doc's wife - are fairly trite. I understand they were trying to get across that they really loved each other - but did the Doc have to launch into a pseudo-philisophical spiel about love. Ditto the doctor (MD) later in the movie examining Peter (if you've seen it you know what i'm talking about). On the up side - some of the action scenes were very good - overall 5/10
Birthday Girl (2001)
banal
I can't quite decide which is worse - the script or the directing.
We're slowly introduced to John (Chaplin), a mild mannered (the mildest EVER) bank clerk looking for a mail order bride from a russian website. It's a slow, dull start to the movie that I was hoping was just setting the scene for some interesting viewing. However, Butterworth decided to maintain this tempo for the entire movie. Low tempo can be great if you have the material and sufficiently powerful acting (Lost In Translation for example), this is turgid, the actors are cardboard at best. At times we are introduced to plot points (John's ex for example) that disappear without trace quicker than they appeared. I really feel I'm wasting my breath reviewing this terrible movie - it doesn't deserve analysis. Last word - script = first draft, director = unable to get moderately good performance from a decent cast.
The Passion of the Christ (2004)
at times boring, at times hard to watch
Extreme violence has never bothered me before, it would never turn me off a movie, in fact sometimes it might have the opposite effect. The Passion Of The Christ, however, presents an unrelenting two hours (or so) of torture. I would equate it with the rape scene from Irreversible - it was at time very hard to watch. As a reilgious message, I have no doubt that this movie could be regarded as accurate. As a movie I find it mediocre. The acting is tepid, the story is slow - it really never sucked me in as a good movie should, it actually felt like an educational movie where the point was the information, not the entertainment value or artistic merit. Redeeming features are few and far between, some of the flashbacks like when jesus was a carpenter and was playing with Mary were good, and showed perhaps a better movie that could have been made that didn't focus solely on a man being beaten to death.
The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
Cool!
Went to see this movie expecting the worst. Reloaded was a bit of a let down, partly because of the enormous hype, partly because of over-use of over-the-top action sequences. But what I was greeted with was a thoroughly enjoyable action-sci-fi movie. There was definetly much more of a wow factor this time. The story was compelling and moved along at a good pace. It reminds me of the Star Wars Trilogy - I thought The Empire Strikes Back was a bit long and boring compared to the other two as well.
On the negative side - some of the dialogue is a little hammy - but then again it always kinda was.
****potential spoilers************ ****turn back now*****************
Up until the end sequence with the Agents Smith I thought It could have been a classic - the Zion scenes were awesome - especially the APU fights. After that it fell a little flat in my opinion. It returned to more of the same big fights - that we've seen before.
Overall though - 4/5! Worth your/our/my money.
Intolerable Cruelty (2003)
Funniest film I've seen in a good while
I really can't understand the zeal at which people seem to be queuing-up to slate this movie. I thought it was hilarious. The Coen bros have always been masters of off the wall comedy - it is slightly different in form here - but equally if not more effective. George Clooney is brilliant. CZJ performs well. Although Rush is only in it briefly I almost wet myself while he was on screen (at the start taking the photos).
I think it's well worth the watch.
Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain (2001)
Bland and overrated
Not a bad movie, but I found it somewhat uninspiring and trivial. Sure you could watch worse movies, but it certainly doesn't merit the hype associated with it. Perhaps it's an accessible foreign-film for the masses - trivial enough to fit seamlessly alongside the generic hollywood nonsense.
Not bad - not great 6/10.