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Reviews
Spider-Man (2002)
A cartoon springs to life
Simply probably the best comic book hero movie made, translating to the screen much better than the earlier Superman or Batman epics. The acting is top-notch, the story line is fun and well-paced, and the computer graphics are excellent. What probably makes this so much better than the others, however, is the human qualities and frailties and doubts built into old Spidey -- his trademark. It brings him to life and makes him seem much less comic-bookish than other such heroes. It is indeed a three-dimensional character, rather than one- or two-dimensional. This one is just plain fun, guilty pleasure, with the bonus of being superbly written, acted and directed as well. May the sequels, when they arrive, live up to the standard set here!
Titanic (1997)
standard hollywood tug-at-the-heart-string fare
Overwrought all the way through. Nicely shot, not too bad for acting, but predictable, over-the-top sentimentality kills what could still have been a great plot with suspense and surprise. Instead it's so predictable as to be boring. The effects are good at the end, but they're hardly worth sitting through the rest of it to get there. Borrow somebody's DVD and skip to the sinking, then find a good flick on the tube!
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
One of Spielberg's best
It may not be as obvious today as when the movie was made, but ET remains one of the very few alien movies in which the alien is not a threat to humanity. What a novel idea! And what a wonderful way to explore human themes, including the paranoia that if aliens do exist, then they must surely mean us some harm or otherwise be harmful. But it goes far deeper than that, commenting on lost innocence of adults and the need at times to perhaps rely more on the approach of the innocent, approaching the new with wide eyes but without fear or preconceptions. But, hey, never mind all the heavy stuff, ET is just plain a good, fun, funny story, a romp with a tremendous imagination and great acting and directing. And if you're looking to buy it, get the updated version. . . It's actually better than the original, Spielberg having included a couple more scenes left out of the original which improve the continuity, and subtle but effective updating of ET's facial expressions, thanks to more modern computer graphic capabilities. It's a rare instance in which the revised version after the fact is a big improvement rather than a detriment.
Airport (1970)
Too contrived to be fun
Airport was contrived and poorly executed even for the 1970s, but today in 2003 it looks so creaky and is so horribly acted (over-acted) with such stupid dialogue that it is hard to believe anyone saw anything in it. The special effects are so bad, again even by 1970s standards, as to be laughable. The plot is thinner than watered beer three times over. The outcome can be seen before the plane takes off, and the film shows no understanding of the words "suspense" or "terror" or "riveting" or even "exciting". You'd be better off reading a book.
Jigsaw (1968)
dated, with as much life as a limp handshake
I doubt Jigsaw was hip even at the time, the whole LSD theme married to a murder mystery being a patently obvious attempt to grab a young audience of the era without in the least truly showing any understanding of the sixties counterculture. The dated aspect aside, Jigsaw suffers from many problems, including overwrought acting, silly and stilted dialogue, LSD flashbacks that go on interminably long even after the point has been hammered home in the first 60 seconds, a failure to create any true suspense even though the actual plot is, on paper, a great vehicle to do just that, and an ending that is so trite and predictable (not to mention reminiscent of a lot of bad television shows) that the climax is actually an anti-climax. If it was a better movie, we might be able to suspend disbelief on a few things where it would help enjoyment, but the weaknesses are so glaring they only serve to highlight the improbabilities viewers might otherwise overlook. I saw Jigsaw on television and it is definitely late night TV fare meant to fill airspace and pass the time to kill somebody's insomnia rather than anything anybody ought to actively seek out. At very best, a three out of 10.