Change Your Image
alexander-ivanchev
Reviews
Unsane (2018)
Good movie
Plot is a a bit banal and naive, but otherwise the movie was quite enjoyable and the suspense was there. Great performances all around and some original director decisions and shooting approaches. Enjoyable.
Elysium (2013)
Disappointing
Damon's, Foster's and Copley's acting is on the level, but this movie is so weak in terms of concept and plot that I seriously regretted spending money seeing it. Dystopias work well when they work, but one has to spend at least 10 minutes of thinking and at least try aiming for justification and creating something the viewer can easily immerse in. The movie does very poorly in this regard and though Elysium is probably the best Mass Effect Citadel station rip off I have seen in cinema you cannot build belief on the basis of 10 mins of sloppy presentation and CGI alone.
Copley's character is quite, quite fresh and as I said Damon and Foster do well, but that's it. I honestly didn't believe I'd say a weaker sci-fi movie since I saw Total Recall (redux), but there we go...
Would recommend seeing on blu-ray at $5 on a rainy night but don't keep your expectations high.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
A great ride, but not without flaws
It's the Hobbit and it's Peter Jackson! I can't say I'm one of the 'great fans' of Tolkien, but I did enjoy LOTR and have good childhood memories of the Hobbit. So here goes. The movie is 1/3, close to 3 hours of cinematic time and in many ways feels very similar to LOTR in terms of scenery, style and overall ambiance. Great cast, great performance and a good ride. From what I remember and what I'm told it also quite closely follows the canon of the book with a few exceptions here and there. Without any spoilers, I think it's a good ride even if you haven't seen LOTR or are a fan of Tolkien. Just be prepared for a bit of a slow opening.
On the negative side - my two major gripes are the CGI and that fact the film feels pretty dumbed-down, probably targeting the 13-18 demographic. Sure, CGI is part of life, especially when we talk about a fantasy title, but too much is sometimes, well, too much. I have no problem with the unnatural color saturation, heavy use of HDR and the like but there are some scenes which look just unrealistic (fall scenes primarily). Secondly, modern references such as wizards smoking too many mushrooms and a hint at Gandalf's proverbial lack of spell casting skills may provoke a smile or two but are not to the movie's benefit. Falling great distances without any injuries, etc. also works only as long as you're 16 and have pop corn left... In essence I'd say LOTR was a much more credible movie.
So there - 9/10 from me. I'd say I enjoyed it and can whole-heartedly recommend it.
Total Recall (2012)
An OK, but banal sci-fi derivative
I saw the original when it came out and as someone else has said before - you don't really appreciate Arnold until you see Total Recall without Arnold ;-) This version clearly has very little to do with the original though. That's fine with me, though I understand most people who had seen the original would not be as forgiving. To be fair there are quite a few nods to the original - both explicit and not so obvious, but similarities end there. This one takes quite a liberal approach and the story is completely different. When I say different, unfortunately it's less engaging than the original's. That's the biggest sin of this movie - despite all the great CGI (which take about 50% of the screen time) the A actors, and the original's premise, this movie fails to deliver in the creative department big time. It recycles and recycles without shame - to that the robots look like Star Wars stormtroopers and the transport thing looks quite liberally taken from the Core or whatever the name was. You can say you've wasted money seeing a movie on the big screen when you start yawning after 1 hour...
Anyway, as for acting - Farrell does OK, but fails to establish a believable character, Kate Beckinsale is an utter failure (sorry to have to say that) with her 'acting' apparently based solely on ridiculous grimaces on the level of, say, Evangeline Lilly. My wife asked why did the director let her get away with all this and looking at the credits I now know the answer ;-). Jessica Biel does very well, especially given her limited track record. Oh, Bryan Cranston I also hard to stomach as the uber-villain - especially if you've seen him in Malcolm.
To summarise - a good derivative sci-fi movie to rent on a Blu-Ray with lots of action and good CGI to keep you entertained on a rainy evening. Mediocre, but still OK.
Prometheus (2012)
Probably OK... on a DVD
I must see the movie was a let down. Let's ignore the big names behind it - it starts great, it starts with promise. Up to the moment the first casualties start happening. From that moment on the movie becomes an incredible bundle of illogical, senseless and outright grotesque clichés. Probably OK if you're stoned and watch the movie on cruise control, but don't you dare ask questions such as 'why is this robot trying to kill them'? What the (hilarious) abortion scene really necessary? What higher purpose did it serve? Why is the good doctor hoping she'll get any answers to her questions on the aliens' home world given past experiences? And of course, hey, let's save Earth and crash the evil alien ship while cracking jokes - this never gets old, does it? That and the obvious tools in the box - let's introduce this life pod and medical chair just in case someone needs to be spoon-fed as to their later purpose as key plot elements. Seriously. One would expect this kind of arrogant approach to the viewer from Uwe Ball, not Ridley Scott. Cast did OK with some exceptions of exceptionally poor performance which should have been re-shot, period.
Okay, let's end the rant here and try to find the good... hmmm... the movie's idea is fresh it starts well and I love Charlize Theron, she's just gorgeous. OK, I sidetrack. It's a good sci- fi/horror survival movie, but nothing special - I certainly enjoyed Event Horizon way more. A good rental, but not something I'd recommend seeing on the big screen. Unless you're okay with just going forward with the flow, clichéd as it might be.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
Utter failure
2011 is probably the year of the worst movies made ever. That said, in my personal ranking the Rise of the Planet of the Apes is hands down the worst one of the bunch. There is no real plot, the story is naive to heck and back. It's basically a patchwork of familiar themes which goes like that: Evil (greedy) corporation experiments on apes seeking profit, great noble doctor trying to find cure for Alzheimer to save his father, ape gets smarter, ape gets angry, ape unites the apes, steal serum and makes them smarter, apes beat the (censored) out of the SFPD and find freedom. Oh, and there's this evil ape which you'd think would confront the good ape, but at around 2/3 of the movie producer decides that they should leave room for a sequel (God forbid!) and the last vestiges of a plot wither and die. Oh, did I mention the hot chick which has no role or purpose? Check.
The good, some good CGI on the apes (to balance things out the forest scenes are shot on a SDTV cam), and there are a lot of emotional ape cries/ape loves/ape hugs scenes a la 'awww, how cute'. That would appeal to the young female audience I am sure.
So to conclude, if you thought the Planet of the Apes was a bad movie (I did), this one hit rock bottom and started digging. i still cannot stomach the current IMDb rating, but hey, vox populi rules the box office. You've been warned.