Reviews

I read Lindsay's excellent books - Darkly Dreaming Dexter and Dearly Devoted Dexter - some time ago, and when I heard that there was to be a series based on the books, I was extremely excited. So much so, in fact, that I feared disappointment merely because my standards were so high.

Thankfully, "Dexter" absolutely delivers. The show maintains the uncomfortable atmosphere of the novels with better fidelity than one could ever have expected, and Dexter (played by Hall) is all there.

The visual elements from the show are stunning, to say the least. Disturbing, certainly, but more than that - fascinating. Watching the show, it's impossible to keep from finding a certain agreement in oneself for Dexter. He's a monster, and yet it's completely possible to identify with him.

10 out of 10. This one has a permanent spot on my DVR.

If one were to look at this movie for only what's good about it, there are a lot of good things to say.

The cinematography is original, dramatic, and works incredibly well with the pace of the movie. The action is intense beyond description, though there are a few scenes that are so cliché they kind of hurt - car through mall, hanging from chopper, etc. The characters are interesting, and the performances are solid. Jason Statham, particularly, delivers a very decent performance from his limited material. I found myself really anxious to progress the plot as quickly as possible, which is impressive. The immersion factor occasionally gets pretty high.

The bad, though, is pretty bad. The plot is impenetrable and laughably invalid in medical terms. The characters are INCREDIBLY one-dimensional. The acting is occasionally atrocious. Many of the action scenes are cut in such a way that it's difficult to really discern the structure of the action - who is where and etc. Worst of all, there are some moments where the movie "tries too hard" and ends up just seeming desperate for attention.

Maybe this is a stylistic element that I don't "get", but sometimes images would appear on the screen with a "Copyright..." tag on them. Seriously? It was incredibly distracting, and made the whole thing seem a little last-minute.

Overall, it's a movie with a lot to offer... unfortunately, there's also a lot to overlook.

This movie is one of the best films I have seen in years. It comes across as an art film, certainly, but it never succumbs to that boring art-film feeling of trying too hard to be intelligent.

The lead characters are perfect, capturing the emotion of the time with an impressive, if understated, style. The female lead is a perfect natural beauty, and the male leads look and act young enough to feel very real. The movie is very earthy - possessed of a lack of shine and polish that makes it a wholly more satisfying experience than it could be with more sunshine and clean underwear.

By far the best aspect of this movie, though, is the feeling of purpose that comes through the story - you envy the characters their direction and idealism. This is a movie not so much about ideals as it is about idealism.