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Reviews
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (1996)
Absolutely hilarious
This is an incredibly funny movie. Well, to be honest, the scenes outside of "This Island Earth" itself are fairly forced and unfunny, but when the cast is actually commenting on the film itself I could not stop laughing. The minds behind this film are very sharp. It's worth staying for the film's own credits, too.
Addams Family Values (1993)
Just as good as the first
The cast of "The Addams Family" returns for another excellent film, one that pairs brilliantly with its predecessor. Though the story itself isn't all that brilliant, neither this film nor the first ever relied on the story so much as the performances, and once again the Addams family and those around them are brilliant. Raul Julia and Christina Ricci again steal the show, as does Joan Cusack as Uncle Fester's scheming wife. In fact, everyone turns in an excellent performance - and watch especially for Mercedes McNab as Amanda, reprising her role (then a Girl Scout, now fleshed out as the rich brat) from the first film - this is the young girl who grew up to be Harmony on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." So she's not a victim *all* her life.
The Addams Family (1991)
Excellent
There are four elements that truly make this film and its sequel, "Addams Family Values." The first is the gorgeous set - the Addams mansion is splendidly Gothic and full of dark atmosphere. The second is Raul Julia in the role of Gomez Addams - his manic intensity and dashing good looks make the role live without treading at all on Charles Astin's interpretation from the black-and-white television show. The third is the lovely and talented Christina Ricci - her deadpan and deadly Wednesday Addams is a joy to behold, and it's the role I think that best gives a clue to the way her work as a child actor would evolve as she grew older. The fourth is the rest of the cast, particularly Christopher Lloyd as Uncle Fester and the gorgeous Anjelica Huston as Morticia. The entire film really is a triumph, best watched in conjunction with the sequel.
Alien Resurrection (1997)
Tied for second-best
This is the fourth film in the Alien series and, for my money, tied with "Alien 3" as second-best of the lot, coming behind only the original "Alien" in quality. I'm aware that it's an unpopular opinion, but I definitely think that, while "Aliens" is a damn good action movie, it is a fairly ordinary science fiction movie, and the Alien series is first and foremost about science fiction.
The plot of this movie is simple. Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) died at the end of "Alien 3," and now, two hundred years later, the United Systems Military has cloned her and the alien queen inside her. Their genes have become mixed a bit in the cloning process, though, so while Ripley is now something a little more than human, the Queen has her own unique surprises in store.
This is an absolutely beautiful film, and Jean-Pierre Jeunet's direction is wonderful. The look of this film - both the sets and the aliens themselves, except for one - is fantastic. The actors are definitely competent, though Weaver, Winona Ryder (Call), Michael Wincott (Elgyn) and Brad Dourif (Gediman) stand out from the crowd. I must admit that I'm yet to be wholly disappointed by either Ryder or Dourif, and they don't even come close in this film.
There *are,* however, problems here, or rather *a* problem. The last alien that Ripley must deal with, the nature of which I won't reveal, is a particularly uninspired piece of design. It's easy to see what Jeunet was trying to achieve with its look, but it comes off as tacky and, frankly, ridiculous. It's sad how such a potentially great film can have such a clear point at which it declines.
Still, the failures of the last ten minutes aside, this is still a film well worth seeing. A particular highlight is the scene underwater; watch for the differences between the way Ripley moves and the other characters do, and see if you can pick up on exactly what she moves like.
Batman Forever (1995)
Wasted potential
This movie could have been good. The script is of a fair standard; it utilises two traditional foes of the Batman, Two-Face and the Riddler, with a lot of dark potential between them; and its stars are actually quite competent actors in their own ways.
But, no, Warner Brothers executives were apparently unhappy with the dark, adult direction that Tim Burton took the franchise as director of "Batman" and "Batman Returns." So, rather than continue with a style reminiscent of the way the Batman was always meant to be, we have Joel Schumacher's hideous attempt at an homage to the camp Sixties television series.
The one saving grace of this movie is that Schumacher apparently didn't feel confident enough to completely depart from the dark vision that Burton established. Thus, although there are definite overtones of jokey campness, the baseline for the film remains dark.
Performances are adequate. There isn't anyone who gives a stellar performance, but they are all talented enough to turn in a decent job without really trying. It's enough to say that Val Kilmer as the Batman and Bruce Wayne is good here, but could have been awesome under Tim Burton, had WB insisted that Michael Keaton be replaced. Kilmer is an actor who needs discipline; Schumacher can't give it to him.
Similarly, Tommy Lee Jones (Harvey Dent, Two-Face) does very well, but not as well as he might have. About the only one whose performance might not have been improved under Burton is Jim Carrey (Edward Nygma, the Riddler), but then Carrey is pretty much a force unto himself in this kind of role.
I actually think this film is worth seeing, if only to see exactly how the franchise began its decline and produced the abomination that is "Batman and Robin." Watch, and think of what might have been.
Fortress (1992)
Oh, this is a poor film
Make no mistake: "Fortress" is a bad movie. I don't know what it is about Christopher Lambert, really; perhaps the only movie he's ever made that's truly worth watching is "Highlander," and even so it's no work of art. Apparently he's no better as a French-language actor, either, so it's clearly not a cultural-barrier thing.
In any case, he plays John Brennick, a retired Black Beret in a future where overpopulation enforces a one-child-per-woman policy. He and his wife had that one child, but it died at birth; when she gets pregnant again, they decide to flee to Mexico. The irony of people trying to get to Mexico to start a better life is about the smartest element of the entire movie.
They're caught, and sent to prison in the Fortress, a huge underground complex where inmates are fitted with "intestinators," small devices forced into the gastrointestinal system which create pain as a method of discipline, and serve as targeting beacons for the sentry guns of the complex.
Naturally, Brennick wants out. So in a long and drawn-out plot that brings in homosexual rape, cybernetic enhancement, thought and dream control, and cloning, he does so. No big surprise. It's shoddily written and the performances leave much to be desired. Just about every cheap time-filler that you can think of is utilised, including what may be the most hackneyed device ever - the *very* shortsighted electronics genius vital to the success of the escape loses his glasses not one but *twice.*
See it if only to justify watching the sequel, which can only be worse.
Alien (1979)
Brilliant
One can not approach this film looking for mindless entertainment. I'm not claiming that it is thought-provoking or of great worth as profound social commentary, but what "Alien" *is* is a science-fiction thriller that demands your full attention and involvement.
There is almost nothing to criticise about this film. The actors are excellent, especially Sigourney Weaver (Ellen Ripley), Ian Holm (Ash), and Yaphet Kotto (Parker). The plot is tightly-written and extremely suspenseful, with more than enough surprises to pick things up when the pace slackens.
Speaking of pace, this *is* a slow film, but this is not to its detriment. It actually serves to heighten the tension - a particular highlight would be the final scene inside the shuttle.
See this film. Now. I'm not kidding.
House on Haunted Hill (1999)
Good until the end.
This film is perhaps an example of exactly how even the most promising premise and execution can be let down by the current mania for the latest technology. I am not one to deride the latest release as "Hollywood rubbish," but in this case what ought to have been a classic example of American Gothic filmmaking is ultimately ruined by the use of cheesy CGI technology - when in fact it was completely unnecessary.
The basic premise of the film concerns the birthday party of one Evelyn Stockard Price, estranged wife of horror-theme-park maestro Stephen Price (named in honour of Vincent Price, who starred in the original film). Price invites five people "so hungry for money they'll do anything" to the recently-restored Vannacutt Institute for the Criminally Insane, an asylum that was destroyed in 1931 in a fire which killed the inmates and all but five of the staff.
The trouble is, the people who show up are *not* the ones Price invited, although the real reason for their being there is revealed later. Nevertheless, the Prices continue with the party - at least until an old lockdown mechanism from the asylum traps them inside for the night.
This film is gorgeously photographed. The eerie visuals in the unrestored basement level provide some real chills on first viewing, and brilliant use is made of flash-and-it's-gone imagery at exactly the right moments. Highlights include the view through a camcorder which is *very* different from what the naked eye can see, and the scene in a "saturation tank."
Everyone does very well with their roles, but Geoffrey Rush (Stephen Price), Famke Janssen (Evelyn Price), and Chris Kattan (Watson Pritchett) shine. Kattan provides one of the best lines in the film shortly after the lockdown.
Unfortunately, the film begins to lose direction as it explores the twisted nature of the Prices' relationship towards the end, and the sudden return of the supernatural element is spoiled by its pathetic computer-generated nature. Truly, the directorial choices in the last fifteen minutes of the film leave a lot to be desired - some really good ideas are used as mere throwaways (such as the appearance of Vannacutt himself on a closed-circuit monitor) when they should have been utilised as part of the main story.
If you can stomach the awful climax, stick around until the end of the credits. It's well worth it, and almost redeems the film. It *is* a film worth seeing, but prepare to be disappointed in the knowledge of how good this *could* have been.
Batman Returns (1992)
A close second-best
This film is where the Batman franchise ought to have stopped. Though I will concede that the ideas behind "Batman Forever" were excellent and could have been easily realised by a competent director, as it turned out this was not to be the case.
Apparently Warner Brothers executives were disappointed with how dark this second Batman film from Tim Burton turned out. Apart from the idiocy of expecting anything else from Burton, and the conservative cowardice of their subsequent decision to turn the franchise into an homage to the Sixties TV series, I fail to understand how "Batman Returns" can be considered at all disappointing.
True, it is not quite the equal of the first film - though it repairs all the minor deficiencies of style found in "Batman," a weaker script that splits the antagonism between not just two but three characters invites unflattering comparisons to the masterful pairing of Keaton and Jack Nicholson as the Joker in the first film. Yet for all this it remains a gorgeously dark film, true to the way the Batman was always meant to be, and highly satisfying.
Michael Keaton returns as the Batman and his alter ego Bruce Wayne, tangling with nouveau riche tycoon Max Schreck (Christopher Walken, named in honour of the 1920s German silent actor), his partner-in-crime Oswald Cobblepot, the Penguin (Danny DeVito in brilliant makeup reminiscent of Laurence Olivier's "Richard III"), and Selina Kyle, the Catwoman (Michelle Pfeiffer), whom Wayne romances both as himself and as the Batman. The four principals turn in excellent performances, especially Walken and DeVito, while together Keaton and Pfeiffer explore the darker side of double identities.
There are some intriguing concepts in this film. About the only weakness I can really point out is a certain limpness to the script in some places, which I think is due mostly to the way this film is a four-cornered fight. There simply isn't enough time to properly explore what's going on.
Nevertheless, this is a damn good film. I highly recommend watching this in conjunction with the first, and then weeping for how good the series could have been had it continued under Burton and Keaton.
Batman (1989)
Excellent and definitive
I feel that no matter how many "Batman" films are made, nor how many directors take the helm of the franchise, it will never be possible to disregard this first film.
Tim Burton - who I will admit is one of my all-time favourite directors - makes some bold choices and manages to create a great film. The first of these is casting Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne and the Batman. Not only an older man, but also not exactly action-hero material; you know from the outset that this is not going to be either a big-budget effects film nor a mindless return to the Sixties television series, which was fun but hardly worthwhile.
The second is the darkness Burton brings to the screen. Though he was to go on and make an even darker film with his sequel, "Batman Returns," both his vision here of Gotham City and of the Batman's perennial arch-nemesis, the Joker, are dark enough to really make this film a return to the way the Batman used to be. The Joker is funny, yes, as he ought to be, but he is also menacing. The scene where he confronts Boss Grissom is masterful.
The only negative comments I have about the film relate to the time when it came out. Using Prince music was rather misguided, though one can hardly blame Burton - directors aren't supposed to be clairvoyant when it comes to musical taste. Kim Basinger turns in an excellent performance as Vicki Vale, but her costumes leave a lot to be desired - again, a problem because of the film's 1989 release. These only stand out because the film is otherwise so classic and stylish. I can't help feeling that some 1940s costuming and music would have suited better.
Still and all, this is the definitive Batman film, the one to which all succeeding incarnations of the Batman must be compared. See it again.
Alien³ (1992)
Well worth seeing.
This film is, in my opinion (which I freely admit is unpopular), tied for second-best of the Alien films. The original is unquestionably the finest; "Aliens" is a good action flick but fails to capture anything of the mood of the original; "Alien: Resurrection" ties with "Alien 3" for second-best on sheer strength of mood, style, and premise.
My favourite element of "Alien 3" is not even connected to the creature itself. The society on Fury 161 is brilliantly conceived, and Fincher's directing - this *is* the man who went on to make "Se7en," after all - brings it to gritty life. Ripley's reaction to this society of devoutly religious thugs begins in earnest the hardening process that begins in "Aliens," and gives her perhaps the strength to make the decision she must at the film's end.
Kudos to the clever way in which Lance Henriksen reappears. Disappointing was the hackneyed way in which the alien was finally destroyed. All the cast members - like the original, mostly British character actors such as Pete Postlethwaite - did very well with their roles. Well worth seeing.
The Puppet Masters (1994)
Disappointing version of a fantastic book
This was a decent film. The book was far better.
If the book had been made into a three-hour film, it would have been excellent. They would have had time to do things right. As it is, they compact a wide-ranging tale set in the future into a dodgy action flick in the present day.
Do yourself a favour - read the book.
Donald Sutherland is too cool, though.