joekerr Reviews

Bon Cop Bad Cop (2006)

Bon film, could be better

[7/10 · 11 August 2006]

I really enjoy the police/action/comedy genre. Bon cop/ Bad cop wants to be a Canadian version of the American "Lethal Weapon", "Die hard" & "Beverly Hills cop". And to a certain degree it succeeds. The makers of this films manage to entertain us with shaper witty lines. The characters are interesting and compelling. The dialogues are hilarious. Action sequences, while fewer and lower budgeted are quite thrilling form the most part. Huard & Feore are just as entertaining to watch as Gibson & Glover (lethal weapon)

Wha doesn't work in this film? The plot. It seems to me that the writers knew police work from what they saw in the lethal weapons films. The villain is boring and silly.

is it a good film, to some degree yes. Should you see it? Definitively! While it has many faults. It's still an entertaining picture.

Since it looks like there will be a sequel. I hope that they either get better writers or at least develop a better plot/villain to foil Bouchard and Ward!

Æon Flux (2005)

Enough...

[4/10 · 3 December 2005]

Aeon Flux tells the story of a woman's struggle to murder the president of a "Perfect" society 400 years in the future. The technology, the designs and the look are pretty creative, the visual effects are splendid. But the film itself is a mess. The plot is confusing and never clearly explained. The screenwriters were lazy. The acting is sincere tough, you can't blame this films creative failure on Chalize Theron. I haven't seen the cartoon series and have no interest to do so. Aeon Flux Is a bad film. It's a proved fact that action heroines aren't successful at the box-office. Especially when they are this unrelatable. Aeon feels hollow. It barely has an heart. It's a B-movie with A-list actors and big Hollywood dollars behind it. Wait for it on video.

The Rocket (2005)

The Man behind the legend.

[8/10 · 28 November 2005]

Maurice Richard is a very good film about one of the most important Canadian athletes ever. The film addresses many issues concerning the famous Montreal riot, following a major penalty given to Richard just a few days before the beginning of the play-offs, and the "revolution tranquille" ignitor.

But this splendid film relates the story of an underdog player. His rise to hero and finally to that of a legend. It feels somewhat epic. The challenges Maurice faces are easy to relate to. You truly feel his angst has he's pushed around, beaten and bloodied. But still manages to overcome these problems and eventually becomes a symbol for every underdog who has ever dreamt of reaching the unreachable.

Maurice Richard isn't just a good quebecois film. It's simply a good film. Worth seeing.

The Legend of Zorro (2005)

A tarnished legend...

[1/10 · 2 November 2005]

I first saw "The mask of Zorro" on VHS in 1998. I missed it on it's initial theatrical run. And loved it. I am probably not the only person who loved that film. What I loved about that film is it,s similitude with batman (zorro was a major influence as most Batfans know) But as good as it was. The film ends with Don Diego De la Vega dying and Alejandro Murietta/ Alejandro Del Castillo/ Alejandro De la Vega (in the new film) becoming a husband and a father as the Legend of Zorro continues.

One of the problem I have with the first film is hero (Diego De la Vega) even if he has a successor is not a very good way to start a film franchise (as it was probably hoped for) If the film had been a final sequel to a film series or a stand-alone film. It would have been great. A man dies, but his legend lives on. The film had an epic quality.

The Legend of Zorro is a badly tought sequel to a still born franchise. the raw harshness of the first film. The brutal (but not gratuitous) deaths and the epic quality of the first film are removed and replaced with a Spy kids-style family film antics.

Zorro should never have had a family. In Zorro's first written story, he gives up his double life when he removes his mask. Suc actions raise some questions of moral and responsibility. But the main problem I have with Zorro having a family is that, let's face it. Super-heroes are adults playing kids. They are free of responsibility (when in costume) and can do whatever they want. Once they let someone in. They are in a way castrated and lose that element of fantasy. Since that person who they reveal themselves to, will likely judge and confront the hero.

In the first film Zorro fought against an oppressive regime. hated by the government loved by the people. A lot of synergy comes from that relationship. The legend of Zorro now enters the Batman&Robin realm. Zorro makes public appearances, kisses babies and shakes hands. He is loved by everyone except criminals who are no match for the local authorities. The reason for such a tonal shift. the film takes place around the time when California joins the united states of America. (I'm not even sure if the year is right) Gone are the oppressor of the past. Now Zorro is more like Batman than political activist. A change that damages the film and the character.

The first true action sequences of the first film begins with Zorro saving some men from execution by whipping the gunmen's weapons on their immediate superior. The sequel starts with a cartoonish sequence (Zorro & his son do a lot of back flips) where Zorro tries to recapture the voting ballots for California's addition to the USA. Zorro's horse becomes a real life Jolly Jumper ( France's comic book cowboy, Lucky Luke's horse/side-kick) He smokes the pipe and gets big cartoonish eyes at one point in the film.

One of the major differences between Zorro & Batman are the villains they face. While Zorro always battles the corrupt governor and his cohorts. Batman has a rich rogues gallery. Since all of the bad governor's are dead in the sequel. they created new villains. The main one is a corrupt count who is part of a secret society who is planning to destroy America (with soap, someone watched Fight Club before writing this) His side-kicks are a Bald-headed servant (AKA Oddjobb wannabe) and a wooden-teethed Mercenary/Religious freak (He is no Jaws) These guys are pretty tame and lack the personal hatred that the audience and the main characters felt for the first films bad guys.

The Legend Of Zorro is the equivalent of Batman & Robin. it's not as bad. But it has the same impact/feel. The film castrates the main character with odd modern day problems (Did I mention that Zorro divorces his wife and has an uneasy relationship with his son because of his work) The edginess and rawness of the first film is gone. And quite frankly, this is not a very good film. Because you can't have a sequel to a grande finale.

I don't think we'll see a Zorro 3 anytime soon. I wished they had written the first film like a year-one/batman begins with Antonio Banderas cast as Diego De la Vega. Hopefully they'll leave Our masked hero alone for a few years and bring him back without any useless baggage. And not as a family film, please! And Bring Back Don Diego De La Vega!