zedthedestroyer Reviews

Resident Evil (2002)

Surprisingly good

[18 March 2002]

It's a zombie flick loosely based on a video game. I had no other expectations other than to be entertained for an hour-and a-half. But the movie went far above my expectations. Yeah, there are similarities to "Aliens" and every other George Romero Dead flick, but it didn't detract from my basic enjoyment of the film. With the exception of one or two exposition scenes in the middle, the movie was non-stop. Milla and Michelle were great. And the Red Queen was a nice touch.

I can't believe how many people are nitpicking over the inconsistancies between the game and the movie. See it again and suspend your disbelief. I did and enjoyed it. And I own the first 2 games myself.

Manson (1973)

Good insight into the minds of stupid people.

[15 February 2002]

Disturbing and engrossing documentary about the Manson family as well as the murders they committed. The title's a bit misleading, as the bulk of the docu is about his brainwashed family and other people who crossed paths with him, although clips of interviews with the man himself appear here and there.

Highlights of the film have to be the interviews with Squeaky Fromme and friends where they proclaim Manson is Jesus reincarnated and present their own skewed philosophies on their way of life.

The One (2001)

"I am Yulaw! I am nobody's bitch!"

[29 November 2001]

`The One' is very predictable and uses almost every action movie cliché in the book. And I loved it.

Glen Morgan, James Wong, and Jet Li just wanted to make an action movie, that's all. They are guilty of that and nothing more. The action sequences were well done, the special effects were cool (love the transporter effect), and the use of parallel universes was interesting. And hey, Jet Li makes a really cool villain. (This movie also features the cat who usually jumps out from behind a piece of furniture and scares a jumpy cop and/or frightened teen-ager. That cat gets a lot of work…)

Gabriel Law's ending is pure 100% cornball au gratin, but the final fate of his evil twin more than makes up for it (It almost qualifies as a happy ending for that character).

Passage to Marseille (1944)

A Casablanca Rip-Off By Any Other name...

[2 November 2001]

Passage to Marseille remains an entertaining film despite the fact that it's riding on Casablanca's successful coat tails.

The movie has an odd flashback-within-a-flashback-within-a-flashback structure, and the acting is fine (although there's little chemistry between Bogie and Michele Morgan). The boat battle near the end is pretty good. Bogie's actions during the fight must have seemed particularly shocking at the time of the movie's release. With the French resistance theme as well as the presence of Bogie, Claude Raines, Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet, and even Helmut Dantine (Garou), who had a small part in Casablanca, it couldn't be anything other than a movie capitalizing on Casablanca's success. But it's a good movie, nonetheless.

K-9 and Company: A Girl's Best Friend (1981 TV Movie)

K9!...K9!...K9!...K9!...K9!...

[7 September 2001]

After wading through several ideas for Doctor Who's one `official' spin-off (including a UNIT series I believe), John Nathan-Turner decided to base a series on K9. After all, there were times when the metal dog had received more fan mail than Tom Baker.

In short, the pilot episode has an older and wiser Sarah Jane Smith returning to her home village. She finds a box that the Doctor sent her years ago containing K9 Mark 3. Being the nosy investigative journalist she is, Sarah Jane soon become involved in stopping the activities of a coven of witches. Thank goodness she has K9 and her geeky cousin Brendan helping her.

It doesn't look promising from the first second of the theme song (something I'm sure Nathan-Turner wrote during lunch one day), and the plot is not all that engaging. In fact, there are times it seems you're watching bits of some of the Earthbound Doctor Who episodes cobbled together. Perhaps because of these factors, K9 & Company didn't make it to Episode 2.

For completists only.

Planet of the Apes (2001)

Wanted to fling my feces at the screen

[7 September 2001]

Argh. There was a time when Tim Burton had a flair for the visually interesting. Remember Gotham City? Sleepy Hollow? The Afterlife waiting room in "Beetlejuice"? Not anymore. Here he had a chance to re-create a whole planet and my response was a huge yawn. The movie's not all that good either. It's not sure what it wants to be at times - a run-of-the-mill action flick (With cliched dialogue); a remake of the original; even an English bedroom farce (when Marky Mark & Friends escape they HAVE to run through the bedrooms of each important ape in the city, apparently). It also criminally mis-uses Michael Clarke Duncan and Tim Roth. In the end, the whole thing ends like an episode of "Sliders".

Doctor Who: Dimensions in Time (1993)

Incomprehensible...confusing...fun!

[31 August 2001]

Weird, fun, and a little embarrassing to watch at the same time. The first 3 minutes alone feature more scene-chewing than a normal Dr Who episode. In the first scene we see the evil Rani barking orders at her studly young assistant while clay heads of the late William Hartnell and the late Patrick Troughton spiral around her TARDIS console room. If that's not enough to make you think you have the DTs, we're then presented with a scene with Tom Baker's Doctor in Tetris-land kicking the OTT - meter up a notch.

I still enjoyed this story, though, even if it didn't make a lick of sense. It was cool seeing all those Doctors and companions stirred together in one big mix (Seeing the 3rd Doctor paired with Melanie and the 6th Doctor paired with Ace was bizarre). Jon Pertwee and Colin Baker in particular seemed the most enthusiastic to be involved in the project.

So, if you're a Doctor Who fan, try to find this story. It has an infamous reputation, but it's well worth at least one viewing.

Rush Hour 2 (2001)

Better than the first

[30 August 2001]

A lot of the previous comments for this movie had me chuckling. Some of the posters here seemed to think they were going in to see Masterpiece Theatre. As a fellow "Imdb plaudit" I enjoyed this movie for what it was - a Hollywood action movie with a paper-thin predictable plot featuring Chris Tucker and a slightly over-the-hill Jackie Chan. The two work well together, there's a great use of the locales, and a hilarious cameo from Jeremy Piven.

Sure, it's got it's negative points - they totally missed the boat in not having Jackie Chan/Zhang Ziyi fight - but the action sequences were great, and, for the first time, I actually found Chris Tucker funny.

Bring on Rush Hour 3.

Kiss of the Dragon (2001)

Not a good vehicle for Li...

[16 July 2001]

Jet Li is a fantastic fighter. But you wouldn't be able to tell from watching this film if you've never seen him before.

Forget the weak plot (The plot is supposed to be weak in a movie like this. It usually exists to bridge the action sequences, so I give it leeway.). The way most of the fight scenes are shot do not showcase Li, in fact they actually seem to showcase how frenetically hip the director is at shooting movies – `Hey look Ma! I shot a music video with Jet Li in it!' Cut the crazy camera angles, pull the camera back, shout `Action!' and just let Jet fight. It sounds overly simplistic, but that's how it should be done. The director seems to realize this in time for (most of) the last fight, but by then you'll wish you had rented `Fist of Legend' or even `Romeo Must Die' instead.

Baise-moi (2000)

Condom Wearers Beware!

[16 July 2001]

Motivations are important. It's not the end-all and be-all of the movie for me, but they have to be there. And they have to make some sort of sense. One character strangles her roommate because she nags her too much. Another character is raped by two men, and meekly takes it, but when her brother swears to avenge her, she shoots him in the head. Huh? These two women meet in the most poorly scripted and contrived scene in the movie and, shortly afterwards, begin a crime spree, which involves screwing and/or killing men (with the occasional female victim here and there). The sex scenes (hardcore though they were) were either boring, or got a few giggles from the group I was with. The violent scenes were poorly staged as well, with the immediate aftermath, not the actual ‘act of' usually being shown.

The `theme' of this movie: All Men are garbage…at least after you've had sex with them. I'm sorry, but `Base Moi' adds nothing significant to the Natural Born Killers On The Run genre except the French language.

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)

Sleeper Hit of '01

[16 July 2001]

Wow, a sci-fi movie with an interesting, original, pseudo-scientific plot. Don't see many of these anymore. It was able to balance all of that with some incredible action sequences. And the computer animation was incredible down to the last detail, whether it was depicting the fall of New York under a horde of spirits, or a character moving through a spacestation in zero gravity. Forget what the naysayers are saying about how `fake' the people look (It's called suspension of disbelief. The same people probably had no problem with the human characters in `Toy Story'.).

`Final Fantasy', along with `Memento', is probably the only movie I've seen this summer that hasn't disappointed.

Dragon Lord (1982)

Chan at his prime

[16 July 2001]

`Dragon Lord' is more of a comedy than a martial arts movie. There are a few action sequences in the movie - a strange ball tournament at the beginning, a scuffle between Jackie and his friend over a girl, an interesting shuttlecock game in the middle of the movie - but there are really only two fight sequences in the movie, both near the end. Despite this, the movie's great. It's never dull. There are some funny moments, and the final fight scene between Jackie and the baddie is awesome. Definitely worth seeing over `Shanghai Noon' or `Rush Hour'.

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)

Pleasantly Surprised

[2 July 2001]

Even though I'm a fan of anything the Coens do, I was initially reluctant to see this movie, because it was billed as a musical. And I'm not a fan of musicals at all. But I wound up being pleasantly surprised. The music doesn't overwhelm at all.

George Clooney really surprised me in this movie. The guy's got wonderful comic timing, as do his co-stars, John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson.

The Coens have got quite a knack for creating bizarre and quirky characters, and this movie's no exception. I think my favorite in this movie has to be George `Babyface' Nelson.

The only disappointment was the ending. It seemed a bit soggy. Pun intended.

The Big Boss (1971)

Enh.

[2 July 2001]

A little disappointing. Golden Harvest seemed almost tentative in letting Bruce flex his muscles in this, his first post-USA movie. Maybe the production team thought audience anticipation would build if more than half-an-hour passed before Lee's first bonafide fight scene, but it doesn't quite work. In fact it's real annoying. Bruce Lee is charismatic as ever and a great fighter, but the surface for his potential seems barely scratched in this movie.

For the new and uninitiated, try viewing any other of Bruce Lee's films (especially 'Enter the Dragon') before seeing this one.

A Better Tomorrow II (1987)

On-screen comic book

[28 June 2001]

I liked the sequel to "A Better Tomorrow" better than the original film. It's low on the pathos and emotional impact that the first film had, but the action sequences are much better.

One of the things that bothered me about "A Better Tomorrow" is how early in the film Mark Gor's fall from grace happened. We barely saw how kick-ass the character could be before he was crippled. But his conveniently-never-before-mentioned twin brother Ken is at full strength (and just as cool as his brother) throughout this sequel.

Some of the instances in this movie defy explanation - such as how Ken could pick the one day to walk past his local insane asylum in Manhattan and recognize an old friend from mainland China being restrained by orderlies; and just how invulnerable is Kenneth Tsang in that final shoot-out (the guy was shot to the ground, once at point-blank range, three times and still nonchalantly walked away!)? Aw, who cares...this movie is low on the ideas of brotherhood, loyalty, and honor that made the first movie special, but it's still an entertaining live comic book unfolding before your eyes. The final twenty minutes is worth the price of admission alone.

The Stranger: Summoned by Shadows (1991) Season 1, Episode 1

Alterna Who

[27 June 2001]

Interesting. Initially this comes across as something of a "sort of/what-if" story. What if the newly-regenerated Sixth Doctor decided to become a hermit instead of travelling through time and space? That being the case, this story begins a few months (or maybe years) after his regeneration, when a distraught Ms. Brown (an older Peri with an English accent) leaves the Stranger to his self-pitying contemplation. In the true fashion of a Doctor Who companion she immediately falls into some sort of trouble by coming across a surreal cocktail party hosted by an older debonair man (played by Michael "Davros" Wisher). Meanwhile, a young deaf mute's girlfriend is mesmerized and spirited away to a work party by an illusionist clown (also played by Wisher). After receiving no help from the town's elder (again Wisher - the guy's prolific), the mute seeks the Strangers help. The Stranger is initially deaf (no pun intended) to the young man's pleas, but eventually decides to help him.

The Doctor Who ties run even deeper when the Stranger and the young man are captured by the primary villain - the Controller, who looks suspiciously like the Master from "The Deadly Assassin". The Master's propensity for disguises is echoed in the fact that the illusionist, the town elder, and the party host are all aspects of the Controller.

I'm not knocking the Who-ish aspects of the story. In fact, I enjoyed them. The story was a simple run-around, but it was a treat to see Nicola Bryant and Colin Baker (proving once again what a great Doctor he could have been without the clownish clothes and outside interference).

Worth a look by Doctor Who fans, especially if they're fans of Colin Baker.

Doctor Who (1963–1989)

Greatest Series of All Time

[1 June 2001]

`Doctor Who', in a nutshell, is probably the most imaginative show ever created. Initially, it was about an eccentric time-traveller from another planet, who looked human and affected an English manner and style. The interior of his time machine (called a TARDIS) was huge and highly advanced, but the exterior quaintly resembled an English public call box. The Doctor was a self-imposed exile from a race of powerful beings called the Time Lords. The Time Lords observed history, but never interfered with it. This bored the almighty heck out of the Doctor, so he made off with an older TARDIS and decided to see the Universe for himself.

When the original actor who played the Doctor decided to leave the show, the writers came up with the inventive concept of `regeneration'. Whenever the Doctor was close to death, or actually killed, he would `regenerate' into a new body (and persona). The show went through seven highly talented actors in this fashion.

The format of the show was highly adaptable. Didn't like the way the show was going? Just wait two or three years. The style always seemed to change whenever there was a change of Doctor, producer and/or script editor. The series went from educational children's drama to monster show to intelligent adult sci-fi/drama to gothic horror to high camp, et cetera, et cetera, and so forth.

This was a wonderful, imaginative, fun show when it was on. I was sad to see it go.

Star Trek: Generations (1994)

Star Crap

[30 May 2001]

They just didn't care. At least that's the impression I got. The so-called `creative minds' behind the 'Star Trek-The Next Generation' TV series, when presented with the option of thinking outside the box (the television box), failed spectacularly. `Generations' comes off as nothing more than an extended TV episode with better special effects. The movie was even directed by one of the series' directors and the score was done by one of its regular composers.

Much effort is made by the writers to dole out equal amounts of lines to those Enterprise cast members whose names don't begin with 'Picard' and 'Data' (Why do Riker and Worf go to Dr. Crusher to find out about Soren? Because Gates McFadden hadn't been seen in the movie for awhile, that's why). The destruction of the Klingons near the end of this movie is similar to the end of the Klingons from the last movie, from Riker's melodramatic `Fire!' to actual stock footage from `The Undiscovered Country'.

But all of this pales in comparison to the real crime perpetrated here - the unceremonious `bumping off' of James T. Heroic death? Maybe. But when I imagined Kirk's death, it wouldn't be from getting chucked off a cliff and crushed under a metal bridge on a deserted planet. It was almost incidental within the confines of the movie. The death of Captain Kirk was upstaged by Data's reunion with his cat, Spot.

Licence to Kill (1989)

Franchise to Kill

[30 May 2001]

Pros – Very few. Timothy Dalton is an underrated Bond (My favorite Bond after Connery, actually). Desmond Llewelyn as Q is given more to do here than any other Bond movie. And hey, there's Benecio del Toro in an early role.

Cons – Bond in a bar brawl. Bond punches Q. Felix Leiter gazes lustfully at a nurse just days after his wife is brutally raped and killed. Wayne Newton.

This isn't a Bond movie. It's a Steven Segal revenge flick. Except waaaaaaaaaay tackier.

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

Once More Unto the Breach...

[21 May 2001]

The sentimentalist in me refuses to call this a swansong. The original crew proved that, despite their age, they were in no way ready to be put to pasture. This movie, where Kirk's past comes back to bite him (his son's death at the hands of the Klingons), is a return to the more dramatic Trek, but with generous helpings of dark comedy (`Earth, Hitler, 1938.' `I've been dead before.'), and even making fun of itself at times (After an attractive alien woman lip-locks with Kirk, McCoy rolls his eyes and says, `What is it with you?'). The movie has plenty of fan-pleasing moments (Sarek, Colonel Worf, Sulu in command of the Excelsior…), a fast pace, a great villain (the Shakespeare-quoting Chang), great performances by the regular cast, and a wonderful score by Cliff Eidelman.

Never, ever dull, Star Trek VI – The Undiscovered Country remains my favorite Star Trek movie.

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)

"Move your horse, Captain. I'm scanning!"

[18 May 2001]

I'm going to take an unpopular stance with this movie, but I really liked it. What's more, I liked it more than "The Voyage Home". Yeah, there are some cringe-worthy moments (Scotty banging his head; Sulu and Chekov – Starfleet's finest helmsman and navigator – getting lost in the woods; the campfire song), but it's still a fun movie. William Shatner does a fine job of directing and co-writing the movie. It recaptures some of the fun of the TV series, with some `kisses to the past' (the return of the Enterprise sound effects, the Galileo…), and the character of Sybok is a new twist on a villain. Spock's `Damn you, sir!' to Klaa is cool. It's a shame that Shatner got shafted by ILM.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

Star Fluff

[18 May 2001]

Cute. After the unfunny first movie, and the doom-laden second and third movies, it was decided that a lighter, more humorous Star Trek should be produced. It also featured the return of time travel, an environmental message, and wrapped up storylines from the last two features. It's ironic that the more humorous moments in the film come from the unemotional Mr. Spock.

I didn't care much for the romantic interest and the musical score was lame, but all in all, this is a charming movie.

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Encounter at Farpoint (1987) Season 1, Episode 1

Roddenberry's Red-Headed Stepchild

[15 May 2001]

Enh. Not a great start for the series. Not terrible either. Some of the special effects are okay, although Q's forcefield is a deliberate rip-off of the Tholian Web from the Original Series. And the character of Q is reminiscent of Trelane, the Squire of Gothos. All the characters are caricatures of their later selves. Like Picard, who is mean to children and shouts at his enemies. Doesn't bode well for the future, especially with Roddenberry's and Fontana's monikers attached to the final product.

The best scene happens to be the one where DeForest Kelley reprises his role of McCoy and talks with Data, the new series' Mr. Spock.

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)

"Impressive. They can make planets..."

[14 May 2001]

I don't think this one suffers from the curse of odd-numbered Trek movies. It's not as action-packed as "Wrath of Khan", but it's not meant to be. There's something really cool in the idea that Kirk and friends are willing to sacrifice their careers, maybe even their lives, for the life of a friend who could still be dead. The theft of the Enterprise is more exciting than the starship battles in "Khan", and its destruction was sad (a final look at the bridge from Kirk just before he left would've been nice, though). Spock's reunion with his fellow crewmates is well done. Christopher Lloyd makes an okay Trek villain, although he's no Kang. And it's nice seeing Mark Lenard reprise his role as Sarek.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

Great Space Opera

[14 May 2001]

Star Trek as a revenge tragedy is wonderful. The movie, with it's many highs and lows, moves at a quick pace. And some of the levity that was clearly missing from the first movie is back. That's not to say it's a humorous movie. At the heart of it all is a wonderful melodrama involving Kirk trying to recapture his past glories as a starship commander and coming to terms with the presence of his son and the death of his best friend. It's a shame that most people overlook this subtle performance in favor of his way-over-the-top `Khaaaan!!!!' (which actually turns out to be a performance staged for Khan's benefit). Speaking of which, I don't think there's been a cooler Trek villain then Khan Noonien Singh. Ricardo Montalban is wonderful.

James Horner's score is great. And the dramatic moments are perfectly done. I'll never forget the moment near the end, when Kirk hears McCoy's broken voice over the intercom and then notices Spock's empty seat. The look on Kirk's face, the look that says he suddenly knows what's happened to his friend, hits you like a sledgehammer.