scottymcgeester Reviews

47 Ronin (2013)

Way better than expected

[7/10 · 26 December 2013]

Don't be fooled by the trailer. At all. This is a wonderfully entertaining movie.

1. One of Keanu Reeves more bearable acting roles 2. Yes, there's CGI but unlike other CGI-spectacles, this isn't obnoxious, it's rather beautiful. I love the witch's transformations. You really have to give the guys credit for doing that.

3. This is based on a historical event, of course it's embellished with fantasy. But what's the problem with that? Nothing. I bet you hundreds of years from now historical events of today will be embellished.

4. Not a typical Hollywood ending, stays true to the event.

5. I thought this was going to be like Van Helsing or National Treasure or some mediocre, barely engaging fantasy adventure film. It wasn't like that at all. It has style and flair. Unfortunately, judging by the critics, it won't get the praise I think it deserves. It could go the way of John Carter - a good movie just underrated. A 7 out of 10 is just perfect for it. In no way is it SO amazing that it should be on the top 250, but it's still a great flick.

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)

I give it less credit than most people do.

[7/10 · 26 November 2009]

Even though this is the best of the sequels, it can never top anything off the original trilogy, which surprises me when I hear some people say this is the best.

Still some stiff acting Not enough force to drive Anakin's completion to the dark side.

Even the ending I have to be critical about due to the fact that CGI ruined it. Also, it was too quick of an ending. It should have been eloquently elongated only a few more minutes instead of "Ok, so this happens to that person and this happens to them and that's how that happened--"

Some extra Vader scenes in action would have been awesome.

Vader's "NOOO!" moment made me cringe; it looked like Frankenstein or something.

The rest: all good, and don't need to talk about it.

Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)

I watched this movie on Halloween with my friends because it's a true "Horror Film"

[5/10 · 26 November 2009]

Really, it is.

The pity though is that it could have been a great movie had it been directed better and much more organized.

Hayden makes Anakin look like a sissy in this movie. And it's not because of the love story.

The way I see it, they should have made Anakin more of a bad-ass, wrestling with good and evil. None of that was done well at all. Though it could have been.

Characters are introduced sloppily, such as Dooku/Tyrannus. The jokes are cheesy and the special effects look photoshopped. The child actor for Boba Fett sucked.

There are only slight breaths of air in this terrible ocean of bad film making. One feels poignant when Anakin runs into Watto after all these years. John William's music saves some scenes, especially when Anakin zooms off on his speeder in search of his mother.

This should have been the key point in the prequels, where Anakin leans towards the dark side, and in the third he completes it. But here he's just whining and bitching and moaning for 2 and a half hours.

The delivery of things is just bad. Bad, bad, bad. Cringe-worthy.

Mission: Impossible II (2000)

This is a James Bond movie with a different name and character

[5/10 · 26 November 2009]

I watched this the other day after several years of neglecting it. The only time I saw it was when I was younger and was interested recently in why people seemed to hate it.

Of course I was young then and thought everything was cool.

About an hour into the movie I wanted to fall asleep.

I realized suddenly that I wasn't watching a Mission Impossible movie.

I was watching James Bond.

Tom Cruise's sleek hair is even so Bond-ish. First he goes off on a mission, which isn't even fully explained other than "Oh, yeah, go get this girl and recruit her," and for the first hour or so Tom is flirting around with this Spanish chick.

This isn't Mission Impossible at all.

The opening missions were always set and clear. A complex plot right away.

And then there's the lack of continuity from DePalma's movie. I HATE lack of continuity. Isn't Ethan technically the chief now of the IMF force since Phelps is dead?

The slow motion scenes were too dramatic for this. No intense love was built up. I will give it credit for classic facemaker moments and action, but this is like Matrix mixed with James Bond.

The IMF team is pretty weak in this installment. It focuses more on Ethan kicking ass and blowing stuff up rather than have the team work as a whole, putting them on the side for comic relief.

The whole "hero and villain" metaphor throughout the movie was getting pretty annoying too, and didn't fit in with a spy movie.

So here's my break down

Pros -Cool action sequences -Classic facemaker moments

Cons -James Bond appeal -No build up to actually feel drama -Poor plot for the mission -Poor IMF team, so not as much fun