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richyreay
Reviews
Iron Man 2 (2010)
Seriously, what were you expecting???
There seems to be a great deal of panning going on, from viewers and critics who quite frankly have their heads squarely up their own backsides. What the hell were you expecting?? ? Citizen Kane?
People have made much of the fact that there are a lot of special effects sequences, well umm, they are right, but to do down the film because of it, wtf? IT'S A COMIC BOOK MOVIE!! Of course there are going to be special effects! Have you read a comic book? Even just once? And I'm not talking Peanuts or Calvin and frikkin Hobbs, but a REAL comic book? One with superheroes in it? There is this thing that happens in comic books, it's called ACTION. Yes, ACTION. You see that? That six letter word? That's what you are bitching about. The fact that a superhero movie has action in it.
There's too much CGI, you whine. Well of course there is! Whilst Batman can be managed using practical, albeit outstanding, but practical effects. A guy in a metal suit that flies and shoots energy blasts is going to require CGI!!! Get a grip!!
If you are not a stuck up cinephile, you will enjoy this movie. If you don't have unreasonable expectations about "where they should have taken the franchise" you will enjoy this movie.
If you were expecting a highly nuanced tale of personal sacrifice or much moral hand- wringing then you went to see the wrong film. You should have extracted your head from your colon for five seconds and paid attention to what you were going to see.
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)
Utter Drivel
I did bear in mind the fun nature of the previous two films, but this was utterly awful. The replacement cast was dreadful, the script weak as a day old kitten, and Rob Cohen's direction lackluster and listless.
After proving that he has some acting chops in the likes of Gods and Monsters, I expected better of Brendan Fraser who seemed to phone in his performance along with John Hannah. It's easy to see why Rachel Weisz turned this one down. As for Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh, here are two titans of Chinese action cinema who are woefully underused. While the special effects are adequate they are nothing we haven't seen before. It seems that all the crew, cast and effects team really didn't bother trying very hard.
Miss this one.
One (2001)
Very pretty, pretty boring
While this is beautiful to look at it doesn't engage me in the slightest. When did she die? Or is he dead? I don't know, and I don't care. The film said nothing and there was zero character portrayal. If this won the sundance audience award, then god help us!!
Dog Soldiers (2002)
Finally a commercially viable film!!!
This film is a joy to behold for a number of reasons:
1st: It's a film with no pretentions, it doesn't want to be art. It is entertainment, and that is what films from the UK should aspire to be. Not everyone in the world is a Mike Leigh fan, Not everyone thinks that great films can only be about SERIOUS subjects. The paying public want to be entertained.
2nd: It was written and directed by a fan of the action/horror genre and this shines through. (I know, I've seen Neil's video collection, and spent an enjoyable afternoon watching great 80's action flicks such as Predator while waiting for his flatmate) No body in the Newcastle Film Industry (and I use the term loosely) has the balls to dare make a film which contains such highly frenetic action peppered with comedy that fits so well into it's intended genre. They all think that ART is paramount.
3rd: When the Film Council subsiduary in the region refused to back it Neil and Keith Bell made the film anyway. My hat is well and truely off to them.
4th: It's fun, fast and never lets up. It's a rollercoaster ride that you want to go on time and time again until you're violently sick then, post vomit, you jump straight back on, raise your arms outside the vehicle and start screaming all over again.
5th: The acting is superb, Kevin McKidd shines as Cooper, Sean Pertwee is hard edged and funny as Sgt Harry Wells, and Liam Cunningham is fantastic as the Special Forces B**t**d. The grunts, Leslie Simpson, Craig Conway et al, are believable, funny and you love each and every one of them.
All in all this film deserves the raves it's been getting. **** out of five. Next time, give them a bigger budget because 3million doesn't go far enough!!!
Hulk (2003)
Ang Lee loses himself in wipe city
This has to be the worst movie I have ever seen. I know people have complained about the lack of action, but that really didn't bother me. I am interested in the psychology behind the characters and the depth at which that can be explored. No my main problem is with the "stylistic" choices made by Mr Lee, after an interesting visual opening that seemed to fit with introducing any kind of comic book movie it should have stopped there, but no Ang Lee decided it would be "in keeping with comic book stylings" to utilise frame breaking wipes and split screen action that is disorienting and sucks any drama from the film completely. The CGI was impressive, but not the best ever seen. So many plot points muddled into obscurity leaving far too many situations unexplained. Interesting character moments are opened and then not followed through, maybe this was the script or maybe it was the direction but whoever is to blame should be hauled out into the streets of south central Los Angeles and left to the social reprebates who inhabit that wonderfully violent area. While I eagerly anticipated this film, and got more excited as I heard about the areas that would be explored I left the cinema feeling as if I had been physically and emotionally assaulted by Messrs Lee and Shamus. Eric Bana, Jennifer Connelly and the ever popular Sam Elliot were hoplessly wasted, as was the opportunity to show a visually startling transformation from man to rampaging green id. No marks out of ten for this one boys. To all those in the UK eagerly awaiting this movie, I suggest you don't bother wasting your money. This film is a template for what is wrong with the studio system in film making today. All bucks and no bang.