CrawfordFilm Reviews

Dredd (2012)

Underrated Classic

[8/10 · 2 March 2013]

I hate this movie got no money and that no one saw it. It is a very faithful adaptation that actually tried to impress and go full steam ahead with bullets guns blood and Dredd bad assary. In my opinion this was an Oscar worthy film, not for anything major but for technical categories like Cinematography, Sound and Score. The music made half of the bad assary of the movie I loved it, much better than some of the nominees this year.

I've seen this movie three times and each time I still loved it. Fun, Intense and different to some extent ( except for the raid, but the script was written way before that movie and this movie is a little Better in my opinion). Great action with hardcore violence plus an awesome score. I recommend this movie for in the future will be known as an Underrated Classic.

Hugo (2011)

Beautiful, Powerful, Inspiring, Touching, Nostalgic

[10/10 · 12 February 2013]

Winner of 5 Academy Awards including Cinematography and Art-Direction. This adaptation is based off the incredible book by Brian Selznick, directed by the great Martin Scorsese, written by John Logan and includes a very great cast that looked like they came straight out of the book.

The story follows a young orphan who has a full time job fixing the clocks in the train stations, while also trying to find the right parts for a machine that is all that is left of his dead father. Trying to get these parts means stealing a bunch of toys from a toyshop run by an older man and his only daughter. And thru a series of events Is apart of an incredible journey of friendship, hardship and self discovery.

I love this movie so much, It is by far one of the best adaptations I have and will ever watch. I had already read the book, but Martin Scorsese did such a good job that at times I forgot it was based off a book. He absolutely did an amazing job at blending 3D with CGI and Cinematography, one of the best uses of 3D, It inspires me to get a 3D TV just to experience that again, It's that good. It also has good use of sound which it also won an Oscar for; all the sounds of the clock ticking, the trains and camera rolling are really well done if you pay attention.

Acting on everyone Is top notch. Asa Butterfield and Chloe Grace Moretz are exceptional and Ben Kingsley is excellent. So many people In this movie, and they all do good, even tho they don't have much time to shine, they all have a like able parts to play into a great story.

This Movie is getting hate for being boring and long. I completely disagree, I thought it had great pace. It's a big story with lots to tell and if it was any shorter it wouldn't have worked I don't think. Honestly I can see a completely average viewer not liking this movie that much. But if you In any way have any respect or nostalgia for movies or filmmaking I think It's a sure thing you'll respect this movie for what it is which is a love letter to film. And I also recommend reading the book, which is full of incredible art and It would take not long to finish.

Prometheus (I) (2012)

People Need To Chill Out!

[8/10 · 15 September 2012]

I loved this movie. So it really saddens me to see all the hate people are giving it. So I would like to say why.

Okay starting off with what I loved about it, I adored the overall look of the movie. From opening shot it looks outstanding. I rate this over Avatar in terms of look, before you hate on me I'll say why. Avatar is a CGI masterpiece, no one denies that, but it is 100% CGI nothing real. With Prometheus it was 70% CGI or lower, and the rest was completely real props. See movies like 2001 had real sets instead of computer effects, which is why it still holds very very strong today. I feel that that will be the case for Prometheus, and that's why I prefer it's look to Avatar.

The performances and characters. I loved Michael Fassbender as David, he killed it as he always does. He had great dialogue and great execution. Naomi Rapace did well. She is no Sigourney Reaver/Ellen Ripley or anything, but she was a good heroine. Edris Elba was a really cool character, cant wait to see him in future projects. And finally Charlize Theron did fine but didn't completely stand out. The only bad performance and character was Logan Marshall Greene I thought, other than that, solid characters and performances through out.

Now I'll have a brief statement on what I didn't love. I thought it got a little weird and gross at times, like the mini sharktupous that came out of Elizabeth Shaw ( Noami Rapace ) and how it impregnated the engineer. Weirded me out a little.

And I have to admit this film does leave a little hanging. But I doubt they'll not explain at least some of our questions. But that was part of the beauty of Alien. You didn't know a whole lot about it, and really we still don't but hopefully In The future they'll make sequels that explain some of our questions, and maybe people will start to realize that Prometheus is a good movie that is highly unappreciated.

The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Too Much Hype. One of The Most Overrated Movies.

[6/10 · 18 August 2012]

I like everyone else in the world was beyond excited for this movie. The Dark Knight was one of the best movies ever in my opinion and Batman Begins is just an awesome great movie.

See with those two spectacular movies and Christopher Nolan Being one of if not my favorite director, I was hyped for this movie. Which is one of the reasons why I didn't love it.

Okay, I wanna list the good before the not so good first. Bane. Was awesome, it's impossible to compare him to the Joker but he still tried and he was great. His voice sounded cool I thought, I didn't have a hard time understanding him.

The Cinemotagrophy I thought was phenomenal, Wally Pfister did a great job I hope he gets a nomination. The sound was good too, visuals were solid but not anything we've not seen before. Hans Zimmers score, awesome, has he ever done a bad score?

Catwoman played by Anne Hathaway I thought was great, when she changed from scared nothing special girl to hardcore sexy I was like that's Catwoman. The acting was not really amazing but still good. Christian Bale, Good as always. Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and Gary Oldman were great. Joseph Gordon Levitt and Marion Cotilard were fine but didn't stand out. So there's really the good in the movie, now I'll be talking about some of the stuff that I didn't like.

The action was inconsistent and dull, In all but the first fight scene between Batman and Bane, which was in my opinion the best scene in the movie. The "battle scene" could've been a whole lot better. First off, the army of hungry, tired out of shape cops vs completely healthy, heavily armed and dangerous army of Banes men. Who do you think wins? Well like any clichéd battle the good guys win, but that is impossible and we never saw ANY of the battle! It was just an effect for a very very bad, 45 second ( at best ) fight between Batman and Bane. Wow! I'm gonna talk about the second fight between Batman and Bane, started out very clunky and ended very badly. It should've been at least two minutes or more of them fighting and the battle going on. If that would've happened I would've felt a lot more emotional when he finally takes him down.

The Twist that Miranda Tate was actually Thalia al Gul was cool, but because she wasn't very well developed I didn't really care that she was the actual villain. And Bane's death was one of the most anticlimactic deaths in history, I just wish they took some time to somewhat mourn for his death, that could've been done a lot differently.

The chase to get to the bomb was fine but not really exciting, and when the truck carrying the nuke finally gets stopped and Thalia dies in a very cheesy way, Batman has to do the old 1960's batman thing and throw the bomb away ( which doesn't really bother me, but was still a little weird ). And he ( Batman ) supposedly gets killed saving Gotham from the nuke. But we find out that the auto pilot which was damaged or something before, was fixed before all that happened, and we see that Bruce Wayne is still alive with Selina Kyle ( Catwoman) with him. And then Joesph Gordon Levitt ( AKA Robin :( finds the Batcave and it ends there.

I didn't love the ending, it is a somewhat satisfying ending but it leads to a sequel that won't happen so it kinda made me like it a little less.

So I liked some of it I just didn't love it, had too many problems and things that I thought shouldve been done differently. I was a little too hyped for it and in my opinion it is one of the most overrated movies ever ( if it wasn't in the top 20 or something ridiculously high i wouldn't be saying that), but it doesn't mean i hated it i thought it was all in all a good batman movie that you definitely should go see ( in IMAX ).