rainynight65 Reviews

Scorpion (2014–2018)

Don't be fooled - this is awful.

[1/10 · 1 October 2014]

I see a lot of reviews here saying "It's just television, it doesn't have to be realistic, just entertaining" - as if that was an excuse for bad writing. But there is no excuse for the mindbogglingly awful writing exhibited in the pilot of Scorpion.

There was a time when thriller writers realized they couldn't just keep making stuff up as they went along, but actually had to do their homework. This was some time in the 80s - last century, folks. If you write about something, you'd better know the basics. Yes, it's fine to sacrifice realism for drama and entertainment. All good shows and movies do that. But the good shows do something else also: they play by their own rules and make it easy for the viewer to suspend disbelief.

Scorpion does neither. The writers of this series clearly don't know the first thing about most of the stuff they're writing about. They don't know about aviation, they don't know about information technology, they constantly change and break their own rules, and as a result, we have a plot with holes so big you could fly a 777 through them.

(Spoilers ahead)

Am I really to believe that LAX does not have any sysadmins? That their most crucial piece of software was made by a company that went out of business 20 years ago? That that same software from the same company suddenly and without warning got a software update nobody knew about? That all planes in the world run the same software? That they store their backups in an unmanned, unsecured data centre somewhere in the boondocks of L.A., in what looks like a garage complex? That they have only one backup that gets overwritten every 12 hours? That the IQ 197 geniuses can just simply deduce by the pricking of their thumbs which hard drive that backup sits on, out of a choice of, well, thousands? That they can just rip out this one hard drive and connect it to a random laptop to retrieve the software? That you can hover a 777 8 feet above a runway long enough to throw a conveniently long ethernet lead down to a Ferrari driving below them at 250mph, to hook up to a laptop and download the software, which at the same time gets transferred via Wireless to a nearby control tower and from there to LAX tower, which, for all intents and purposes, is incomunicado?

I'm sorry. This pilot episode was nothing but a load of hogwash. Suspension of disbelief broke after ten minutes. From there on it wasn't entertainment any more, it was just annoying. Don't be fooled by the currently high ratings. This series has had an awful start, and one star is still too much.

Blood Diamond (2006)

Gripping, captivating, tragically sad

[9/10 · 10 July 2007]

The political movie genre is going through a some sort of an Indian summer lately. Its newest incarnation is Blood Diamond, a violent action flick on first glance, but extremely deep and utterly tragic below the surface.

This is a rare opportunity for non-Africans to get a glimpse on the tragedy of Africa: one of the most beautiful places on earth, exploited for ages by the colonial powers, then ravaged by its own people trying to scrape together whatever the colonialists left behind. The filmmakers have done a great job capturing the twisted situation of this continent. Caps of the beautiful countryside interchange with disturbing pictures of village assaults, child soldiers and bloody violence. Everything is held together by a fascinating and memorable musical score.

The cast is top notch. I was never a big fan of Leonardo DiCaprio, but he has surpassed himself in this movie. He has also undertaken a commendable effort to imitate a Southern African accent, even though he uses phrases like 'huh', 'bru' (South African slang for Brother or 'bro') or 'my man' way too often to sound truly genuine. Benin actor Djimon Hounsou makes a wonderful counterpart to DiCaprio's character, while South African celebrity Arnold Vosloo adds some authentic touches to his own character.

This movie is well worth watching - for its story, for the camera-work, for the scenery and the score - but it is not easy. It stands in line with recent political efforts such as 'Hotel Rwanda', 'Lord Of War' or 'Syriana', and if you have at least one of these in your DVD shelf, you cannot miss 'Blood Diamond'.

Sahara (2005)

Highly disappointing

[3/10 · 8 September 2005]

I was actually looking forward to this movie. Then I heard Clive Cussler was going to sue the makers because they changed the story too much. Then I read the first viewer comments and decided to skip the theatre and wait for the DVD instead. Now I have watched it, and it could hardly have been worse.

As someone who has read nearly all Clive Cussler books (except for the new Oregon Files series and the non-fiction books), it almost hurts to see what kind of actors were cast to portray Cussler's highly detailed characters. McConaughey is barely acceptable as Dirk Pitt: Pitt is a man who has been around the world, not an all brawn no brain Yankee. But it gets worse: the movie's Al Giordino is a childish red-haired man, not the sturdy Italian he is described at in the books. And Rudi Gunn is shown as a pudgy geek who has never been out of his office before and doesn't know one end of a gun from the other. It was almost a relief to see William Macy as Admiral Sandecker, although he doesn't come close to his book equivalent. But what on earth got Penelope Cruz a role in this movie? She lacks everything she would need for this role - style, charm and charisma, not to mention a credible accent. If you need a good looking and charming Latino woman for a role like this - get Salma Hayek, or even better, Morena Baccarin.

The movie plot is full of holes, important parts have been completely left out or heavily shortened. My wife didn't read the book beforehand and said the whole movie made no sense to her. Didn't make that much sense to me either. Pitt and Giordino take on a whole army by themselves, with nothing but a 150 year old cannon? Even Cussler, who sometimes goes slightly over the top, would never have put something like that into his book. Generally it seems to me that the screenwriters rolled the dice to determine which parts of the book would make it into the film. It all is topped with an inconsistent and more than once inappropriate choice of cutting techniques and musical score.

This is a classic case of a movie leaving all audiences unsatisfied. The Cussler fans will probably by now have pledged eternal feud against Breck Eisner and his screenwriters, while people who didn't read the book most likely walked out of the theatre with a big question mark on their forehead. Let's hope that if there is another attempt to adapt a Cussler novel, it will be done by people who know what they are doing.

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

Rather disappointing

[5/10 · 22 May 2005]

I loved the classic Star Wars Trilogy, even the revamped versions that were released on DVD last year. I loved the first part of the 'new' trilogy, but was disappointed by the second one. Now the third and last installment in 30 years of Star Wars was supposed to draw a satisfactory line under the story. Did it succeed? Only partly. Technically, the movie is on top and beyond. The special effects are state of the art and blend completely into the movie, unlike 'The Phantom Menace', where the CG scenes stuck out somehow. The opening scene is one massive fireworks of action and effects. Well done so far.

However, sitting through the movie left me in some rather unsatisfactory emptiness. The whole film seems rather cold, lacking the emotional quality of the 'classic' Star Wars movies. The acting is clumsy at best, amateurish at worst, the only actor that really seems to try is Ewan McGregor in the role of Obi Wan. He is also the only one to fill the shoes of his classic counterpart Alec Guinness. Hayden Christensen has been grossly miscast, he does not fit the role of Anakin Skywalker, nor does he fill the character with life. The character of Padme has become the damsel in distress, whining all the time she makes me want to throttle her. I almost wish they had included more of Jar Jar Binks to stir up the film. But that's not even the greatest disappointment. Storywise there is nothing - I repeat: N O T H I N G - even slightly surprising. Every story element could be predicted just after having watched 'Attack of the Clones'. Seriously, did George Lucas not have the ambition to end the Star Wars Saga with a big bang? It almost seems he got tired of the whole crap and just wanted to end the thing somehow.

If you're into Star Wars, obviously you have to see this one to know how it all ends. But take my advice, don't book the best seats at the best times. Go when the theater is not that busy and the prices are a bit lower. Or wait until the DVD comes out - I predict the 'new' Trilogy box set will be out right in time for this year's Christmas. If you haven't seen Star Wars in the past, there is no good reason to start with this one. 5 out of 10, 4 of that go to Ewan.

Man on Fire (2004)

Not easy to watch, but very very rewarding

[9/10 · 17 April 2005]

This is hands down one of the best movies I have watched in recent time. The storyline is captivating, the suspense is gripping. That not being enough, the movie is topped by superb camera-work, innovative effects and a brilliant soundtrack. However, this comes at a price. Due to the choreography, this film is anything but easy to watch. Some of the sequences halfway through the movie will make your head spin. Yet the whole effect-o-rama is never getting out of hand. Mild spoiler ahead: if you complain about the violence, try to think of what you would do if one of your loved ones had to end up like the kid in the movie...

You want to see an extraordinary action thriller, grab this one. I will definitely buy it on DVD.

Smilla's Sense of Snow (1997)

Gives the book good credit

[8/10 · 5 October 2004]

I read the book before I watched the movie. Usually I am not too fond of films made after a book. This is one of the rare exceptions.

The makers succeeded well in capturing the complexity of the book's characters. Julia Ormond does remarkably well as the moody, unpredictable Smilla Jaspersen. So does Gabriel Byrne in the role of the rather secretive Mechanic. The brilliant Richard Harris is in here too, one of the many movies he probably said that it would be his last. The rest of the cast fits in well. Nice to see that they didn't try to get all big names, but rather actors who can fill a role appropriately.

Of course the movie isn't perfect, but in order to give that book full credit, they would have had to make a 4 hour film. Especially the second part, with all the events on the ship and in Greenland, is rather condensed. Those scenes could have used a bit more air to breathe, less pace.

Nevertheless I really like this movie, I have been watching it several times already. And now I think I am going to read the book again... (8/10)

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

This movie did everything right

[8/10 · 22 September 2004]

To be honest, I didn't expect much from this movie when it came out. Everyone was talking about the SFX, noone really mentioned the story, so I didn't consider it worth watching in the theatre. However, when a friend borrowed me the DVD, I changed my mind completely.

Nowadays, when a movie comes out, it usually falls under at least one of these categories: a) it's made after a book (or a comic), b) it focuses on SFX rather than on storytelling, and c) it belongs to a genre which has been completely exhausted during the last couple years. Now none of these points mean that it is a bad movie, however when at least two points apply, it's mostly bound to be a flick you watch once and then forget about. It was truly refreshing to see a movie which for a change didn't apply to any of these categories.

Meanwhile I bought the DVD, and I catch myself watching the movie or parts of it over and over again. 'Pirates of the Caribbean' basically does everything right. It has a gripping, immersing story, a great cast and dedicated crew, great photography and a wonderful musical score. It belongs to a genre which has been nearly extinct in the last years, it has a story which strays from the usual stereotypes, and it uses SFX to make the movie better, not just to show off with latest technology.

Johnny Depp is just brilliant in the role of Jack Sparrow, he makes you laugh over and over again. As does Geoffrey Rush, who plays Captain Barbossa. Some of the cast stay a bit pale, like Orlando Bloom, who I think can do better. The SFX blend perfectly into the movie, these skeletons are great. The music is wonderful as well, worth buying the soundtrack. The score is so catchy, I find myself humming or whistling parts of it constantly.

This is entertainment at its best. Not an alltime classic, it doesn't have too much of a message, but that wasn't the goal of making it anyway. Worth watching several times, since you discover new details every time. Right now it ranks pretty high in my favourite list. 8/10 stars from me for this one.