chrisjames88 Reviews

City of Ember (2008)

Finally watched this movie - disappointed...

[6/10 · 29 November 2011]

I was kind of excited about this movie because the concept seemed really interesting. Thanks to a N****x, I finally got a chance to watch it on DVD. My wife and I sat down and were really getting a little caught up in it from the start. Interesting story, impending time line set from the beginning (200 years), etc, etc.

Man, were we disappointed. This movie had so many unanswered questions, unimportant plot points, weird pacing, and 'just-in-the-nick-of-time' moments that we couldn't really say we liked it in the end. I love movies like this (story-wise) but this one was not executed well. It also seemed like a movie that wasn't sure what it wanted to be. Adventure (not really), action (little), comedy (awkward), suspenseful (never achieved it)...

Also disappointed in the choice of male lead (Doon). He was not engaging nor believable. However, Saoirse Ronan was great! Which makes this whole review even more sad. This movie seems like such a waste.

For reference, I have not read the original story. I gave this a 6 out of 10 because the sets were cool, the idea was very cool, but direction, story, character development were all lacking.

Buried (2010)

Spoilers - Angry at this movie and its message

[6/10 · 2 February 2011]

I speak of huge spoilers, do not read this unless you have already seem the movie "Buried".

First of all, I love movies and watch as many as I can. I was also a contractor in the Middle East and a fan of Ryan Reynolds. So, I was very interested in this film on many levels. I enjoyed Ryan's hard work, appreciated the movie for its admittedly narrow scope but I have one huge complaint that lead to a "6" score from me (not a 5 because Ryan did a good acting job here). The film made such a big deal out of wanting us to sympathize with the character and realize that he was very scared and did not want to die... he wasn't trying to be macho. As the movie progressed, it began to sink in that this whole movie was MAJOR propaganda! What they basically wanted you to leave the theater with was that he shouldn't have been in Iraq either as a soldier or a contractor and he deserved to die. I was really ticked at the way the material was handled. Do I, a 38-year-old former Marine, expect happy endings for all of my movies... no! I love realistic movies. But I hate propaganda being disguised as film.

I'm also a little ticked at Ryan for reading this whole script and not seeing it for what it was. I know he needs to work, but this was some heavy-handed political writing! I expected more from both Ryan and the movie.