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Reviews
The African Queen (1951)
a charming film that still inspires
The African Queen is the story of a missionary English woman, Rose, and a Canadian boat man,Charlie, in what was then German East Africa, who go on a mission to torpedo a German gunboat right after the 1st World War began. They plan on using the African Queen, Charlie's boat, as part of their home made torpedo and bomb the German gunboat with it.
It's a charming film about patriotism in times of war, exceeding ones limits for what they believe in and finding love even at the most desperate times. Since it's an old film it can't help but suffer from things like overacting and overwhelming orchestral music that distract and dictate what to feel in each scene, but these are things you soon get use to and accept as part of its charm.
There are ideas in the film which today seem dated and less than politically correct. The fact that European countries have colonised Africa is not an issue here. The natives are portrayed either as dim- witted villagers unable to behave like "civilised" white people or as bloodthirsty goons with riffles working for the evil Germans. Furthermore there are sexist lines from Charlie which sound comical by today's standards. Acknowledging and putting these PC issues aside, the film talks about bravery, hope and love.
There are beautiful surroundings and the appearance of bad blue screen is limited. The film is fascinated with all sorts of social contrasts, people of different races, ethnicities and classes interacting with each other, falling in love and fighting. There is a naivety in the issues the film touches upon, like alcoholism, death and war, but the importance of having hope and human willpower is always present. You care for the characters, even though they are insignificant and hopeless. Their persistence to achieve their goal, even when all is lost, is inspiring and makes the film relatable and relevant even today and that's what makes this film a classic. I give it 7/10
The Final Destination (2009)
A cheap thriller that fails to thrill
This awful installment in the Final Destination series is by far the worst. The acting was embracing, the characters were predictable and had no depth at all, you didn't care about them you didn't even notice them! the plot is non-existent and worst of all for those who say "hey it's not meant to be Hamlet" the death scene were RUBBISH! I saw it in 2D and let me tell you, there were a lot of fake looking guts and gore, dull uninteresting series of events leading to unimaginative deaths. The coincidences that lead to each death look very unlikely and it's as if an invisible force is actually interacting with objects rather than them falling into place on their own, to the point were you think that death/invisible force might as well pick up a gun and shoot everyone of them and get it over with... The final death scene takes the cake, where the final victims are killed and the entire death scene is shown as 3D x-ray skeletons getting knocked about! WHAT A LET DOWN!
Lack of creativity, lack of imagination, lack of talent and a very low budget to make this awful film.
Transformers (2007)
More than meets the eye!
What a movie! Transformers must be one of the best movies (if not the best one) of the year. Though I belong to the Transformers generation (1980's) I was never really hooked up with the franchise and couldn't recall any of the transformers names aside from Opitmus Prime and Megatron if you had asked me.
Having seen the trailer I went to see the movie knowing that I was in for some eye candy special effects, but not so sure of the overall story. But as the transformers slogan goes the movie was "more than meets the eye".
Knowing more or less what the main theme of the ever-changing saga of the transformers is, I though this movie had many reasons to turn out silly and have nothing more to offer that visual effects
I mean we are talking about robotic aliens, with human emotions, simplistically separated into a team of goody good autobots and the all-evil decepticons. Oh yeah and they turn into trucks and other vehicles and planes for some reason
in a nut shell I thought it would be an fun take on the transformers cartoon and toy line at best
but it's so much more.
It has actually avoided the cheesiness of most "America under attack" movies focusing on the human characters as well as the transformers. Fresh characters presented with a touch of humour that each has his/her own gravity in the story and aren't just fillers to help the plot unfold. Shia LaBeouf as Sam Witwicky does a great job at becoming the underdog we all sympathise for, who ends up becoming the hero (reminding us how we all felt for Peter Parker in the first Spider-man movie). It is action packed from beginning to end but you never get enough of it. The visuals are astonishingly well made not distracting from the movie with thoughts "that looked fake" and besides the effects, there are many scenes with great visual interest. I enjoyed the music and sound effects (especially the transforming ones) and as a hole the movie worked so good. A must see for all ages and genders, shapes and sizes.
On the downside it was a bit too long and some scenes coul have been shorter, but everything is so well made that you enjoy every bit of it! I for one am not ashamed to admit my excitement over this movie. A must see!
88 Minutes (2007)
dull, dull and DULL
Dear, oh dear
This movie was so pointless, plagued with bad acting (aside from Al Pacino who knows his stuff), millions of badly put together elements and events, which lead to a migraine as the story clumsily unfolds. A mediocre production with little visual interest (a movie doesn't have to have special effects to be visually interesting) and lacking in the basic gore it needed to set the mood right. A simple story that is over complicated in the attempt to have twists, but its weak foundations can't support the gravity of it all and ends up collapsing upon it's self. It's not horrible, it's not the worst movie of the year (go see the Nicolas Cage movies for that
) but it's missing dynamic to make it interesting, it's not scary, it's not touching, it has no suspense, it's just dull and over-elaborated for no good reason. I say avoid it
Spider-Man 3 (2007)
Last and Least of the Trilogy
**!!!Lot's of Spoilers!!!**
Before seeing the movie I read the review on Spider-Man 3 in Empire magazine that didn't exactly praise the movie. I thought "this is bull, this is the same magazine that gave 3 stars for GhostRider, the worst movie EVER after Catwoman
"
I am something of a comicbook fan, but distant enough to have an objective opinion not influenced by excitement. This is what I thought of the movie after I saw it. I didn't like the lazy titles in the beginning, they didn't really inform you if you hadn't seen the previous two movies about the events and were boring to go through if you had. After the titles the movie begging and I find myself watching events unfold in a fast paste not having a chance to think or feel anything as the plot unfolded. It also kind of felt that I had missed the beginning and walked into the movie 15minutes late, it started too roughly. I was OK with the actors, Tobey Maguire's face has grown a bit round, Kirsten Dunst has looked worst (in Spider-Man 2),I guess, James Franco was good considering what he was given to do (especially in the end of the movie), Thomas Haden Church as Sand Man was quite good I must say, though many people didn't like him in the movie, I even thought Sand Man was a lame choice of villain before I saw the movie, in the end I would say Sandman had some of the most interesting scenes, giving the movie flints of magic experienced in Spider-Man one and two. Topher Grace was good at giving his own -less muscular- version of Eddie Brock though in all Venom was a HUGE disappointment for later generation Spider-Man fans such as myself.
Too many villains they said. I thought "the more the merrier" before I saw the movie, but it wasn't
The evil black symbiotic blob takes over Peter Parker and turns him into a black suited Spider-Man, it was cool, though just turning his suit black with a slightly different spider symbol seemed a bit lazy on behalf of the costume department to me
Having the symbiot gives Peter more power as Spider-Man, but makes him arrogant as well
hmmm not evil enough! Then we go to Sand-Man, the murderer/robber with the heart of gold. I enjoyed the scene of him trying to literally put himself together when he is turned into a pile of sand, it was touching. MJ and Peter's relationship problems become boring, Gwen Stacy has a nice scene at first hanging and falling and being rescued, but after that she is forgotten and they don't even bother killing her off at the end as they do in the comicbook (no one left to kill her since Green Goblin isn't around anymore, she should have been in the first movie!) Though we saw "evil" Peter Parker, there wasn't much of evil Spider-Man. And that's one of the huge things missing in the movie, there was too much Peter Parker and not so much Spider-Man. Bad jokes, American flags waving in the background (could it be any HUGER?), retro badboy Peter shenanigans with bangs, all sins of this instalment. The killer of the movie for me which would have been make or brake was Venom. Why? Just because Sam Raimi was in his 50's by the time Venom was created in the comicbooks he didn't have to snob him that much. I found the special effects used to create Venom mediocre at best. He wasn't bulky enough, he wasn't evil and slimy enough he didn't kill enough, he wasn't in the movie enough and now he's dead, or at least Eddie, his host is. When he spoke with the "suit" on it seemed silly as the mouth wasn't designed to speak but only to chew bits off people and the scene where the slime withdraws to reveille Eddies face made me feel uncomfortable for how badly it was made. I wouldn't blame Topher's performance though he did well on his behalf. I didn't care for the new goblin or whatever Harry Osborn's character was supposed to be, I though his performance as a drunk and spiteful brat was much more powerful in the previous movie. He hit's his head and gets amnesia, he gets beat up by Spider-man and ends up with his face scarred, he dies, and still you feel nothing much
Finally, using MJ again as the victim and Spider-Man saving her yet again has started wearing thin.
The news that Sam Raimi and the leads of the cast would not return to do more spider-man movies use to worry me, now after having seen the latest movie I think maybe it would be for the best as they seem to be sick and tired of the franchise and did this last installment because of a three-movie contract they had signed up for and money!
I would suggest that Marvel spent some money on remaking this movie instead of remaking the Hulk, which I thought to be brilliant!
let's hope there is a fourth one with Carnage to do the alien symbiot's some justice!
4/10 because they could have done a hell lot better and they have!
300 (2006)
An Epic Must See!
This movie was BRILLIANT!
Being Greek myself I grew up with stories from the ancient world. Some of these historical events or mythological epics have been brought to the silver screen the past few years, but until now they have all fallen short to my expectations. Troy was a nice movie, Alexander, not so bad
but by far the best is 300. The movie, being based on a comic book, takes a historical event and fills it with mythological and rather poetic, at times, elements, like the scene at the oracle.
I was particularly happy with the acting; Butler becomes Leonidas. I was also pleased to see that the script lacked cheap American wise cracks and it also included a few phrases from the original story such as "Come and get them" referring to the Spartans' weapons.
The visuals are astonishing and the on and off slow motion scenes really hits the spot by giving impact to the scenes and could be seen as stills from the comic book when they are almost paused. The overall rendering of sepia contrasting with the crimson capes of the Spartans really sets a tone for the movie and the well designed costumes succeed in transferring us to this ancient world of heroes.
A full on epic movie with great music throughout making the spectacular visuals even more dramatic. There is more to it than just great visuals. A must see.
(Empire magazine gave it 3 stars out of five, the same as Ghost Rider. I beg to differ; Ghost Rider was a horrible move!)
Ghost Rider (2007)
Oh Marvel, not another one
I'll keep this short. This movie was really, really bad. It's main "sins" were the bad acting, the pointless moments of unfunny silliness and that it was developed for an audience of the age of 12 and a day. To be fair the visual effects were breathtaking and some fragments of a very few action scenes hinted on how the whole movie should have been made. But what do you expect from Nickolas Cage, come on, no really
Why do they still choose him to ruin movies? But it wasn't all him, oh no, this vanilla-dark tale of the flame skull bike riding legend was doomed for so many reasons. It's a story about someone who sells his soul to the devil, going for PG 12 says a lot about how it's going to turn out. STOP MAIKING MOVIES FOR 8 YEAROLDS! I am a comic book reader and I am not criticising the story it's self, yes, it's from a comic book, it's a comic book movie, but so is Spider-man or X-men or the HULK, yet this new Marvel movie pales in comparison.
To sum up, if you must, just because it's a comic book movie, go see it. But besides the respectable visuals don't expect to be moved or thrilled in any way.
Make mine Marvel? Not this time around I'm afraid
two stars ONLY for the visuals.
Superman Returns (2006)
just a tad OVERRATED
**SPOILER GALORE** OK, OK, Let's take it easy now. Superman Returns. The father of all super heroes in tights comes back for his latest adventure. A long awaited movie with promising names in production and cast, but just how high did the man of steel really fly? Generally, a very good movie and excellent in production. Yes, BUT was it as good as everyone said and hoped it would be? Personally I was somewhat disappointed. The good points were of course the stunning special effects, the very good acting of the leading characters and to narrow it down, a Brandon Routh worthy of carrying the Big "S" on his chest. Throughout the movie though I couldn't help but compare some parts with the Spiderman movies. First, at no point did we feel any deep relationship of the mother and son reuniting, not because of bad acting, but simply because they didn't get enough time together on screen (unlike Spider-man with his beloved aunt May). Furthermore, I couldn't help but feel an uncomfortable campness in the scenes where Kevin Spacey appeared as Lex Luthor. Again, not due to bad acting, but there seemed to be a less than successful attempt to bridge Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor with this new movie. Lex Luthor simply wasn't evil enough, he did not give the impression that he was a man capable of killing "Billions!". What was missing from this movie was the building of suspense. There were some missed opportunities in this movie. Clark Kent had no personality whatsoever and though his character is meant to be that, it could have been presented in a better way. The rivalry between Lois Lane's fiancé and Superman was really mild. And the villains weren't as serious as everyone else in the movie. But never the less, the overall feeling of the movie was great. There were quite a few breathtaking scenes, a twist with Lois Lane's child being Superman's (which kind of left us with a feeling that Lois is using her fiancé and that Superman is a negligent father though). All in all, Amazing Superman, Astonishing special effects, Astounding movie. A triple A. go see it!
13 Tzameti (2005)
Proper Hard-Core
A day ago I came across this movie on DVD. It was black and white and in French, so I said "oh, what the hell
" I had never heard of it, but thought it looked like a proper hardcore movie to keep me on the edge for a couple of hours. It begins by introducing the main character and his family's state of poverty. Having successfully thrown you into a world of misery it justifies later on the choice of the main character to go along with a game of Russian roulette he has stumbled upon on a desperate search of money (though it's not really much of a choice).
It's got strong images and elements (like the light-bulb signal) and being shot in black and white it enhances the harsh feeling of this film. It gives you the information you need for the characters' motives and makes you believe that this could actually be happening somewhere in the world. Especially enjoyed the acting of the instructor of the death game. If you like corrupted, filthy-rich men wasting their money just to see poor people die , then also try watching "Hostel".
To sum up, it's a straight story, without any attempts to be clever or profound and it shows just how much a life is worth, without being preachy.
Cry Wolf (2005)
It's one of those, you know
I saw this movie on DVD one day that I was bored and had nothing better to do. When it was over I realised that I was wrong, I could have stared at my white ceiling until my eyes hurt. It would have been much more fun. Of course I knew what I was getting myself into as I have seen many movies of this sort, just for the fun of feeling numb without taking any drugs. Spoilers ahead, be warned
It starts off with a boring, cliché scene of your everyday bimbo being chased at night in the forest, trying to hide from the person chasing her in the bushes, but somehow making so much noise with the leaves around her that you start suspecting she has a death wish
And So On
. Generally, the lack of character development and the overused stereotypes of "the rich kids" who are so spoilt and bored that they could kill or just pretend to and the "poor girl" trying to hide her background from the rest just to fit in and the "new kid from Europe" who's dad doesn't care about him has you wandering if you remembered to call you're uncle Bob this Christmas. They are characters we've all seen before and still don't care about, and in this movie they are not even presented that good. And what's up with Bon Jovi in this film? During his scenes I couldn't stop singing Bon Jovi tunes in the back of my head. Though he wasn't half bad, they should have altered his look a bit to kill the feeling that you got a Bon Jovi Live DVD. It kills the illusion to see a rock star out of the blue
No suspense, No climax, No blood or gore (come on, of course you were expecting some in such a film, that's why you got it
!), overused "it was just a joke" excuse after every serial killer attack and an effort in vein for a last twist, which, after all those twists during the whole film, the twist would have been if there wasn't one in the end. You might still want to see it, but my advice would be "no"
I mean really, no, no really, come on, nooooo
..