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cpdickenson
Reviews
Hulk (2003)
Good action/terrible plot
Again, shocked at the other reviews on this website have to post some comments: p.s doesn't really contain a spoiler but does give away a little plot info.
1. Why is everyone so shocked and pleased that the film dealt with the struggle that the Hulk has going on inside him? Isn't that the basic premise of the character - a basically mild mannered man trying to control his rage because then he goes out of control and becomes the Hulk. I remember that well from the t.v series and though I haven't read many Hulk comics I'm sure its in there too. Yes, the film does that rather well but if it didn't it wouldn't be a Hulk film.
2. Am I the only one who found the storyline confusing? The whole thing about Bruce Banner's relationship with his father is just bizarre. Yes it explains the Hulk's background but what is his father trying to achieve when he comes back to find Bruce? It's never made very clear what his aims are beyond his own self preservation - which hardly makes for a deep character, and what the military are aiming for at the end when they let Bruce and Dad meet up is also mystifying to say the least.
3.The relationship Bruce's girlfriend has with her father is equally bizarre and frankly tedious. The man agonises over how he has to track down and kill the Hulk because it will break his daughter's heart but he does it anyway, or tries to frequently. She gets angry with him but keeps helping him and in the end they reach some kind of understanding though neither has changed.
4. Basically the storyline just goes nowhere - it can't seem to make its mind up over a direction so it just settles for not having one. The film isn't really a kid's film which in a way I liked, in a way found a shame because it should be. It isn't because of the violence that it isn't - its because the storyline is just gibberish and I am sure that children would find the beginning extremely confusing.
5. That all said, once the film gets going, the action sequences are fantastic - really does bring the comic book atmosphere to life! Really enjoyed that. Hoping for a sequel, really am, but with a straightforward well developed story story.
The Skeleton Key (2005)
Disappointing, predictable, not scary
Having just finished watching the Skeleton Key I decided to look up some reviews on the internet to see if I was alone in feeling disappointed. Apparently I am. The rest of the reviews on this website are nothing but praise. So is it my problem or is it just a bad film? I'll leave you to judge but here's what I think. (sorry if this is all very incoherent but I am ill at the moment). I'll just tackle a few of the main areas for which the film received praise:
(1) Originality - Well, the film was not very original at all - a young woman arrives at a "creepy house" where she is going to be nursing an old man, left paralysed from a stroke. She is going to be staying there with his extremely weird old wife. We know that there is going to be something creepy going on in the house and the stage is set for lots of stock-in-trade horror film moments. Close ups of the heroin creeping around with build up music to tell us something bad is going to happen so that something moving into shot makes us jump, only to find out predictably time and again that it was only another REAL person and not a ghost at all. How many times have we seen that trick? Is that creepy? Er not really. The film is all bound up with witchcraft amongst the black community in the U.S. south. Er, doesn't that seem to ring a bell somewhere?
(2) Creepy/full of suspense
There are plenty of hints that something supernatural and terrible is going on in the house and the whole time I was itching for something really scary or atmospheric to happen but sadly it didn't. And the promise in the film's title that the skeleton key is going to be the key to this scariness is also never really realised. Sure, the key opens a "creepy room" in the house but somehow the creepiness fails to be creepy some how.
Predictably as with most horror films as we move into the last act it turns out that in spite of the reality of the supernatural threat the real threat that the heroin has to deal with is evil in human form. Why is this always the case in horror films? Its only ever been done well once and that is in the Shining where it didn't really matter that the real threat to the heroes came from Jack Nicholson's character and not from the ghosts at the end because it was at precisely that point that his wife also began seeing the ghosts and realised the evil that she was surrounded by.
(3) Good twist at the end Is there a twist at the end? No, not really. I won't give any spoiler but a lot of people on these reviews have been talking about the ending being so great. Well, yes, it was unconventional but in a time when twist-endings are 10 a penny, if you're waiting for a twist then you can probably work out what is coming from half way through the film. Admittedly it is a little better than the endings of Mike "Night" (is his new middle name a nod of respect to the influence of the Nightrider on his films?) Shayalman - who has managed to do the unthinkable and make "the twist" into something predictable. Maybe his next film won't have one and that'll be "the twist". His films all feel like he thought of "the twist" first and then thought of a story to lead up to that - Six Sense was alright but Unbreakable, The Village etc all have that feel. Anyway, Skeleton Key, yes. Its alright but not great.
If you want to be scared watch The Ring instead. And comparisons with Rosemary's Baby - please, do me a favour.
Reindeer Games (2000)
Terrible film
Absolutely ridiculous film - so many twists and turns and all so somebody can construct a ridiculously over-complicated scam to rob a casino when in the end all they really need for the job are enough guns to kill absolutely EVERYBODY. Highlight of the film - Afleck's "disguise" - so that no-one will recognize him he dons a ten gallon hat and a mustache like the edge from U2. Works a treat. Looks just like Afleck wearing a ten gallon hat and a moustache like the Edge. Great for laughs though not meant to be funny I think. Most tedious feature of the film - the gang keeps threatening to kill Afleck and each time he escapes them they meat out some justice on him in the form of violence. However, considering they never do actually kill him it becomes painfully apparent just how empty their threats are - to the point where the viewer no longer has to sit on the edge of his seat but can sit back safe in the knowledge that these criminals will never kill Afleck no matter what he does to them. Why, is never completely clear. They probably just liked the mustache I guess.