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Comments
I enjoyed it but was underwhelmed. The Fatal Five are a pack of dull dogs. They provided good fight scenes but there's nothing interesting about them beyond their designs.
The PG-13 dialogue was more juvenile than adult, especially since nothing else about this movie was PG-13. And even the lighter lines were off. Hearing an alien Green Lantern say "fartnuggets" was no less jarring than nails on a chalkboard.
It's nice seeing the old Justice League again, but they're just garnish on the Jessica Cruz/Starboy salad and I wasn't sold on its taste. I applaud the movie for tackling serious issues like mental illness, depression, and anxiety, but the selection and handling of those issues felt trendy and calculated. The fate of Starboy was similarly mechanical (he was already a superhero!). The film's tendency to reach for gravitas without earning it is exemplified when Jessica Cruz quotes Martin Luther King.
The fight scenes and other action sequences move well and fast, and I'm guessing the storyboards would be a pleasure to look at. But there's some clumsy animation involving the cardboard 747 saved by Mr. Terrific. Several of the digital pans and zooms are similarly off.
From what I understand, the decision to use Timm's Justice League Unlimited designs was taken at the last minute. He said if the decision had been made further in advance then the film would have had a much different story.
I've seen this film for the third time now and after each viewing it boggles me more why it is so disliked. It's an elegant, beautifully shot, well-scored, glamorous, old-fashioned, Euro-flavoured mystery-comedy caper with an excellent cast set in two of the world's most gorgeous cities. It's also directed by the man behind the excellent Werk ohne Autor and, even more so, the brilliant Das Leben der Anderen.
Apart from all that, there is a lot to enjoy as a Bond fan too:
- the obvious one is the great Timothy Dalton, popping up to steal two scenes.
- Steven Berkoff, Octopussy's mad General Orlov, portrays the main antagonist.
- The two-faced Roman God Janus is referenced here, just like in GoldenEye.
- Venice, brought to life in all its marvellous glory, is a Bond staple location, featuring in From Russia with Love, Moonraker and Casino Royale.
It makes you think that director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck must be a Bond fan. These 007 references always help of course, but having said that I love this film regardless. It's not heavy on mindless, noisy action but moves along on an easy-going, relaxing pace, dripped in atmosphere and eye-popping shot compositions while Mr. Depp leaves his usual overacting behind which results in a likeable performance, and Miss Jolie shines as always as the graceful femme fatale that carries this picture.
Afraid I dont share your enthusiasm for it!
Only worth watching for Dalton, who even in a minor role, steals the film!
Hammer's first forary into Dracula, and what a glorious slice of gothic horror it is.
The Raid (2011)
I was tentative in in watching this, in case it didn't live up to it's reputation. It did.... it most certainly did. This film was crammed full of moments I had to rewind to see it happen again.
You won't have long to wait, I bought the double pack. B-) Brave of Evans to make a sequel, it has a LOT to live up to.
Fantastic! If you are open to more Asian suggestions, I would go with The Man From Nowhere, The Chaser, The Yellow Sea and I Saw The Devil. I apologize if I named some you have already seen.
I haven't seen any of those. But i'll them to my watch list.
Really? Ok, Raid 2, the gauntlet is down. We'll see if you live up to your predecessor.
I've never understood what's so special about this film. Yeah, youngsters "finding" themselves and whatnot, but the pacing is way off, the acting at times really bad and the script paper-thin. I also disagree with the label 'comedy'. What or who is funny here? Nelson? No, he's annoying. What makes this such a 'classic' in the eyes of many is beyond me. One of those controversial opinions, I'm sure. :)
I think a lot of John Hughes films are overrated and that's my generation.
I guess I like Ferris Bueller and Weird Science, Planes Train and Automobiles, ... But that's pretty much it. Pretty In Pink was a tough one for me to sit through. Or could it be I'm not particularly hot on Molly Ringwald? :D
Quite a few of John Hughes Directed and Produced films were coming of age films, I just never really related to them, looking back I think much of it is cliche and stereotypes.
I must admit when i saw this on its release i absolutely loved it (Back when i was young..) It's probably not quite as good as i remember but i still like it a lot. I thought Judd Nelson was fantastic in it.
Ferris Bueller on the other hand i detested from my first viewing. He's such an obnoxious, Know it all character.
Favourite John Hughes has to be Planes, Trains and Automobiles...
@LeonardPine
"Where's your other hand?"
"Between two pillows."
"THOSE AREN'T PILLOWS!"
:)) So many great moments @Last_Rat_Standing
I actually enjoy watching this at Christmas even though it's set at Thanksgiving. Must be all that snow!
I remember watching for the first time as a kid and during that scene with Steve Martin dropping F bombs at the rental car lady. I was like no way my parents will let me watch it again
I remember seeing the PG version of this scene on TV many years ago. I think they must have filmed a softer version for TV, because it seemed like original dialogue.
My favourite scene in the movie.
The lady on the receiving end of Steves abuse is priceless. "Can I help you?....HOW can I help you?"
Surprisingly good. Recommended.
Interesting, but I doubt it will be as good. I have been immensely bored by Tom Hanks lately.
PT&A is a good film.
Dracula Prince Of Darkness
Christopher Lee returns to the title role, but we lose Peter Cushign at the same time. One of the better films in the series. Well... on saying that, there are only two Hammer: Dracula films that I don't care for.
We begin, as all good Superman movies do, in the Soviet Union in 1947. There, we meet a young boy being tormented by bullies, but a girl beats them up so they run away. This boy is obviously Superman, but he refuses to use his powers to stop them because he's afraid of what he could do to them. We flash forward to Superman's adulthood, and Primier Stalin is showing off his Superman's accomplishments for all the world to see. What follows is 70 some-odd minutes of this 84 minute movie's runtime devoted to an argument of Soviet politics versus American politics, and while I do feel it gets bogged down somewhat, it never truly lost me. The movie finds a nice, natural way to shoehorn in as many new versions of classic heroes as possible. We get a pretty normal Wonder Woman, but because she forms a bond with Soviet Superman, she ends up with a new worldview. We meet Soviet Batman, who is a cold-blooded killer who just opposes Superman's despotic rule. Lex Luthor is still an enemy of Superman, but because he's an American scientist in an age where tensions between nations could very well ignite a nuclear war, this makes sense. Late in the movie, the US government finds a way to mass produce and weaponize Green Lantern rings, so we get Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner and John Stewart all at once. Maybe 30 minutes in, Brainiac shows up, bottling Stalingrad like it's going out of style. The movie showcases a lot of interesting things with how these characters could be but aren't different from their standard counterparts. Superman, growing up in Communist Russia, wants equality. But, because he's still Superman, he only ever kills when it's abosolutely necessary. Batman is still a crusader for the people, though he goes after the State rather than the criminals because he believes the State are criminals. The art style is visually pleasing, mixing somewhat the Bruce Timm-esque art style of the DCAU and that of the Phil Bourassa-designed Young Justice/DCAMU. The cast is once again a high point, with Jason Isaacs taking the role of Superman, Roger Craig Smith reprising his Batman Ninja and Arkham Origins role of Batman, Vanessa Marshall returning from Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths and The Flashpoint Paradox as Wonder Woman, and Diedrich Bader turning in a very unique performance of Lex Luthor. One of the best efforts of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies line. Included with the film is a DC Showcase short on The Phantom Stranger. It's a bite-sized tale about the Stranger battling a demon or something named Seth, who saps life force from 70s teens who would not look out of place in a Scooby-Doo episode. It's a nice little film, but not at all necessary to watch.
Justice League Dark: Apokolips War
What the f***... We kick things off in this slaughterfest with Constantine and Zatanna having a nice, peaceful moment, and it is literally the last one in the movie. Things really begin when Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman explain to the rest of the League that they're going to launch an attack on Darkseid. Those same things go significantly downhill after that and Earth ends up a Darkseid-ruled hellscape for two years. Some of the League survives, some of the League is corrupted and mind controlled by Darkseid, most of the league dies savagely. We then catch back up with a now perpetually drunk Constantine and Etrigan, who are pub crawling through all of London now that there's nothing to live for. They're found by Clark Kent, now afflicted by a Kryptonite brand that's seeped through his blood and taken his powers away (honestly, though, the full beard and glowing green eyes are a good look for him), and an emaciated Raven, suffering from Papa Trigon's constant bitching in her head. What follows is this Motley Crue's journey to defeat Darkseid once and for all. Included throughout are deaths so cartoonishly violent that I honestly think this is only a Justice League Dark movie to have an excuse to make the deaths so cartoonishly violent. Got a favorite character in the DCAMU? Too bad. Damn near every character over the course of this universe shows up in this movie, be it with a speaking role, a silent cameo, or just to show their mutilated corpse on the ground in a puddle of blood. This is a harsh, harsh movie, and nobody comes out of it unscathed. That said, the animation in the DCAMU has never looked better, with fluid fight scenes that never feel too long or too intense to pay attention. The pacing in this movie is also probably the tightest it's ever been, with no seconds wasted through its 90 minute runtime. While this won't be the last of DC's animated feature films, it is the last of the DC Animated Movie Universe, and I make no exaggeration that they saved the best for last. Also included is a DC Showcase short about Adam Strange. I know so very little about Adam Strange that this short could have just slapped his name on it without showing him that I wouldn't have known the difference. Hell, I still don't know if this short really told me anything about him, other than he dresses like the Rocketeer and flies around space. Either way, not a bad little short.
Alright, y'all, that's it. I'm caught up now on the DC Universe Animated Original Movies, all 40-some-odd. At least until Superman: Man of Tomorrow comes out later this year. Hope you've enjoyed reading me ramble on about them when you could be reading reviews of things like Citizen Kane or The Human Centipede. In the (not so) immortal words of Etrigan the Demon: "And so it ends, my race is run. I regret nothing, it was fun."
I love the series as well, though my taste in them is rather unconventional. Which Dracs do you dislike?