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The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)
Flawed Kid's Movie
'The Chronicles of Narnia' tells a rather straightforward fairy tale about a hidden magical land, where a group of children from war-ridden London experience a series of adventures. The story is very simple and should be very easy to follow for even smaller children. Older kids and adults might be easily bored by the overlong movie, however. Director Adamson, who previously made the rather entertaining Shrek movie, does a reasonable job making engaging CGI creatures, but does not really get adequate performances out of the child actors. He directs without much flair and his style is visually underwhelming. The editing also leaves a lot to be desired, pacing often slow and some scenes are awkwardly put together. The whole film has a rushed and unpolished feel to it as if made on a tight schedule. The CGI is not the best, but certainly adequate for this type of movie. Finally, the much talked about Christian aspects of 'Narnia' do feel a little clumsy, but they should not distract/offend people who do not like overtly religious topics in movies. I rate this film 3/10, the kids liked it slightly better but were also quite glad when it finally was over.
Oldeuboi (2003)
Good beginning, weak ending
'Oldboy' has a very intriguing premise: A man has been locked up for 15 years in a private prison by unknown people. No reason has been given for this punishment. After he is finally released, he tries to find out who imprisoned him and what their motives are. The first part of the movie is very good. The plot is a little bizarre but you simply want to know what is going on. Once the puzzle start coming together, things are falling apart. The movie may still work for some as a morality tale, but those who desire at least a little bit of realism (and the first half of the movie certainly encourages this expectation) will be sorely disappointed. This is certainly not the first movie that uses hypnotism as a cheap and highly unrealistic plot device for mind control, but in the 21st century one should expect the authors to know better. This is a shame, as direction, photography and acting are fine. With a better resolution of the plot and a slightly less playful style this could have been a winner.
Team America: World Police (2004)
Dull and unfunny
I really enjoy 'South Park', but this movie is very disappointing. There are hardly any worthwhile jokes in the whole movie, not even the songs are entertaining. The makers of this movie decided for the cheap laughs by playing up clichés and prejudice and attacking outspoken (critically thinking) Hollywood celebrities. At the same time, the movie itself is very shallow and does not even attempt to provide any political insight, which I consider to be borderline hypocritical. The sets are nicely done, the puppets are fun at first but the novelty wears thin fast. All in all this film is a complete failure, both artistically and at the box office. I was glad when it was finally over.
The Village (2004)
Awful
This movie tells a boring and extremely far-fetched story. The plot does not really lend itself to the 'twist ending' approach that is a unfortunate trademark of the director. I like Shyamalan's style, but here it simply doesn't work. His earlier 'Signs' also suffered from a weak script, but at least the movie was well directed. Here, he is simply overconfident bordering on arrogant with his direction, complete with a vanity cameo. The figures simply don't hold enough interest, and the somber mood of the villagers simply does not make any sense in the context of the story as it is revealed in the end. The only standout is Bryce Dallas Howard, who may not yet be a great actress, but possesses a great screen presence full of dignity and grace.
I hope that Shyamalan will take his time and find a script that is more suitable to his style for his next feature. 'The Village' can only be considered to be complete failure.
L.A. Confidential (1997)
Decent movie, lousy adaptation
'LA Confidential' the movie has very little in common with Ellroy's book. The plot has been altered, the character's motivation has changed and a Hollywood ending has been tacked on. A very intriguing story about passion, obsession and loyalty has been dumbed down to a level of an ordinary TV cop show. Screenwriter Helgeland did even worse things to Michael Connelly's 'Blood Work', but I am still shocked that this adaptation Ellroy's book won an Oscar. Still, the movie has great performances, good direction, but lacks a decent plot, character development and suspense. If you liked the movie, do yourself a favor and read Ellroy's novel. You'll be amazed how mercilessly the book was butchered. This could have been a great movie if the makers would realize that not everybody has the attention span of a goldfish and that some people can actually follow a complicated plot. Lad, grand it ain't!
Haute tension (2003)
Pretty pictures, lots of blood, no suspense
'Haute Tension' is a French slasher film that has a great look and an effective soundtrack. The script and the direction, however, are very poor and unimaginative. The movie never manages to generate suspense, let alone 'haute tension'. The only effective scene is shamelessly lifted from William Lustig's 'Maniac', except in the context of this movie it makes no sense at all (even before/after taking into account the silly ending). Gianetto De Rossi keeps the blood flowing like in the good old days(sometimes rather sloppily), but this movie needed a more competent director to make it all worthwhile. Now it is just gore for gore's sake. At least the movie avoids going for cheap laughs, so I'll give it an extra point. 2/10.
Blind Horizon (2003)
Deja Vu
A man gets shot, wakes up from a coma suffering from amnesia. He tries to figure out who he is and why he feels that the president's life is in danger. This not overly original plot is rather awkwardly handled by director Micheal Haussman, who makes sure that you figure out what is really happening pretty fast. This just proves that music video directors are not necessarily great story tellers. Decent performances by most of the cast, but Kilmer's is not very believable. Still, the movie is watchable, though it clearly has a 'direct to DVD' feel to it.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)
Terrible mess
I never thought that a remake of TCSM might work, but the trailer was so well done that I actually looked forward to seeing it. The result is, however, a total disaster. This movie lacks suspense, terror and athomosphere and tries to make up for it with massive amounts of gore (which ironically is missing in the original version) and shiny music video pictures. The sets look like movie sets, everything is so carfully and stylishly run down and gritty that it simply does not look real.
The direction is poor, there is no obvious structure to the individual scenes, as if the director was not even trying to create suspense. Not even the cheap scares are effective. The writing is also less than wonderful, they should have stayed closer to the original script. None of the changes add anything to the story, they feel like cheap gimmicks. As if that wasn't bad enough, the movie was boring. Simply boring. The only redeeming feature is Jessica Biel in a tight top.
Equilibrium (2002)
Embarrassing
'Equilibrium' is a highly unoriginal movie and features some of the most embarrassing moments in action movie history. I understand that this movie is not striving for realism, but at least the events should be plausible within its own 'world'. Some of the gunfights are downright hilarious. I can tolerate 'over the top' action, but this is simply silly. The sword fight is quite good though. Still, despite its flaws (or maybe because of them), the movie is reasonably entertaining. According to imdb, director Wimmer is co-directing his next feature with Robert Altman. For some reason I am really intrigued by this...
Blood Work (2002)
Terrible adaptation of a good book
I understand that in translating book to film the story has to be shortened and 'dumbed down' to a certain extend, but this adaptation sets a new low. Why did Mr. Helgeland make the killer a different character? The plot and the clues make little sense that way. The new and definitely not improved plot is highly predictable and littered with clues that are far from subtle.
I usually like Eastwood's style as a director, but he is not on top of his game this time. Some of the scenes are so badly directed/edited/acted that it is painful to watch. As someone already pointed out, the doughnut scene is a particular highlight.
2/10, maybe slightly higher if you don't know the book.
Minority Report (2002)
Could have been good...
...but unfortunately this movie is ruined by unsure direction, bad design, mediocre special effects and ill timed attempts at humor. Good old Spielberg just can't resist to be sappy and sentimental. Learn to trust the story you're telling, Steven! I think this would have worked much better on a smaller budget.
Schindler's List (1993)
Well intended, but extremely flawed
By making this movie, Spielberg reportedly wanted to increase awareness of the holocaust. In this regard, he probably succeeded. But that should not cloud the fact that this is a very mediocre to bad movie. The acting is, save for Kingsley, stale and in some instances, such as the train to Auschwitz scene, almost aching to an Ed Wood movie (I assume these women were not professional actors). The story is clumsily told, the symbolism (red dress) heavy handed and the psychology of some characters (such as Goetz's scene in front of the mirror) very simple minded. A few scenes did work for me. I thought that the shower scene was well done and intense, and I do not feel that it was too exploitative in the context of the movie. Also, the shot of the smoking chimney was eerie, but this has been lifted from other movies. What really did bring the film to its knees was the speech at the end. My god! This was even worse than Steven Seagal's at the end of 'Fire Down Below'.
If you want to learn about the holocaust, pick up a history book or watch some of the many documentaries on the subject. It will not be pleasant, but you'll learn so much more than from this movie.