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Reviews
Mulan II (2004)
It's another Disney sequel...
Rule: When Disney finds a wonderful story, animates it superbly, creates a beautiful soundtrack, adds some humor and magic, and gets truly fantastic films, they are driven by greed for even MORE money and make a lame, stupid, third-rate sequel with nothing magical about it.
That said, Mulan 2 is the least horrible Disney sequel I've seen. Better than such monstrosities as Lion King 2, the two Aladdin sequels, Pocahontas 2 (shudder), but that is not saying much at all. It's lame, it's flat, it's tripe, and it will ruin the original Mulan if you let it. The characters are not engaging, the plot is boring and old, the humor is non-existent, and it hurts to watch on many levels.
It's my recommendation you completely stay away from this, but if you absolutely must watch it, keep in mind that this is a Disney sequel and really has very little to do with the original Mulan. Have very low expectations, forget the original movie, and you might be able to not hate it.
Alexander (2004)
Too much talk, little cohesion...
Talk, talk, talk... is this an action film or a documentary? There was so much being said, too many people talking without doing, and discussing things the audience is guaranteed to have no clue about. The action that actually happened was disjointed - if you're expecting an epic you'll be disappointed. It's not much more than a collection of adventures in one man's life, certainly not an epic tale of a hero uniting the known world. They didn't show a lot of story in the movie, but instead had gaps between major battles or campaigns filled in with an old man reminiscing about how great Alexander was.
The action that did come often left me completely lost, or completely disgusted. Major overuse of blood and gore. It jumped back and forth a lot, often with no seeming purpose. He would go here, go there, go everywhere, and you would have no idea how he got there or why anyone was reacting the way they did. Three hours is not too long for a movie, but it's too long when the scenes are being wasted on talk completely unrelated to the rest of the movie, or long drawn-out scenes stretching a few seconds of action into ten minutes of people walking around trying to be meaningful to pompous music.
The one thing I liked was that it did a fantastic job of portraying a very human Alexander, beset by very human concerns, and making him very easy to relate to. There weren't any glaring historical errors that I noticed. You couldn't help but like him, even if he did have some ridiculous statements and do the most ridiculous things. Despite trying to conquer and kill everyone, he still managed to convince himself, and almost convince the viewer, that his was a noble quest to free and unite all the peoples. But overall, in terms of outstanding performances, Angelina Jolie stole the movie for me. I was a lot more attracted to her than any of the males in the movie (I'm female). Her performance was superb and definitely held up an otherwise shaky movie.
I have no intention of seeing this again (I saw it for free a week before it comes out), and wouldn't recommend spending eight bucks on this movie, but it's worth renting when it comes out on DVD.
The Second Part of King Henry the Fourth, including his death and the coronation of King Henry the Fifth (1979)
An excellent play and a sound interpretation of it.
The movie has a really good cast that understands its lines and knows how to speak Shakespeare. From the realistic performance of the dying King Henry, to the characteristically bumbling Falstaff, to the brave and valiant Prince Hal, I thoroughly enjoyed their performances.
This version is surprisingly good as a stand-alone movie - although it is based completely on the play (a third part out of four), it manages to give the viewer an understanding of what was before it and what is to come. It helps to know the background or have read the play, but I didn't find it necessary to read along to their lines in order to understand what was happening.
I most enjoyed the scene of the death of the King and least enjoyed the idiotic messing around of Falstaff - but I have to give credit to the director; those were the very feelings I had about the play. Overall, it manages to be more than a decent interpretation of Shakespeare and a good way to spend two hours of your time.
The DVD, though, is not so great: the sound is pretty bad, the chapters are arranged annoyingly, and it occasionally flickers (not due to my player). I recommend watching the VHS, an inherently inferior format though it mostly is.
Labyrinth (1986)
Wonderful movie...
I first saw this movie in high school, on a bus trip, in a period of my life when I hated all movies and thought they were worthless. Nevertheless, it made so large an impression on me-- despite the fact that the fact that I had been paying it no attention, and trying to study-- that I've always since remembered it. The instant I realized that this film is called "The Labyrinth" and stars 'that-one-chick-who-was-in-Beautiful-Mind,' I had to immediately see it again.
It's an amazing tapestry of rich characters, original ideas, and brilliant sets. The acting is superb- if Sarah (Jennifer Connelly) annoys some people, it's *because* her acting is superb. She's supposed to be a whiny little teenager. And the Goblin King (David Bowie) is at his best. He's perfect for the part, and his songs range from breath taking to haunting to unutterably beautiful.
The film includes funny moments, scary moments, silly moments, and heart-wrenching moments. Every piece of it is woven together to make a truly superb movie. I enjoyed every minute watching this film, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun and moving adventure. But I do recommend it ONLY if you have an imagination- the ending seems to baffle those that have no depth of mind. Unexplained details and puzzling, unresolved mysteries only add to the wonder and magic of this film.