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Reviews
Willow (1988)
Too cute!
Oh dear, this movie was too cute! I just melt over little people, and Willow waddling around clutching a baby over half his size just made me wanna go "aaaaaaww!" As coming from the age of CG and multi-million dollar effects budgets, I suppose I have been too spoiled to complain about how absolutely TERRIBLE the effects and costumes and several of the sets were, but I stuck it in there anyway. As per the acting, I have never been a huge fan of Val Kilmer and, while he got the nutter part right on, I thought every other aspect of his character was shallow and hardly played.
*SLIGHT SPOILER WARNING, ALTHOUGH NOT PLOT RELEVANT* with regards to the rather, uh, RELUCTANT romance that took place between him and Sorsha, I was practically ready to JUMP OUT THE WINDOW to make it stop- HORRIBLE.
In Warwick Davis' case, although he offered more depth of character than Kilmer, I found his voice- inflection, sincerity, etc- quite unbelievable, and his face never seemed to change expressions throughout practically the whole film- but I suppose allowances must be made for his age and inexperience- he was only 18 when the film was made. Now, I don't even KNOW what actors played the little fairy sidekicks, but they cracked me up more than absolutely anything! I suppose it would be a rather diminuative experience for a male to play a fairy, but they seemed to genuinely have fun doing it, and it showed.
But oh, don't even get me STARTED on the script! It may have been low-budget and from the 80's, but to me there is NEVER an excuse for having a script THAT BAD. Perhaps time has made it more acute in my memory, but somehow in my head I keep hearing Willow shouting and Madmartigan, after he just saved his tiny butt from being killed by some form of ruffian or other, "What were you thinking?! You NEVER drive that fast with an infant!" *shudder* I suppose I can't FULLY blame Kilmer- I think Denzel Washington would be hard pressed with a script like that.
When it came to aspects such as cinematography and music, there was nothing special or out of the ordinary. I also quite enjoyed the fact that all the outdoor scenes were actually OUT DOORS, something that was not done far too often in the 80's and earlier.
While, from a critical and technical point of view this movie is nothing too great, it gets all its points on sheer charm and the genuine enjoyment one gets from such an innocent, sweet movie. Certainly more enjoyable if you're watching it with a bunch of your like-minded female friends, and a GREAT summer movie.
Now, I know loyal fans will absolutely KILL me for saying this, but I really do hope someone will a remake of this film, with minimal to no plot changes, updated effects and IMPROVED script. The only problem with remakes is that you can't use the same actors, and that to me is the greatest loss.
All around: Definitely worth seeing as it is pretty much a classic, and definitely more worth it with your friends.
Patch Adams (1998)
Perfect
I can think of absolutely NOTHING bad to say about this movie; and believe me, for me, that is RARE. As Patch, the ex-psychiatric-turned-brilliant-med-student, Robin Williams has displayed that he has talents that go far beyond the goof prancing around in drag. He adds the perfect blend of humour, drama, and real feeling to the picture- which I suppose some cynisists would call "hamminess" or "corniness", neither of which I see in this film. I do not know the story of the true Patch Adams, so I cannot comment on its historical accuracy, but as just a film in and of itself, I say it's wonderful. The script is neither over-done nor left to rot, but seems to hit the perfect note of helping the actors but not attempting to do the acting for them. Monica Potter was excellent as the defensive, book-worm, hesitant girl-friend who half-reluctantly helps Patch with his unethical schemes. She also brings a note of tragedy to the film- which I will say nothing more about ;) For cinematography and music, this film is fairly straight-forward, but it was pretty well unnecessary in this case. All around- although I hate to use the VERY old cliché- it made me laugh and cry.
Cold Squad (1998)
Good, but not amazing
While I enjoyed this series in that it was Canadian, well acted, fairly well scripted and with a good plot, it is my personal opinion that it fails to reach the standards set by such series as CSI and Law and Order. The over-involvement of the squad's personal lives is what I think galled me the most. Don't get me wrong, I like a little personal spice thrown in here and there, but it often seemed to be more about the investigators than the investigation. But hey, if that's what you're going for, then this is certainly the show for you. I'm certainly not a expert, having only seen one season, but I did see the entire first season, and what I saw there mostly pleased me. There was a good, solid plot; a script that is much more high-brow and MUCH less painfully corny than the twenty million other hack cop shows being aired; More than decent actors who are decently but not unrealistically beautiful and who wear clothes detectives would actually WEAR; and for the fellow science nuts out there, forensics is added JUST enough to make it interesting from that aspect. All in all, I'd say, for a Canadian thing, its pretty darn amazing- but out of the whole world, I've seen better.