Rodent's Reviews

"""" Hulk Smashhhh."""

09-21-15

Originally Posted by The Rodent

I saw it on TV a couple times and had it recorded on the DVR, but I got hold of a DVD today and got to see the whole thing without adverts and bits cut out.

Glad my review works though, I was worried people would say I was harping about it too much.
It's really hard to find any fault with it, which is why it gets the 101%.

Its deserves all that praise mate. I actually think the movie is underated and kind of got lost back when it was released.

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I Am Rick Cottontree

09-21-15

I've seen a review saying "all the Rocky's rolled into one"

Erm, yeah, it's on a totally different level to Rocky. It's not even on the same planet as the Rocky series.

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Optimus

"""" Hulk Smashhhh."""

09-21-15

Originally Posted by The Rodent

I've seen a review saying "all the Rocky's rolled into one"

Erm, yeah, it's on a totally different level to Rocky. It's not even on the same planet as the Rocky series.

I love the hotel room scene, very powerful moment.

The Rodent

I Am Rick Cottontree

09-21-15

Yeah that's a very touching scene. Gives massive depth to their past.

Also Nolte while trying to talk to Brendan outside the house. Heartbreaking yet understandable from Brendan's side of things, but Nolte nails it at the end of the scene when he sees the kids inside the house looking out.

The Rodent

I Am Rick Cottontree

10-19-15

Well, it was released today on DVD... may as well get a review done...

Jurassic World coming up...

The Rodent

I Am Rick Cottontree

10-19-15

Review #244, Movie #315

Year Of Release
2015

Director/s
Colin Trevorrow

Producer/s
Frank Marshall, Patrick Crowley

Writer/s
Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Derek Connolly
And the late great Michael Crichton

Music
Michael Giacchino, John Williams

Cast
Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Vincent D�Onofrio, Ty Simpkins, Nick Robinson, Jake Johnson, Lauren Lapkus, Brian Tee, Omar Sy with Irrfan Khan and BD Wong

Notes And Trivia
The movie contains numerous nods to the original movie/s, including a statue of Hammond (also as a nod to late actor Sir Attenborough), Dallas Howard�s wardrobe being almost completely white like Hammonds in JP, a book one of the characters is reading called �God Creates Dinosaurs� with an image of Ian Malcolm on the cover, the Gallimimus Stampede scene was filmed in the exact location as the one we say in JP, one of the original Jeeps from JP with the number 29, and the original Visitor Center where the first film ended to spectacularly.

After Stan Winston died, his employees started their own company called Legacy Effects. LE are responsible for the animatronics in Jurassic World. There is even a shop seen in the film called Winston�s, as a mark of respect to Stan.

�Indominus Rex� means �Fierce King� in Latin.

Chris Pratt actually spoof recorded a video online, a number of years ago, of him apparently getting a text from Steven Spielberg with an offer to do Jurassic Park 4. Pratt didn�t realise that a few years later he would actually get that opportunity.

The concept of using a Great White Shark to feed the Mosasaurus, was Trevorrow�s nod to Steven Spielberg�s �Jaws�.

Synopsis:
Jurassic World, built on the bones of the original failure that was Jurassic Park, has been enjoying huge success with visitors from across the Globe for years� but attendance numbers are declining and the shareholders, management and Ingen are worried.

So, being as immoral and money-oriented as they are, they cook up a classified experiment that will give the public something new to ogle, and have nightmares over� all in the name of $$.

Review:
Almost beautiful.

Some people had Star Wars when they were kids, later it was Independence Day and later still the kids had LOTR.

At 11 years old, my childhood was Jurassic Park.
The awe. The Spectacle. The Magnificence. The Mystery. Standing in that cinema lobby, with the JP music playing and the trailer on repeat on the screens dotted all over the place.

Jurassic World almost recaptures that, and with a modern twist of great CGI and improvements in animatronic technology.

For a start, it�s best to watch this movie with that inner-child switched firmly on� and not so much leave the brain at the door, but leave that adult side of the brain behind when the movie starts.
I�m not saying this is a kids� movie, not by a long shot, but it�s better not to have the adult part of your brain that looks at logic and reasoning that can spoil a movie like Jurassic Park, and Jurassic World.

This movie has lashings of similar mentality from the Ingen suits that we saw in The Lost World, in that they simply only care about money and profits with total disregard to morality. The movie also has a number of nods to the original films too, and not just the occasional prop or statue of Hammond either. For instance, there�s an arc of sorts with Raptor intelligence which gives a genuinely organic believability to proceedings.

What�s also nice to see is that there are a few scenes which were considered but not filmed for JP and JP2 that gladly make their way into JW� for instance Pterosaurs vs a Helicopter (exciting scene if a little short lived)� and numerous parts from the book that were never even considered for the original movie and were just cut from the script.

This movie is very busy, but in a very good way, with little hints and nods to what we�ve seen before, original concepts from Crichton�s book/s, original concepts of its own, and loads of interesting characters who are actually pretty well written and acted for a movie that was originally called a �brainless actioner� by some (dumbass) critics.

Chris Pratt leads our cast as ex-Navy man and Raptor expert Owen Grady. He�s been brought in to train Raptors as an experiment to see if they can be domesticized� and if so, how far?
Pratt, well, let�s just say Pratt doesn�t carry this movie, and doesn�t have to. He�s a solid leading man, given a solid character to work with, and is surrounded by other solid actors and backups. Pratt is funny when needed though, especially when he�s given a little free reign, and carries the action and serious side of things perfectly.

Bryce Dallas Howard plays Claire Dearing, our leading Lady. She too holds it together like Pratt and has great chemistry with whoever she�s on screen with, especially Pratt. BDH is like a Female John Hammond in a way. She starts out cold and almost impersonal, and comes out of her shell as the movie goes on and eventually she becomes a Heroine amongst the shenanigans and backs up Pratt�s solid Hero brilliantly.

We also have a generic, but needed I guess, double act with Ty Simpkins and Nick Robinson. They�re BDH�s Nephews, visiting the island for a week that end up alone in the jungle� with BDH and Pratt having to rescue them. They work together well though and Nick Robinson as the older Brother of the two has an arc of sorts from being a typical disinterested teen, to being a proper Big Brother for his little Bro.

Backup comes from Vincent D�Onofrio as an Ingen man-in-the-field who is a total slimeball,Jake Johnson and Lauren Lapkus as JW�s Control Room techies (Johnson is like a likeable Dennis Nedry) and Irrfan Khan is our centre of morality in a similar role to Bryce�s character Claire.
Khan in particular is brilliant too.
BD Wong, who we haven�t seen since JP, also shows up in a pivotal role� and isn�t quite as likeable as he was 23 years ago. he plays it well though.

The effects and action are mostly CG.
There is a massive chunk of practical effects though backing it up, and the choreography is tip top.

Some of the action is overloaded with too many Hero-Shots though� as if the movie was trying to make as many trailer moments as possible, but it doesn�t stop the movie from being exciting when the action gets going.
The brilliantly rendered CG and animatronics with the well pieced together choreography make up for that.

All in all, a ton better than JP2 and an incalculably massive improvement on the cartoon that was JP3.

Filled with hits of recognisable story arcs and traits we�re used to from the Jurassic Franchise, and upgraded to modern day audiences with the action and effects.

Exciting, scary at times, atmospheric, funny, nostalgic to an extent� but most importantly and oddly it feels fresh and, well, new.

My Rating: 89%

Last edited by The Rodent; 10-20-15 at 07:12 PM.

The Rodent

I Am Rick Cottontree

11-06-15

Review #245, Movie #316

Year Of Release

2014

Director/s

Jennifer Kent

Producer/s

Kristina Ceyton, Kristian Moliere

Writer/s

Jennifer Kent

Music

Jed Kurzel

Cast

Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman, Hayley McElhinney, Daniel Henshall, Barbara West, Ben Winspear

Synopsis:
Amelia Vanek, a Widower and Mother, has been spending the past 6 years raising her Son Samuel by herself. Amelia has struggled long and hard raising her boy but like many a single parent before her, she has coped rather well.
Samuel though is a very different boy and has what seems to be a highly active imagination, some kind of ADHD and is also what seems to be a technical whizz and tends to build weapons out of wood and elastic bands, string, cricket balls, and anything else he gets his hands on. Samuel�s behaviour also causes trouble at school and Amelia removes him from class due to what she perceives as a lack of understanding by the school board.

However, a book called Mister Babadook appears out of nowhere in Samuel�s room and she reads it to him as a bedtime story. The book however is darker than she realised once she�s already halfway through it, and it scares Samuel to the point he fixates on it relentlessly, eventually blaming �Mister Babadook� for his own behaviour.
The book is dark enough too that it even scares Amelia.

And as Samuel�s lack of sleeping and erratic behaviour take its toll on Amelia, causing her too to miss sleep and eventually lose her job� she too starts to see Mister Babadook.

Review:
Simply astounding.

Low budget (there�s only really two people in this film), and filmed primarily in one location� the Babadook is a masterclass in how to stage a psychological horror movie.

This film is incredibly unnerving to watch, there are many, many scenes throughout which sent shivers down my spine� and some of those scenes weren�t even the usual atmospheric spooky set-ups either. They were mundane scenes, given their gravitas by Essie Davis (Amelia) and the varying ways she reacts to things around her. The spooky scenes, every one of them, put me on edge. It�s very well crafted.
Horror movies, psychological or not, don�t tend to make me feel uncomfortable or, well, scared� and I mean at all� but wow, The Babadook is incredibly intense in its delivery of shocks and some occasionally generic spooky scenes, all held together by the fantastic photography and, well, simply, its lack of soundtrack.

The drab and dreary surroundings of the house also make for a great backdrop with the strange occurrences that are happening.

What�s also highly apparent with the movie as it progresses is the change in character that Amelia and Samuel go through. It�s as though their roles actually switch half way through and you wonder if these things are really happening, or if Amelia�s descent into madness is making her imagine it all.

Either way, I had to keep pausing this movie to take a breath, no joke.

And then� there�s that ending.

Essie Davis plays Amelia, with Noah Wiseman as Samuel. I�m not familiar with other work from either of these two actors�
Davis is immense in this movie. She starts out as a stressed single Mother, and falls gradually, and scarily, into the realms of psychopathy. Davis is incredibly realistic throughout too and never gets hammy or camp with it either. Her introduction is also perfectly played too, as she manages to get the audience on-side with her genuine personality and makes us care about her, and even sympathise with her.
Wiseman too manages to do this, but in reverse. As I said, the two roles sort of switch as the movie goes on. Wiseman manages to portray the kind of kid that most would walk away from or even hate to be around, and then he becomes someone you want to help and protect. Wiseman, for such a young age, rocks this role. He also plays the scarier scenes perfectly. I doubt any other young actor would be able to pull of such a layered role to be totally honest.

The rest of the cast are really non-characters though. They appear for a couple brief scenes and are never really seen again. This movie is all about Mother and Son Amelia and Samuel.
The rest of the cast though work, and are believable.

The effects of this movie are all based really around the photography and lighting, there�s little in the way of actual effects exactly.
There are a few scenes with the odd hint of CGI and some usage of what appears to be puppetry/man-in-suit but it�s really quite well rendered and pieced together.

The photography and the way the scenes are choreographed is absolutely tops though. Even in the quieter scenes I found myself watching the background, just in case something was going to happen.

All in all, unnerving, spooky, genuinely scary.

This movie is a modern masterpiece.

This truly is The Exorcist of today.

My Rating: 101%

the samoan lawyer

Unregistered User

11-06-15

Great reviews Rodent, last 2 were both great films for me. I probably would have loved Jurassic World no matter what and Babadook was much better than I expected, in fact I actually enjoyed it better the second time around.

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The Rodent

I Am Rick Cottontree

11-06-15

Yeah JW is a great movie. It's in my new preliminary Top 100 at the moment.

Babadook... if I'd have had a pillow, I would have hid behind it. Never known a horror to do that to me before

I'm almost guaranteeing that Babadook will make the new 100. Brilliant movie.

MovieMeditation

Friendo.

11-06-15

Great review of Jurassic World, Rodent!

You hit many of the right notes on why people are wrongfully bashing this film. Yes, the original had a little better characters and a little better script, but it's still a fun blockbuster made for you to have a great time. People are sometimes blinded by the past and overly praising something that perhaps isn't several miles better than they would like to think.

Anyways, really good review!

nebbit

Registered User

11-10-15

Originally Posted by MovieMeditation

Great review of Jurassic World, Rodent!

Ditto

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christine

Dreams is freedom

11-10-15

Rodent - I loved the Babadook too. We watched it late at night on holiday - a cottage in the middle of nowhere, pitch black outside. I was scared out of my wits!

The Rodent

I Am Rick Cottontree

11-10-15

It's really good isn't it?

I was surprised at how good. I've been living in this mindset of modern movies being crap, especially modern horrors... Babadook blew me away though.

The Rodent

I Am Rick Cottontree

11-10-15

Thanks Nebs! Have you see Babadook yet?

nebbit

Registered User

11-13-15

Originally Posted by The Rodent

Thanks Nebs! Have you see Babadook yet?

Not yet

Gideon58

Registered User

11-25-15

Originally Posted by The Rodent

Review #4: Cowboys And Aliens.

Another 'western' from me, kind of.

Interesting concept based on a comic book of the same name and it certainly feels like it too. But mostly in a good way.

The way the two ideas are put to screen don't quite gel properly, though maybe that's down to the whacky idea in the first place.

Though in saying that, Cowboys And Aliens doesn't try to be a western, nor does it try to be a sci-fi. It's somewhere in between. A genre I've never seen before outside of a Dr Who episode or even the terrible Wild Wild West.

Daniel Craig is interesting as the rough and tough 'man with no name'. Similar in ilk to Eastwood, though Craig's story is explained over the duration of the film.
Harrison Ford is almost perfectly cast as a grizzled old war veteran with a heart. He does the job, but you can't help feeling sombody else could have done it better.
As too is Olivia Wilde as the beautiful western Damsel in distress. But with a twist.

Supporting cast from Sam Rockwell and produced in part by heavy weights Spielberg and Ron Howard, the movie almost can't go wrong.

As far as the writing and action goes, it's definitely a popcorn movie.
Fun, loud, storyline written about as good as it could have been, the dialogue well written and is well recited from the cast and the CGI is wonderfully rendered.
The film makers, especially director Favreau, at least had the gumption to hide the CGI based enemy in the shadows till the end. When unveiled, the Aliens don't disappoint either.

Seen as a low percentage scorer when it first hit cinemas, I think that should be ignored and let the viewer decide whether they like it or not.
Certainly a must see for anyone who hasn't, solely because of the chalk and cheese premise.

I for one am a believer.

My rating 75%

Wow, you liked this movie a lot more than I did...I thought this movie was confusing and left too many questions unanswered. I wrote a review of it on my thread if you want to check it out.

The Rodent

I Am Rick Cottontree

12-08-15

Review #246, Movie #317

Year Of Release
2015

Director/s
Gil Kenan

Producer/s
Roy Lee, Sam Raimi, Robert G Tapert

Writer/s
David Lindsay-Abaire, Steven Spielberg

Music
Marc Streitenfeld

Cast
Sam Rockwell, Rosemarie DeWitt, Jared Harris, Jane Adams, Saxon Sharbino, Kyle Catlett, Kennedi Clements, Nicholas Braun

Synopsis:
The Bowen family, comprised of Father Eric, Mother Amy and the children Kendra, Griffin and youngest Daughter Maddy, are in the aftermath of Eric losing his job and the family losing their last home, move into a new home.
At first the kids, especially Griffin, aren�t too happy with the move and before they can settle in properly, strange things start happening upstairs, mainly in Maddy�s bedroom.

Review:
I was soooo against this movie when I heard about its production. I rated the 1982 original at 90%... it isn�t perfect, but is a classic horror adventure with charm and charisma in bucketloads.

Well, the finished product here with this remake, is something of a hit and miss affair tbh.

Poltergeist is yet another product of its time. Lots of effects, hollow plot/script writing and shallow characters, not enough running time for explanations or build-ups and relies on quick-fire, generic shocks to make its impression on the audience.
The film contains many nods to the original though. An electrified bannister rail, strange things that move around on their own while the camera wasn�t looking (ala-dining chairs but in this case it�s comic books), the kid wanting a night-light, a lightning storm and a scary tree� however, blankets of CGI are no substitute for the time, effort and pure skill of the original movie�s effects wizards who made that scene with the dining chairs possible (along with other scenes of course).

The thing I said above about the running time, is that the original movie had a build-up. It starts small with the occasional big hit of shocks or scares and then got larger as it went on.
In this film, the ghosties are all-powerful from the immediate get-go but appear to be hiding their true strength unless it suits the moment.
It�s as though the filmmakers wanted to get straight into the big stuff as quickly as possible, and sadly it destroys any credibility and atmosphere that the movie could have had, and, even sadder is that it destroys what was potentially a pretty atmospheric and spooky movie.
What I mean is, sure there are a couple successful scenes that try to build up atmosphere and spookiness� for instance the brilliantly scary hide-behind-a-pillow clowns scene... but the next scene afterward, or the scene leading up to it, are so shallow that anything these decent scenes have just becomes, well, a trailer moment and nothing more.

The film also seems to have small pieces of dialogue lifted from all 3 of the original movies too. There�s just well, no charm with this remake.

The acting� well� let�s start with Rockwell as the Dad Eric.
What. A. Let. Down.
This is by far one of the worst turns I�ve ever seen from possibly my most favourite actor of the past few years with exception to Tom Hardy.
Rockwell is wooden, plays it by the numbers, and actually has an air about him as if he doesn�t believe in the production. It�s like he doesn�t want to be there.

Rosemary DeWitt as Mother Amy, well, let�s just say she�s no JoBeth Williams. Bland, uninteresting, wooden at times and also has that air of not-wanting-to-be-there.

Kyle Catlett is best on show as Son Griffin� and by a long, long, long way. He�s charismatic (though with a couple wooden deliveries of lines)� but Kyle makes this film believable in certain stages when some of the spooky shenanigans are kicking off.

Jared Harris is our psychic expert on the spooky happenings� and seems more of a gimmick than anything else as a battle-scarred Irishman. Harris plays it straight though to try and be as believable as he can be, which is a nice touch� but the poor writing of his character simply knowing immediately what to do and what�s going on, (without the sheer magnetism that Zelda Rubinstein brought to the original role), makes for yet another shallow and unbelievable character for the audience to not care about.

The rest of the cast, including Saxon Sharbino and Kennedi Clements are really just backup roles tbh and have little to no impact on the story, plot, atmosphere or viewer really.
Clements, who is our rewritten Carol Anne is also, sadly, underused massively.

The effects and action� well, as I said there�s very little atmosphere with one or two scenes that are successful, but the photography and general choreography are pretty good and certainly up to modern standards.
The bad writing lets it all down though and, like I said before, buckets of CGI is no match for practical effects.

All in all, it�ll be a good film if you haven�t seen the original� lacking any kind of charisma, badly written character-wise and hollow in the plot and zero to no build-up at the start.

If you have seen the original, you�ll enjoy the occasional nod to the 1982 movie but overall, when it comes to remaking Poltergeist and having this as the finished product� you will inevitably wonder why they did it.

I will say though, if you can, watch the Extended Cut. It has a couple extra scenes that make some of the lacklustre scenes a little more, well, interesting.

My Rating: 37%

ursaguy

Registered User

12-08-15

I agree with a lot of what you said. It's definitely not good, but it could have been worse. There are a couple of clever scares in it, but the actors are quite awful. Great review, I never thought about how the pacing killed the logic of the ghosts.

edarsenal

Women will be your undoing, P�p�

12-15-15

forgot to rep two films I had previously read and now seen that the remake of poltergeist is everything I truly feared it would not be.

Thanks for braving that mire for the rest of us to avoid.

Regardless, damn fine writing as per usual

nebbit