Rodent's Reviews

Review #11: Predator.
Ok, another alien sci-fi, but hey, it's my forte.
A heavy hitting cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers and Sonny Landham.
Based in a Central American Jungle, a Special Forces Group go in search of what they think is a Cabinet Minister and his company, whom found themselves lost across a National Border and end up captured by an enemy force.
Their mission is to go into the danger zone, find the V.I.Ps and bring them home.
They hit their targets with ease, these guys are the best of the best of the best…

… yet find themselves picked off one by one from a strange and upsetting outside force.


One of the men in the Special Forces group is seriously spooked from the deaths of his team-mates and says of what’s killing them off: "It ain’t no man".
Extremely guerrilla film making, relatively low budget with most of the cash spared for the special effects, this movie is an absolute must see for any sci-fi fan.

A well written yet extremely simple storyline make for even more entertainment.
The very well and simply written characters and their personas are even more of a bonus to the film.

Arnie is at his best, as too are the other actors for what they’re worth, the director John McTiernan has eeked the most and the best from the cast. Keeping in mind Arnie’s English was almost non-existent at the time of filming, both Arnie and McTiernan did an exceptional job.

One thing that makes the movie great, is the fact that even after only a short amount of screen-time, you still give a sh*t about the characters. Awesome.

If sci-fi isn’t your thing, still watch. Horror, intrigue and fear are the order of the day for any first time watchers.

The special effects, even for the mid-80s, are spectacular and have even set the benchmark for every Predator film that has followed since, yet has never been bettered.
A sense of claustrophobia is felt throughout the entire movie, the jungle setting adds to that and the sci-fi feel never lets up as you always feel as though you’re being watched by something other-worldly. Again, awesome.

By far the best, and probably ever will be the best Predator movie and very close to being the best movie in my Library.

The perfect horror for first time watchers with a chunk of action thrown in and, yet, also the perfect 'horror action' for 'vets' of the movie.
For me, just near the perfect movie.

My rating: 94%

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Predator is one of my favourite sci fi films. I like how McTiernan contrasts how they were able to take out an entire army division but are picked on one by one by an unseen enemy.

Review #12: Robocop.

Ok, I’m going for the older movies at the moment but Robo is one that needs to be reviewed by someone as new to the site as I am.
Yes, I know, also another Verhoeven movie.

Set in the future, a cop is gunned down brutally by a head gang of criminals.
After extensive surgery, he is turned into a modern ‘Million Dollar Man’ crossed with Frankenstein, though with no memory of his ‘human life’ from before.

An almost post apocalyptic look at the future of mankind sees the cop called Murphy attempt to find his past, and his future, by piecing together the technicalities that lead to his ‘death’.

‘Computer programmed’ as a ‘product’ of the police force and their officials to the point of almost mental incapacitation, he faces adversaries from not only the outside, but also from deep within.
Robocop is not just an ‘actioner’ or a sci-fi, or even a futuristic movie of death and destruction. It’s a long close look at where humanity is going.

The movie in a whole is so far ahead of it’s time that at 20 odd years ago, when the movie was released, it seemed far-fetched with the police uniforms and cars and society’s views and Military tactics involved in the film.
These days though, it seems on the tilting point of dated due to being only a few years behind modern day (2012).

An absolute masterclass in film making. Verhoeven’s take on the future is a spookily realistic and well visioned view of our future. Something Verhoeven is a master of.
Weller as the titular Robocop is another masterclass on the acting scale. Miming robotic bird movements and bringing a human element to a creature made almost entirely of titanium is a wonder. How he does it, is almost a myth.


Rob Bottin’s creation of Robocop’s armour and makeup (especially when Robo removes his upper mask) is a wonder to behold. It looks, even by today’s standard, genuinely real and has yet to be bettered in any movie I’ve yet to see.

What makes the movie really special is the quiet moments, where Robo is reliving some of his past ‘unerased’ memories. It’s something that really brings the audience on a par with Robo’s torn feelings of duty, love, humanity and sheer programming.
Mixed with the haunting soundtrack, the movie will live with you for a long time, if not forever.

Add to that mix some awesome shoot’ em up action scenes, explosions, black humour and melting men in vats of acid and you’ve got a sure fire hit.

Even if sci-fi isn’t you thing, again I say, this is still a must see. You haven’t seen a movie until you’ve seen this one. Just make sure you’ve got the popcorn ready.


I said that my last review, that #11 Predator was a near perfect movie at 99%.
100% to Director Mr Verhoeven, Writer Mr Nuemeier, Designer Mr Rob Bottin and the music by the wonderfully enigmatic Basil Poledouris.


My rating: 100%

The movie is based in the Antarctic, a group of scientists find themselves completely snowed in and cut off from the outside world during a heavy storm.
Norwegian scientists from another nearby science base and a husky sled dog all appear at their camp in less than comfortable circumstances, the group are then forced to defend themselves from the two unstable, trigger-happy Norwegians.
Upon checking out the Norwegian base to find out what happened, they find a scene of horror and torture and decide to bring back a terribly mutilated and inhuman corpse to their own camp for analysis...

... then the nightmare that overtook the Norwegian base becomes increasingly realised to the American scientists, as they are plunged into a world of pain, paranoia, sheer horror and a fight for survival against an enemy that can hide in plain sight.


Said by many to be a remake of the 1951 movie "The Thing From Another World", Carpenter's movie is simply based on the same novel "Who Goes There?" by John W Campbell.
The Thing is a closer take on the novel than the 1951 movie, which featured a 'man in suit' monster that resembled more of a giant vegetable crossed with Frankenstein’s monster.

Carpenter's masterpiece is a joy to behold. The tension of the cramped base corridors makes the feeling of being watched all the more potent and the paranoia between the characters can be felt by the viewer, right down to the toes.
There's also fantastic exposition, especially with the use of flashbacks seen on video recordings made by the Nords. It adds an element of untold mystery to the proceedings and gives the events much more depth and realism.


The movie's special effects are absolutely top notch, the collaboration between Rob Bottin and Stan Winston is very, very special.
Utilising animatronics, hand puppets and the very occasional ‘man in suit’ costume, the movie excels at putting the audience on the backfoot.
Only one, partially fake special effect is used in the entire movie in the form of a matt painting combined with Bottin's awesome mechanical effects, the rest is practical, real, juicy and extremely well modelled by the two effects geniuses.

The other thing with the effects and action is that they're used when needed.


The acting is also spot on. Kurt Russell, who is mediocre at the best of times, is wonderfully 'take charge' and tough when needed, his brooding take on the strange sequence of events works brilliantly.

Star turns from Wilford A Brimley, Keith David, Richard Masur and Donald Moffet make the characters work even better, these guys really hit their roles with perfection.
Keith David in particular plays with the audience's paranoia too with his more highly wound temperament.


Mix all that with Carpenter’s spooky, low tone soundtrack (a soundtrack that beats all of his others hands down) makes this another must see movie from me, especially before the ‘prequel’ (based at the Norwegian camp) is released this year.

Thanks for the review

Thanks for the review

Cheers mate. Currently working on both AvP movies.

After that, the Terminator franchise and then The Fourth Kind.

Review #14: Alien Vs Predator (AvP) and Aliens Vs Predator (AvP 2: Requiem).
Starting at the premise, a cross-over of two movie heavyweights, first seen by many in comic books, others in a particular scene in the movie Predator 2.

AvP.
AvP falls flat at the first hurdle: Game to Movie maestro Paul WS Anderson being director. He may be ok at converting video games, but movie-universe crossovers, he is not.
Let’s face it, Mortal Kombat is probably his best movie to date and even then that was a run of the mill all-action no-brainer.

The first film’s first good point starts with being able to successfully combine the two franchises relatively well. Though the overall plot is unbelievable, it works.

A company, owned by super-billionaire Charles Wayland Bishop, using satellites discovers a heat signature under polar ice.

A team of scientists, archaeologists and mercenaries is sent out to investigate the mysterious appearance and find themselves embroiled in a millennia long, macabre ‘tradition’ held by the Predator species.

The movie tries it’s best to be mysterious and brooding and tries to push itself into claustrophobic ‘haunted mansion’ territory.

Sadly, after all the build up, the mysterious back-story is slapped down with a very quick and simple explanation.
Usual of Anderson, get the story out of the way after a pretty good build up, then crack on with the explosions and fist fights.

Which is pretty much all the film is from then on after: Alien Vs Predator.

Another thing that the movie suffers with, is lack of snot and gore. Something the Alien and Predator franchises both utilise efficiently. It feels as though the makers wanted to dumb down the blood and guts to appeal to a wider, young audience.

Probably the best part of the entire movie is the acting.
Sanaa Lathan, Lance Henriksen and Ewen Bremner do their best to make the plot plausible, playing it as straight faced as they can.
The special effects are a close second. The CGI Aliens are well rendered.
Sadly, that's about it.

All in all, another no-brainer from Anderson, good for post pub 1am entertainment.

My rating 25%



AvP 2: Requiem.
For a start, a change in director is the best decision the studios could have made. The Brothers Strause definitley know what they’re doing.
Set barely minutes after the first film, the Predator ship from the first movie crashes in a small Colorado town, unleashing the Facehugger contents of their hold onto the unsuspecting town inhabitants.

For a start, this sequel is by far superior, the action, the writing, the more practical special effects all make for a much more fun movie. CGI is kept to a minimum, though when used, it’s used extremely well.

One fault with the movie is it’s very dark. I don’t mean in humour, I mean the lighting. Sadly some of the action and background shots can be missed on first viewing.
The only other fault is, as with AvP, the blood and gore is kept to a minimum. Though the filmmakers went in another direction: Shocks.
The movie excels and making the audience feel uneasy with some of the death scenes.

The acting is standard for the type of movie. Gladly though, it's believable, the cast aren't all huge names which gives the audience a connection to the characters.

AvP 2 tries to go back to basics with the look too. Think James Cameron’s Aliens crossed with elements of McTiernan’s Predator and set in a concrete jungle, on a similar note to Predator 2.
Another thing the movie utilises is a plotline from Alien 3, the Alien takes on the characteristics of it’s host. This time, the Alien has gestated inside one of the Predators though I’ll leave it at that, you’ll have to watch.

All in all, not a fantastic movie, fairly standard, but a superior movie to AvP.

My rating 42%

Not a big fan of Predator movies

Review #15: Terminator Franchise:
The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines and Terminator Salvation.

The Terminator.

Set in the 1980s, Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) is stalked by a humanoid machine sent from the future. Her only hope and help, is a man called Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn), also sent from the future, to stop the machine. If Sarah dies, the human race will become extinct as her (as yet unborn) son will become a freedom fighter and leader of the human resistance, in a war between man, and an entire army of these humanoid machines.

James Cameron’s sci-fi horror is a masterclass of how to make an expensive looking sci-fi, on a shoestring budget. Written absolutely perfectly, Cameron has made a well-established piece of movie history. A modern day fairy tale almost.
Being that the concept of The Terminator machine itself came to Cameron in a fever induced nightmare gives me at least, a respect for the depths of the human psyche and for Cameron’s imagination.

The film does suffer from slightly dodgy special effects. The stop-motion Terminator was mediocre at best even for the standard of the 80s.

What really makes the film’s effects a success though, is Stan Winston’s prosthetics on Arnold Swarzenegger.

By today’s standard, again, they are fairly rudimentary but they still work. You genuinely believe Arnie’s face is coming off.
Mix to that, not just the way the movie is written, but the way the movie is made. The direction, scene placing and overall aura of the subject matter are a joy to watch.

Hamilton, Biehn, Swarzenegger are all fantastic in their roles.

Hamilton is beautifully lost in the series of terrifying, far-out events and eventually becomes a tougher person as the movie progresses.
Biehn’s rough, tough, emotionless soldier of the future becomes more human-like as he spends more time with Connor.
Arnie is wonderfully wooden as the over-6-foot 500lb non stop killer machine.

All in all this fantastic roller coaster is one for the movie history books.

My rating 90%



Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

Sarah Connor is once again embroiled in the fight for the future. Again, a machine is sent from the future to take out the leader of the human resistance, though this time, the target is John Connor himself.

Between the movies, Sarah has given birth and raised John with a military upbringing.
The movie begins after that sequence of events when Sarah has been locked in a mental institute and 10-year-old John, now seen by the authorities as a wild-child and criminal, has been put into foster care.

Again, the human resistance has sent another protector for Sarah and John. Not a mere man this time though, but a reprogrammed Arnold Swarzenegger.

Again, Cameron hits the nail right on the head. The movie drops most of the horror genre and goes on full out sci-fi action with only the occasional horror touch.

A bigger budget, utilised by the filmmakers perfectly, gives T2 even better effects and this time round, there’s beautifully rendered CGI in the form of the bad guy: A ‘liquid metal’ Terminator for Arnie to have a rumble with.

The action, when it gets going is fast, furious, explosive and is gladly, broken up by short spells of quiet acting from the cast. The movie is very well put together.

Hamilton is fantastic in the role of Sarah Connor, this time round she’s a rough, tough soldier, almost like Biehn in the first movie, though her dreams of the impending apocalypse have sent her beyond madness. She plays the role perfectly.
Edward Furlong, in his first role of any kind (he was picked off the street) isn’t perfect, but being that he had no experience, he still does a job that several actors since haven’t been able to better.
Arnie as the Terminator is again, wonderfully wooden at the beginning, though as the movie progresses, like with Reese and Connor in the first movie, he is able to take on and learn characteristics of those around him. Eventually he becomes more humane than the humans in the movie.
Robert Patrick as the liquid metal T1000 is an absolute wonder to watch. He has the emotion the original Terminator and has such a menace about him, you can’t take your eyes off him.

All in all a sci-fi popcorn wonder. File it directly under The Terminator in the movie history books.

My rating 95%




Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines.

This is where things got messy for the franchise.
Once again, John Connor is thrown into a fight for survival. A female Terminator is sent from the future to take Connor out, Arnie is once again sent back to protect him.
Most of the scenes in this third outing are unintentionally funny. Some have been written to be funny, yet they aren’t.

The makers have turned the franchise completely in the wrong direction: Horror sci-fi to sci-fi action with horror, to…

… comedy? Oh dear.


The whole thing just feels cheap, cashed in, rushed, and a storyline that does nothing to expand on the existing material.
It tries to expand, but falls flat on its face. It just doesn’t try hard enough.

The action is explosive, grand and loud. It’s definitely a popcorn no-brainer.

The other thing with the way it’s been written is it’s very gimmicky.
A female Terminator who uses Nano-bots and is a cross between Arnie and Patrick, no Sarah Connor but John has a female accomplice and Arnie is a good guy again, it’s just, well, samey.

Arnie seems to just go through the role like he’s going through the motions. He’s got that wooden-ness that we’re all familiar with, but it feels unintentional this time round.
Nick Stahl as Connor is another huge mistake. The guy can barely get his lines out without shouting and breathing heavily. Is that really what an actor needs to do to seem serious?


The good point of the movie is the CGI used on the Terminatrix. It works great, but what made the first two movies special, was actually having practical effects mixed in too.
All in all a miss on the grandest of scales.


My rating 27%




Terminator Salvation.

Back to basics for the franchise, almost.
Relying heavily on action and with a decent story thrown in, Salvation works, it’s better than T3, but still, isn’t great.

This time round the makers have based the movie in the future. Set after the initial apocalypse, John Connor is a soldier fighting for the resistance, he’s not a leader yet and is talked down to by his commanders.

The mission of the movie is that Kyle Reese has surfaced in Los Angeles and is being hunted and targeted by the machines.
It’s up to Connor to save him and make sure that the future of mankind is saved, as Kyle is the one who will go back and protect Sarah.

That’s about it really as far as the story goes but the CGI action is very well put together. One thing missing from the movie though, are the scenes of the ‘future war’ that were shown in the first two movies: Dark, skulls everywhere and scores of Terminators fighting at ground level against battered and beaten humans.
The overall look of Salvation seems to be dumbed down from that apocalyptic look. Hopefully, if a sequel is released, it’ll be added back in.


Christian Bale as Connor does a good job, if very growly. As always with Bale, his physical presence on screen carries the character well.
Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reese is almost spot on. Yelchin does a fantastic job at recreating Biehn’s speech pattern and accent, he looks the part too.
Sam Worthington as Marcus Wright is brilliantly confused as the mysterious man who is more than he appears. Though only very occasionally he misses his mark.
The movie isn’t perfect. It lacks soul, but is far superior to T3.

Though Schwarzenegger doesn’t make an appearance per say, his model of Terminator is seen using some exceptionally well rendered special effects.


All in all welcome return to a more serious kind of Terminator movie.


My rating 65%

Now that's better a big fan of the Terminator series even the bad ones Love the watch the whole 4 one after another on a cold rainy day

　
Review #16: The Fourth Kind.

The premise of the story is about a psychiatrist, Dr Abigail Tyler, trying to uncover what appears to be a number of abductions in a small Alaskan town. Supposedly based on a true story, the movie cuts between footage shot for the movie, with Milla Jovovich as Tyler, and real life footage of interviews with Dr Abigail Tyler.

Some scenes are split screen footage, showing both the ‘movie’ and the ‘interviews’.
It’s a hard movie to get used to at first, the way it’s shot throws the audience into a flurry of confusion though you can’t help but noticed that it’s intentional.
After a few minutes you get used to it, though some scenes are still hard to follow with split screen footage of both people, sometimes more, all talking at the same time.
The storyline is easy to understand, it's just the finer details that are jumbled into a group of chattering voices.

The movie seems a little rushed at times too, it seems as though the makers have tried to get as much stuff into the smallest amount of running time as possible.

Jovovich too, seems to be fed up with the whole thing and appears at times to be giving attitude when delivering her lines. It’s as if she’s pi$$ed at being part of it.

Acting support from Elias Koteas does give the movie some weight. When he’s around, you feel safer. Koteas is probably the best thing about the movie.

Some of the time the viewer can feel bored, there’s not much in the way of story. For what appears to have been made as more of a detective/mystery story, it’s something that really should have been built on more kindly.

The real life footage is a good point. It feels real, though at times feels staged, it works at putting the viewer into the subject matter.

Another good point is there are genuine moments of shock and Jovovich and Koteas carries the tension well.
Some of the ‘jumpy’ moments are very well conceived and give the viewer a heartfelt judder and most of the time you never know what exactly is going to happen next, but it’s not enough. The movie feels bare and meaningless.

All in all a genuinely jumpy movie that's good if you want to get the girlfriend a little closer, but the shooting style is empty and confusing.


My rating 34%

Ranking Terminator films:

The Terminator
Judgement Day
Rise of the machines
Terminator Salvation

The first is the best imo. Its been a long time since I last saw Rise of the machines and Terminator Salvation.. but i love both of them.

Review #17: Jurassic Park.

The premise, by Michael Crichton is a partially fact based scientific endeavour to bring Dinosaurs back to life using preserved blood found in fossilised insects.

Let’s start at the movie: John Hammond (Richard Attenborough), a multi-squillionaire with delusions of grandeur has set about and succeeded in turning an entire island into a theme park full of unnatural-abominations.

After inviting along two scientists (Sam Neill and Laura Dern), a chaos theorist (Jeff Goldblum) and a lawyer (Martin Ferrero) to the park while his own grandchildren are there (Ariana Richards and Joseph Mazzello), things inevitably take a turn for the worst when fences fail from a power cut.
The group, who are all now separated into their own survival stories have to hide and run in a desperate attempt to restore power to the park and call in the helicopters to take them home.

The movie as a whole is extremely well made. The character build up and strong acting make the movie very weighty.
Sam Neill with Ariana Richards and Joseph Mazzello are a chalk, chalk and cheese buddy-trio-movie in their own right.

The story adapted from the novel differs to the novel in many respects but is still extremely well written.
The cast is not just extremely good at what they’re doing, they fit the theme.
The movie is also shot beautifully. It’s very grand in feeling. Some of the sets are also extremely spooky.

The special effects used were not just cutting edge for the time (1992-1993), they still beat most movies of modern times. The ILM and Stan Winston Studios collaboration is very special.
Most of the computer work for the dinosaurs had to be created solely for the movie (albeit adapted from existing technology). What makes the movie’s CGI special is that the movie-makers asked a very simple question: "What is impossible?". Then they achieved the impossible.

The main place that the movie fails, is that it’s extremely loosely based on Crichton’s fantastic novel.

Anyone who has read the book will know that, as always with Spielberg, things got dumbed down to a more friendly atmosphere for a wider audience. There are substantial changes in the characters and character deaths.
Even so, at rated PG in Britain, which basically means anyone can watch (under 13s with supervision), I still wouldn’t let my own children at 5 and 6 years old watch it just yet. All I’m saying is Raptors In The Kitchen.

If the filmmakers had stuck to the book and Spielberg had been a bit braver, the movie would/could/should have been a hell of a lot better.

At time of release, the movie itself was so big it stayed in cinemas in my local town for nearly two years.

All in all a popcorn movie with a decent story and some genuine scary bits.


My rating 86%

Review #18: Pirates Of The Caribbean. The Curse Of The Black Pearl, Dead Man’s Chest and At World’s End.

Let’s start at the first movie:

The Curse Of The Black Pearl.

Started as a project based on the Disney ride, Black Pearl is a movie that has invigorated the Pirate Genre.
Cutthroat Island starring Geena Davis tried it, but it failed worse than miserably, pushing the genre back to the point of obscurity.

Screen writers Ted Elliot, Terry Rossio, Stuart Beattie and Jay Wolpert thought differently.
Getting Gore Verbinski as director was another wise move, his natural imagination is a wonder.

For a start, using the famous Disney ride as a platform is a mark of genius. They’ve expanded the ‘story’ of the ride beautifully and have created a world of pure imagination, urban legend, slapstick, raw humour, love, terror and action.

The premise of the story revolves around the Black Pearl, a pirate ship who’s crew carries a curse. All they want is to lift said curse and get back to ‘honest pirating’.
Mixed into that, Captain Jack Sparrow, an original Captain of the ship, just wants the ship back in his command and Will Turner, a young blacksmith just wants to get back his one true love, Elizabeth Swan, from the cursed crew who have kidnapped her. She’s also a Damsel-In-Distress with a difference.

The movie is wonderfully playful, very tongue in cheek and, extremely well and beautifully shot.

The acting is absolutely spot on, the actors seem to just know their roles inside and out from the get go. There’s no messing around finding their place.

Johnny Depp in particular is fascinating as Jack Sparrow. He’s become a legend of the pirate world in only a very short time. Intelligent and sly yet loveable and beautifully charismatic.
As too is Geoffrey Rush as Captain Barbossa. He’s the perfect south-western English pirate, evil, cunning and knows exactly what and where he’s going, only occasionally fooled by Sparrow.
Orlando Bloom as Will Turner seems a little held back at the start but when the going gets tough, his role really reveals it’s self.

As for the special effects, particularly when the computers are brought into play for the cursed crew, they certainly don’t fail the eye. They’re raw, animated and work extremely well for the subject matter. The one on one between Barbossa and Sparrow is fantastic.

The on fault I’d say with the film is that it could do with a little more scope. It feels relatively small scale in terms of story and universe.

All in all a fun ride with some perfect writing and characters that really hit the mark, definitely the modern Swashbuckler.


My rating 95%

Dead Man’s Chest.

The first movie was supposedly set as a stand-alone film, though, this is Hollywood and Black Pearl was such a huge hit, the sequel was inevitable.

Further more, it doesn’t disappoint. Not by a long shot.

The story revolves around Davy Jones and his crew and Jack Sparrow. Sparrow owes a debt to Jones and, obviously, doesn’t want to pay. Jones will stop at nothing to get what he’s owed. This time, Elizabeth Swan is called into the story as not just the Damsel-In-Distress, but as a force in her own right after Will Turner is the one in need of help after Davy Jones takes him aboard his ship. A kind of reversal in Will and Elizabeth’s storyline.

As a whole it’s bigger, brasher, funnier and grander and hits the nail on the head in almost every respect.

The action is brilliantly choreographed and the CGI is even better. The movie does tend to rely on more CGI than it’s predecessor, but it’s utilised perfectly for Jones and his crew, who mirror Barbossa’s crew from the first film as being cursed (to an extent).

Again, the acting from all parties is bang on the money. There’s expansion on some of the existing characters and a few new faces to add to the various pirate crews, though it’s easy to follow and fun to watch, the writing is brilliantly put to screen.

Nighy in particular, as the Scottish ghost-boat Captain Davy Jones, made it to #1 in my top 40 movie villains of all time. He’s absolutely brilliant.

A fault with the film is that Jones and his crew’s story is kept under wraps. You get a taster of their past, but nothing more. No real expansion.

All in all it hits the same places as the first movie but is a better movie and a brilliant piece of writing again from Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio.
Verbinski’s direction is another piece of artwork.


My rating 97%




At World’s End.

The third of the original trilogy feels a bit of a step backward sadly. It’s better than the first film, but not as good as the second.

It suffers from Star Wars syndrome.

The movie revolves around Barbossa, Turner and Elizabeth having to rescue Sparrow from Davy Jones’ clutches in a desperate attempt to bring together the ‘Pirate Lords’ in a final stand-off against the East India Trading Corporation who in turn, are using Davy Jones and his invincible crew as a weapon.

The whole universe of the pirate world created by the writers is expanded on extensively, there’s more Swashbuckling, more wonderfully rendered CGI (in many ways the CGI is better) and the cast of actors are still, all hitting their roles with perfection.

The movie’s storyline is extremely well put together, it’s relatively complicated but easy to follow, the expansion of character storylines and additions of new characters is something that, as I said, the second movie lacked.
This one has it all in that respect.

But, sadly, this movie also has its faults.
It feels as though the whole thing was pieced together in a rush to get it done before people lost interest.
It feels very gimmicky. It’s more ‘actiony’, even with the expansion of the universe and the storylines and goes more toward a feeling of seriousness rather than the tongue in cheek humour of the first two.

Almost to the point of becoming a parody of the genre that the first two films have successfully recreated.
　
All in all it’s better than the first, but a step backward from the second, still though, it is a fun ride to take and wonderfully grand in scale.


My rating 96%

Review #19: The Dark Crystal.

One of my childhood favourites.

Designed, written and directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz, The Dark Crystal is based on an imaginary land that has been plunged into darkness when an all-powerful crystal was shattered.

A young Gelfling called Jen, a kind of Elf type creature, has to take a legendary journey to repair the crystal and stop the evil forces known as the Skeksis race, from ruling forever. That's really about it for the story, there are a few extras thrown in, but not much.


The movie itself took 5 years to make, mainly due to the fact that the entire thing is made with puppets. There are no real living things on screen.

It looks fantastic, Henson and Oz really know how to build a world based on imagination and being that it’s the first movie of its kind, it’s as well made as it probably could have been.

The puppetry, not just in how they’re used, but also how they’re made is fantastic, the Skeksis and Mystics are wonderfully realised and brilliantly modelled.

As for the story, it’s a strange one this, it works on so many levels yet is incredibly simplistic, to the point that a child could have written it.
It’s very open too as most of the mysterious happenings and characters are very quickly explained leaving nothing really to build on in a mystical way. It’s a shame really though there is a small twist at the end that even I didn’t see coming.

Some of the dialogue is childlike too, though it doesn’t take away that the Skeksis and some of the other characters are genuinely disturbing and also very engaging.


The movie as a whole is definitely a kids movie, it’s rated PG in Britain though personally I’d refrain from showing it to under 5s, but it will still appeal to adults just the same with the darker characters and darker subject matters involved.

All in all, not a brilliant movie but worth watching for the brilliantly conceived puppets and puppet work and the fact that the world created by Henson is a wonderful trip to take.


My rating 65%

Review #20: Tremors.

For my 20th review, I decided to use one of my all time favourites.

Set in a valley in the Nevada desert, a handful of residents in a tiny little town called Perfection are subjected to a hidden terror when large, unseen underground creatures appear and start picking them off one by one.

The movie mainly revolves around two handymen, Valentine McGee (Kevin Bacon) and Earl Bassett (Fred Ward), who unwillingly become the ‘go-to men’ for the group.

The cast involved are fantastic in the movie, they all play it real which makes the funny moments even funnier and the jumpy horror moments even more of a surprise when they happen.
Fred Ward (who is another mediocre actor in my book) is at his absolute best as the grumpy, almost wise elder of the main duo.
The biggest surprise of the cast though, is Michael Gross as the gun loving survivalist Burt Gummer. In the past his acting has gone from mediocre to worse, his acting in the Tremors sequels is abysmal. In this film he is absolutely brilliant. He encapsulates his character with a seriousness and when needed, is able to carry the comedy too.

The film itself is a cross of many genres: Comedy, horror, monster flick and almost, a ‘modern day western’ with the setting, characters and date.

The comedy comes from real reactions and down to earth acting. The film’s funny moments are very well choreographed, Tremors utilises reality in unreal circumstances extremely well. A lot of the humour has an undertone of ‘tongue in cheek’ too. It’s lots of fun.

Then there’s the jumpy/horror moments, they’re very well put together. They’re ‘actiony’ as well as gory, but they also give the viewer a real sense of excitement and the occasional fright.

The special effects are, like most films of the time, all practical, there’s no CGI used in the film and the effects certainly don’t let the viewer down. They’re raw, gory, slimy and very well modelled.
Tom Woodruff. Jr and Alec Gillis’ physical creations of the writers’ original idea is such a realised concept that the movie really comes into its own.

The thing that lets the movie down, is that it’s a little on the short side, only 90 minutes of running time. I couldn’t help but want more after the film had finished.

The worst thing about the Tremors idea though, is the awful cash-in sequels and even worse TV series that it spawned.

Forget the sequels, I beg the audience to treat the movie as a stand-alone film.
All in all a joy ride of a comedy-horror.


Lot’s of fun and well worth 90 minutes of your time.


My rating 93%

Nice reviews. Big fan of the first Tremors here too. Didn't particularly care for the sequels. They never seemed to recapture the spirit and inventive fun of the original.

Dark Crystal was also a childhood fave. I re-watched finally about a year ago to see how it held up compared to memory, and it's a very decent dark fantasy-adventure for kids.

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oh man, haven't watched Tremors since the 90's. i might have to revisit this one soon. thanks for the reviews.

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