Reviews

I try not to be too negative when I comment on films so I shall start with the good points.

This film did some things well, particularly the jump shocks and setting up the atmosphere with the Black Brothers and the Lonely Twin, but the dialogue was pretty rank and unbelievable (no teenager in the history of the world has ever talked like that) and the ending twist was pulled out of a hat, in an illogical way, that the film had at no point built up to.

The acting was variable, with the background characters done well, which was to be expected, given who was playing them, and the teenage characters varying from well done (Jake) to not so good (Lisa).

The directing was, again, variable, as I said previously, the jump shocks were very well done, but the director seemed a little too fond of the shaky cam effect at other points. While I understand the reasoning to this, with the exception of the drowning scene, I don't think it added much to the film.

And I mean that. I loved Gundam Wing the series and was looking forward to this, as I'd been told it was very good and the art was better than in the TV series. And it probably was, but, and this was the problem, they'd taken everything I loved about the TV series and destroyed it.

Possible Spoilers

-Relena slaps someone. That's right, Relena 'all violence is wrong' Dorlan slapped someone. The film makes it out to be some high point, but it's not, in doing so Relena wins the battle but loses the war. How can you advocate total peace and go around slapping people.

-All the goodies (except Trowa) became clean cut good guys. I want my unstable Heero back, I want Wufei to be impossible. And Zechs, one of the most conflicted characters to inhabit the screen, got white washed. Completely. He was all fight then go home. What the heck!!

The only way I can recommend watching this is with the sound off so you don't hear what they've done to the characters but can still look at the visuals, which are good.

HP and the Philosopher's Stone is a very difficult film to review, mainly because I'm in two minds about it.

On the one hand, it's a good film with Hogwarts in particular being beautifully shot. I want to go to school there.

On the other, as an adaptation of the book, it lousy. Truly lousy. For instance, Malfoy, who still does come over as the school bully from hell, seems to have had half his lines cut, or they've been inserted into a different part of the story.

And I'm not even a hardliner, if the cuts and changes were necessary it would be okay, but several of them are not, a case in point the Quidditch match. The match I saw on screen was exiting yes (one of my favourite scenes actually), but not the match in the book. What happened to Flint's body check on Harry, and Lee Jackson commentary (one of my favourite parts of the book)? It would have been easy enough to have in.

I suppose the problem is the little cuts (Hagrid on the boat, in Diagon Alley, Snape's leg) added up, especially since the moved scenes tended to be my favourites.

What especially upset me is (SPOILER)



Hermionie's character beats Snape's part of the protection in the book, in this she just tagged along after saving Ron and Harry from the weed thing. Actually what did happen to Snape's part of the defences? They seemed to have gone missing.

And she doesn't have that awful speech about things other than books and cleverness being important.

But this is a film review, not a book review so, on it's own merits as a film it's good. And in some parts very good, but as not even a fan of the books to any great extent, I found the changes disturbing, especially the horrific scene at the end where the bad guy turns in to dust. Hello, it wasn't in the books so why do it, it's no better than the scene in the book, though I imagine it was easier to film it the way they have.

The main good points: Harry - comes over much better than in the books. Quirrell - wonderful acting. Hagrid - just yay. Dumbeldore- despite having half his lines cut. I wanted the socks line. Seamus - very funny

(Spoilers Possible)

This was the first big blockbuster I can remember, and I'd spent years disliking it, but I couldn't figure out what the problem was, and then it hit me. The whole character of Will Scarlet.

I'd been brought up on Robin Hood since I was young and to have Will Scarlet defamed like that. He would never do anything like that to Robin Hood. And yes I know it's only a fictional character but the way the film portrays him is wrong.

Other problems:

1) Azeem - Yes, Robin Hood had a sidekick who stayed with him no matter what. His name was Little John (There's another character who's name was besmirched). But Morgan Freeman does brilliantly as Azeem, and makes the film bareable.

2) Robin Hood never went to the Holy Lands, he stayed at home to defend England from Prince John.

3) Will Scarlet - just horrible how they treat him, and the rest of the Merry Men.

4) Robin Hood, who is as dull as dishwater. This is the only time I have ever wanted the evil Sheriff of Nottingham to win.

There were a couple of good points,

1) The Sheriff of Nottingham, who makes the film bareable and watchable. And grabs most of the best lines.

2) The theme song. I love it.

But that's it. I'd still say watch it 'cause it's a good way to waste a couple of hours, but as a Robin Hood film it's very poor.

Warning, Spoilers ahead.









Gladiator might not be the greatest film ever, it might not even be the best this year but it is most certainly the best Hollywood hype film for years. While I was watching this I though of the other Ridley Scott film I had seen, Blade Runner, and the two share similarities. An incredible set design and background, the cities in this film look real, an unbeatable character who is beaten and an evil which must be destroyed. It is also clinical like Blade Runner, yet it had me in tears at the end. The similarities end here and I think Gladiator is a much better film because the supporting cast and the lead actors are allowed to flesh their roles out more. There are also many different moods going on here.

Gladiator is in many ways a tragedy, in the manner of Greek tragedy, where there is double crossing and death at every turn, only it is blasted on to the big screen and comes alive. The end reminds me of Hamlet a bit as well. Russell Crowe yet again shows he is a really good actor, and Oliver Reed had his best part in years, indeed as Proximo he has one of the best speeches in the film about what it is like to fight at the Coliseum, but this film is made in many ways by Ridley Scott and the little details he puts in in the huge crowd scenes, especially the ones at the Amphitheatres. Truly breathtaking in scope yet as very small, all Maximus wants to do is go home, if there has been a better huge budget film since Blade Runner, I don't think I've seen it.

I was looking forward to this film, because I like the play and I couldn't see how it could fail. How wrong could I be. Whoever had cut the play had cut everything not vital to the character of Macbeth, losing lots of good passages. The Scottish lords were not developed and for all the reasoning it gave him *spoiler*

Macbeth could have been killed by another lord not MacDuff.

I think most of the failings in this were due to fiddling with the script as opposed to the acting but I have to say it is confusing when Sayton and Banquo look quite alike.

Warning this contains a possible spoiler.

A good film even if you take it out of it's royal setting, that shows exactly why you don't want to argue with your family, they can nitpick at you because they know everything about you. That is what you get in this film over two hour of family life if you are very unlucky. Brilliantly acted by everyone even the smaller parts. A man and wife have three sons and one that is dead, the wife wants the eldest to succeed, the husband wants the youngest and the middle son gets nothing. The eldest son wants the father to like him and the middle son wants his mother to like him. The father is having an affair with another girl who his wife brought up. The girls brother is leading the eldest son on and they are all after the crown and locked in, in the same castle over Christmas. Funny in parts, tragic in others this really should be seen by more people.