Reviews

Here is a very brief review of the first movie (or at least what i thought of it) - Brilliant. Plenty of action, developed characters, good story line, nicely paced and well directed and acted.

Here is a very brief review of this movie - terrible.

Why you ask? Mainly because it has nothing that the original movie had. Admittedly this film doesn't have the budget that the original had, but the way that it falls down could have been solved without further expense. The characters aren't developed in any way. I can't really explain this without adding spoilers, so i won't, but believe me, there is no recognition of ANY of the "new" assassins background or any story behind their assassination "style". Lazlo Soot (a returning character) isn't in any way as likable as in the original. His whole "human face mask" approach was very refreshing in the first film, but tired and used in this attempt. He adds very little in all. As for the Tremors? They just aren't the Tremors. Simple.

The action is average at best. Nothing special to report unfortunately. A lot of it just feels very rushed- cops get killed, one or two assassins get killed, more cops get killed. Unfortunately it all happens within 5 minutes, so there isn't even a chance for some of the assassins to even attempt getting to their target.

However, the story line does end out with a fairly OK twist, even if it is slightly far fetched. It gives reasoning behind the actions of the assassins and their "contracts". Not anything special though. So it's not all too bad i guess.

In a nutshell, I would recommend that you just go watch the first one again. There's a reason as to why this release is straight-to-video. This is only my opinion though, so by all means, give it a try. You might end up liking it more than i did :)

This film Could have been a great watch, if only more effort was put into the whole basis of the movie. Of course, i'm talking about the heist. After watching films like the Ocean's series, The Bank Job, and even TV shows such as Hustle, complex and original is definitely the way to go. Unfortunately, Thick As Thieves doesn't achieve this in the slightest. In general, the story line is OK, but again not in any way original. Its is bearable though, but it just doesn't leave anything open to the watcher that you couldn't guess halfway through the film. The acting and scripting is OK also, i didn't feel there was anything particularly awful to comment on, although the characters themselves are not as structurally exciting or involving. Therefore in comparison to what a big name like Morgan Freeman is used to playing, there is no power drawing a watcher in to connect with them. The heist. This is where the film took it's toll in my eyes. This is the MAIN part of any film of this type, and it was just a bit lazy. No originality, nothing particularly exciting, no new approach. it could have been so much more.

this is a real shame, because a film with such big names surely could have mustered up something more effective. even on what was clearly a lower budget than most films.

On the good side, i did find some of the story twists involved to be effective, although again, nothing to brag about because they were not original. they were worked into the story fairly well though.

To sum up, this film is definitely watchable, just don't expect anything like the leading films of this genre, because it offers NOTHING new to the table. However, like most films, it is entirely a matter of opinion. Some will enjoy it, some will hate it.

I'm just going to cut straight down to the chase on this one, pro's and con's:

Pro's: This film contains brilliant visual effects with regards to scenery and character animation, and just like in Sin City, it suits the film down to the ground. Lighting animation really adds a feel to the "city", and even the Kill-Bill style cartoon sections are just about pulled off. Generally the story line is pretty good, saying true to the comic book feel, and keeping you relatively interested without confusing you.

Unfortunately, that's about all that is on the up-side to this film

Con's: Scripting - pretty terrible. Cheesy one liners and un-needed sentence repetition turn what SHOULD have been a good comic-to-movie production into more of a children's film. Both 300 and Sin City have a very adult and direct feel to them, which is portrayed perfectly in the mood of the film. Seeing as The Spirit follows this theme (of using black-white CGI etc), adding childish remarks destroys the whole feel to the movie. Whether this "humour" is intentionally setting a more light hearted scene, i don't know, but either way, it doesn't quite work. It just makes it look more like a cartoon than a serious film.

Unfortunately, for having some big name stars, the acting is fairly bad too. Samuel L Jackson does the same as always, which is never a bad thing, but i do feel is getting a bit tiresome now for every character he seems to play recently. Scarlett Johannson is unfortunately very wooden. and Gabriel Macht has some moments that just don't cut it.

I will say however, that looking past this is not overly difficult, as the characters are all very different and effective in their own roles.

To sum up, The Spirit is a very daring attempt at being the next success when it comes to the total green screen animation movie. Unfortunately, when compared to the way Sin City and 300 works, it just doesn't all add up. That's not to say it's not watchable, because it is. The visuals are gorgeous and the story is manageable. Just don't expect to be impressed with every angle.

Distinctly average i'm afraid. 5/10

Firstly, let me say that the reviewers giving this film one star can't possibly have seen a truly bad movie. This is by no means mind-blowing, but is a OK attempt at the spy-thriller genre. It brings in some new aspects with regards to storyline, but ultimately coming of cliché'd and slightly cheesy.

The acting as OK, but i never base a film on it's acting unless it is visibly terrible, which this isn't. However, the scripting could have been massively improved just by taking out the attempted humour, which ultimately fails and leaves the film looking childish. The storyline starts off fairly strongly, and is fairly enjoyable to watch. However, it is clearly a copy of Eagle Eye/other similar films, but with a lower budget.

It's only let down is when the conspiracy is uncovered, leading to an ending that is resolved in a very cliché manor, which is a shame, as it could have made the movie more enjoyable if new aspects were brought in, giving it a better twist. Also, some of the characters play seemingly, very confused roles, switching sides from 'good' to 'bad' with no real explanation as such.

However, if you enjoyed films like Eagle Eye, Minority Report, The Island etc etc, then definitely give this a try. It isn't quite as good, but well worth the look if you fancy an easy to watch tech-based film. 6/10