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Reviews
The Ring Two (2005)
Attack of the CGI deers!
"I love you Mommy."
After a terrible opening with a lame "jump" scene that won't make anyone jump, The Ring Two's potential and promise very, very slowly dies down. Moving into another place after all the hoopla of that killer video tape, Rachel and Aidan's new life takes another turn when Samara wants revenge, and they just finished unpacking too. So, the plot doesn't make any sense at all, and is continuously spoon fed to the audience as the movie goes on. Samara's ghost wants to be Aidan after seeing what a banged-up job Rachel did to her son, since her stepmother and birth mother apparently did a not-so banged-up job (but then again, it's all her fault anyway). When Samara then takes complete control, Rachel and Aidan discuss the white rabbit for the movie in their dreams, and hardly leave the audience to think for themselves. The sequel is stupider, and while not everything is explicitly explained again and again through silly editing (like in the first film), there's hardly anything to explain at all. The plot suddenly turns to what formerly was a "what-a-strange-story-yet-it-looks-interesting" to completely preposterous, with plot-hole after plot-hole made just so they can put the same (admittedly very well-done) climax from the original sequel in the film. It somehow reaches an amazingly dark storyline at one point, where the only possible solution was heartbreaking, but is then ended safely with a somewhat high note. Yeah, that's kinda disappointing.
Nakata's direction is actually pretty good, creating some stunning imagery, like the shots of water in the beginning, and while excessive use of CGI is used in the film, some of them are pretty impressive (though completely unnecessary), minus those ridiculous CGI deers. While going back home after visiting some farmer's market, Rachel and Aidan get attacked by deers, lots and lots of them. It's like those horses in the first film, but this time, without any sense whatsoever, and wholly unconvincing. Later on, when Rachel is yet again in the Morgan's house, we see a whole pile of deer antlers, so apparently the deers want revenge on Samara (!), hence why they got attacked. But since she was too busy living on top of a barn and driving her stepmom crazy, she obviously didn't do any of the hunting, so, why her? The film is just too lazy. The ideas present in the film weren't fully explored, or maybe they weren't any good in the first place. It was told in a very, very safe manner, and leads it to events that don't make any sense. It falls flat on the dialogue, despite the delivery being very good. The film is lucky enough to have a great cast, since everyone does a good job in the film, especially Watts and Dorfman, who are both very convincing. Some of the characters are very useless; like that Sissy Spacek cameo which was just featured to tell an event that wasn't even a part of the story. Almost all the supporting characters are wasted, and they didn't even try to develop them.
The cinematography is very good, and the film looks gorgeous. Nakata did a fine job directing the film, and probably would've been a lot better had they given the script more work. He managed to create an atmospheric tone (though, I wish they kept the blue color scheme like in the first film) and the usual horror techniques are present, though they didn't work at all. The only way you can get scared of this film is if you're not yet tired of the girl-with-long-hair-covering-her-face ghost that's been endlessly used. Hans Zimmer's score is simply fantastic. I really, really loved what he was able to for these films, and it's probably the biggest highlight of the sequel, to which the movie uses it with a song that's conveniently in tune with the film's theme (which was never brought up in the first one). Lots of things that weren't necessary are explained, and it just gets tiresome at some point. They think that the movie is smart when, really, it doesn't even need all these subplots. It's a very well-made film, and the climax that featured Samara with the worst arthritis possible managed to make my heart pump fast (though, I didn't like the Vanilla Skyesque ending and that whole TV world thing). But really, with a mediocre story that's told very badly, The Ring Two is just a well-done failure.
[52]
Alexander (2004)
Wheel of fortune
"Conquer your fear, and I promise you'll conquer death."
Expectations were reasonably high when Alexander was about to be released, and, obviously, hardly anyone considered it a good film. But I was surprised, since I never found this 3-hour epic to be boring at all. From the dazzling opening credits, to the probably unnecessary childhood scenes, the film immediately had me hooked and I never looked at the clock once. Stone's unnecessary flashback scene(s) might be distracting from the ongoing story, and, to be honest, Alexander never truly felt all that great in the film. Stone focused more on his weaknesses instead of his triumphs, probably forgetting how this man became remembered up to this day. But his weaknesses, in some way, managed to establish Alexander as a character, a character that was flawed despite his many achievements at such a young age. And, really, no one ever truly believed in his dreams, but his determination to achieve the impossible, while it seems mad for some, was his strength.
I can certainly understand people's disappointment though: Anthony Hopkins's non-stop ramblings of things we don't care about, the uneven pacing, laughable romance scenes between Alexander and Hephaistion, and some even considered most of the performances to be over-the-top. While the romance between Alexander and Hephaistion was never really convincing, I never found it laughable at all (which is probably the worst thing that can happen), but the writers simply treated it as something abnormal, something that would be extremely cheesy had you replaced one of the characters with a woman, but it never bothered me at all. Hopkins' narration was out of place and didn't seem all that necessary, and that last scene was not at all a satisfying way to end the film. But, again, I didn't have any problems with it at all, and it helps that Hopkins was amazing in the film.
The performances were all outstanding. Sure, Anjelina Jolie playing Farrell's mother in the film, when in reality they're only 1 year older apart, was ridiculous, but they were both amazing in their scenes together. Jolie gives a tour-de-force performance as the tragic and compelling Olympias, and I absolutely loved her in all her scenes, especially between her and Alexander. While Colin Farrell, who has proved long ago that he wasn't just another pretty face, is very good as Alexander, and was able to pull off all of the scenes between him and Leto. Val Kilmer and Anthony Hopkins also provide outstanding supporting performances. The script, despite having many flaws character and story-wise, was superb, and the exchanges between characters were excellent and felt ordinary instead of being completely strange.
Where Stone, I think, somewhat failed at the characters and story, was more than successful in his direction of this epic film. The battle scenes (of which there were surprisingly few) are outstanding and very, very well done. I especially loved the bird's eye-view of the massive scale of the battle between the Greeks and Asians. But the battle in India, deemed as the bloodiest defeat Alexander faced, is easily the best, and reached such an astounding climax that had me holding my breath. Stone's well-crafted battle scenes were highly entertaining, and, thankfully, only used slow-motion at one occasion, while short and only had two opposing characters, reached such great heights of epic proportions.
Vangelis' beautiful score was perfect for all the scenes, either it be dramatic or exciting. The colorful sets and costumes were a treat to watch, and the cinematography was excellent as well. Alexander, to some, is nothing more than a well-done film with beautiful sets that feels empty and hollow. It's a flawed film all right, and could've been appreciated by more people had the story been treated differently, but I'm happy with how the film turned out. I'm sure that Stone has done better films than this (I've only seen Any Given Sunday), but I was wholly impressed by his achievement in the film, while keeping outstanding visuals, action and performances. And, more importantly, I felt that he successfully told the story of a young man who, with his determination and will power, achieved more than what any of them could even dream of, and also brought him to his inevitable downfall.
9.2
The Incredibles (2004)
Incredible.
Mr. Incredible is a superhero that got sued by dozens of people after causing havoc in a city. He and his Newly-wed wife Elastigirl are forced to make their secret identities their only identity. 3 years later, they are now settled in a new home with 3 children, all of which have superpowers. Violet can turn invisible and make forcefields (or shields. Whatever). Dash can run very, very fast. But their not so sure about their baby yet. Mr. Incredible is umber-strong and can lift huge trucks or just about anything. Elastigirl can stretch far and wide. All of which make for a unique and interesting family.
Brad Bird, the writer and director of another favorite, The Iron Giant, also writes and directs the film. While I was quite surprised that the usual Pixar team wasn't writing the film (hell, throw in Joss Whedon too), Brad Bird was able to handle the film pretty well and knows his stuff. The movie doesn't have any cheesy, "I love you family," type of speeches that becomes quite awkward for the audience to watch and doesn't leave any eyes rolling. Bird knows how to handle each scene and doesn't chicken out on anything.
While the first hour or so isn't as funny and gets uninteresting in some parts, the rest of the film makes up for it. The animation is amazing. I was quite unsure how Pixar would be able to handle an animated film with human beings as their characters, but there's no need to worry. The design of the characters are flawless. The jungle and underwater scenes are handled very carefully and the result is magnificent. Dash running around in the island and the jet explosion was one of the most impressive things I've seen this year.
All of the character's powers are shown in outstanding detail but never becomes forced or feel that the creators showing off their visuals. And while his powers are only shown at the climax of the film, Frozone sliding at his ice thingy is outstanding. Same goes for Elastigirl, who we once see jumping around buildings. All of the action scenes are very, very impressive. The jet exploding, those circle blade thingys chasing Dash and blowing up and the ending are astounding. And the lack of action in the beginning doesn't become a problem at all.
Brad Bird never forgets the characters and excellently develops all of them. Instead of going with the action and developing characters along the way, the big trouble doesn't even start until the audience knows each character well enough to care about them. None of them are left behind and gets to do at least something important. All of the voice work are excellent and makes the characters believable and often times hilarious. But still, Ellen DeGeneres as Dory is tough to beat.
The Incredibles is quite different from all the other soon-to-be-classic-films that Pixar made. It has a different feel that I can't really explain. It doesn't have many kiddy moments and was shot in 2.35:1 aspect ratio (besides the usual 1.85:1 flat). It's more mature than all the others and the villains actually get killed in explosions etc. It's not as funny as the Toy Story movies or Finding Nemo, but The Incredibles is just as great and sits comfortably among them, just waiting to be a classic. One of the year's best and most impressive films.
9.0
Yee dou hung gaan (2002)
I sense sensibility
Jim is a psychiatrist that convinces people that ghosts are just in their mind and doesn't truly exist. Yan is a girl with a troubled past that haunts her. She sees ghosts in her new Apartment, but Jim convinces her that these are all in her imagination. The psychiatric part of the film never gets dull and repetitive, and some if it is actually quite convincing. Jim talking to himself about his patients and this and that of psychology is one of the most interesting parts in the film. It never gets forced or unnecessary.
The horror parts of the film are usually just jump scares and most of it has to do with music, but it's still effective. The first part that made me jump was when the title appeared. So, it's pretty much expected to be jumping up and down throughout the whole film. The plot isn't original. But then it doesn't have to. It's simply about people thinking that they're seeing ghosts. It's not entirely a horror film. The scares come in quite surprisingly, and all of them are just the imagination of the characters. Nothing really memorable, but still effective.
I liked how the film tried to stay away from the clichés that most Asian horror have: A girl in a dress slowly walking with her long hair covering her face. I'm quite convinced that they made the long dead girlfriend of Jim's hair to be very short so that they wouldn't end up with that effect (which is pretty much unavoidable, long hair or not).
The characters are played excellently by the actors. Leslie Cheung (his last film, to which after making this movie, is said to have completely changed and got severely depressed. Jumped off a building and died soon in the hospital) is fantastic as Jim, the psychiatrist with the troubled past. Karena Lam and other supporting roles give out excellent performances as well.
Although the film has great performances and a pretty good story to tell, it's the ending where it fell apart. The movie suddenly becomes a lovestory with lots of cheese. It truly felt very, very different, and was quite unnecessary to end it that way. Yes, Jim overcoming and accepting, instead of forgetting, his past was how he was able to be cured. I loved the part when the character's roles are switched after Yan has recovered. After facing her parents, Jim is now the one that needs help. But the ending was simply a disappointment.
But the film does give out some great messages. Ghosts aren't what horror films, T.V. shows or books would have us believe to be. It's our troubled past that haunts us. And letting go of this past and not remembering it isn't the only thing you can do. You can simply accept it and choose to live a normal life. This is the conflict that almost all the characters are facing. We find out that the landlord, in what could possibly be the creepiest part of the film, actually prepares his long dead wife and kid's slippers in the doorway and cooks extra food for them.
7.5
Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)
He returns... from where?
The final installment of the classic Star Wars Trilogy, Return of the Jedi isn't exactly what many people thought would be. A new, more powerful Death Star is being made, while Luke, Leia, Lando and Chewy try to save Han Solo from the clutches of Jabba the Hutt as a decoration. After saving not only Han, but everyone from Jabba, Luke returns to Jedi Master Yoda. The film, like Star Wars, starts out a bit slow and gets uninteresting in some parts. Granted, the make-up and costumes were kinda cool, but the lack of anything going on except deals and Jabba getting angry at the guards made the movie quite slow.
The shield of the new Death Star being made is located at a forest called Endor, where they aim to destroy the bunker that supports this shield. After a chase involving Speeders, Leia meets and Ewok. This is the part where Lucas decided to make the film feel more kiddy and added these unnecessary creatures. I didn't find them annoying, but the inclusion of their characters in the final film of the Trilogy is one of the most unnecessary things to Star Wars along with Jar-Jar. These small things throw rocks at Stormtroopers, to which they easily fall down and never get up. The whole scene was completely unbelievable and quite weird. It hardly became any fun at all.
Leia being Luke's sister was a pretty lame twist. It's like they added it to make sure that Han and Leia would be together no matter what. The film hardly had time for the characters and decided to just have lots of explosions and bears running around. It completely forgot the magic of Star Wars and decided to be a visual effects treat, cause, you know, that's what final installments of epic Trilogies like this should be. Hardly anything important happen to the characters. Hardly any drama goes between them except for Luke and Darth Vader.
The final space fight felt flat and forced, since so many new characters suddenly appear and the audience simply couldn't care less about their fate. Well, except for Lando, that is. Granted, it was more colorful and lots of different kinds of fighters are thrown in, but it just felt like one big mess and hardly exciting at all. Some of the effects even seem dodgy at some points, especially the Star Destroyers crashing and blowing up.
The best scene in the film would probably be the final Lightsaber fight between Darth Vader and Luke and what proceeds after that. Now that Luke knows the truth, he isn't just fighting some evil monster that kills many people: he's fighting his own father, for the life of his sister and friends, and the future of the whole galaxy. After almost defeating Darth Vader, Luke decides not to kill him, since he can still sense the good in him. But the Dark Lord of the Sith has other plans, and nearly kills Luke with his power. As Darth Vader watches his son in agony, he then decides to save his son and kills the Emperor. What then proceeds is the last moments of the half-man, half-machine Darth Vader's life, previously known as Anakin Skywalker. The death of Darth Vader is simply the most emotional scene of the whole Trilogy, and one of the best.
Return of the Jedi is a very, very flawed film. But it's moments like these in the film that make it worth it. It's still entertaining to watch, and the characters we love are still here. The final steps of Luke is done, and the whole galaxy celebrates as the Galactic Empire is defeated, once and for all One of the better changes in the film, where in the original ending, the Ewoks sing a song called Yub-Nub. I mean, seriously, what the hell?
8.0
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Unlike Father & Son
Back in the 80's, people were very excited for the release of The Empire Strikes Back, the much-awaited sequel to the phenomenal Star Wars. But, I can imagine, they were also wondering if it would be as good as Star Wars. No, it's not. It's much better. There's more action, the characters become richer and we are introduced to new ones. Thankfully, Lucas backed down in directing and/or writing the film.
Considered as the best film among the Trilogy, The Empire Strikes Back starts with the whole gang staying at a Rebel base in the ice planet of Hoth. After almost getting mauled by a Wampa Beast, Luke gets a message from Obi-Wan Kenobi to go to the Planet of Dagobah and look for a Jedi Master named Yoda. The Imperial Army arrives and tries to destroy the base, but the Rebels have already escaped, with Luke accompanied by R2-D2 goes to Dagobah. The Battle of Hoth is easily my favorite action scene in the whole Trilogy.
While Han, Leia and Chewbacca are hiding from the Imperial army that's chasing them, Luke meets the 800 year-old Jedi Master Yoda. Full of wisdom and a funny way of talking, Yoda trains Luke to be a real Jedi and teaches him the ways of a Jedi. Almost nothing happens in the middle of the film, except for great character development and lots of intelligent dialogue. It manages to keep us interested and excited without having too many action scenes. We get to know more about all the characters, including the villains and new characters that we are introduced to.
We then meet Lando Calrissian who lives in Bespin, a city that floats among the clouds. Lucas hardly touched this masterpiece, but he still added some more striking visuals, most of which aren't unnecessary. More windows are added to the buildings in Bespin, adding lot more light and life to the settings. The visuals added aren't a bother anymore, and for once probably made a scene look better.
Han and Leia don't trust Lando, to which we soon find out that they were right about their feelings toward him. Luke forsees that they're in trouble and goes to make sure that they're all right. As Han Solo is about to be frozen, Leia finally admits to Han that she loves her. To which Han replies with, "I know." It's an incredibly touching and emotional scene, where things are just about to get worse.
As Luke arrives at Bespin, he encounters Darth Vader, to which father and son fight. Quite possibly the best Lightsaber fight in all the Star Wars films, the scene is filled with so much emotion and a shocking revelation. Luke sacrifices his own life rather than join the dark side, and is saved by Leia and Chewbacca, along with Lando, after much threats from Chewy. The film ends on such a downbeat note, keeping a cliffhanger for the final movie in the Trilogy.
The characters have yet to face another adventure, and learn more from each other as the Imperial is yet to be beaten and Solo to be rescued. It's not a happy ending, or should I say, a beginning for the characters as what the future holds from them is yet to be known. It shouldn't be a suprrise from anyone that The Empire Strikes Back is considered by many as the best of the Trilogy, because the film is a great stepping-stone for the characters we've grown to love in the first film and introduces us to new ones that we easily grow to love and care for. That's what makes Star Wars a great Trilogy in the first place: it's the characters we remember. Not the visuals.
10
Star Wars (1977)
Lucasfilm
When Star Wars was shown in 1977, it changed film history and people. It was a huge success, and it wasn't long before fans started to wear costumes and watching the movie for the 50th time in theaters. 20 years later, George Lucas made Special Editions of the trilogy, and it disappointed many fans. They said that Lucas butchered the films and "raped their childhood." I wouldn't know how to feel, since I wasn't there when Star Wars was first released. I didn't care for Star Wars when I first watched it as a kid, but upon second viewing, I liked it a lot more. Lucas' changes to the films never really bothered me that much (I couldn't really understand why many people hated that Greedo shot first. Nor who or what the hell is Greedo).
The film starts with a gigantic Star Destroyer chasing a small ship and finally capturing them. 2 droids go to an escape pod and gets sold to Luke Skywalker with his aunt and uncle, while Princess Leia is captured by Darth Vader, a heavy breathing man wearing a mask throughout the whole film. The plot is pretty simple, but it's surrounded by the world of Star Wars that George Lucas made (with much inspiration from Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress). The Star Warsverse impressed a lot of people with how it was created and how vast and many different planets present in the galaxy.
I thought that the film started off so slowly and some parts were uninteresting and just goes on and on. So much unnecessary cuteness was put in the first 30-40 minutes of the film. Yes, it's the most light-hearted film in the trilogy, but it just couldn't avoid being too childish. The costumes and make-up are quite impressive, and the visuals still hold up to this day, where blowing up planets won't consist of sparks and a ring to it. Too bad that Lucas couldn't appreciate the time that the film was made.
We are then introduced to one of the best characters in the Star Wars Trilogy, Han Solo, with a "walking carpet" Wookie named Chewbacca. Luke Skywalker, along with Obi-Wan Kenobi gets Han Solo and Chewbacca to rescue the Princess. Rescuing the Princess and getting out of the Death Star is one of the most enjoyable and hilarious parts of the film. The Lightsaber fights aren't as fast-paced or 'complicated' compared to the Prequels, but that doesn't become a problem at all. The chemistry between Luke, Han and Leia become a treat to watch and often times hilarious. Getting stuck with these hilarious characters that you care for 2 more films isn't a problem. That's one of the magic of Star Wars: quirky, delightful characters, which is certainly lacking in the Prequels (okay, I'll stop it with the comparison to the prequels right now)
I love model ships that are put into a blue background and get destroyed. And because of the lack of technology back then, Lucas puts into good use this technique and does it well. He may have added some CGI in the Special Editions to make it more exciting, but I'm happy with the result. With great characters, exciting action scenes and such a rich, vast galaxy as their surroundings, it's no wonder that Star Wars became such a huge success and is still loved by many people up to this day.
8.5