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Reviews
No Such Thing (2001)
A broken film, with many gorgeous pieces but loosely fit...
I give this film a generous rating because I do believe artistically it has some merit. I am surprised about a few things:
1. Poor science fiction set design. It is difficult to manage a monster movie without good sets and props, although the costume did an adequate job of working with Burke's expressions.
2. Little cohesion in thought processes. Most of Hartley's works are famous for their consistent and minutely carved characters. One sees the craftsmanship in the design when conversations that begin at one part of the movie yield drastic consequences later, or when conversations that did not happen effect later events in the film. There are certainly interesting characters, and the conversations are likewise full of potential for interaction, argument and drama. In his masterpiece 'Theory of Achievement' which is arguably just as fragmented in terms of ideas and dialog, we see the characters interact in ways that were never made explicit, and yet are in continuity with the work. The continuity between conversations in No Such Thing breaks down, the theme dissolves, despite the intrigue of the dialog of each section of the film. In most of Hartley's film, which are dialog driven, every word is important and classical devices are used to draw the viewer into the action... (As the dialog between Emmet and Adrienne Shelley's character in Unbelievable Truth mimics theatrical practice - strophes, single lines, phrases - acceleration of dialog).. Again, there is a lot of space here and very little attention paid to the depth of the characters involved. Perhaps here the research into the film breaks down - it would have been helpful to visit and talk with scientists who exist in this cutting edge area of science, see their workspaces and understand how they view the world...
3. Settings are lovely - an unusual match for the film. Required a bit of editing fine tuning - acting appeared stilted on occasion and unnatural. Hard to see if this is intentional during the early portion of the film.
Overall, and interesting collection of conversation of the existence of myths, miracles and monsters, media and some other crazy m words...
The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
Fantastic ending to what threatened to be a doomed trilogy
This installment of the Matrix provides those who were fans of the entire original movie with a full fledged sequel worthy of the franchise.
Not to say that Reloaded was entirely bad, but for the sake of the plot it could have been greatly condensed and worked into making this installment a bit longer.
A brief spoiler alert - revealing concepts, not details.
Like it's early predecessors, Matrix Revolutions embarks into a world which successfully synthesizes classical mythology, theology and philosophy into a tightly orchestrated system of checks and balances. Like the first movie - and unlike the second - every scene and detail counts in understanding the ultimate stakes and mesmerizing and thought provoking conclusion.
Where Buddhism and Near Eastern prophecy and philosophy are fused in the first movie, hinduism, greek mythology, gnosticism and kenotic theology come together in a seamless flow of thoughts and questions for the first portion of the film.
Characters feel the way they did in the first movie, not disjointed and out of place - Neo is inquisitive and enabling new powers of mind and body, Trinity is demure and in control, the Oracle is given some fantastic conversations, and Morpheus' faith is rebuilt - the dialogues can be read romantically - as many reviewers do - or as sappy, though it is clear that if you can recognize the paradigm being referred to, there is more to the love that is at stake.
The issue is one of balance - in a stalemate of chaos, sometimes the one who instigates instability does so as an act of heroism - in order to open the door of opportunity for a better world. Ultimately what Neo is capable of undoing in limbo he must equally face in the real world, and there he meets his greatest challenges and must overcome his greatest fears...
Unlike the second movie, Neo can't afford to be smug - as if he ever had a reason to be.
The fight scenes are fantastic - really pushing the limits of technology and totally immersive - and as a tech spoiler, it has the feel of a hard-edge war movie - no lasers, and not too much lightning, the battles are full of hot lead - like riding in a WWII cockpit to the tenth degree - seeing the white-hot blaze and hearing the guns in stereo is an incredible experience - they make "Return of the Jedi" tie interceptor scenes look like a parking lot. But it's not all guns and glory - plenty of hand to hand fighting which borders on metaphysical in force and scope.
If you loved the first movie, dialog and fighting, this will not disappoint. If you disliked the second movie, this certainly redeems the franchise. If you loved both, well you know what to expect. See it in IMAX if you can.