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K21Nova
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The X Files: I Want to Believe (2008)
A die-hard fan's 2 cents (SPOILERS)
I was an impressionable teenager when the X-Files series started airing, and I became a fan straight away. Watching the series, it became evident that there was an underlying main plot, but also a lot of "filler".
The first few seasons had awesome filler episodes, whereas the later ones kind of felt bland. I mean, as the main plot started to reveal itself, and Mulder&Scully saw what they did, aliens and alien ships and such, it felt sort of silly they'd be out in the New Orleans swamp the next week hunting some swamp thing. Still, I loved it to the very end.
I was expecting this movie to be more like the new Rambo and Rocky movies, in that it was made to end the saga, and I suppose it was exactly that, especially with the scene after the credits. However, afterward I didn't feel like I'd just seen an X-Files movie.
In the beginning there was that X-Files tension that I so craved. That feeling of not knowing what's coming, and expecting an alien to pop out from behind the corner. That's what the series for me was; extraterrestrials. The main plot. The fillers were nice, but they were like a cherry on top of the cake. The cake itself was the government conspiracy and the aliens.
I didn't want them to rehash all that, or try to make it ludicrous by actually showing alien ships or anything like that. I did, however, expect them to incorporate that main idea, the thing X-Files was created for, into this movie.
Instead it was all about romance and religion.
The plot in the movie is just something to keep us entertained while they go through these two themes: love between our beloved agents, and Scully's faith. Sure, she always was a believer, and her faith always balanced Mulder's passion to expose the truth through science and observation, through actually witnessing the existence of aliens. But I didn't feel it needed to play this big of a role in the movie.
In the end I was left thinking this couldn't have been the movie.
Where was the government, the conspiracies? Nobody in the side of the "good guys", in the FBI or anywhere, was trying to hide anything. The only scene to suggest government corruption was when they showed the picture of Bush next to that of Hoover.
Where were the aliens? Not a single "paranormal" thing in the entire movie. Only the priest and his religious visions.
Well, I like suspense movies such as this, no matter how empty the plot is, and being a fan of Mulder and Scully, I still felt good afterward and that's why I'm giving it a 7 out of 10. But this wasn't an X-Files movie. It was merely a movie about love and faith, two things I wouldn't have personally ever made the movie about.
I do wish they'd let the franchise die in peace.
Fainaru fantajî sebun adobento chirudoren (2005)
Blown away...
As noted before, I might use some spoilers here.
I played FF7 back in the day, and was addicted for hundreds of hours. I never got the same feeling from -any- of the other Final Fantasy games as I did from FF7.
However, over years, it had all faded away into memory, and I didn't even remember the names of some of the characters. Shame on me, yeah... But this movie... It did an amazing job in rekindling those feelings. But I also felt like someone completely strange to this world once again. Still it managed to blow me away. I admit I almost cried when I saw Aeris again. Stuff like that only works for the fans of course, but even for someone who isn't a fan, this movie is amazing.
With almost 3000 votes, and the rating of 8.5, there's no denying it. This movie rocks.
It's been made using game demo like graphics. Those who don't even know how to turn on a PC or a console have probably no idea what I mean, but to put it simple, video games (PC games) have demo videos in them, which aren't like the game itself, but reminiscent of actual video. Short movies so to speak. This movie has been made using such graphics.
The two most awesome gaming houses in the world, as far as demo quality goes, are Square and Blizzard. I've never really known which one to put to the top spot, but seeing this movie, I have to admit it has to be Square. Being a Blizzard fanboi and all, thats saying a lot. :) So... See this movie. It's not Hollywood, it's anime. You don't need to know anything about the game itself, as the movie will give you everything you need to enjoy it. Don't try to overthink it and if you have a question at some point, just forget about it and let the stream of life take you with it. :) Don't think this is like Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, because it's not. This is something completely different. :) I give it ten. I have no choice. I got beat up by Emerald Weapon too many times not to give it ten. :) *Summons Knights of the Round*
Wake of Death (2004)
Damme CAN act after all?
I've watched a few Damme movies in the past, and never expected much out of any of them. It's all been high flying kicks and slow motion. There have been a few that I've loved, even though they've been "Damme-movies"; The Universal Soldier was fun to watch when I was younger, and Hard Target since it's a Woo movie.
I wasn't expecting to see much martial arts, since Damme is...let's face it...kind of old already. Some of his moves still look good enough for the screen.
As a movie, I liked it. Not one of the best I've seen, but deserves a 7 for all the effort. It never really stopped for too long, and the story seemed to go along fluently. There were a few moments when I had to scratch my head, since the characters weren't introduced as well as I would've liked. As a "second grade" action movie, or a "Damme-movie" it was very nice, and I was pleasantly surprised.
What amazed me though, was Damme's performance. Not as a martial artist, but as an actual actor! I mean... Why hasn't this guy acted this well before? He was very convincing in almost all his scenes, and his range of emotion was much wider than what I've used to seeing from him. I would've loved to have seen some of his earlier work with this much "skill" in acting.
Maybe it's because he can't really kick as high as he used to anymore. :) Anyways, I liked the movie, and I hope he keeps doing these kinds of "real" movies, where he's not just showing off his body and doing high kicks. Oh, and that brings me to a point... There was a sex scene in this movie, much like in the old 80's movies. Perhaps a bit shorter and less graphic, but a what I would call an 80's sex scene anyways. You don't really see those anymore, for a good reason, since they usually break the pace of the movie entirely. This one seemed to fit in the movie though, so it too was a pleasant surprise.
So, if you're going to watch the movie, don't expect much, and you may yet be pleasantly surprised with some of it's elements, such as Damme's acting. :) My 2 euro cents.
AVP: Alien vs. Predator (2004)
Some Non-overanalyzed Opinions
There are some spoilers ahead, but not as much as the whole plot.
First of all, the comments here seem to have come from people who have really gone far in overanalyzing the film. It would seem that the content as far as the Alien/Predator lores go is more important to people than the movie itself. I thought I'd give commenting on this movie a shot as well.
The basic idea of the film, that it takes place on Earth has always been a good one, as far as aliens are concerned, so no wonder Fox went for it. Now that we got that, I would've liked to see more of Earth than what the film showed us.
I'm sure people expected to experience the same horror and excitement that Alien gave us, or even Aliens, like we did with Alien Resurrection and Alien 3. Both of which seemed to be a bit of a disappointment to the public. This isn't a true alien movie though, since it basically is a crossover.
Visually I found the movie very pleasing, with more than adequate CGI and special effects, and a nice mood. The dialog could truly have been better, and the movie could have done without the one-liners. There's especially one that irritated me a lot, but I guess you'll see it when you see the movie. The dialog seemed to be a bit forced and dull at times.
The action scenes were just a bit of a blur every now and then, but all in all kept me at the edge of my seat. The acting sadly won't bring the film any Oscars.
The film may have had a bit too much of the alien/predator lore here and there, but I guess this was a movie for the fans of those franchises, and with the rating being so low, I'm betting the movie was meant in parts for the kids who liked the games (AvP, AvP2). Sure, there were things that didn't seem quite right, things wrong with the lore, with what we know, but being that this is an imaginary tale of imaginary beings, I'm sure someone can imagine a reason for everything that happened.
The film didn't really get boring at any point, so the plot progressed very smoothly, which I liked a lot. It had a couple of scares and for a good part of it I really was on the edge of my seat, waiting to see more.
All in all, I don't think this was the fifth alien movie, but I do consider it to be the third predator movie. If you think about it, that's actually what it was. It more or less delved into the world of the predator, instead of looking at things from the perspective of the human, scared s-less of the alien.
I've heard a lot of negative about this movie, but I think most of it was expectations. People really should get it through their skulls that nobody is going to make an alien movie that'll ever satisfy the audience. Don't expect it to be great, because it most likely won't be.
And is there going to be another Alien vs Predator movie? Well, just look at the ending.
Personally, I just wish Renny Harlin WOULD make the movie about the alien planet, as he was about to when he was asked to make Alien 3. He is after all Finnish. Go Finns! :)