Zombie delivers a satisfying installment, which is actually a mixture of both remake and reboot. The film becomes an in-depth look at Michael Myers, from a child to a monster. The middle of the film is almost a shot-for-shot remake of the 1978 film, à la the remake of "Psycho", except it actually works in this film. The history of Michael Myers is tied up neatly in a nice little package, instead of plot-device after plot-device like the old series ended up doing. Where the film falls short is an unnecessary outdrawn ending, which makes the actual remake section of the film look like the middle child of three films crunched into one. As usual, Zombie doesn't disappoint in the gore or scare department, but things become a bit of overkill as the film nears the conclusion. Not "overkill" as in that it goes too far, but rather "overkill" in that the violence and scares become so repetitive that you become immune to it by the film's end. A real treat (perhaps a trick to some) for Michael Myers fans.
In order to cash in while Batman was still hot, a fourth installment was whipped up with plenty of campy dialogue, corny action sequences and lazy story lines to criticize a decade later. Even the title of the film itself couldn't be more unoriginal. Clooney replaces Kilmer who replaced Keaton — couldn't you tell this was a lost cause? Schwarzenegger gets top billing (à la Nicholson in the original), but the interesting casting and live-action adaptation of Mr. Freeze is too laughable and unrealistic to even deserve the slightest compliment. Even the rest of the all-star cast, especially Thurman as Poison Ivy, is too unbearable to watch. Schumacher has even gone on record to apologize for this disaster of a film, acknowledging that an extra year would've made a huge difference — and his self-awareness earns him some sympathy. Just look, each of the previous Batman films had a three year gap between… except this one. It was rushed… probably due to greed. This is what happens when greed takes over an art form, and watching as the film crumbled one horrible scene after another is somewhat satisfying because you're watching a money-hungry production plummet.
Two men (Mackie and Geraghty) question their loyalty to their Army bomb squad when a reckless Sergeant First Class (Renner) takes over in the final five weeks of their tour in Iraq. A gripping story and a talented cast. But you have to wonder where the film is going. There are no memorable characters like Brando's Col. Kurtz from "Apocalypse Now" or Emery's Gny. Sgt. Hartman from "Full Metal Jacket", which is fine if you have an untold story… but even the film fails at that. There's nothing notable about this story or its characters. What this film contains are your average Joes, in everyday war situations. One can argue that there's nothing wrong with that. But you have to wonder, why not just make a documentary instead? In fact, the film may have been perfect had it been a documentary. But it wasn't. Instead, they waste three strong actors by giving them bland characters and (worst of all) pointless cameos from A-list actors that didn't move the story along at all. So what it has come down to is that it's documentary-like… except it's actually just another filmmaker's interpretation, which we've all seen before.
You know when you read something like, "Fun for the whole family", and you're like, "Yeah right"… well, this film actually is. The kids will love the talented Williams playing a divorced father who disguises himself brilliantly, convincingly and humorously as an old English nanny; while the grown ups will be shocked at how crude the film actually gets, but can't resist laughing and continuing to watch. The film disguises R-rated-like humor by mixing in family fun… which could be criticized, but shouldn't because it's actually fun and harmless. Brosnan and Field are wonderful as supporting characters, and the two actually are memorable in their performance despite being upstaged by Williams at his best. The three children are strikingly convincing in their roles and cease to fall into the category of painfully cutesy brats that Hollywood typically casts. The story is long but solid; the climatic sequence is saddening but genius and true. Despite Williams having to be so theatrical in the title role, the film itself seems a bit modest. This should be at the top of every critic's list of "greatest family films".
Shaffer adapts his play into film, which chronicles composer Antonio Salieri (Abraham) and his plot to ruin Amadeus Mozart (Hulce). Historically inaccurate, but then again… it's not a biography. Even though Salieri knows Mozart is a genius, his jealousy craves the ranting towards Mozart's music, such as the Emporer's (Jones) criticism of one of Mozart's pieces having "too many notes". It appears Forman and Shaffer should have taken their own advice, as the film starts to drag significantly during the second half, mainly due to drawn out opera scenes. As the film comes to an end, the viewer can't help but feel satisfied by, not only a well-told story, but also (and more importantly) the brilliance of music contained in the film. Hulce was extremely critical about playing music, with musical scholars complimenting that every note of music matches that seen on screen, which is both a film and musical triumph!
The first, but not best, follow up to the successful "Batman" includes two villains: Catwoman (Pfeiffer) and an unnecessary hideous rendition of The Penguin (DeVito). Keaton puts the cape on a second time for a wonderfully meek Batman/Bruce Wayne. Director Tim Burton, however, appears to be more interested in doing things the way he wants, instead of even attempting to continue a good story. The first was a darker and realistic take on a superhero that most be associated Adam West with — but the darkness and reality of the 1989 film worked well. Here, however, Burton tries to make "Returns" darker, uglier and less realistic. Instead of The Penguin being a beak-nosed mobster who wears a tuxedo, he's a mutated human living in the sewer. Instead of Catwoman being everybody's favorite anti-hero, she's wicked enough to be the main villain. Instead of Billy Dee Williams reprising his role as Harvey Dent, he's replaced with Christopher Walken as the evil Max Shreck — a new character who looks more like a mad scientist than a corrupt businessman. Even the art design of Gotham City is significantly different and less believable than the first. Burton completely ruined the wonderful world he made in the previous film. Danny Elfman's score is the only thing this and the first film are equal at; everything else is significantly inferior. A huge disappointment.
Cameron makes another dent in film-making with an experience best viewed in IMAX 3D. But even then, this self-indulgent, overlong, technologically impressive… yet coy… film gets boring really quick. The groundbreaking special-effects amazes at first, but it doesn't keep you interested like the SFX did in "T2". "T2" had characters you loved or loved to hate; "Avatar" has characters that well… you're indifferent to their fate. A good film should include talented acting and a solid story. This film has neither. And Cameron knows it. And he tries to disguise it with jaw-dropping special-effects, which ultimately is just nothing more than an insult to the audience's intelligence and time. The only character you can have any feeling towards is hatred for an arrogant and stereotypical colonel, played by Stephen Lang who can't even deliver a believable performance.
A broken down, drained, has-been country star (Bridges) finds inspiration at rebuilding his career and life from a journalist (Gyllenhaal) and her 4-year-old son (Nation). Jeff Bridges delivers a fantastic performance — the best of 2009 — as an all-to-real cranky old country alcoholic, with a singing performance on par with Willis Alan Ramsey or Jerry Jeff Walker, and even a touch of the well-loved Dude from "The Big Lebowski". Colin Farrell plays a supporting character as the country star Bad Blake could've been. Farrell too does an astonishing musical performance. The love story is a bit unbelievable, but a solid script and great acting makes your heart melt nevertheless. The acting couldn't be better, but what about the story? The tale of a person that's more typical than unique makes this film only worth watching once.
The story of the future has finally arrived with plenty of references to the previous films, a possible attempt to make up for no returning actors. A film for the fans. John Connor suffered a recast yet again, this time with A-list actor Christian Bale. Only an actor as talented as Bale could be taken seriously as a recast. A more solemn story, but has plenty of spectacular action scenes (though nothing groundbreaking). It is what it is: not a classic, but rather just a Terminator story… but it's a great story! McG was able to make this just as dark and nail biting as the first three despite a PG-13 rating.
After nearly twelve years, a third installment was finally made. While certainly inferior, it had so many obstacles to overcome legally and financially that we're lucky we even got a film at all — and in the end; at least they did the best they could. Arnold looks like he hasn't aged a bit since "T2" and that alone must've been a lot of work. There's an obvious void with the absence of Cameron and Hamilton, and Nick Stahl is a poor recast of Furlong. The T-1000 is replaced with T-X (Loken), a female terminator that is dangerous and sexy, but she can't live up to Robert Patrick's nearly invincible villain. The story is well-written, with a decent attempt at explaining away any holes left in "The Terminator", but it fails to recognize important plot points from "T2". The self-awareness of the filmmakers knowing it's an inferior film makes "T3" an entertaining, fun and even humorous journey. The special effects live up to "T2" and the story's outcome is unpredictable. It's sometimes darker than the first two, sometimes lighter; at some points better, at other points inferior. Earl Boen (Dr. Silberman) is the only other actor, besides Schwarzenegger, to reprise a role.
A follow up to Cameron's successful "The Terminator", this time the Terminator's mission is to protect… not terminate. Maybe it should be called "The Protector"? The bond between the Terminator and the person he's programmed to protect — John Connor (Furlong, in his debut role), the son of the preceding film's target — is actually touching. Only Cameron can pull that off. Linda Hamilton reprises her role as a much darker and tougher Sarah Connor and Earl Boen reprises his role as a more important (and less likable) Dr. Silberman. Is it purposely ironic that the good characters from the first one grow dark in this film, and the dark character from the first one turns good in this film? Regardless of its intention, it works. The T-1000 (Patrick) is the cherry on top (the T-1000 makes "The Abyss" look like a student project). 139 minute action/sci-fi/thriller isn't long… it's epic! Special edition runs over 2½ hours, including a scene with Michael Biehn reprising his role as Kyle Reese.
Based on Peter Landesman's cover story, the film follows a Texas cop (Kline) and Jorge (Ramos) who are on the trail to save Jorge's sister (Gaitan), a 13-year-old girl from Mexico City who was kidnapped to be sold in the sex-trade. A powerful story, with Kline and Ramos making an interesting duo. The conflict seems to always be easy to overcome, with the two leads never loosing the tail of the kidnappers no matter what the obstacle is. The tragic irony at the end is an eye-roller. The hunt begins to feel far-fetched as the film progresses, and Kline is as dull as usual. The Mexico City setting alone is a plus to this roller-coaster of thrills and yawns.
