phantomtristan
Joined Jul 2005
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As if we do not have enough superhero movies already with the steady flow of umpteen sequels and still new ones in the works (Ant-Man is due out in 2010, I wonder what will be next Larva-Man?), someone had to create a completely new, original 2008 superhero with no comic book pastHancock. Even with three strong performances, the film collapses from its' poor start and even worse end finale.
Will Smith has the title role of Hancock, a one-of-a-kind superhuman who works with the LAPD to catch criminals. Well, at least he is supposed to but he has become an alcoholic to deal with his constant mood of depression, and his inebriated antics have caused millions of dollars in damages to Los Angeles City. All of which has caused him to fallout out of the public's favor. Enter Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman) a PR consultant who wants to help him repair his image. Before long, well actually almost immediately, Hancock agrees, and the two form an unlikely duo. The finale comes rather abruptly with one of the most surprising, confusing finale that is what ultimately ruins Hancock.
All three talented stars (Will Smith, Jason Bateman, and Charlize Theron) play their parts entertainingly well, but the story, script, direction, and camera work are what destroy it. The film clocks in at 92 minutes, leaving no time for character development and all the events happen so quickly and abruptly that it feels like an extended TV episodes with gazillion-dollar effects.
Another thing that I found particularly annoying was this constant "shaky", close-ups of who ever was in the scene. Almost as if the studio was trying to save money on set design so they kept the camera in really tight.
Once again the time and effort was put into wowing the audience with the special effects, which are quite remarkable, rather than entertaining with a strong story and developed characters. I would not even recommend it as brainless entertainment because it was rather boring. I still wonder why someone felt the need to go and create ANOTHER superhero movie.
Will Smith has the title role of Hancock, a one-of-a-kind superhuman who works with the LAPD to catch criminals. Well, at least he is supposed to but he has become an alcoholic to deal with his constant mood of depression, and his inebriated antics have caused millions of dollars in damages to Los Angeles City. All of which has caused him to fallout out of the public's favor. Enter Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman) a PR consultant who wants to help him repair his image. Before long, well actually almost immediately, Hancock agrees, and the two form an unlikely duo. The finale comes rather abruptly with one of the most surprising, confusing finale that is what ultimately ruins Hancock.
All three talented stars (Will Smith, Jason Bateman, and Charlize Theron) play their parts entertainingly well, but the story, script, direction, and camera work are what destroy it. The film clocks in at 92 minutes, leaving no time for character development and all the events happen so quickly and abruptly that it feels like an extended TV episodes with gazillion-dollar effects.
Another thing that I found particularly annoying was this constant "shaky", close-ups of who ever was in the scene. Almost as if the studio was trying to save money on set design so they kept the camera in really tight.
Once again the time and effort was put into wowing the audience with the special effects, which are quite remarkable, rather than entertaining with a strong story and developed characters. I would not even recommend it as brainless entertainment because it was rather boring. I still wonder why someone felt the need to go and create ANOTHER superhero movie.
Remember back when you were a kid, and either you or one of your siblings got a Hot wheel racetrack for Christmas? Remember watching those little metal cars zip around on the track and trying to imagine what it would be like to be inside one? Speed Race gives you the opportunity.
The Wachowski brothers follow up their massively successful Matrix Trilogy, with Speed Racer. This time the story is PG-rated and appeals to children ages 7-11, but do not let that scare you away! It is enormously entertaining and the most fun I have had at the movies in a long time.
Speed Racer follows the story of a teenage boy Speed (Emile Hirsch), a born racer, who has just become extremely popular after winning a big race. His popularity has caught the eye of Royalton (Roger Allam), the owner and CEO of a gazillion dollar corporate conglomerate, who is bent on signing Speed onto his team of race car drivers. When Speed refuses to sign with him, Royalton goes about trying to destroy Speed's life as well as his parents (John Goodman, Susan Sarandon). Speed, feeling responsible decides to fight back; and to do this he must yes you guessed it RACE! The plot has many more intricacies to it but I will leave that for you to discover when you see it.
The casting was perfect, and everyone played their part flawlessly. John Goodman stood out the most as the passionate father, and relatively new Paulie Litt made quite an impression as Speed's younger brother.
Yes, the script and delivery of some of the lines were rather sappy, and there were the moments of that warm fuzzy-wuzzy father-son-family time; all which could be annoying in other circumstances but here they actually almost suited it.
Speed Racer does not disappoint and surprises you with how much you are drawn into it! The shots of the racer's POV, make you feel like you are on a theme park ride and take you back to your childhoodin a good way!
The Wachowski brothers follow up their massively successful Matrix Trilogy, with Speed Racer. This time the story is PG-rated and appeals to children ages 7-11, but do not let that scare you away! It is enormously entertaining and the most fun I have had at the movies in a long time.
Speed Racer follows the story of a teenage boy Speed (Emile Hirsch), a born racer, who has just become extremely popular after winning a big race. His popularity has caught the eye of Royalton (Roger Allam), the owner and CEO of a gazillion dollar corporate conglomerate, who is bent on signing Speed onto his team of race car drivers. When Speed refuses to sign with him, Royalton goes about trying to destroy Speed's life as well as his parents (John Goodman, Susan Sarandon). Speed, feeling responsible decides to fight back; and to do this he must yes you guessed it RACE! The plot has many more intricacies to it but I will leave that for you to discover when you see it.
The casting was perfect, and everyone played their part flawlessly. John Goodman stood out the most as the passionate father, and relatively new Paulie Litt made quite an impression as Speed's younger brother.
Yes, the script and delivery of some of the lines were rather sappy, and there were the moments of that warm fuzzy-wuzzy father-son-family time; all which could be annoying in other circumstances but here they actually almost suited it.
Speed Racer does not disappoint and surprises you with how much you are drawn into it! The shots of the racer's POV, make you feel like you are on a theme park ride and take you back to your childhoodin a good way!
The Summer season is here and this year it gets an iron boost from finally a new marvel comic franchise hopeful. Having no expectations for Iron Man I was more than surprised with how much I enjoyed it.
This time the Iron Man-to-be, Tony Starks (Robert Downey Jr.), is a weapons manufacturing billionaire, not a nerdy college student. He doesn't need to buy a car to win over his childhood sweetheart, but instead has a super-sized garage with six cars and an assistant (Gwyneth Paltrow) who gets rid of his one night stands. In short, he lives it up in all the luxury one could dream of.
While visiting a US base in Afghanistan to sell more of his weapons, the humvee he is riding is ambushed and he is taken captive by Afghani insurgents. They force him to build them one of his famous bombs, but instead he builds a great big metal suit! A suit which he uses to escape back to America successfully, and once home starts building a better one. Seeing the destruction of his weapons when they fall into the hands of insurgents he wants to shut down his weapons company. This does not go over well with a few people and brings us to a climatic fight between a villain (I will let you be surprised who it is) and Iron Man.
The casting was perfect. Robert Downey Jr. plays his part as the fast-talking, careless billionaire who gets a reality check brilliantly, and Gwyneth Paltrow is immensely entertaining as Pepper Potts, his cool, calculated assistant. Together they have the perfect amount of chemistry that only increases your desire to see Iron Man II.
Iron Man is a strong beginning to what will hopefully, yes I am actually hoping for more, be a successful franchise. Unfortunately with it being a good beginning, is where it faltered, only a little. First you could really tell it was setting up for more as there are actually very few scenes of Iron Man flying around (there are actually many more scenes of Tony building and testing his Iron Man suit) and secondly the end battle was not as spectacular or even intense as most superhero climaxes and ended rather quickly.
Still Iron Man is a strong, very strong film to open the Summer Season, and does not disappoint. The mark of a good film is when, even with a running time of 126 minutes, it leaves you wanting more!
This time the Iron Man-to-be, Tony Starks (Robert Downey Jr.), is a weapons manufacturing billionaire, not a nerdy college student. He doesn't need to buy a car to win over his childhood sweetheart, but instead has a super-sized garage with six cars and an assistant (Gwyneth Paltrow) who gets rid of his one night stands. In short, he lives it up in all the luxury one could dream of.
While visiting a US base in Afghanistan to sell more of his weapons, the humvee he is riding is ambushed and he is taken captive by Afghani insurgents. They force him to build them one of his famous bombs, but instead he builds a great big metal suit! A suit which he uses to escape back to America successfully, and once home starts building a better one. Seeing the destruction of his weapons when they fall into the hands of insurgents he wants to shut down his weapons company. This does not go over well with a few people and brings us to a climatic fight between a villain (I will let you be surprised who it is) and Iron Man.
The casting was perfect. Robert Downey Jr. plays his part as the fast-talking, careless billionaire who gets a reality check brilliantly, and Gwyneth Paltrow is immensely entertaining as Pepper Potts, his cool, calculated assistant. Together they have the perfect amount of chemistry that only increases your desire to see Iron Man II.
Iron Man is a strong beginning to what will hopefully, yes I am actually hoping for more, be a successful franchise. Unfortunately with it being a good beginning, is where it faltered, only a little. First you could really tell it was setting up for more as there are actually very few scenes of Iron Man flying around (there are actually many more scenes of Tony building and testing his Iron Man suit) and secondly the end battle was not as spectacular or even intense as most superhero climaxes and ended rather quickly.
Still Iron Man is a strong, very strong film to open the Summer Season, and does not disappoint. The mark of a good film is when, even with a running time of 126 minutes, it leaves you wanting more!