Reviews

Here now is a prime example of a file where the writers seemed to have thrown all sense out the window and write something that is utter tripe. Being fond of some of Jack Blacks work I had thought to give this a go and now I find myself thinking I could done something worthwhile instead with the hour and a half I wasted on this film.

If you are expecting anything like the original then I'd pretty much say forget it. The story is of Jack Blacks character Gulliver who is given an assignment to go to the Bermuda Triangle and write a travel piece and after his boat crashes finds himself in Lilliput. Here however the similarity end, what follows after is a shambles of a script.

If this is aimed at children then its setting a bad example and the only humour (if that) is produced by toilet humour and wedgies. The character development was bad and in the end it was really just a platform for Jack Black to do his silly moves. Its a shame as there were British talents of note in this film but they all played second fiddle to "Hey Look at me I'm Jack Black". Maybe the director should stick to creating animated films then making live movies because this has got to go down as a failure.

The thing is think about it. People waited so long for this movie to come out and were disappointed. I'm not a "rabid fan-boy" but even I went "what the hell is this".

For me the biggest issue was the plot and the very underdeveloped characters. Lets start off wit the plot. The First film deals with the Ark of the covenant, a biblical items which, whilst a bit stretched its makes for a good story. Second film dealt with the stones of shakti mythical stones, mentioned in Hindu texts. The third film deals with the holy grail. The fourth film however went on a complete tangent and moved into the realms of aliens. That has got to be the most far fetched story ever. Very few mainstream films can pull of the alien plot, this however isn't one of those films. They could have kept the story as it and explain instead that instead of aliens they were priests from a forgotten civilisation.

Then lets move onto the characters, the villain was like an afterthought. In the other films you feel the history Indy has had with them and they seemed more robust. Ray winstones character was laughable again there's no story into how their relationship developed. For example in the previous films we see how Salah became friends with Indy. And finally Mary and Jnr. think about it, Mary's character seemed lame like she carried on where she left off. No antagonism about being ditched. And jnr. well Henry Jnr and Snr. quickly embraced they were father and son in record time, what happened to the hurt confusion and anger that come from this. Tehy chemistry that existed between father and son in the last crusade simply isn't there.

Its small things like this that can improve a film.

Its really unfair for Lucas to say this is just a movie, a lot of people remember the magic feeling of his previous films and waited a long time for it. When watching this I felt he really wasn't bothered about the movie, just how much money he could make from it.

It very rare that I give a film a 10 out of 10 and it is even rare that I feel compelled to comment upon it. Yesterday I watched this film and have to admit for the two hours I was held captive by the tense and suspense rich story line. The director has done a fantastic job of bringing Stephen Kings story to the screen.

A few weeks ago I watched Cloverfield which left me pleasantly surprised at how good it was, I can honestly say this film has topped it. Usually when a film has monsters they tend to be cheesy puppets of or shoddy CGI, I'm glad to say that the creatures in this film were amazingly designed and displayed. Like Cloverfield the monsters wern't the main focus of the film but the how they came to be was scary nonetheless, mankind destroying themselves by playing with things they have no control over.

Putting the monsters aside for a second like cloverfield, the film really concentrated more on the human emotions. At the beginning we see the common urge to band together against an unknown enemy but then come to realise how that erodes as fear sets in. Its message is without structure and rule men resorts to their primal urge and yearns for anyone or anything that can bring some reason to the madness no matter how tenuous.

The film works simply because of the impacting story it tells of peoples emotions namely love, fear and anger. What would any of us do in a situation like that, are we truly animals when common society laws and rules no longer apply.

The most hated character in the story for me was the religious fanatic who at the beginning everyone ignored but as things became worse how she slowly became the leader of an unthinking mob and claiming that God spoke through her. How she uses God to wreak her personal hatred and flame cruelty to the people she should have been helping. Her ultimate fate I believe in my own opinion was truly deserved.

The soundtrack they used "The Host of Seraphim" made my heart ache when it was coupled with the cinematography, rarely have I seen something so beautiful and haunting.

The main character of the film was simply a father trying to protect his son and then later help everyone in general. Thomas Zane in this role really excelled and you can't help but feel for him at the end of the film when he realises in the midst of hope he destroyed everything he had. I pray that none of us ever has to make the choice he made.

To conclude this film is beyond exceptional the story told made me hope that if ever I was in a situation like that then I would pray that I made the right decisions

But this is one film deserving the full marks. I loved the characters and how they came to terms with their situation and how in love they found their strength to accept it and use that time to enjoy life.

I love how they took the risk to fall in love and how they became stronger and not let the darkness and depression overcome them.

All I can say is that it's simply a beautiful film that leaves you sad yet nothing but pride and love for the characters Griffin and Phoenix. It one of the reasons why I think Amanda Peet is also a very talented but understated actress. Its a shame that gems like this film never really get the exposure that it truly deserves.