restin_him
Joined Apr 2006
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Reviews25
restin_him's rating
After years of telling people why I like Trek they can see a film that puts the original series into full light.
Star Trek follows the creation of the greatest crew to explore the far reaches of space. The opening scenes show us a dramatic and moving battle between the USS Kelvin and the time displaced ship Nerada. This battle introduces the villain Nero (Eric Bana) and shows us the birth of James Kirk. Jump ahead 25 years and we see Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) take two different paths to Starfleet and the adventure to stop the vengeance filled Nero begin.
Lets start with the amazing story. The script perfectly captured the characters, drama, terror, and passion of the franchise. One scene at the beginning of the film was so moving I had tears in my eyes. Just the beginning reveals the quality of what is in store for old Trek fans and the new ones to come.
Star Trek does an amazing job of capturing everything that makes Star Trek brilliant. Being a crazed fan since childhood I tell you this film communicated all the qualities that make Star Trek great. While us Trekies get our fill the film does not turn off new fans and in fact shows them the charm and beauty of this franchise (if I had a buck for every non-Trek fan friend who has asked to borrow my DVDs). Gone are the things that weighed down the last three Trek series (techno babble, the need for a deep understanding of TOS and TNG, etc.).
The actors were brilliant perfectly capturing each character. I seriously felt like I was meeting old friends after years of their absence. Chris Pine was smart in not trying to imitate Shatner but was still able to show some of Shatners Kirk mannerisms. Quinto had a tough job in the film considering that Nimoy was also in the film. Even with this mirror image Quinto played Spock perfect. Nero was a fantastic villain providing us with a great excuse for a restart.
The special effects are beyond description. The sheer beauty of it all was to much to take in on the first showing. Lucas needs to take lessons from these guys.
If you have not seen this film you must. Heck, it is probably hitting dollar theaters soon so no excuses.
Star Trek follows the creation of the greatest crew to explore the far reaches of space. The opening scenes show us a dramatic and moving battle between the USS Kelvin and the time displaced ship Nerada. This battle introduces the villain Nero (Eric Bana) and shows us the birth of James Kirk. Jump ahead 25 years and we see Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) take two different paths to Starfleet and the adventure to stop the vengeance filled Nero begin.
Lets start with the amazing story. The script perfectly captured the characters, drama, terror, and passion of the franchise. One scene at the beginning of the film was so moving I had tears in my eyes. Just the beginning reveals the quality of what is in store for old Trek fans and the new ones to come.
Star Trek does an amazing job of capturing everything that makes Star Trek brilliant. Being a crazed fan since childhood I tell you this film communicated all the qualities that make Star Trek great. While us Trekies get our fill the film does not turn off new fans and in fact shows them the charm and beauty of this franchise (if I had a buck for every non-Trek fan friend who has asked to borrow my DVDs). Gone are the things that weighed down the last three Trek series (techno babble, the need for a deep understanding of TOS and TNG, etc.).
The actors were brilliant perfectly capturing each character. I seriously felt like I was meeting old friends after years of their absence. Chris Pine was smart in not trying to imitate Shatner but was still able to show some of Shatners Kirk mannerisms. Quinto had a tough job in the film considering that Nimoy was also in the film. Even with this mirror image Quinto played Spock perfect. Nero was a fantastic villain providing us with a great excuse for a restart.
The special effects are beyond description. The sheer beauty of it all was to much to take in on the first showing. Lucas needs to take lessons from these guys.
If you have not seen this film you must. Heck, it is probably hitting dollar theaters soon so no excuses.
Babel is a film dedicated to communicating to us the importance of communication and how in todays world it can fail us. This film however does not follow in the foot steps of the tower of Babel but in the actual babbling of children.
The film develops four separate story lines that are easily connected even though there is a possible attempt to make us wonder at the connection.
We meet a married couple (Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett) traveling together through Morocco in an attempt to reconnect but failing at every turn. A young Shepard boy and his brother in Morocco who accidentally shoot at the bus the young couple is traveling in seriously injuring the wife. The couples Mexican nanny (Adriana Barraza) who takes the couples two children with her to Mexico for her sons wedding when the couple can not return do to the shooting. Finally we meet Chieko (Rinko Kikuchi), a deaf-mute Japanese school girl struggling with the suicide of her mom and a Dad she doesn't communicate well with.
This film suffers from the same thing that Crash did, so much going on and poorly done story telling. No character gets enough story time to make us actually care about them and in most cases they become annoying or give us no reason to sympathize with them. The characters are well acted but written as two dimensional figures portraying simple images. While each actor is very good they are never given enough screen time to take their character from the simple figure to a deep person.
The so called connections between each story is also supposed to be discovered by us slowly as the film goes on with Chieko's role being the final reveal. The problem is within the first 15 minutes or so we know exactly how the couple, Shepard boy, and nanny fit together and in the next ten can simply deduce Chieko's role. It is a juvenile line played out quickly and ends the movie before we have a chance to care (not that we have anything to care about).
It is also like Crash in that in its attempt to get its point across it hits us in the head with extremes instead of making us look at the true issues we each face. Alejandro González Iñárritu and Guillermo Arriaga wish for us to see different ways in which we fail at communication not just with language and strangers but in emotion with those close to us. The problem is we don't really care about these people and can see clearly where they fail. We face extremes and can walk away saying that I am glad I am not like that. The film makers could have served their goal better by clearly focusing on the family and how they may communicate well with others outside the family but can not convey simple things to those they are closest to. True it isn't as dramatic as they may want or as artsy but would have been a lot better then the confused and shallow story they gave us.
I also have to mention the use of disgusting and useless sexual content in this film, which is done exclusively by the underage characters. One of the Shepard boys spies on his older sister while she changes and then we are treated to a scene of him masturbating while thinking about it. Chieko struggles with sexuality which is normal for teens in her situation, but to drive the point home we get to see her flash her bare crotch to older boys, forces her dentist to grab her crotch during an exam, strips completely naked for a total strange and forces him to touch her breasts. The portion with the Shepard boy is useless and adds nothing to the story, but if it did it could have been handled in a more mature way. As for Chieko, while her actions are born from her pain the director preferred to treat us like idiots and show us everything instead of being creative with how they revealed these problems.
In all this film was not creative or insightful. In truth it is an exercise in cheap film making in an attempt to appear deep and forward thinking. There are better more intelligent ways to communicate everything this film desires to tell us but few in Hollywood are smart enough to do it.
The film develops four separate story lines that are easily connected even though there is a possible attempt to make us wonder at the connection.
We meet a married couple (Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett) traveling together through Morocco in an attempt to reconnect but failing at every turn. A young Shepard boy and his brother in Morocco who accidentally shoot at the bus the young couple is traveling in seriously injuring the wife. The couples Mexican nanny (Adriana Barraza) who takes the couples two children with her to Mexico for her sons wedding when the couple can not return do to the shooting. Finally we meet Chieko (Rinko Kikuchi), a deaf-mute Japanese school girl struggling with the suicide of her mom and a Dad she doesn't communicate well with.
This film suffers from the same thing that Crash did, so much going on and poorly done story telling. No character gets enough story time to make us actually care about them and in most cases they become annoying or give us no reason to sympathize with them. The characters are well acted but written as two dimensional figures portraying simple images. While each actor is very good they are never given enough screen time to take their character from the simple figure to a deep person.
The so called connections between each story is also supposed to be discovered by us slowly as the film goes on with Chieko's role being the final reveal. The problem is within the first 15 minutes or so we know exactly how the couple, Shepard boy, and nanny fit together and in the next ten can simply deduce Chieko's role. It is a juvenile line played out quickly and ends the movie before we have a chance to care (not that we have anything to care about).
It is also like Crash in that in its attempt to get its point across it hits us in the head with extremes instead of making us look at the true issues we each face. Alejandro González Iñárritu and Guillermo Arriaga wish for us to see different ways in which we fail at communication not just with language and strangers but in emotion with those close to us. The problem is we don't really care about these people and can see clearly where they fail. We face extremes and can walk away saying that I am glad I am not like that. The film makers could have served their goal better by clearly focusing on the family and how they may communicate well with others outside the family but can not convey simple things to those they are closest to. True it isn't as dramatic as they may want or as artsy but would have been a lot better then the confused and shallow story they gave us.
I also have to mention the use of disgusting and useless sexual content in this film, which is done exclusively by the underage characters. One of the Shepard boys spies on his older sister while she changes and then we are treated to a scene of him masturbating while thinking about it. Chieko struggles with sexuality which is normal for teens in her situation, but to drive the point home we get to see her flash her bare crotch to older boys, forces her dentist to grab her crotch during an exam, strips completely naked for a total strange and forces him to touch her breasts. The portion with the Shepard boy is useless and adds nothing to the story, but if it did it could have been handled in a more mature way. As for Chieko, while her actions are born from her pain the director preferred to treat us like idiots and show us everything instead of being creative with how they revealed these problems.
In all this film was not creative or insightful. In truth it is an exercise in cheap film making in an attempt to appear deep and forward thinking. There are better more intelligent ways to communicate everything this film desires to tell us but few in Hollywood are smart enough to do it.
Hancock (Will Smith) is a superhero, but not your usual hero. We first meet Hancock passed out on a city bench being prodded by a kid to wake up and help the cops. Hancock wakes up, slaps a passing girl on the rear and grabs a bottle of whiskey before flying off to help the police.
This gives us a great introduction to this movie showing us what is in-store for us. Hancocks attempts at helping out the people of LA end up causing major damage due to Hancocks lack of tact and his supposed selfish motivations. As expected Hancock is hated by the city officials and most citizens because of his reckless actions. Eventually Hancock saves the life of Ray Embery (Jason Bateman) a PR man trying to use his skills to change the world and failing at it. Ray sees in Hancock a lonely person desiring to do what he thinks is right but finding hate instead of appreciation for his actions. To help Hancock turn public opinion Ray begins to guide Hancock in how to be a better hero.
This is a really creative film. It takes the hero film fad out there shows us what it could really look like in our world. The best part is every character is well done with one exception. Will Smith shows us a hero who is just like you and me hiding his confusion and hurt behind his actions and attitude. Bateman is a fun counter to Smith being honest about the stupidity of Hancock in a real caring way. The only person I felt was weak as a character was Charlize Theron as Mary Embery, Rays wife and a mystery for Hancock. I don't know if Theron can really be blamed for her character seeming off however.
In the story we get a great setup for seeing a cool growth in Hancock. Theron's character Mary kind of ruins that for us. We learn of a mystery to Hancocks origin and when all is revealed it cheapens a lot of the creative story telling done so far. Mary just doesn't fit into the story that was being created and it feels forced to create the drama around her, Hancock, and Ray that the movie makers obviously want.
While this is a major issue with the film it doesn't totally destroy it. The film is fun, witty, and has good action. Even with a big bump in the story Hancock is still a good film and makes some cool insights into the superhero type story.
This gives us a great introduction to this movie showing us what is in-store for us. Hancocks attempts at helping out the people of LA end up causing major damage due to Hancocks lack of tact and his supposed selfish motivations. As expected Hancock is hated by the city officials and most citizens because of his reckless actions. Eventually Hancock saves the life of Ray Embery (Jason Bateman) a PR man trying to use his skills to change the world and failing at it. Ray sees in Hancock a lonely person desiring to do what he thinks is right but finding hate instead of appreciation for his actions. To help Hancock turn public opinion Ray begins to guide Hancock in how to be a better hero.
This is a really creative film. It takes the hero film fad out there shows us what it could really look like in our world. The best part is every character is well done with one exception. Will Smith shows us a hero who is just like you and me hiding his confusion and hurt behind his actions and attitude. Bateman is a fun counter to Smith being honest about the stupidity of Hancock in a real caring way. The only person I felt was weak as a character was Charlize Theron as Mary Embery, Rays wife and a mystery for Hancock. I don't know if Theron can really be blamed for her character seeming off however.
In the story we get a great setup for seeing a cool growth in Hancock. Theron's character Mary kind of ruins that for us. We learn of a mystery to Hancocks origin and when all is revealed it cheapens a lot of the creative story telling done so far. Mary just doesn't fit into the story that was being created and it feels forced to create the drama around her, Hancock, and Ray that the movie makers obviously want.
While this is a major issue with the film it doesn't totally destroy it. The film is fun, witty, and has good action. Even with a big bump in the story Hancock is still a good film and makes some cool insights into the superhero type story.