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* ** *** **** ***** |
This movie sucks big time! Average It's okay, cool movie Very good, go see it This movie is a masterpiece, go see it NOW! |
All my Movie reviews are absolutely SPOILER FREE:
28 Days Later
The Matrix Reloaded
X-men 2
Adaptation
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Movie: 28 Days Later Director: Danny Boyle Actors: Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Megan Burns, Brendan Gleeson |
I've been looking forward to this film not because of director Danny Boyle (I've never seen Trainspotting and I didn't like The Beach) but I liked the plot outline of the story. I thought the movie would be a nice cool art house-zombie-kinda flick. Well, I didn't get what I expected...but first:
The Story in a nutshell:
A virus has been unleashed on mankind. When infected you'll change into a creature full of rage within 20 seconds. The movie opens with a great introduction on how the virus, carried by monkeys (no it's not Outbreak), makes the jump to humans. 28 days later, London and other cities around the world are taken over by the virus, billions of casualties but also some survivors trying not to run into the zombie-like creatures.
Come to think of it, this could be a nice cool story for Blade III (or IV). The story revolves around Jim (Cillian Murphy) who wakes up in an abandoned hospital 28 days later. Jim wanders around the empty streets of London that looks like it's being destroyed by a hooligan war. He doesn't have a clue what happened until he bumps into a bunch of infected humans. Well, sounds awesome, right? It is, the beginning of the movie is absolutely great but after that things get really…boring. The action packed zombie movie that was promised watching the trailer (the trailer I saw here in Holland) turned out to be a movie leaning more towards the drama. Well, that's also a good thing but a few great emotional scenes and a few not so great action sequences are interrupted by some long dragging empty moments.
Don't get me wrong, the story has some really interesting plot twists and a few surprises but Danny Boyle just doesn't take advantage of what the script offers. Boyle did deliver some nice visuals accompanied by John Murphy's chilling movie score. The amazing shots of the abandoned streets reminded me of the scene in Vanilla Sky where Tom Cruise is the only person walking on Time Square but 28 Days Later pushed the idea a bit further with a completely deserted London. That makes it more frustrating cause this movie could be a creepy different kind of horror film including great actors and some nice unexpected twists. It has been almost 28 days since I saw the movie and it still pisses me off...
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Movie: |
*1/2 |
Written by Reggy 05/06/03
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Movie: The Matrix Reloaded Directors: Andy and Larry Wachowski Actors: Keanu reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, Jada Pinkett Smith, Daniel Bernhardt |
There's lot to say about The Matrix Reloaded, the most anticipated sequel to a groundbreaking movie that created a phenomena called "Bullet Time". I won't go any further cause you've probably read it somewhere else. So let's go straight to the story in a spoiler free really small nutshell:
The war against the machines is entering its final stage. Neo proves that he's the one, stronger than ever, faster than a speeding bullet and occasionally flies around The Matrix to help out the humans. We finally get to see Zion, the city of the last free humans on earth. Zion is under attack and quarter of a million Sentinals are aproaching to eliminate the humans. Morhpeus, Trinity and the rest of his crew are fighting the Matrix from the inside, desperately trying to contact the Oracle for advice. Morpheus is a true believer of the prophecy but there are others, like his commander Lock, who think the war must be fought with a different strategy. Will Neo save the human race or is he more connected to the Matrix than we'll ever know?
I must say that I was very nervous when I entered the theatre on the opening day of Reloaded. I've really waited for this sucker for a long time but I had a bad feeling the movie was going to let me down. The negative reviews popping up everywhere helped establish this negative vibe in my guts. The movie started, Don Davis' score filled the theatre, goose bumps covered my body and suddenly I knew everything was going to be all right.
Guys, forget all the stuff you've read and heard, the sequel is just awesome. Reloaded did live up to the hype and equals its predecessor and sometimes goes beyond. The story is just amazing, it goes a lot deeper and some unexpected plot twists will force you to stay alert the whole movie. I really liked the scope of this movie, it's a lot bigger more epic and we learn more of Zion and other humans who fight against the machines just like Morpheus, Trinity and Neo. Finally there are of course the breathtaking action sequences. The Wachowski Brothers were taking some big risks blending live action with computer graphics (e.g. Neo vs. Agent Smith fight) but it worked out fantastic. The computer graphics aren't always realistic but who gives a damn, it still looks cool and it gives the movie a great Anime look. The already legendary car chase scene is by far one of the greatest chases ever filmed with a climax that makes you go insane.
I’m not going to discuss every theory, details and hidden messages you just have to figure it out for yourself. Matrix Reloaded is one great ride that flows through your vanes like a drug and turns you into a junkie begging the Wachwoski dealers for a new shot...
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****1/2 |
Written by Reggy 22/05/03
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Movie: X2 Director: Bryan Singer Actors: Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Patrick Stewart, Famke Janssen, Ian McKellen |
They've changed the "X2" title right before the release to "X2: X-men United", in case people were wondering if "X2" is another "xXx" or "X-file" movie, yeah right...people knew exactly that X marked the (Jean Grey-) spot and the audience invaded the theatres, making the sequel a giant box office hit. Is X2 better than the first? Oh yeah! Why? I let you know in a sec.
The Story in a nutshell:
The movie basically starts where the first one left off. Wolverine is trying to find some answers about his origins. Charles Xavier is running his school for the gifted youngsters. His evil friend Magneto is still captured in the plastic prison. But there's a new kid on the block, William Stryker. A military genius who supports the new law of registering all mutants (and kill them). Stryker finds himself above the law and managed to capture Charles Xavier in order to use him for his war against the mutants. X-men must unite with mutant friend and foe to stop the war.
I will not give away the whole plot, spoiling all the details of the great action sequences you'll get to see but I'll tell you this, the movie has one of the greatest opening scenes you've ever seen. The intro involves Nightcrawler who teleports the hell out of you and doing some martial arts moves that makes Jackie Chan looks like David Carradine in Kung Fu. The scene is shot in slow mo a la Matrix and supported by the great score of John Ottman. After this the movie's getting better and better. Okay, you know I love superhero movies but besides that, the movie stands on its own even for the people who are not familiar with the comic.
Hugh Jackman jumps off the screen as Wolverine. He makes the character a bit more aggressive like in the comic and fortunately plays a major part in the sequel as for Storm (Halle Barry) and Jean Grey (Famke Janssen). We see them a bit more than in the previous movie.
Casting Alan Cumming for Nightcrawler was a dead on good choice. He brings the comic book character to life and gives it heart. The rest if the cast provides solid work with Ian McKellen (Magneto) and Patrick Stewart (Picard..ehh Xavier) delivering great performances as usual. Brian Cox does great work as the evil William Stryker who holds the secret to Wolverine. I also want to say that I'm very proud of the Dutch ladies Rebecca Romijn-Stamos (Mystique) and Famke Janssen (Jean Grey), "goed gedaan, meiden"!
For the comic geeks among us, well, I went nuts when I saw Colussus (Daniel Cudmore), this scene is so utterly cool when he changes into the metal beast. I really hope we'll see more of Piotr in X3 (he already signed for the third part).
The downside is that a movie that involves a lot of different characters is difficult to explore each and every one of them. Singer knows how to pull it off and somehow managed to get the audience care for every single character and keeps the balance right.
There's also one major improvement on X2 and that is the music score. Michael Kamen did the previous score, I really like him, especially his work with Metallica, but he really did some lousy score on X-men 1. Bryan Singer's usual composer and editor John Ottman was working on his own project and wasn't able to join the first X-men movie but now he's back and did a wonderful job with X2.
Bryan Singer once again delivers a great action packed superhero movie but also managed to keep the story intense and realistic. He masterfully handles all the issues of being a mutant, not being accepted by society for being different, trying to cope with dangerous powers. Let's hope we see more of the mutants and Bryan in X3.
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Movie: |
**** |
Written by Reggy 10/05/03
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Movie: Adaptation
Director: Spike Jonze
Actors: Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, Chris Cooper
Director Spike Jonze and writer Charlie Kaufman surprised every body with the unusual but wonderful movie Being John Malkovich. While Spike Jonze continued producing the Jackass series for MTV, after finishing "Malkovich" Charlie Kaufman was working hard on new screenplay. Now the guys are back with another unusual but again beautiful movie "Adaptation".
Story in a nutshell:
Charlie Kaufman (Nicolas Cage) is a screenplay writer working on an adaptation of the book " The Orchid Thief" written by Susan Orlean (Meryl Streep). While his twin brother Donald writes scripts with ease, Charlie is struggling with a writers block that doesn't seem to end.
Adaptation is in one way very interesting to see the process of writing an interesting screenplay, the writers among us, knows exactly what its like to suffer from a writers block. The beauty of this picture is that we see two different writing processes, one is writing a book, the second its screenplay. Charlie Kaufman (who used his own name for the lead role) brilliantly jumps back and forth between these two different time lines, making it one of the best flashback stories since Pulp Fiction. I had the same feeling with Adaptation as I did with Tarantino's masterpiece, when you realize how perfect, beautifully written and original a screenplay can be.
The beginning of the movie is really great when we go back to the set of Being John Malkovich, seeing all the actors rehearse, Spike Jonze behind the camera and suddenly being introduced by Nicolas Cage playing Charlie Kaufman. Cage is absolutely fantastic and very funny, playing the twins Charlie and Donald, each with their own totally different personalities. Mery Streep is as beautiful as ever, playing a writer searching for something that she's missing in life. Chris Cooper as the Orchid Thief John Laroche finally gets a role that fits him best, showing what a great actor this guy is.
Spike Jonze proofs that he's an unique filmaker, using the right pace and stunning visuals to tell this funny and moving story written by and starring Charlie Kaufman.
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Movie: |
**** |
Written by Reggy 17/03/03
