Weekend Movie Reviews
I watched a number of movies this weekend. Possible spoilers, though I keep any references vague enough that they shouldn't ruin anything.
Doomsday - 5/10
This started off as an interesting character-driven apocalyptic disaster movie that ended up turning into a Bentley commercial. The ending felt rushed and incomplete, with annoying jump cuts every half-second which made it feel like I was watching a commercial. The story was kind of silly to start with, but it ended up becoming just plain ridiculous. It becomes impossible to take seriously while not really being funny. It did have a few decent action scenes, and I really liked Malcolm McDowell's classic villainy, but it doesn't save the rest of the movie.
Terminator Salvation - 6/10
This was not bad, had some undeniably nice visuals and breaks the mold of the previous 3 Terminator movies in that it doesn't involve time travel. The setting was perfect and really elicited the feeling of a post-nuclear wasteland, and reminded me of Fallout 3 in many ways. However the plot was predictable and was so similar to Battlestar Galactica (with its sympathizer and confused sleeper agents) that I was sick of it quickly. I wish they had avoided glorifying John Connor, since I'm sure I'm not the only one sick of his name and his boring character. But what can you expect from this one-trick pony of a franchise? It remains a good action flick, but don't expect much substance.
Knowing - 8/10
Now this was a good movie that I thoroughly enjoyed. It has a great original story that starts out with a spooky, paranormal tone but ends up being a science fiction disaster flick with a pretty good scientific basis. It also has some truly epic scenes--one of which I had to pause and watch twice because it was so well done--and a pretty decent soundtrack (I really liked the Peter and the Wolf march). I don't want to say too much more because I'll spoil the plot, but I highly recommend it.
The Pink Panther 2 - 3/10
Steve Martin as Clouseau really flubs the part, whose awful French accent and mediocre performance made for a very unconvincing accidental detective. The part of Cato being replaced by a couple of obnoxious kids really didn't help either. I don't think the plot was bad, but the delivery really failed to capture the humour of the original Sellers movies. Don't bother.
Hostel (Unrated Edition) - 7/10
I can't help but think of this as a comedy, and thought it was pretty funny overall. A group of loudmouthed sex tourists are sent to a creepy Slovakian city, and are abducted one-by-one by a sadistic club to be tortured and killed by the highest bidder... until one victim escapes and exacts revenge. It ends up becoming almost a slapstick comedic affair, but with excessive violence, gore and nudity. I enjoyed it and thought it was an effective and light-hearted take on the Slasher genre.
Doomsday - 5/10
This started off as an interesting character-driven apocalyptic disaster movie that ended up turning into a Bentley commercial. The ending felt rushed and incomplete, with annoying jump cuts every half-second which made it feel like I was watching a commercial. The story was kind of silly to start with, but it ended up becoming just plain ridiculous. It becomes impossible to take seriously while not really being funny. It did have a few decent action scenes, and I really liked Malcolm McDowell's classic villainy, but it doesn't save the rest of the movie.
Terminator Salvation - 6/10
This was not bad, had some undeniably nice visuals and breaks the mold of the previous 3 Terminator movies in that it doesn't involve time travel. The setting was perfect and really elicited the feeling of a post-nuclear wasteland, and reminded me of Fallout 3 in many ways. However the plot was predictable and was so similar to Battlestar Galactica (with its sympathizer and confused sleeper agents) that I was sick of it quickly. I wish they had avoided glorifying John Connor, since I'm sure I'm not the only one sick of his name and his boring character. But what can you expect from this one-trick pony of a franchise? It remains a good action flick, but don't expect much substance.
Knowing - 8/10
Now this was a good movie that I thoroughly enjoyed. It has a great original story that starts out with a spooky, paranormal tone but ends up being a science fiction disaster flick with a pretty good scientific basis. It also has some truly epic scenes--one of which I had to pause and watch twice because it was so well done--and a pretty decent soundtrack (I really liked the Peter and the Wolf march). I don't want to say too much more because I'll spoil the plot, but I highly recommend it.
The Pink Panther 2 - 3/10
Steve Martin as Clouseau really flubs the part, whose awful French accent and mediocre performance made for a very unconvincing accidental detective. The part of Cato being replaced by a couple of obnoxious kids really didn't help either. I don't think the plot was bad, but the delivery really failed to capture the humour of the original Sellers movies. Don't bother.
Hostel (Unrated Edition) - 7/10
I can't help but think of this as a comedy, and thought it was pretty funny overall. A group of loudmouthed sex tourists are sent to a creepy Slovakian city, and are abducted one-by-one by a sadistic club to be tortured and killed by the highest bidder... until one victim escapes and exacts revenge. It ends up becoming almost a slapstick comedic affair, but with excessive violence, gore and nudity. I enjoyed it and thought it was an effective and light-hearted take on the Slasher genre.