echostation
Superhero
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2000
- Messages
- 5,093
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 31
This was just a very strange film... I didn't find it to be all that great and can see how many people who saw it over here in Europe were like wtf?
There were too many logic gaps, too many plot holes, some lazy moments, forced unecessary humor during serious moments (trying to be serious but doesn't work at all). I won't give a review, just a brief overview of positives and negatives. Overall I'd give this a 4.5 - 5/10 (DISAPPOINTED OVERALL since I thought this film was going to be quite solid, I'm surprised it was directed by Cuaron... it only really gets a 5 cuz of the technical credits on the film)
Plusses:
- The technical form of the film, the way things were shot, the costumes, the bare minimum apocalyptic gone to hell set design was great IMO, the way all the locations and sets were put together were fantastic
- The action scenes which there were a few of were terrifically and innovatively shot.. The way Clive Owen opens up the car door and jams his foot on the guy's foot on the motorcycle causing them to flip up was brilliant. This is very heavy graphic violence, Not Oldboy, but it was defn brutal.
- The WAR SCENE at the end, almost the majority of it was done in ONE SHOT... MASTERFUL CINEMATOGRAPHY, great score, music with it and the way everything was staged in this massive shot, it was like Orson Welles on crack directing a WW 2 film. However there's a major problem with this scene overall
- Clive Owen and Michael Kaine's performances... were pretty rock solid
Negatives: Where to start
- Vapid, empty characters... the characterization and the build up of various relationships was crap, it was empty, hollow, of no substance. Every death felt like Haldir's death in Lord of the Rings... EMPTY, even EMPTIER... Clive Owen just MAGICALLY has these new friends or you meet someone new for like 2 minutes and then they go away or sacrifice themselves and you just don't feel anything... was really disappointing characterization which is sad given the director
- Humor during the war scene... totally unecessary and crap, forced dramatics, awkwardly placed dialogues during many of the scenes. Alot of the performances were unnatural, especially Julianne Moore's. The relationship between him and Clive Owen was so empty and yet we're supposed to believe they had such a strong bond with one another (only explained in one lame ass scene by Michael Kaine)
- NO CONTEXT For the WAR scene at the end. How frustrating a war scene, the rebels who are after Clive Owen and Kei and the baby just come back for two minutes magically (as they are totally forgotten about earlier in the film) and then all die away by the British Army's gunfire. The war scene felt very Saving Private Ryanish but WITHOUT THE DAMN CONTEXT... they're trying to show, oh look at how effed the world is, they banged that message about 90 thousand times over our heads.
- A lot of overacting, poor awkward ******ed performances with random shouting as if trying to sound all dramatic and powerful. Moore has a friggin 2 minute role then gets blown by a bullet right in the throat... great, Moore's dead.... OH WEEP WEEP, GIVEN THEY HAVE NO SUBSTANCE TO HER CHARACTER
- So many of the explanations for thing were missing, a film can't assume certain things and then awful half baked lame-o explanations for them. it's a very piss poor excuse for filmmaking
I was really shocked this came from Cuaron, the guy who did Prisoner of Azkaban (best HP film) and Y Tu Mama Tambien. this is clearly his worst film. Technically a very very strong film (in terms of style of shooting, action, set design and stuff)... but overall, quite highly disappointing... no i take that back... frustrating. It had such huge potential and terrific ideas laid out there, but then it totally ****s them up, especially the ho-hum bull**** ending. It started off so so so well, we were in for a ride! then it just blew chunks.
Let me know if any of you want to know anything... I can spill all the beans
There were too many logic gaps, too many plot holes, some lazy moments, forced unecessary humor during serious moments (trying to be serious but doesn't work at all). I won't give a review, just a brief overview of positives and negatives. Overall I'd give this a 4.5 - 5/10 (DISAPPOINTED OVERALL since I thought this film was going to be quite solid, I'm surprised it was directed by Cuaron... it only really gets a 5 cuz of the technical credits on the film)
Plusses:
- The technical form of the film, the way things were shot, the costumes, the bare minimum apocalyptic gone to hell set design was great IMO, the way all the locations and sets were put together were fantastic
- The action scenes which there were a few of were terrifically and innovatively shot.. The way Clive Owen opens up the car door and jams his foot on the guy's foot on the motorcycle causing them to flip up was brilliant. This is very heavy graphic violence, Not Oldboy, but it was defn brutal.
- The WAR SCENE at the end, almost the majority of it was done in ONE SHOT... MASTERFUL CINEMATOGRAPHY, great score, music with it and the way everything was staged in this massive shot, it was like Orson Welles on crack directing a WW 2 film. However there's a major problem with this scene overall
- Clive Owen and Michael Kaine's performances... were pretty rock solid
Negatives: Where to start
- Vapid, empty characters... the characterization and the build up of various relationships was crap, it was empty, hollow, of no substance. Every death felt like Haldir's death in Lord of the Rings... EMPTY, even EMPTIER... Clive Owen just MAGICALLY has these new friends or you meet someone new for like 2 minutes and then they go away or sacrifice themselves and you just don't feel anything... was really disappointing characterization which is sad given the director
- Humor during the war scene... totally unecessary and crap, forced dramatics, awkwardly placed dialogues during many of the scenes. Alot of the performances were unnatural, especially Julianne Moore's. The relationship between him and Clive Owen was so empty and yet we're supposed to believe they had such a strong bond with one another (only explained in one lame ass scene by Michael Kaine)
- NO CONTEXT For the WAR scene at the end. How frustrating a war scene, the rebels who are after Clive Owen and Kei and the baby just come back for two minutes magically (as they are totally forgotten about earlier in the film) and then all die away by the British Army's gunfire. The war scene felt very Saving Private Ryanish but WITHOUT THE DAMN CONTEXT... they're trying to show, oh look at how effed the world is, they banged that message about 90 thousand times over our heads.
- A lot of overacting, poor awkward ******ed performances with random shouting as if trying to sound all dramatic and powerful. Moore has a friggin 2 minute role then gets blown by a bullet right in the throat... great, Moore's dead.... OH WEEP WEEP, GIVEN THEY HAVE NO SUBSTANCE TO HER CHARACTER
- So many of the explanations for thing were missing, a film can't assume certain things and then awful half baked lame-o explanations for them. it's a very piss poor excuse for filmmaking
I was really shocked this came from Cuaron, the guy who did Prisoner of Azkaban (best HP film) and Y Tu Mama Tambien. this is clearly his worst film. Technically a very very strong film (in terms of style of shooting, action, set design and stuff)... but overall, quite highly disappointing... no i take that back... frustrating. It had such huge potential and terrific ideas laid out there, but then it totally ****s them up, especially the ho-hum bull**** ending. It started off so so so well, we were in for a ride! then it just blew chunks.
Let me know if any of you want to know anything... I can spill all the beans
