To Do List / Update

Below is my current list of films that I plan to review in the future.  Let me know if there are any other films you'd like me to review; I'd be happy to add them to the list.  Also let me know which of the films already on the list that you'd like me to review first.

(Also, I recently reviewed Aladdin and The Rocketeer; check those out and leave comments if you're interested.)

Aliens vs Predator 2
Blade Runner
Casino Royale
Donnie Darko
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Juno
The Lion King
The Matrix
The Matrix Reloaded
The Matrix Revolutions
Mulan
Pocahontas
Predator
Quantum of Solace
Serenity
The Spirit
Superman: The Movie
Superman II
Superman III
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
Tarzan
Troy

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

This movie is a jumbled mess. Stephen Sommers has directed better films in the past, but Rise of Cobra is just a schizophrenic nightmare.

Sommers' past films--notably The Mummy--managed to keep a comfortably brisk pace while still making the audience care about the admittedly-silly characters.  G.I. Joe seems content to completely focus on the action.  There are many flashbacks that explain the backgrounds of several characters, but most of those scenes are more annoying than interesting.

The action scenes are decent, though there's nothing to rave about.  The special effects are pretty terrible, though that might simply be because of "style."  The entire film comes across as a live-action cartoon in nearly every possible way.  However, there's a rather large amount of swearing and a violence for this to be considered a childrens' film, which is rather odd. One wonders what exactly the target audience was for this movie.

In all honesty, there's not much more to say about the film.  It's not terrible, but it's not great.

4/10.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

[Warning: Spoilers abound]

Watching Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is like living through a melancholy dream. Even more than The Order of the Phoenix, this film is nearly devoid of bright color, reflecting the dreary mood of the story. This is actually rather strange, as Order of the Phoenix ended on a slightly upbeat and hopeful note. Apparently this is the Empire Strikes Back of the Potter films. However, as a melancholic, subdued film, The Half-Blood Prince is wonderful.

Right from the start, it's obvious that this is one of the most visually-impressive films ever created. The cinematography utilizes perspective techniques in ways that never cease to amaze, and the extreme level of detail and realism that accompanies the film's already-striking artistic style rivals that of the Lord of the Rings films. It's especially satisfying to watch the perfectly-rendered Quidditch match in this film and realize just how far the visual effects have come since The Sorcerer's Stone. Each magical spell, gust of snow-filled wind, and billow of black smoke looks perfectly realistic, making for one of the most visually immersive fantasy films ever created.

The characters in this film are excellent. Harry, Ron, and Hermione have all grown as they should, and each gain a bit of depth. Harry's portrayal retains the depth he had in the last film, while growing into a more mature and wise character. The scene where Harry essentially gets high on the Liquid Luck potion is one of the funniest moments in the entire film franchise.

One of the film's best aspects is the relationship between Harry and Hermione. At one pivotal point, both Harry and Hermione are emotionally distraught, and we see just how deeply the two characters know and love each other--albeit in a non-romantic way. This is something that had been sorely lacking in the previous films, as we never got very much depth in the relationship between Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

Even Draco Malfoy is given more depth, as we see for the first time that he is a conflicted character. It's incredibly important to give villains a degree of depth, and here we get depth where didn't even realize it was missing.

The Half-Blood Prince is not without disappointments, however. The pacing of the film is often so slow that it feels hard to become excited about what's actually happening. It's as though the fun of the Harry Potter franchise has been extremely downplayed in favor of drama. While this was also true of the last film, it's even moreso evident here. Make no mistake, the humor in this film is excellent--and definitely the best-written humor of any Potter film thus far--but the vast majority of the film is extremely dark and melancholy. While this is not necessarily a bad thing, it does take away some of the "punch" that The Order of the Phoenix excelled at.

Another narrative problem with the film is the fact that it lacks a real ending. While The Order of the Phoenix managed to create a conclusion where one really didn't exist, here we don't even have any sort of closure at all. Although we are told exactly where the characters are going and what's happened at the end, we still don't have the emotional closure that is necessary for the film to work on a purely emotional level. This very well may have been the intent of the filmmakers, as Dumbledore's death is meant to be an emotional blow, but the simple fact is that the ending is not satisfying. It feels as though we are given an invisible "to be continued" message when we shouldn't have needed one.

However, for all of its narrative flaws, the film is far from crippled because of them. If only because of the absolutely incredible visuals and the wonderful script, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince deserves very high praise.

8/10

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

This is not a good film.
It is, however, an amazing movie.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen lacks solid character development, good scriptwriting, and a coherent plot. And yet, for all it's flaws, it's still highly entertaining.

Unlike the first film, in which the the film's budget greatly restricted the amount of screentime that the transformers could be given, here we see the robots in their full glory throughout the film, even when we probably don't need to. The extreme close-up camera problems from the first film are gone, as the action is perfectly framed in Revenge of the Fallen. Revenge starts off with a brief prologue, followed by a great action scene that sets up the plot very well. In this story, Optimus Prime and his team of Autobots are working alongside NEST, a small U.S. military force led by Major Lennox, to eradicate the Decepticons from the face of the planet. The film feels very much like the original animated series, as we get the same globe-spanning (and oft-ridiculous) Sci-Fi war adventures of the Transformers. It's a lot of fun, even if it comes off as convoluted and silly.

A highlight of this film is the much-improved character of Sam Witwicky. In the last film, he was an annoying boy whose entire motivation was to get a cool car and a hot girlfriend. His entire existence in the last film seemed contrived and silly, as was the film's assertion that he somehow represented the best of humankind. In this film, he is shown to be much more responsible, working right from the start towards getting his college education, and, later, saving the world. He is also given a completely plausible reason to exist in the film, which makes his scenes actually contribute to the overall plot rather than distract from it as in the first film. For the first time, I actually care about Sam. He earns his place in the film, and is an integral part of it.

While Mikaela (Megan Fox) has been upgraded from "high school skank" to "worthwhile human being," she doesn't have much to do in the movie. All of her important scenes only serve to advance the plot in a very small way, and it's obvious that the scriptwriters were just looking for something to do with her. Still, she feels like she belongs in the story much more than in the last film, and her presence doesn't distract from the plot.

In fact, Sam and Mikaela's relationship is far less uncomfortable in Revenge, as they have actually come to deeply care for one another at this point. It's as if this film's portrayal of its characters is a "do-over" for all the ways they failed in the last film.

Major Lennox is a great character for this story, fitting in perfectly as the commander of the military task force NEST and, later, the temporary leader of the Autobots.

The rest of the human cast is, sadly, there for no real reason. They, along with new Autobot "twins" Skids and Mudflap, are essentially this film's Jar Jar Binks.
[Former] Agent Simmons (John Turturro) advances the plot in a minor way, but then spends the rest of the film being a terribly annoying (and sometimes disgusting) distraction.
Sam's new college roommate, Leo, is a completely unnecessary character that does nothing important.

Throughout the film we see Optimus Prime not as the slow, clunky old robot that he was in the last film, but as a powerful and skilled warrior. After seeing Optimus do little in the first film but give inspirational speeches and get kicked around by Megatron, it's great to see him as the great warrior that he should be. One of his fight scenes is, without a doubt, the best action scene I've seen in a long time. As a Transformers fan, that scene alone was worth the $9.50 I paid for the ticket.

Bumblebee is the only other Autobot that's given much spotlight, which is probably for the best. Honestly, there's no reason for the audience to care about anyone else, so this is a welcome change. He's every bit as cool as he was in the first film, though his speech problems are becoming annoying. In the last movie, we never really got to see him in action, as he was either off-screen or crippled for all of his fight scenes, but here we can see that he's an extremely good fighter: fast and powerful. His Camaro form also gets an upgrade from the 2007 film, which is nice for the people like me who appreciate that.

Old

New

The two new "comic relief" characters, Skids and Mudflap, are extremely annoying. They're portrayed with a large number of racial stereotypes (which makes absolutely no sense), and serve to do nothing other than sit there and act like morons. They could have been completely taken out of the story and the film would have been better for it.

Jetfire, perhaps the most important of the new Autobots, is portrayed in an odd fashion. Whereas he was a powerful (and relatively young) Autobot in all of his previous appearances in Transformers lore, here he is shown to be an ancient transformer that can barely move. As a fan, I'm somewhat disappointed with this portrayal, as Jetfire is one of my favorite TF characters. Here he serves the purposes of exposition and little more. His entire introduction scene is actually one of the major subplots that did not need to be in the film.

The rest of the Autobot cast is relatively ignored. Ironhide and Ratchet are given only a few lines in this film, and serve as background characters along with Arcee, Jolt, and Sideswipe. While this might seem sad, it ultimately works, as they really are mere soldiers in a war, and aren't extremely important characters anyway.

The villains this time are actually shown in their full glory outside of battle, rather than only glimpsed as in the 2007 film. It's nice, even if they're a bit silly and not very deep. They really only serve as the threat, not actual characters. However, as that threat, they serve their purpose well.

The aforementioned amazing fight scene comes in the middle of the story, and honestly is the high point of the entire film.
The film's climax isn't anywhere near as interesting, but the endless number of explosions and mini-battles keep the intensity high.

It's been said by some that a film is filled with depth, while a movie is superficial entertainment. By those definitions, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is a terrible film, but an amazing movie.

7/10