Reviews

Isn't it amazing? While more and more films that are supposed to be watched by adults (alright, alright, young adults!) turn out to be childish and/or irritating, here comes that ultra rare beast: a kids' film that can be enjoyed by adults even more than by kids! "Lemony Snicket's Series Of Unfortunate Events" has it all. It is imaginative, exciting, funny, a little scary and well-acted by all concerned. Though the script is based on the first three books of the series, you never get the feeling that things are being rushed, and the film never commits the cardinal sin of hectic cutting, just to suggest "action". It also uses the dreaded CGI, that veritable killer of so many would-be blockbusters, but it uses it very well! (Are you listening, people responsible for "Van Helsing", "Riddick" and other embarrassing monstrosities?)

Although not a single natural location has been used for the film, "Lemony Snicket" never relies on just the empty spectacle of CGI. Whatever settings and effects are used, they just serve to create a dream-like atmosphere and to enhance the plot. Brad Silberling knows that the characters come first, and his characters, especially the Baudelaire orphans and Count Olaf are excellent creations. Jim Carrey on the loose can be a dangerous species, but in this case he brings just the right amount of madness and eccentricity to his role, while the children, especially Emily Browning, hold their own against such strong competition. Excellent!!!

After watching "Van Helsing" I must totally agree with Quentin Tarantino, who recently railed against the ever increasing use of CGI. Stephen Sommers´film is one big CGI-orgy! Plot? Logic? Coherence? Characters? Forget it!!! From the very beginning this film tries to clobber its viewers senselessly with one "highlight" after the other. As the film isn´t actually about anything except endlessly repeated vampire attacks, incomprehensible fights and chases, you don´t care what happens to the "characters";you just sit and stare with growing disbelief at the shoddy effects that don´t fool a five-year old. What was going on in the minds of the people who are responsible for this sorry mess of a film?!Why could Stephen Sommers not make up his mind about the kind of film he wanted to make; a horror film? A comedy? A rousing adventure flick? A touching and tragic love story? It simply doesn´t work to throw in as many of these ingredients as possible into the pot and hope that they somehow melt. Why did nobody raise a hand and utter some kind of objection during the conception and preparation? Do the people who spend huge amounts of money on a project like this really believe this is what today´s cinema goers want? In the end credits Stephen Sommers dedicates the film "in loving memory" to his father. What a strange relationship these two men must have had!!!

Who are the Wachowski brothers fooling ? After delivering "Matrix", which rightfully became a world wide success, they immediately claimed that they had had the concept for three films right from the beginning. HAHA ! What had already started with "Matrix Reloaded" - a lot of people were disappointed but still willing to give it the benefit of the doubt - has now reached an absolute nadir. "Matrix Revolutions" is an incoherent, jumbled, meaningless mess that has to be seen to be believed ! Approach with extreme caution !!!

Imagine for a moment that you are a brilliant scientist who has just discovered a serum that makes you invisible. What would you do ? Play tricks on friends or enemies ? Steal a car ? Rob a bank ? In Paul Verhoeven s "Hollow Man" Kevin Bacon actually does none of the above, but instead unbuttons a sleeping wo- man s blouse and scares another woman who is coming out of her bathroom. Beavis and Butt-head couldn t have come up with a more original idea !

Verhoeven, sadly, seems to have lost it ! After all, this is the man who gave us "Robocop", "Total Recall" and "Starship Troopers" ! What begins as a mildly entertaining mad scientist romp very quickly turns into a boring and repetitive chase around the secret underground lab ; Verhoeven even wheels out such "original" plot turns as the dead person who is not really dead and jumps at the heroine at the most inappropriate moment. Neither can any amount of gore in the final 30 minutes divert the audience s impression that Mr Verhoeven has made another turkey, right up there with "Showgirls"!

Steven Soderbergh is faced with a huge problem here; on the one hand he has to cater for all the Julia Roberts fans and deliver a star-vehicle, on the other hand he has to deal with a serious problem, in this case mass contamination and a shady conspiracy. Once again it shows that you cannot have your cake and eat it - a feel good-movie about horribly ill people who simply disappear from view at the end of the film leaves a nasty taste in your mouth!