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Reviews
Wilde Engel (2002)
Show-casing the dismal state of German TV
"Wilde Engel" is pretty much exemplary of the sorry state of German TV productions. It suffers from all the drawbacks that have plagued German TV and film productions for the past decade or two. Its unimaginative proposition of three crime-fighting heroines is a direct copy of the "Charlie's Angels" movie, but never reaches the tongue-in-cheek goofball quality and flashiness that make that movie the enjoyable rollercoaster ride it is. The acting is sub-par, even for this kind of genre, the dialogue is stilted and ridiculous, and the direction is uninspired, trying to reach a certain level of "coolness" that makes the whole production entirely pointless. Basically the whole thing is a vehicle for mediocre action sequences, provided by "action concept", which have filled up the German TV market with action series for the past years. This half-baked effort at TV-making, unfortunately, is typical of German TV productions, with a very essential lack of production values. Nothing but a poor copy, basically the "Charlie's Angels" movie on a USANetwork level.
Dark Angel (2000)
Decent Entertainment
At times dark and grown up, at others childish and appealing to adolescents, this series remains a veritable source of fun. Strong on the take off with its pilot, Dark Angel lost a bit during its first season as the story line got watered down and moved closer to "Buffy, the vampire slayer", as far as the target audience was concerned, something even more apparent in season two. What we have is a solid series that is suffering from minor defects, but those sum up. The setting is strong, interesting, dark and appealing, yet the storylines are far from where they could be. The camera work is at times great for a TV show, yet, it too suffers from technical inadequacies (like shots that should be perfectly stable actually are shaky, which I find disappointing). Much potential is also wasted in, but that is just my opinion, the interpersonal affairs of Logan and Max - again due to the series' aim at a teen audience. The introduction of a tough, dark, powerful story-arc might give the series the touch of true Cameronianism I wished for, after hearing that he was associated with this project a couple of years back, after all, he's the person who brought us "The Terminator", "Aliens" and "True Lies" - yes, and "Piranha II", but I guess he was just young and needed the money :) Ohh, and please widen the scope a bit. But that's enough bickering. The series is good entertainment, solid and fun... and isn't that what we all wish for?
Moulin Rouge! (2001)
A visual blast
This movie excels at what it intends to do... it's la boheme spirit in it's funniest form. Surely, the story line is predictable... but then, it was never supposed to be surprising (Christian tells you in the setup how the story will end...), so, instead of predictable, the appropriate term should be 'classic' - I would not go so far as to call it Shakespearan, though. It has so many references, grand musical performances, dazzling visuals and great camera work that it at least qualifies as number one musical I have seen so far... because it is essentially light-hearted. I am a huge fan of production values, after all, that's what makes most of a movie truly appealing, and Moulin Rouge had it all. The set design was great, the acting very solid, the singing surprisingly good, the direction flawless, the camera work dazzling, the FX fun, the dancing intriguing. It surely is not the most important movie of the century, but if you are willingly to let it pick you up and be carried away by it, this movie will make you want to see it again and again... Conclusion: Spectacular Spectacular, straight A for production values, worth the DVD buy anytime.
Gladiator (2000)
Great Hollywood moviemaking
First of all, let me point out, that I loved this movie. It is a stunning visual masterpiece with a superb cast, great direction and awesome camera-work. But seen through the eyes of the archaeologist and re-enactor I am, the movie strangely disappointed me. There was so much effort and money put into this movie, visually it is a masterpiece and in so many details there is correctness (like using 8-shaped chains, or the glasses Commodus drinks out of), yet the equipment and battle scenes, while being deft and stunningly beautiful, lack realism. There were no ballistae shooting whaling-harpoon sized bolts and not even a single pilum even flew, the romans did not advance in formation and they hardly ever used cavalry. Commodus' reign did last much longer than only 60-some days, and while he was crude and over-the-top, he surely was not a whimp. Not even one classical form of a gladiator appeared. So, I'd give it a D+ for historical correctness and a straight a for cinematics -- a great movie, as long as you do not think of it as a history lesson (which are boring to most people anyway :)) Go and see it!
Lake Placid (1999)
Placid movie
Well, I suppose, the title was to be ironic, well, it is not... this lake is not just placid, it is boring. This movie lacks a climax, and there is no suspense whatsoever. It was not a bad movie, you could see, that there was some money spent, the acting was alright, but the story was so cheap an boring, that you ask yourself: Who approved this script? Did they have too much money? Who hired the script-writer? The setup is that of JAWS, the class is not. Watch Spielberg's JAWS instead.
The Jackal (1997)
a lame remake
This movie might have been adequate as an action movie in and by itself, albeit not a very good one... given it is a remake of one of the best thrillers ever to be made into a film, this movie compares especially poor. Basically everyone in this movie overacts, but it is not fun to watch as it is in TRUE LIES, because everybody thinks he is really serious - this movie lacked the suspense to be a good thriller and the action to be a thrill ride... sure, the names look good, but the movie does not deliver, and sorry, but there is no really recognizable, high profile victim like DeGaulle. My recommendation: Rent DAY OF THE JACKAL, the original movie featuring Edward Fox, THAT is the movie to watch, not this poor attempt of a copy.
Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995)
Yippikaye
You take one of the best action movie franchises of the nineties, throw in the director who did the first one (and a lot of other cool flicks, like Hunt for Red October), some of you favorite tough guy actors, and you get the perfect mix. This is quintessential action, this movie has everything I like about a good action movie, although it lacked some things I liked about Die Hard... first of all, there is not the confined setting of the first two movies (well, the airport was not really confined, but still, it was just the airport), I wouldn't consider NYC to be all too confined - on the other hand... well, nevermind :) Second, I missed Reginal VelJohnson and Bonnie Bedelia. But this is still one of the best action movies ever made, with a great cast, big explosion, a lot of blood on McClane and even more fun... makes you wanna beg for a fourth part.
True Lies (1994)
The better Bond
This movie does easily make it into the top ten movies I have seen in my entire life-- and I have seen plenty. It is an action-comedy-adventure like no other and it is simply fun to watch. Similar to many Bond-movies it is much better (everything is neater: the story, the cinematics, the FX, and the actors -- with the exception of Connery, the one and only Bond). Cameron is one of the top action-directors in the world, and this is my absolute favorite by him.