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RicCarr
Reviews
Real Steel (2011)
Poignant, endearing, hysterical and completely action-packed.
There are certain combinations of feelings one experiences at a movie theater, sometimes we feel our throats knotted as we're about to cry whilst watching a truly emotional movie, others we laugh hysterically at the humor most comedy films throw at us, then there are action movies which have us on the edge of our seats as we truly root for our main character to perform the most bizarre exploits, however, this year's Real Steel gives us a little taste of every one of those feelings, and does it in a truly satisfying way, but not without it's shortcomings.
Set in a not so distant future, "Real Steel" tells us the story of Charlie Kenton, an ex-boxing star, irresponsible and struggling promoter who seeks triumph in a popular sport that has replaced human boxing and requires a giant robot machine instead, during his journey to the top, he discovers that his ex-girlfriend has passed away and that he must claim custody of his only child, whom he abandoned right after birth. Having learned that the boy was being adopted by a really rich couple, he then decides to give up parental rights in exchange of a large sum of money and a summer spent with his son.
But during this summer, and while failing to win a single robot-boxing match, he begins to develop bonds with his son, who later comes across a buried robot that, despite being picked up as garbage, turns out to be quite the boxing champion and helps Charlie and Max climb to the top of the boxing career while joining father and son together.
What truly shines in this story is young actor's Dakota Goyo performance as Max Kenton, he's the son everyone would like to have, he is both fearless, full of hope and anxious to spend time with his horrible father who treats him like garbage until he begins to make money for him and finds his way into his father's heart, Hugh Jackman's performance as Charlie Kenton would've been brighter, but he had to portray a really jerk father who becomes unlikable until the point of harming his own son and taking money away from him, he is truly a pathetic character, but is brought to life and reivindicated thanks to Max who teaches him the value of father & son relationships.
The CGI giant robots are really well made, and the boxing matches are actually cool to observe, they really imitate real boxing to some degree and at some point you find yourself becoming quite the fan of this sport, but you also get to know the underground and see the other face of it, like in every other sport, not everything is fun and games, and the movie makes it quite clear.
In the end "Real Steel" delivers a truly emotional experience that benefits from smart humor being thrown here and there, and Transformers-esque action scenes that actually make sense and provide elements that could've been further developed to the plot, and giving a "happy" ending that isn't far-fecthed but on the contrary, believable.
8/10
Faces in the Crowd (2011)
A really original premise that falls short on the execution
It's quite unusual in this day and age to stumble upon a horror movie that emphasizes more on the elements, atmosphere and disabilities of the characters than in gore or another one of the endless clichés that have plagued the genre for years now, fortunately Julien Magnat's "Faces in the Crowd" gives it a shot at telling a story that is completely character driven, but not without it's faults and missteps.
Anna Marchant (Milla Jovovich) is an elementary school teacher with quite the mysterious attitude, while on one hand she acts like the sweetest teacher and the most devoted girlfriend, she also seems unsatisfied with the predictability of her life as she seems to have the whole thing figured out and constantly jokes around with her party friends Francine (Sarah Wayne Callies) and Nina (Valentina Vargas), but she seems unsure whether she really wants to commit herself to sharing a life with her sentimental partner Bryce, whom she lives with and is about to propose to her. That is until one disastrous night in which she decides to walk home from a bar and has to witness a rape and murder scene that took place at an abandoned bridge by the most notorious serial killer in town, as expected, the killer spots her and tries to slit her throat, but she puts up a fight and ends up being thrown down the bridge and suffering head trauma.
After waking up from her week long coma, she notices things are different and obviously freaks out, only to later learn what kind of brain damage she has suffered, her physician explains that she is experiencing a disorder called Prosopagnosia that afflicts her ability to recognize people's faces, she can't even see her own face in the mirror without looking at a completely different woman's face.
Anna can't exactly testify against her attacker because her affliction prevents her from recognizing even her own boyfriend, and to top it all, the murderer becomes obsessed with Anna and stalks her for days.
While developing a completely unique environment for the characters to begin telling a story, Magnat also falls short on the execution, he attempts to put us in the shoes of Anna and feel her desperation as she is stalked by a serial killer and also tries to add a love interest to the whole mix, which, in my opinion, is the one element that brings the story a whole step down.
For one side we have a desperate Anna Marchant who isn't in the position to develop a love interest as she can't exactly tell people apart, but also, most of the film they have us thinking that the killer might actually be her own boyfriend, or even the detective which took the case , still she decides to fall in love with one that could possibly be a psychopath rapist that cries after reaching climax with his slashed-up victims. They also add another survivor, a traumatized kid that is so messed up that can't even tell who the killer is despite having him in front for months (and a really poor explanation is given about this since the kid doesn't have Prosopagnosia).
In the end "Faces in the Dark" is a really brave attempt at a thriller, a phone stalking - slasher horror movie, and it barely manages to pull it off by certain elements that are really worth noting, no excessive or unnecessary gore is depicted, the photography, atmosphere, lightning and sound effects are impeccable, the story has an excellent premise, the acting is surprisingly good, scares are given by justified scenes and not the classic "closing-the-cabinet-mirror-and-the-killer-is- behind", but despite all this efforts, it ultimately has that "could've been way better" feeling to it, and it is because of that missteps that we aren't looking at this years sleeper's hit, and it is most likely that Milla Jovovich (who also is an Executive Producer) won't be receiving notorious acknowledgments.
Scream 4 (2011)
Reivindicates the saga after more than a decade.
Never before have I seen a horror franchise spawn 4 movies and still be taken seriously, usually when a franchise follows this path it means that the producers are making annual cash-ins trying to milk the franchise as much as possible while it is still popular and relevant (see Saw, Final Destination), well for Scream 4 (or Scre4m)that's not the case, this movie makes an effort to continue a saga which was put to sleep for more than a decade, without it being a re-imagining, re-make or re-boot like the hideous Rob Zombie attempt at a Halloween remake(although the movie makes fun of this in a brilliant way). Scream 4 is more than that, while a sequel, it feels like a complete new beginning, it carried the bad stigma that the failed Scream 3 left behind, yet it proved that the series is still relevant, and with the adequate script it takes off on a delightful new killing spree.
10 years have passed since Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) last encountered the Ghostface killer, she has moved on with her life and now dedicates to writing her most intimate memoirs and book touring the country with her publicist, making her last stop at her hometown of Woodsboro, the place where it all started. Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) and Dewey Riley (David Arquette) are living their peaceful lives in that town, the same as Jill Roberts (Emma Roberts) Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere) and their friends, which, begin being stalked by a new masked killer.
When at it's best, Scream 4 manages to make you laugh hysterically but at the same time, in the same scene, give you heart-stopping scares, other reviewers think that the only characters you care about are the main threesome (Sidney, Gale and Dewey) but in my opinion, it is precisely the "new rules" factor that make you doubt whether they'll make it or not, meanwhile, you start caring about the other characters (specially Kirby Reed, played by "Heroes" cheerleader Hayden Panettiere) who shares her love for horror films with an unusual crush.
While some of the decisions made by characters really fall into the "dumb-blonde-who-goes-upstairs" category, it is precisely the killer that takes credit for this decision making, since you don't know where he'll pop up next, thus making going outside an even scarier choice.
Scream 4 is really better thought out than it's predecessor, there's no doubt about that, this time, the gore is even more gruesome, the body count is larger and the truth is that you'll never guess who the killer is, it really could be anyone, and director Wes Craven really makes this a possibility.
In the end, Scream 4 perfectly combines comedy, horror, action and drama to create a new formula, while not a perfect movie, it's shortcomings become less important by one aspect, it really doesn't take itself too seriously but at the same time it makes a homage of the saga and utilizes itself as a tool to further immortalize the Ghostface killer as one of the most popular icons in the horror genre.
I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998)
Completely destroys the original...
Not very often are horror films so successful as to spawn a direct sequel starring the same high-profile cast as in it's predecessor (with the notable exception of Sarah Michelle Gellar), but "I Know What You Did Last Summer" was on it's time very popular as to become a franchise spanning two sequels, this being the most direct one.
The film takes place one year after the events in the original, Julie James (Jennifer Love Hewitt)is now in college and has completely restored her life after the living hell she went through the last year being stalked and almost killed by a vengeful, murderous fisherman named Ben Willis (Muse Watson), whom was run over and left for dead by Julie and her friends.
Julie and her best friend Karla (Brandy) decide it's time for Julie to start dating and erase her painful memories, to do so, they enter a radio contest and turn out winners of a trip to the Bahamas.
Julie's former boyfriend Ray (Freddie Prinze Jr.) is attacked by the murderous fisherman and acknowledges Julie's danger, in order to protect her he escapes the hospital and embarks himself to the Bahamas.
When at it's best, "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer" manages to pull off some scary scenes, but the problem lies in the clichés and the predictability of such scenes, and besides Julie and Ray's character, the other ones are forgettable at best (including Jack Black who appears as the "funny" dread-locked pothead and whom inevitably gets killed in a horrendous way) you can't help but to think the numerous other ways you would have acted if you were in the same situation (for example, an incident involving Julie being trapped inside a tanning bed and not one of the four people in the room thought of unplugging or turning off the machine, instead they break the expensive machine).
The movie relies more in the gore than in the creativity of the scares, expect a lot of "mirror scenes" and the typical "the killer walks but manages to catch the teenagers who are running", besides a plot twist gets discovered in the end which not only isn't helpful, but manages to destroy the already damaged storyline.
In the end "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer" is nothing more than your typical teenage slasher film, which despite stellar performances by Love Hewitt and Prinze Jr. and somewhat noticeable production values, never manages to impress or scare the audience.
4 out of 10.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
The beginning of an epic trilogy
"The Fellowship of the Ring" marks the beginning of the film adaptations of the "Lord Of The Rings" saga of books by J.R.R. Tolkien, and it was directed by Peter Jackson.
As charming, poignant, endearing and action packed as expected, TFOTR is an amazing beginning to the franchise with huge production values, excellent visual effects and an impeccable script writing and supervision.
With a stellar cast and an very adequate soundtrack, "The Fellowship of the Ring" tells us the story of a pair of the miniature hobbit creatures Frodo Baggings (Elijah Wood) and Samwise Gamgee (Sean Astin) whom get involved in a magical quest to destroy the one ring that belongs to the demon Sauron and which must be destroyed in order to erase the demon from earth and return peace to the land of Middle Earth. The concept may sound simple, but it is the brilliant execution and the amount of detail, originality and great acting that successfully bring together this live-action adaptation, the script will make you inevitably care about all the characters from the fellowship, each and every one of them have a specific role in the story, and you will want to continue watching the rest of the trilogy as soon as this film ends.
In the end, The Fellowship of the Ring contains a perfect script, well executed dialogue, chill-inducing moments, tons of action, it's fair share of funny moments and throat knotting farewells, which all combine to make it an amazing film that will awaken every emotion in your body.