Reviews

I really really really can't see how a movie like that would get an 8.1 voting! How can people give a 10-point voting to a movie this obviously flawed? I could understand giving it up to 6 or 7 points if CGI is more important to you than anything else, but 10? With acting that wooden and dialogues that make you cringe throughout the entire movie, no CGI in the world could save this. Search your feelings, everybody! I went to see it and boy was I disappointed even though I had no expectations at all. I adore the original movies, didn't like Episode 1 & 2, but Episode 3... there was almost nothing I liked.

There were some positive aspects which I'll write down first (it won't be long): The very last scene is a very nice nod towards that famous scene in the first Star Wars where Luke is watching the twin suns set.

In theory, the movie ties in nicely with Episode 4- towards the end of Episode 3 the spaceships look like they did in '78, and there is some sense of closure over it all.

Now on to the IMO bad / horrible / disastrous stuff:

The movie consists apparently to 95 % of CGI. Now I don't mind CGI here and there, but this was too much. CGI is not far enough yet- much of the movie just looked wrong to me. Some of the effects looked downright stupid and clumsy (was I the only one to notice how badly the scene was done where Obiwan gets crushed in the fight with Count Dooku?). The lightsaber fights looked better in the old movies- less speed, granted, but at least you could see what they were doing. Here all you see is a blur of light, period.

The action scenes were too wild and too fast, they were so confusing I really couldn't keep up and most of the time I didn't bother- people running around super-fast, spaceships zooming left right and center and you had no idea who was attacking whom (and never mind the why)... I know many people will say it kicked a$$, but to me it was a mess.

What's with Obiwan Kenobi? Does anyone remember the Obiwan Alec Guiness was?? Ewan McGregor has been reduced to delivering silly quips and riding that giant squeaking lizard (even the Taun-Tauns looked better 25 years ago!); the dialogues were simply the worst I've ever seen (seriously, it wasn't sufferable, nearly every single line made me cringe with embarrassment that humanity went through millions of years of evolution to come up with THAT!! ); the acting was horrible if not nonexistent (apparently there was a "one facial expression only" policy on the set, most opted for "slightly worried" no matter what the circumstances), and the story... well, the story wasn't too bad, to be honest, but what with all the rest? I was bored and angry throughout the entire movie.

And those disgustingly cheesy so-called "romantic scenes" between Anakin and Padme! The. Worst. I've. Ever. Seen. Ever. Neither Hayden Christensen (who HAS to be the worst actor out there these days) nor Natalie Portman acted the part, the dialogue reached an all-time low and... oh hell. Depending on your temper it made you either sneer or throw up.

This movie had huge potential: Anakin's betrayal by Palpatine (basically, Anakin's reaction was along the lines of "Oh, so you're the bad guy and threatening to destroy all I believed in, huh? Ah, bugger that, I'll follow you anyway."), his disappointment by the Jedi council ("I want to be a master, I want, I want, I want!!", cue for more whining and foot-stamping), his love for Padme which drives him toward the dark side ("I love you." - "I love you more" – "No, I love YOU more!" – "No, I love YOU more, because I'm blinded by love!" – "You're blinded by love?" – "Yes, I'm blinded by love")... DAMN! This could have been a great movie, certainly the best of the new Star Wars movies, but, with all due respect, George Lucas managed to turn this into a great pile of sh!te.

Somebody needs to knock some sense into George Lucas's head, and quickly! Though there's nothing he can vandalize any further, now that he already messed up the grand DVD box of the old movies with new scenes to better fit Episode 1-3...

SPOILERS AHEAD!

(Though I wouldn't call them spoilers, because this movie can't be spoiled, it's already too bad)

The plot sounded interesting enough (guy finds the murdered body and the murderer who's begging him to give him 5 minutes to explain all this before calling the police), I loved the movies of Fatih Akin so far and the DVD was cheap. Well, it turned that the DVD wasn't the only thing that was cheap- the entire movie sucked. Its normally not my style to say this or that sucked, but for this movie I just can't seem to find any other word. Starting out from the story this could well have been a very entertaining movie- but from the first minute on it only goes downhill.

We were three to watch this movie and we just couldn't help asking the same questions over and over again: "Why's he doing THAT??" and "Why am I still sitting here when I could as well entertain myself much better with, say, cleaning windows??". I can easily answer that second question (one always desperately hopes for the movie to get better), but the first one is way over my head. The entire movie doesn't make any sense, the characters are absolutely abstruse and the acting... nah, let's leave it at that. You want an example? Here we go: at some point the guy who finds the corpse sleeps with the presumed murderer- why?? He's not gay, and you can't find any hint before that could somehow support this storyline. And his ex-girlfriend is looking for him all over Cologne, which would already be stupid enough (Cologne is quite big, you know)... but why the hell is she spending most of her time in a brothel, of all places?? WHY?!?!

No matter what expectations you may have for this movie- you'll be deceived on every single one. Personally, I'm a fan of Fatih Akin's (director of "Solino" and "Im Juli", two of my favourites), as I've said before, and I think Steffen Wink and Axel Milberg are decent enough actors, but a movie like that... no, thank you very much.

The sad thing is, the initial idea -a murderer pleading for only a few minutes to tell his story, that could have been interesting- is quite original, you could have gotten a really good movie out of it, but they failed. Totally.

I really can't imagine anyone would ever like this movie, but judging by the user votings apparently some people did, which genuinely surprised me as hell. I honestly warn everybody to keep away from this movie. It's a huge waste of time, and there are so many good movies out there. The only ones I recommend this to are movie makers- as a repulsive warning how bad a movie can get. It's neither funny nor thrilling nor anything else apart from truly, truly bad.

And why did they change the name from "Kismet" into "Black Souls"? Because people spread the word never ever to watch a movie called "Kismet"? Could be that.

Haven't watched this movie for two or three years now and I had almost forgotten how utterly beautiful it is. But it was aired on TV last night and watching it brought back everything. You just can't help but becoming involved in the lives of Idgie, Ruth, Evelyn and Ninny! Once again I shared laughter, tears and love with them all. This was easily the 10th time I had seen it, and it never loses its charm. The score is so beautiful and hauntingly sad that it actually hurts and it works hand in hand with the terrific camera-work providing magnificent shots and pictures; the entire cast, main and supporting actors alike, are doing an awesome job (and I love them for it); and the story itself is just so great... Why "Fried Green Tomatoes" didn't get any Academy Award will always be beyond me- because IMO everybody's performance (on screen and behind the camera) is just perfect.

It was stated that this movie is a movie only girls can relate to, and even worse, that it was a chick-flick. I honestly think this is a major insult. "Pretty Woman", yes, THAT's a chick-flick (which I like), but not this one. I should know because after having seen (and by chance taped) it for the first time I showed this movie to everybody who couldn't hide quickly enough (including my father, my brother and several male friends) and I swear everybody was just as captivated by "Fried Green Tomatoes" as I was. I'll never forget my older brother getting upset as Frank's shoving pregnant Ruth down the stairs. Nope, this definitely isn't a chick-flick. It's a beautiful warm quality movie about true friendship and how it can give you the courage to change your life and to stand up against racism, cowardice and hatred.

I have thought long and hard whether I could come up with even one single thing I didn't like about "Fried Green Tomatoes"... but frankly, there is nothing. IMO it's a gem, and I can just say: do yourself a favor and watch this movie.

SPOILER AHEAD! When I first watched the movie, I didn't know what to expect, all I knew was: it's on tonight and there's nothing better on TV. After half an hour into the movie and almost until the end I was afraid the story would turn out to become a lesbian thing. Don't get me wrong- nothing against lesbians, but we've had so many romantic movies already, but there are only a handful of films about friendship and guts and strong women and even fewer of those are actually any good. Anyway, I was afraid this movie would be reduced to just another romance-thing and I was really truly relieved to see the movie ends just as well as it starts.