Change Your Image
My_Evil_Hand
Reviews
Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)
A movie ripe for a fanfiction rewrite
I loved the first movie, but the second is a franchise-killer. They literally killed off everything and everyone that made the first so unique and enjoyable, and then tried to replace them with some lame American counterpart. Lancelot's death was especially shameful, as she was killed off without a chance to save herself. Merlin at least got an opportunity to choose to sacrifice himself and die heroically. Once Lancelot was gone it was as if she'd never existed.
One small bright spot was the way they used Elton John in the movie. While his initial scenes weren't great, they gave him a decently heroic part to play at the end.
It was OTT for the sake of being OTT, while being disgusting to boot, especially the hamburger sequence, and the planting of the tracker didn't need to be as graphic as it was. On the other hand it undid one of the great moments from the first movie, Galahad's death at the hands of the villain, which inspired his protege to take up the mantle. I should have known the movie was a lame ripoff just from seeing him in the trailer.
Nothing But Trouble (1991)
One star is too many
One of the worst movies ever made. Utterly incoherent. I'm told every actor involved wants this movie dropped from their C.V.s and I can understand why. Save yourself and don't take that shortcut.
Now You See Me (2013)
True to its premise
"The closer you look, the less you see." The four magicians we are watching for most of the movie are themselves a sleight-of-hand for the real 'hero', and do their jobs well. Going on about the lack of their characters' development misses the point, since they are supposed to be 'the smartest guys in the room' and have nowhere further to go, or so they think. Their comeuppance is combined with their reward once the game is done. The hand inside their glove is himself apparently a servant in some fashion of the Eye, a secret society dedicated to magic and the sense of wonder (as well as some degree of social justice) which we never otherwise see. The central premise of the movie is stated at the end, but developed throughout. "You know how I feel about resolution and logic." The speaker doesn't care for them much, at times. "Some things are best left unexplained." The sense of wonder that the movie is trying to defend defies explanation, to the point where the explainers are treated as villains. In this case the real hero's enemies are also enemies of the Eye, the debunkers and explainers, the greedy plutocrats, and he is serving himself while serving them. If there is a flaw in the finale of the show it is in the failure to make this clearer, and I don't think it would have taken much, even less than they showed. The meaning of the carousel, if there is a meaning, is especially obscure (maybe if they'd shown it, eye-like, from above?). Making things clearer, i.e., 'resolution and logic', is not the point of the story, and it would have helped the movie if it had been less faithful to the story itself.
The Phantom of the Opera (2004)
the play is better
I rate it this highly mainly because the music is so good. But the movie made changes to the original story (which was very good) and those changes utterly devastate the story. Several scenes were added, mainly to enhance the role of Raoul, which were either neutral or actually harmful to the story. In particular the graveyard scene, in which Raoul defeats the Phantom, yet leaves him behind, rather than either kill him or capture him. This makes Raoul and Christine morally culpable for the Phantom's later actions, including murder. The singing was very disappointing, very sloppy and loose. However, Gerard Butler's vocal changes were quite well done, deep and threatening as the Phantom, higher-pitched as the Angel of Music. But it wasn't enough.
The Pirates of Penzance (1982)
execrable film
A truly awful film. I first saw the Kevin Kline version and went looking for others, but so far have found none as good. This version is particularly flat. Peter Allen's Pirate King dashes off his lines as if reading them for the first time. Frederick could hardly seem less concerned about the beloved comrades he's doomed to death. The fortissimo 'With Catlike tread' is barely audible. The leap year recitation in the crypt is hurried through without any attempt to develop its comic potential. The dancing is poor when it's there at all. The only good thing was the singing of Mabel, better by far than Ronstadt's performance.
The Mikado (1983)
a very entertaining show.
By far the best role in the production was Stafford Dean's Pooh-bah, a brilliant performance of multiple roles by a single player, often in a single sentence. John Stewart as Nanki-Pooh was fabulous in his rendition of Wand'ring Minstrel. He was also very emotive in his scenes with Yum-Yum, and hilariously comic elsewhere. Katisha and Ko-Ko were both extremely touching in their scenes together, in many ways the central roles of the show, calling for the most character development and growth. It was also amusing how Katisha, who comes on stage in a hot air balloon, is wearing rose-colored aviator goggles, which she discards when she sings her first sad aria.
It was unfortunate that the lesser roles had so much less to do. Pish-Tush and Pitti-Sing were given some time to shine, but I would have liked to see more of Peep-Bo. The little comic touches on Pish-Tush's part did well to amplify a smaller role. The same can be said for the costumes (several Victorian outfits, an actual trombone), and the train.
The chorus and the dancing were very exuberant and joyous. The entrance of the girls from school was sweetly delicate. The dances involving the men were less so. The opening sequence was rather bland by comparison, and the entrance of Ko-Ko was only saved by Ko-Ko's antics.
I much prefer the expanded set version of these plays. Not only is there more room for movement, especially dancing, but there are more environments for different scenes. The garden in particular was very good, both for the opening of act 2 and the setting for Ko-Ko's courtship of Katisha.