June 16, 2008
The Incredible Hulk
The Incredible Hulk is a somewhat uneven movie, but enjoyable overall. I've never been the biggest fan of the Hulk franchise, but this newest version explores some of the more interesting aspects of the mythology. The addition of Edward Norton also helps take this film up a notch.
I wasn't the biggest fan of some of the special effects in The Incredible Hulk. I've read many reviews stating how great they felt the effects were. I don't get it. While the animations are well done, for some reason the Hulk is really shiny all the time. This makes him look as if he was made of plastic rather than skin. Perhaps this is more in line with how he is supposed to look, but I felt it could have been done better.
Aside from the effects, I enjoyed most of the rest of the movie. The script is kept relatively simple, which is always a good idea in a superhero movie, and the dialog has a minimum of cringe-worthy lines. Another major criticism is the final fight between the Hulk and the Abomination. I realize that this is supposed to be an epic battle of mutants, but it seems to go on forever and gets kind of boring. I also was not the biggest fan of the ending where several plot lines are left unresolved. 3.5/5
May 25, 2008
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Indiana Jones is one of my favorite movie franchises. It's a fantastic mix of adventure, world travel and great stunt work. Which makes it such a shame that the newest addition to the series is not that great. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull falls into the same trap as so many other sequels; in the process of trying to recapture what made the original so great, they used the old formula instead of breaking new ground.
The credit sequence for Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was very encouraging. Featuring an entertaining driving sequence with creative cinematography, I was really looking forward to what was in store. Despite this interesting start, the movie immediately shows us just how silly it really is. Any time the plot was explained during this film I wanted to vomit. The story can best be described as a combination of Stargate and Alien vs. Predator. At various times Indy is required to figure out where the clues are trying to point them; in true National Treasure fashion, he works it out in seconds with no explanation or logic.
The acting in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is decent with the exception of Cate Blanchett's terrible Russian accent. Shia Lebouf is fine as Indy's sidekick, but his role is reduced once they join up with Karen Allen, John Hurt, and Ray Winstone. This brings me to another major problem I have with this movie, there's far too many characters. Raiders of the Lost Ark was so good for among other reasons how spare it was. While Indy was rarely alone, the side characters came and went and Indy is left to do what he has to do. Here, Indy has a couple of people with him constantly and the filmmakers feel the need to fill the silence with inane dialog.
The action in the first half of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull leads you to believe that we're in for some old school stuntwork with a touch of CGI to polish the rough edges. The motorcycle chase sequence is particularly good. Like so many other films, however, the plot gets in the way of the fun. The second half of the movie gets so over-the-top that I could have well been watching a superhero movie.
Another thing that bothered me about this movie is the overall look of the film. I don't know if they digitally graded this movie, or used some sort of strange filter, but much of the movie has a bizarre smoothness to it. It's just too crisp and almost looks airbrushed. Whatever it is, it detracts from the film. A throwback movie like this should have a throwback look, which means film grain, not super slick digital alteration.
While Indiana Jones has never pretended to be a documentary, it still maintained a level of realism. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull on the other hand is in its own universe. The level of sci-fi has been raised past the point of no return at the expense of genuine storytelling and the compelling adventure that made the old movies so great has been replaced with heavy handed computer graphics. 2/5
May 19, 2008
Iron Man
Iron Man should serve as an example for any science fiction, superhero, or action movie. Put the story and characters first; cast for acting over popularity and the rest will fall into place. Iron Man finally does right what virtually every other recent super-hero movie has done wrong, it keeps it simple.
Let me first say that I know virtually nothing about the Iron Man story and have never followed the cartoons or comic books. While watching the movie I was surprised that this story is in many ways more science fiction than it is superhero. Like Batman's Bruce Wayne, Tony Stark is a normal person who uses his brain and other skills to overcome adversaries. This has always appealed to me more than the purely fantastic superheroes like Spiderman or Superman. This grounding in an alternate reality makes all the scenes showing the creation and modification of the suit that much more compelling. I also appreciated the understated special effects. They are incorporated into the film's flow instead of acting as a separate showpiece unto themselves.
The acting in this movie is fantastic. Robert Downey Jr. was born to play this role. His naturally smooth, fast-talking style matches perfectly with the character of Tony Stark. Gwyneth Paltrow is surprisingly not annoying as his assistant and together they have a lot of fun with their interpersonal banter. Jeff Bridges is the perfect counter to Downey and is especially effective as his character takes a dark turn as the movie progresses.
Iron Man joins Batman Begins and X-Men 2 as one of my favorite superhero movies. 4.5/5
March 18, 2008
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune can best be described as a mash-up of Gears of War and Prince of Persia. It combines the 3rd person cover and weapons system from Gears with the environmental puzzle platforming of PoP. Add in the fantastic visuals, music and story, and Uncharted is a lot of fun to play.
In some ways Uncharted is almost too similar to Gears. The weapons system especially is almost a verbatim copy; allowing you to carry only two firearms plus grenades (which use the exact same throwing mechanic as Gears). It also requires you to constantly switch weapons to whatever ammo type is available in the area. My main criticism of Uncharted is that it is a little unbalanced. I would have preferred more platforming and puzzle solving to gunplay. Still, while it isn't incredibly innovative, Uncharted is definitely worth playing.
March 17, 2008
The Bank Job
The Bank Job is easily the best heist movie I've seen in years. It makes the most of a great cast and retro feel to create a fantastic throwback thriller. Too many new movies focus solely on the slickness of the heist. The Bank Job is more about what is being stolen and the consequences of stealing it. As a result this movie is very dense and throws a lot of characters on the screen in the first 30 minutes. While other movies can leave the viewer hanging, The Bank Job does a great job of tying up story points and helping you understand the fairly complicated plot.
It was also good to see Jason Statham in a good movie for a change. I also liked David Suchet as a strip club owner and pornographer; a major departure from his best known role as Hercule Poirot on the BBC. 4/5
February 25, 2008
DVD vs Bluray, Blade Runner: The Final Cut
In my previous post about the PS3 I said that the image quality between DVD and Bluray was marginal on my small HDTV. This statement is true, but only for a small number of DVDs. I never realized how variable the picture quality of DVDs was. Some DVDs look outstanding and others look terrible, especially when compared with the Bluray version, even on my 26" HDTV. I imagine this is indicative of the level of compression used on some discs versus others. That said I was surprised how variable even recent titles can be. The Departed for example looks rather mediocre on DVD while The Prestige looks great. I have been going through my movie collection and deciding if:
- Do I like the movie enough to buy it again on Bluray?
- Is this the type of movie that would benefit most from upgrading it to HD? (ie. comedies in general don't rely on their cinematography and thus don't matter as much as a western or sci-fi)
Blade Runner: The Final Cut is the first movie I saw on Bluray and it is definitely an improvement over the Director's Cut. The visual upgrade it received in the remastering process is excellent along with the subtle corrections and tweaks made to certain scenes. The Bluray version is a 5 disc set that comes with tons of extras including a 3+ hour documentary on the making of the film, along with the original US, International, and Director's Cut versions of the film; all redone in hi-def. This set is definitely worth the price and is a great example of how to refine a classic without overdoing it (George Lucas should take notes from Ridley Scott).
Playstation 3
A few weeks ago I wrote about my debate over whether or not to buy a PS3. Last week Target ran a deal where if you bought the 40GB PS3 you got a free $40 gift card. This combined with the announcement that Toshiba will no longer produce HD-DVD players, resulted in me buying a PS3.I have owned an XBOX 360 for over a year and I have to say that from a hardware standpoint the PS3 is in another league. From the design, to the capability, this is one slick machine.
Pros:
- Quiet Fans (while the PS3 produces plenty of heat, it does so without the considerable fan noise that my 360 emits)
- Quiet Disc Drive (unlike the jet engine in the 360, the PS3's drive is virtually silent)
- Clean Interface (the blade interface of the 360 is good, but at times can be clunky with too many sub-menus per blade, I found the crossbar on the PS3 to be better)
- Movie Playback (the PS3 has a huge advantage due to its built-in Bluray player, but even the options for upscaling regular DVDs and the interface itself are far superior to the 360)
Cons:
- PSN (it doesn't come close to the content available on XBOX Live & its interface is clunky)
- Game Demos (require an install process which for some reason is not done automatically)
That said I am very pleased with my purchase. I definitely spend more time watching movies than playing games, so my PS3 will see a lot of use from all media.