Archives for the Month of July 2009 on media addict
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
I am a casual fan of the Harry Potter movie franchise. For someone like me who has not read any of the books they offer a great mix of action-adventure and fantasy. The newest iteration is no exception. I am amazed at how consistent this series has been as a whole. It is a real testament to the producers and writers of this series that it has maintained such a high level of quality through 8 years, 6 films, 4 directors and 2 Dumbledores.
The Half-Blood Prince isn't the best Harry Potter movie (that would go to Prisoner of Azkaban), but I would put it in the top three. Its tone is all over the place, jumping from very dark to comedic, but the storyline is interesting. This is easily the funniest film of the series as the filmmakers get a lot of laughs out of the teenage melodrama. One criticism I have is that it seems more obvious here than in the previous films how much content must have been cut out, as the plot is somewhat confusing upon reflection. Nevertheless, as with the rest of the series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a very entertaining movie with a fantastic cast that is well worth your time. 4/5
Public Enemies
Public Enemies is a solid effort from Michael Mann, but doesn't match the heights of his previous epic crime thriller Heat. Following the exploits of John Dillinger and the FBI agent on his tail, Public Enemies has a lot to offer including a fantastic cast and some great action. It fails, however, in being truly engaging. The whole exercise feels very sterile and the characters are rather thin.
In many ways Public Enemies feels like Mann is trying to recapture the magic of Heat, even staging a bank robbery similar to the one in his previous work. While Al Pacino and Robert De Niro were given room to explore their characters in Heat, Johnny Depp and Christian Bale could have been allowed more opportunities to fill out their roles. Public Enemies feels too much like a documentary instead of a human drama. There is a lot of ground to cover in this movie and it feels stretched by its obligation to fit in as much as possible. The movie would have benefited from the addition of another 20 minutes to fill in some background and allow the main story time to take shape.
I also have some issues with Mann's choice to photograph Public Enemies digitally instead of on film. For the most part it adds an interesting aesthetic for a period piece such as this, however, at times it looks awful and really detracts from the movie. This is especially true during the night scenes where the photography can be especially rough. Other films have been shot digitally and look fantastic, such as Benjamin Button and Zodiac, but for some reason it doesn't work here. I would really like to understand Mann's reasoning for his photographic choices. He previously shot digitally on Collateral and Miami Vice, but they looked significantly better to my eyes.
In spite of any problems I had with it, Public Enemies is an entertaining movie with some great work by Johnny Depp and Christian Bale that is worth a look. 3.5/5