Skyfall (2012) Review

No spoilers.

image captured from IMDB.com

I've never really followed the James Bond films but I've been up to date since Casino Royale (2006) when Daniel Craig debuted as the titular character. I like Craig as an actor and I've been trying really hard to like his Bond films. Thus far, I've never come across a groundbreaking 007 movie. I've enjoyed Casino Royale despite its many flaws. I've never finished Quantum of Solace. 

I think it's safe to say Skyfall is the best of the three Daniel Craig Bond films...though it certainly is not the masterpiece many claim it to be. With the Bond series celebrating a 50 year anniversary, the creators have a lot of fun with this movie and so do the audience.

We begin with a standard Bond chase scene that serves as a hook. Although there is no emotional investment at this point since the plot has not been properly introduced yet, the quick editing and some great stunt work make this scene full of energy. Next, the opening titles scene is accompanied by music by Adele which is stylish and spectacular; a very promising beginning.

Hollywood has recently got into telling resurrection stories of our heroes, The Dark Knight Rises being a prominent example and the Iron Man 3 trailer hinting that it'll do something similar. Skyfall also attempts to tell the story of a broken James Bond returning. The only problem is the focus is not entirely on Bond's return and his early downfall is quite rushed. I think the writers were trying to cram in a lot of good ideas into one movie, thus the long running time.

To reduce a few scenes that contributed to a long exposition, I think the creators should've written out Bérénice Lim Marlohe's character (she did nothing in this movie) and found a different way to bring Javier Bardem's character into the story (without changing his introduction monologue; that was kick-ass). Bardem previously played Anton Chigurh in my all time favorite film, No Country for Old Men, and despite expecting a similar performance, Raoul Silva, was a unique Bond villain. The villain, unlike the trailer suggests, has a pretty simple motive and is smaller in scale. Still, he has some chilling pay-offs.

Speaking of pay-offs, this movie tries many setups. Almost immediately, I liked this movie for referencing the older movies in the franchise (maybe even a Home Alone reference?) Even without being a hardcore fan, I could tell some pokes here and there and there were foreshadowing that led to fun conclusions. I did, however, believe Q's new weapon should've been used in a more climactic scene.

Skyfall is well-shot entertainment with a fair share of flaws that doesn't ruin the exciting experience the movie has prepared to show. See this movie! :)

Paranormal Activity 4 (2012) Review

Very mild spoilers throughout the review.

image captured from IMDB.com

If there's anyone who would defend the Paranormal Activity franchise, it would be me. Over the years, PA has become a guilty pleasure of mine because I treated it as cinematic experience rather than a film. The caramel popcorn, the jumpy audience, the occasional laughter; it's a fun experience but hey, I understand if this isn't your cup of tea.

Now, on to PA 4. Unfortunately, this was the first in the series to feel redundant. I may be the slowpoke here but I really felt like the creators overused their forumla this time. Once again, the beginning scares are always fake outs, the parents are assholes who never listen, and the demon doesn't do anything until it feels like the movie has reached the climax. But what really made everything stale the fourth time around were the less effective scares. Enduring the slow build up did not really pay off.

In PA 3, the creators used what they referred to as a "fan cam", where the camera panned from left to right. This technique created a lot of suspense and had a great pay off in a near climactic scene. In PA 4, we were introduced to infrared tracking dots and this, according to the creators, was supposed to equal the fan cam. Unfortunately, the tracking dots only achieved occasional "what the hell was that?" moments but never a real frightening scare.

The creators actually built a better scene involving a kitchen knife that could've been used to kill off one of the characters. Instead, the knife was forgotten about for a few minutes and then used for a pointless scene. The actual death scenes were pretty cheap. One character, an annoying one I might add, gets killed partially off screen. Another one gets killed in an oh-so-familiar way that we all hate: yes, by getting his neck broken.

The PA movies are quite infamous for intense finales. Despite not having the best time, I wanted this movie to be longer. The ending was just premature and abrupt. There was an intense chase scene that got me saying, "Run, run, run!" but it only lasted about 30 seconds. If that suspense had been kept up for at least 5 more minutes, I would've been more satisfied.

Finally, I'd like to add a short comment on the Dad character. The actor who played him sucked. Every line he uttered felt scripted; I know from experience what a script relaying actor sounds like and he definitely was one.

Overall, this year's Paranormal Activity was a major disappointment and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone besides the tradition followers who watch one every year. This is coming from a big fan of the series.

Wrath of the Titans (2012) Review

It seemed like yesterday I was watching the first one, Clash of the Titans.

Wrath of the Titans is a movie I walked into with little to no expectations. Reviews had not been out yet but by the looks of the trailer, I knew what to expect when the featured dialog only consisted of one-liners like "Prepare!" or "Oblivion!"

But this was worse than I had expected. While I walked out of the first one disappointed, I walked out of this sequel in utter resentment. The movie experience was sheer torture because I kept falling asleep but the uncontrolled noise levels kept waking me up. I know a bad theater that used to exist near my school that did not have soundproof walls; Wrath of the Titans would have knocked that wall down.

The movie jumps right into non-stop action (which can be a good thing) but fails to carry any weight of suspense because the audience simply cannot care about a bunch of rag-dolls.
The lack of emotional investment costs this film dearly; every character is basically interchangeable and despite the short running time, this movie seems overly long.

Once again, Titans bases its plot loosely on the Greek mythology. That is the biggest flaw of this film because we know the original story and the film is unfaithful to it but that doesn't change the fact that the film is still predictable.

I can't imagine the script of this film. I believe the action choreographers had more to do with the script than did the writers. There's so much action from the beginning of the film that by the end, the seemingly spectacular action we saw in the trailers become trivialized. If I were to draw a plot diagram for Wrath of the Titans, it would be a flat line.

Oh and one more thing, since when was Zeus such a pussy?!

South Park "Insecurity" Review

Image from screeninvasion.com

I looked forward to this one as soon as I saw Cartman in a Bane mask. Unfortunately, the episode is not the Dark Knight Rises parody I had hoped it to be. Instead, the episode's primary focus is on home security systems and Amazon shoppers. Once again, South Park does what it does best by chastising its target, and we get a pretty decent South Park episode.

Once again, one of the boys has a misunderstanding about sex and spreads rumors throughout the entire town of South Park, causing massive panic. The Gravedigger from Marjorine is back to give the town some advice and as a horror movie fan, I always find his accent and over the top voice fun.

The a running gag of this episode is a bit overplayed but maybe that's the point. The part I liked about it were the random new people involved in each joke; it made me wonder how Trey Parker and Matt Stone came up with all the names (maybe Random Name Generator that I use often?)

As an internet shopper, I couldn't agree to one of the messages of this episode which was something along the lines of: "internet shoppers forget what they order" which is untrue because here in Korea, products arrive in a day's time and I ALWAYS remember what I buy. Maybe this is an American thing but I've ordered (a copy of Inception) from Amazon before and I waited each day longing for it (hehe, nerd laugh, hehe)

The Bane scene was out of nowhere which made it funny. The voice imitation of Tom Hardy was great and we get to hear Cartman say "authoritah!" in Bane's voice! The exaggeration and emphasis of dark comedy works in this episode, especially when the men of South Park go around being the dumbasses they are.

Overall, Insecurity is a routine South Park episode that we're all familiar with but it's a good show.

Taken 2 (2012) Review

Captured from IMDB.com

People love to see their favorite characters return for another adventure. That's why movie sequels are a big part of the movie industry. While Taken was a big hit and protagonist Bryan Mills (portrayed by Liam Neeson) was a kick-ass character that became a fan favorite, I don't know of anyone who anticipated a Taken 2. Author Dean Koontz once said, "The only reason I would write a sequel is if I were struck by an idea that I felt to be equal to the original. Too many sequels diminish the original." If all writers in the world were like Koontz, this movie would not have been made.

I walked into the theater with a lot of skepticism. I've ridiculed Taken 2 since its plot was hinted on the internet. I was ready to bash this movie from the moment it started. Unfortunately or maybe, fortunately, this movie was nothing like I'd expected it to be. It was actually a pretty decent sequel! I'm not just talking about the satisfactory level of entertainment. This movie actually amounts to some level of character development and it's a genuine effort to make the best out of a shitty plot (c'mon, you can't write a good story when the title is Taken 2).

Yes, call the story stupid, unnecessary, and unrealistic. But given the fact that this movie was going to be made, I truly believe this was the best and most logical story they could've come up with. And we have fun with it.

Once again, Liam Neeson is great as Bryan Mills. Prior to watching Taken 2, I had watched Finding Nemo and strangely enough, I saw some similarities between the two films (please don't kill me for comparing these two movies, hear me out!!). Both movies are about an overly protective father learning to trust their dear children, although, I do realize that instructing his daughter on how to defeat terrorists might be a stretch. But still, both Bryan and his daughter, Kim go through turning points throughout the film and that's what enhances the thrill. Bryan realizes that he needs the help of someone else for a change, which makes his reliance on Kim all the more important while Kim has had trouble with keeping time, which makes the scene with her using a timer for a plan more suspenseful. Although subtle, I feel as if the writers tried to include a lot of tie-back moments throughout the film and I give them credit for this because I continued to like the Mills family and I wanted to see everyone survive.

There are so many aspects of this movie that make it fun. Once again Bryan's ex-CIA skills come in great use and it's a blast to see various ways of tracking down people and locating places. The action was a load of BS but what did you expect? The first Taken wasn't without its ridiculous moments and we were asking for more of it once the sequel was in pre-production. And of course, this movie is full of clichés and I've decided to make my own "Movie Cliché List" that I'll refer to from now on (Check out the link here: http://63tomovies.blogspot.kr/p/movie-cliche-list.html) 

Taken 2 has the following three clichés:

- Movie Cliché #1: The Russian Accent

- Movie Cliché #2: The Train is Coming!

- Movie Cliche #3: The Empty Gun

Okay, now that I've talked about how great this movie is, you're probably thinking I liked it. Well, I did! But by all means, it is guilty pleasure. The dialogue can be sloppy and repetitive and there are points where the movie has pacing issues. Sometimes I was saying "Ugh, get on with this!" and sometimes I was asking my friend, "What the hell just happened?" Also, a plot point from the original is completely ignored in the sequel but I almost forgot about that anyway.

Overall, I'm pretty confident that the fans of the original will get more of what they liked. Taken 2 is surprisingly a fun flick and I wouldn't say it made more mistakes than the original.

Equilibrium (2002) Review

Captured from IMDB.com

Introduction:

There have been times when my personal biases have prevented me from giving a bad film a just review. I used to give terrible flicks more of a lukewarm response, solely based on my first impressions of them. Although I cannot passionately hate Equilibrium as I’ve hated Transformers 2, I will say this and mean it: Equilibrium is one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen in recent years (and I’ve seen Hobgoblins).

The reason why I cannot bring myself to hate Equilibrium is simply because it could’ve been a good movie. The film promised not only great action, (which according to the advertisement, would have made me “Forget The Matrix”), but also a thought provoking experience. Equilibrium is heavily influenced by ‘1984’ by Orwell and ‘Fahrenheit 451’ by Bradbury. The movie is set in a dystopian world where emotion is prohibited by law and thus attempts to depict the drawbacks yet the necessity of human emotion. Despite these appealing aspects, Equilibrium lacks a driving force and fails to entertain or give food for thought.

Selling Point - Action:

Every copy of this movie (that I’ve seen) has the following tagline: “Forget The Matrix!” I ask myself “Why?” The Matrix was a fine blend of philosophical ideas and memorable action sequences. Even if Equilibrium was better than The Matrix, what reason is that for the audience to forget an initial masterpiece? Since I’ve started blogging again, I have completely abandoned the star rating system, simply because people don’t realize that film ratings aren’t supposed to be compared to each other. Each film is marked on its own criteria. Now, what really blows my mind is the very fact that Equilibrium can’t even hold a candle to The Matrix.

The action sequences are the very worst I’ve ever seen. I have no problem with suspending my beliefs when it comes to action sequences. I can accept the violation of laws of physics. What I cannot accept are the doofuses with guns who aim worse than the Stormtroopers from the Star Wars movies. These soldiers are so dimwitted that while Christian Bale throws karate chops at two of them, the other nine just stand there, holding their guns. Once again, I can accept the fact the protagonist can dodge bullets. What I cannot accept is the lack of suspense due to the sheer invincibility of the protagonist; everything’s just too easy for him. There was not a single moment when I felt like he was in trouble, not a moment of any imminent threat. This is what is supposedly greater than the action packed Matrix movies? The action is sloppy and silly, almost laughable. Many critics have said that Equilibrium is a failure in science fiction but an entertaining film regardless. I say it’s a failure in both, and it fails hard.

Plot:

If this movie had no plot, it would’ve been better. This movie has a very bad plot.  As much as I like Bale as an actor, his character SUCKS and therefore there is no driving force in the story. There is no journey, no development. Bale’s character, Preston starts out as an unyielding elite priest. The biggest turning point of this movie, the point where Preston’s cruel, cold personality changes is a mere accident. After killing his partner, Partridge for not suppressing his emotions, Preston almost immediately breaks his vial of drugs that’s supposed to suppress his own emotion. What follows is Preston’s experience of emotion and the softening of his heart. The problem with this is that...it could’ve happened to anyone at any time and it happens instantaneously. I’m not buying this! Preston was not a character; he was an empty shell who was suddenly given emotion. He learns what a typical protagonist would’ve learned throughout the course of a whole movie in less than ten seconds. There is no in-depth emotional exploration that was promised. What should’ve happened was in the process of killing Partridge, Preston should’ve dropped his vial and broken it. This is also an accident but what’s different is that 1) we’re not wasting a death of a character and 2) Preston’s life changing experience is not as stupid as dropping a vial in the bathroom. What would follow in this better plot would be Preston’s gradual realization of the feeling guilt and a moral dilemma.

Going back to the actual, stupid plot, let’s not forget the fact that Preston is also a plot convenient character. In his first fight with his new partner, Brandt (played by Taye Diggs), Preston struggles. This, I thought, foreshadowed a climactic battle between these two which would be a rival battle. Instead, in their second encounter, Preston slashes up Brandt in two seconds. I actually timed the fight once I got over my dejected laughter. This brings me back to my previous point: the action in this movie sucks and what’s more is that Preston can go from evenly matched to godlike whenever he wants. 

Conclusion:

Equilibrium is only 107 minutes long but I had to take frequent breaks because it was so damn boring. A movie can be slow paced but this one was all over the place with its uneven turning points and still managed to be dull. So kudos to the writing staff; not many people can do this. I wouldn’t condemn this movie so much for its boredom had it not been advertised for being superior to The Matrix. This movie is criticized for a lack of originality, which is the least of its problems. It lacks everything: action, insight and genuine emotion. This movie reaches an equilibrium of bad in every possible aspect.