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ScarletArmkreuz
Reviews
Evolution (2001)
Why do people always expect classics?
I don't understand why everyone on here expects *every* movie to be a classic, intelligently written movie. After seeing such disgusting 'comedies' (note that the term is used loosely) as Scary Movie, American Pie, and others that my acquaintances around here seem to have loved, I, for one, am thrilled to see a comedy that, while containing some gross humor, isn't mired in the sophomoric humor that has become standard for the day.
This movie isn't a classic comedy. Compared to Ghostbusters (as it inevitably will be), it comes out about even in my opinion. Compared to Men In Black (a comparison that has shown up here, but for the life of me, I can't figure out why), it's better. Men In Black couldn't seem to decide whether it was a comedy or a serious movie, and this movie embraces the comedy.
The plot is cliched, yes. The aliens 'evolution' doesn't seem to follow a real pattern, and some of the lesser creatures were much more frightening than the ones in the later parts of the movies. The creatures aren't particularly well designed. But, as far as killing a few hours, I can think of worse ways to do it.
Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)
Despite one major flaw, a good Trek movie
This movie had, in my opinion, one major flaw -- the inclusion of Worf. When TNG ran on television, Worf was one of my favorite characters. When he moved to DS9, however, he quickly became my most hated Trek character (even above Chakotay and Neelix, both of whom kept me from ever enjoying a single Voyager episode). He's on DS9 now, why the **** is he here? At least in the last movie, his appearance almost made sense. Even Sulu had *reasons* for showing up after he got his own command in the last few TOS movies!
On the other hand, this movie is, for the first time in a long time, a step in the right direction for Trek in general. Since Roddenberry's death, Trek in general has gone downhill, and I'd almost be happy to see the whole franchise fall than put up with any more movies like "First Contact."
Those of you who're calling for the next movie to be the last TNG movie -- well, it's better than the alternative; DS9 or Voyager movies.
Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
Wonderful Sci-Fi movie. Crappy Star Trek.
I'm always disappointed to hear people (usually fans of TNG who didn't like TOS) say that this is the best Star Trek movie of all time. It's easily my least favorite, especially of the NG movies, *IF* we're rating them as Star Trek movies. This movie, honestly, feels like a Sci-Fi/Horror movie that was, at the last minute, mapped onto the Next Generation crew.
Star Trek shouldn't be, primarily, about action, and that's precisely what this movie *was* about. I nearly walked out of this movie when I saw it in theaters, and the only reason I didn't was because the tickets on which I'd gone to see it were free from a local radio station. For my money, if I'm in the mood for a 'Trek' movie, I'll go rent Insurrection. If I want a good action/horror/Sci-fi movie, though, I'll rent this one.
Scary Movie (2000)
A waste of film and money
I've now decided never to let ANYONE pick what movie we go to watch ever again. My friends convinced me to go see Whatever It Takes in theaters, and my girlfriend talked me into seeing this movie with her. The only funny scenes in the entire movie were in the previews, and the rest of this movie was just overly disgusting.
This is one movie definitely NOT worth the film it was filmed on, and was an immense waste of my time and money -- I would rather purposely infect myself with the flu than see this movie again...
X-Men (2000)
A great comic movie
Everyone seems to think this is the first great comic-book based movie. However, a few others come to my mind: Blade was highly entertaining, MIB was great.
I loved this movie, despite its obvious flaws. It focused on my two least favorite X-characters, Rogue and Wolverine, and we didn't get to see Magneto really hurt Wolvie, unfortunately... but I still enjoyed it. Those who said James Marsden's Cyclops was 'wooden' seem to think that's a bad thing -- Cyclops, while one of my favorite X-men, has ALWAYS been very stiff, at least in my mind... Overall, the only character who I felt was portrayed badly was Storm, who should've been more imposing, IMHO.
Did Professor X say these were his original students? I thought he said they were 'some of the first,' meaning that it's possible that Storm wasn't with the rest of the group... Of course, that doesn't explain away the fact that Bobby's way too young...
Overall, I loved this movie (It's the best I've seen this summer, for sure), and will anxiously await a sequel, esp. if Nightcrawler or the Beast show up.
Whatever It Takes (2000)
Worst movie I've ever seen in theaters.
Since I was 8 years old, I had a perfect record of being able to decide which movies I would & would not like, and only going to the theaters to see the good ones. Last week, I was overruled by my friends and forced to see this movie; If I hadn't been pinned in by 2 of them on either side of me, I would've walked out approximately 20 minutes into the movie, at which point I knew exactly what was going to happen for the rest of the movie.
The only plot point in this movie that I didn't forsee at that point was the one that suddenly appeared near the end of the movie (I won't spoil it), and it tied into one that I HAD forseen; Otherwise, this was the same teen tripe I've seen hundreds of times (and most of those, it was much better)
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Not NEARLY as good as the hype would suggest (Spoilers?)
Because I'm getting sick of some of the trash that big-budget Hollywood Studios are getting, I started watching this movie desperately hoping to be scared. I was really let down.
My family lives in a small-ish house on 400 acres of woodland, so it's possible that I wasn't scared because I was too busy being REALLY disappointed at how stupid these people were, even after we're told that at least one of them has SOME experience hiking... I've seen scarier stuff when camping with my friends -- at least when my friends are around you KNOW there's some insane maniac who could, in the right circumstances, seriously injure or kill you.
The bottom line is, don't waste your money seeing this movie if you know ANYTHING about being in the woods... these characters are just so stupid you'd like to leap into the movie and kill them yourself.
The World Is Not Enough (1999)
Not the best, but still great Bond
I'm not going to go as far as others have and say this was the best Bond movie (My personal favorite is Moonraker, though I'd never argue that it was the 'best'). This is a fun ride, and, alongside Tomorrow Never Dies, helps to prove that Pierce Brosnan is excellently cast as Bond.
For all those reviewers saying that the Bond franchise is getting old, that Bond's attitudes are out of place in the (nearly) 21st century, and that the series needs a huge makeover if it intends to survive, I say "BAH." (and I wave my paw at them...) All the Bond movies have been fun to watch, some more so than others, and this one is near the top.
Angel (1999)
I expected a good series, but...
When I first heard of this series (less than halfway through the last season of Buffy, IIRC), I thought it was going to be stupid. By the time 3/4 of that season was over, I was looking forward to this show, expecting it to be pretty good, but not quite up to "Buffy"'s standards. By 8:00 this evening, I was REALLY looking forward to it (though for an hour there, I spent time enjoying Buffy, not anticipating "Angel").
I have to say, this show did not live up to my expectations.
It surpassed them, tremendously. This show takes every good thing about the "Buffy" show (except Willow, unfortunately), and makes them better. If this show continues to be this good, Joss Whedon & David Greenwalt have a hit on their hands.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992)
Not as great as the show, but not bad.
This movie, which preceded the show, is a wonderful ride in its own right, as long as one never expected a nice serious vamp movie. Its sheer campiness makes it a joyride for anyone who knows what to expect when they're going into it.
Sure, comparing it, now, to the TV series of the same name makes this movie look hideous... but then, comparing ANYTHING to the TV show of the same name (with the possible exception of "Ally McBeal" or "Star Trek") is going to leave the "ANYTHING" looking pretty bad.