Libs's Reviews

A Very Long Engagement (2004)

10/10

2 November 2004

It is almost insulting to compare this film to Amelie Poulain. Yes it's the same crew, yes it's the same director and yes, Audrey Tautou almost plays the same character. But give JP Jeunet a break, it's part of HIS style. Would you blame Beethoven because his symphonies kinda sounded the same?

It is at times gritty, with its very tough depictions of the Great War, and at times light and naive. It all follows a very complicated storyline which is, I would have to admit, the only weakness in this otherwise perfect movie. With so many characters and so many plot elements, some people may feel a bit lost, specially toward the end. But this is of lesser concern as the audience will still follow the main idea : a quest to find a loved one. So even through all the intricacies of the subplots, the arc story (and its finale) always remain on the horizon.

To put it short, the movie is a masterpiece. The acting is strong, the scenes are breathtaking and overall, so much attention has been put to details that it feels like a labor of love more than a big production movie. I truly think that if French cinema was not so locked into producing crappy talkative movies about losers and failures, it could come up with a lot more movies as poignant as Engagement is.

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Die Another Day (2002)

6/10

Close but no cigar

22 November 2002

You've got to admit that this time, they tried very hard. The director tried to give a new feel to the franchise, without sacrificing ALL of what we love from the previous JB movies. To be honest, D.A.D. even picks up the steam that Goldeneye gave the series and that the two latest movies nearly destroyed. It feels fresh and new. And in some interesting ways, D.A.D. might be the most innovative JB movie yet. the opening scene and specially the credits are very well done. Cinematography is more vivid, closer to creating tension. But all this gets wiped clean by a very, very bad script which displays blatantly its own gaping holes and weaknesses in the last 45 minutes of the flick.

As a JB fan, I can accept zealous vilains bound on destroying the planet, impossibly ludicrous stunts and mythical gadgets straight from sci-fi. The first 19 JB were based on those elements. But for D.A.D, everything just got blown all out of proportions. The fine balance between the real world and over-the-top fantasy was shredded to tears and it left us with a movie too big on explosions, stunts and FX. And when you will see that some FX and stunts are sometimes so unbearably fake, you will wonder why anybody in his right mind would insist so much on putting so many of them in his movie. I am sorry but I've NEVER seen anything so bad in a JB movie as the tsunami/glacier scene. It's not even worth of a '70 movie..

Yes, the acting was a lot better this time around. Even Halle Berry remembered not to outshine Brosnan with her newly-acquired Oscar. And at least, she got all the more "physical" scenes right. In fact, she was even believable in an assassin role. While the vilain was more or less a standard JB vilain, he wasnt out of tone. And Brosnan IS Bond (or is it the other way around?)

And for the gadgets..well, let's say that the car was a bit TOO much...

So all in all, Die Another Day is quite of a letdown. All the ingredients are there, all that you need to make a good James Bond movie is present. But as the story unfolds, our attention dwindles to the point that you will be glad the movie ends before it becomes as believable as Austin Powers...

Global appreciation : 7/10

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Napoléon (2002)

Cheap and boring

15 October 2002

It sounds good in theory, but once you start watching it, it clearly stinks.

Silly might be the most accurate word to describe this stinker. Silly acting, silly directing, silly casting. It is particularly difficult to make good historic epics and the pitfalls are numerous. In Napoleon's case, not only did it fall in each and every one of them, it managed to invent some new ones...

You will NEVER believe that hundreds of thousands men fought against each other in napoleonic battles. Not with the clumsy 40 fools you'll see on screen. Simoneau couldnt direct actors if his life depended on it. Most of the amateur work in battle re-enactment (a la SCA or the civil war buffs in America) is a lot better than this.

You will NEVER believe that Napoleon was such a fascinating man and that he conquered most of Europe and created an empire. Not with the very funny looking Clavier trying to do his best to get some respect. He's a comedian and not a very skilled one at that. He managed to get some laughs in french comedies, but as an epic figure, he falls flat on his face. Mind you, he wasnt really helped by the script...

The "script" is in fact like a big gaping hole trying to suck up the dialogues in an attempt to patch itself. All the lines uttered by the actors are used to pump details in the story because the script wasnt able to keep up with its own pace. Most of the important events are shown in fast-forward so you just cant think about them. It's like tv fast food..

And finally, nobody in his right mind will be able to retain from laughing while viewing the very cheap CGI and the lame special effects. God, even Star Trek TOS looked better. Nothing looks even remotely real. From Spain to Moscow, everything looks like it was shot in your backyard.

If you want some good Napoleon stories, I'd say watch a documentary or read a book, because this big empty tv dungpile will leave you disappointed.

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Highlander (1986)

Ah please!!!

19 February 2002

Ok, for the first time in 10 years, I saw this movie again...

what a let down.

This is an incredible script, with tons of good ideas and a legendary plotline. But none of this translate well into the movie...

the acting is horrible. Christophe Lambert has to be the worst actor of the whole 20th century. Whatever he does, says or tries to impersonate falls ultimately short of an actor's performance. Same goes for all the supporting cast, with the notable exception of good ol' Sean Connery who's once again the comic relief as well as a trigger for the audience's imagination. Ramirez should have got a TV series, not some weird scottish noname cousin..

To be honest, I'd have to say that the director tried his best with the means he was given. The flashback sequences were very orginal and have been imitated a lot since 1986. Somehow, he manage to make WWII, medieval Scotland and New York all fit in the same movie. Kudos.

But no amount of cinematography can save him from the amateur acting, the silly F/X and the cheap love story. (who writes 800 pages books on medieval swordmaking anyway??)

Higlander is probably the only movie that you wish they would write a book from it and not the other way around. A good, well written book. I'd be eager to learn about the history of Conner MacLeod and his immortals pals. But I cant stand watching the film crap the Highlander franchise is producing...

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Jurassic Park III (2001)

2/10

This time, well this time, it's not just a very bad movie, it's even worse

13 August 2001

Warning: Spoilers

People, people, you owe it to yourself to avoid this movie.

It's a stinker, as much as the pile of dino-dung used once again to make a rip-off joke from JP:I.

In fact, JP:III feels like a parody of JP and to a lesser extent, one from The Lost World. Nothing makes sense in that doomed excuse for a script. Nothing. They killed the T-Rex, they blew sky-high the whole raptors concept and they just made Grant a Dino Chow Indiana Jones.

Okay, let's see what's in this waste of time...

ACTING

The acting is atrocious. Dont get me wrong, I like Sam Neil as much as the next guy and I honestly think he is one example of and underrated actor who should get a lot more credit for his work. Neil just tries his best at using his "Wide open eyes (TM)" as soon as he sees a dino but it's pretty much it. Macy and Leoni are plain bad, like they dont care. Scream here, run over there, scream again, include corny dialogue, END. Woah, and you get paid for this??? Only decent part is from Alessandro Nivola (Billy), but as soon as he gets too emotional toward the end of the movie, it all goes downhill.

I never thought I'd miss Jeff Goldblum that much..

SCRIPT

Pretty darn simple, you could have come up with something better. Throw in action scenes : humans vs Bid Bad Nameless Dino, humans vs Flying Dinos, humans vs Talking Dinos and stitch everything together with the lamest trick to include a kid in a movie and Voila! You have a 90 minutes "story". Come on.

Oh, I forgot : stomp over every inventive idea of the first movie. Who needs intelligence, it's an action movie isnt it?

Question : Why is the Bid Bad Dino chasing after humans when it can have a T-Rex for breakfast??? If the raptors are so intelligent, why dont they build a cruise boat or order an internet connection??

The only good idea was the Pteranodons. Kudos for something that was left off the first two movies. Flying dinos with an attitude, scary.

Except for the very nervous guy sitting next to me, nobody in the audience seemed really moved by some of the "surprise" moments. You can see them coming from miles away and it all comes down to a point where you want to laugh, not cringe in your seat.

FX

Not even close. In JP, we were amazed at the technical feats the FX guys put up. Now we're just plain fed up. And what is it with the winamp skins? Why are the dinos looking like they bought new sets of scales?? They evolved to the point of fashion victims? Even the raptors looked different. Smaller, leaner, greener.

That new Bid Bad Dino is just a download from the Godzilla movie (remember how that movie was bad? well, JP:III is not even a notch higher).

The scenery is amazing, what a beautiful island, but that's not the point.

In JP, Grant was completely overwhelmed by dinos, like we did. We all were amazed. But now, he just feels fed up (yeah, much like us. See my point?).

If you want to see a parody movie, go see Scary Movie 2. If you want to laugh, go see Evolution. And for your dinos cravings, well go visit a museum for God's sake.

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