Reviews

I finally am able to review this movie now that I'm in my twenties, having watch it again when the special edition DVD came out. I watched it when I was very young, probably about 5 or 6 when my dad rented it and it scared the crap out of me even though I didn't really understand the movie story but still it fitted the genre of horror. My dad loves this movie and he rented it a couple of times in the past and every time he came back with it,just the movie cover "THE FLY" was enough to make me avoid it at all costs.

The story itself is simple, an eccentric scientist Seth Brundle(Jeff Goldblum) was frustrated on why his telepods weren't able to teleport life forms. That was until he met the love of his life Veronica Quaife(Geena Davis) whose words inspired him such that he was able to change his program which succeeded in teleporting life forms. Well everything in his mundane life has changed for the better: He found his soul mate and his invention is on its way to becoming part of the nobel prize stage. However jealousy got the better of him and in an attempt to spite Veronica, he entered one of his telepods and did the teleportation without her to witness it. However, he didn't realise that a fly had gotten into the telepod with him and the program has fused his genes with the fly's genes at genetic level.

That's when all the horror starts as he starts mutating more and more into a gigantic fly which Seth himself labelled as "Brundlefly." Everything in this film is top notch, from the acting to the props and the story. Jeff Goldblum was able to play Seth Brundle to such a level that you will pity, fear and love him for what he is. Even though you know the ending in which he will die eventually, you will still feel emotions welling up at the end. Geena Davis was also brilliant as Veronica Quaife,the girlfriend who loved Seth so much and struggled when he underwent changes. She tried her best to stay with Seth, however her fear and Seth's insanity was too much for her to handle and she tried to leave him with no avail. Geena's acting of silent fear, desperation and love for seth hit right on the mark.

Of course I couldn't just comment on the acting,the props were also top notched and this was a time when CGI wasn't popular and readily used. The crew really put in a lot of effort into creating brundlefly which you could see towards the ending of the show whereby there was nothing physically human about seth but just a huge monster. I had no idea that it was just a puppet, I thought Jeff Goldblum was in a body suit or something but yeah it was a machine towards the end. Two words for the props: Gory, disgusting.

This film is seriously underrated in IMDb. 7.4/10, are you kidding me? With an A list cast, story and special effects,it belongs in the top 250 with the likes of Terminator 2, Alien, Aliens and Lord of the rings

The Dark Knight was a very good follow up to Christopher Nolan's first batman film Batman begins. I watched this last night and enjoyed it pretty much but it didn't really blew me away as compared to Tim Burton's version of Batman. I enjoyed it particularly because of the acting, music, atmosphere which were phenomenal. I gave it 8 stars because I wasn't really into this whole "dark" batman thing and Jack Nicholsan as Joker was deeply etched in my memory ever since I watched it when I was only 6.

The movie started of with a bang with Joker(Heath Ledger) as he robs a bank and killing his accomplices one by one so which led him to leaving with the entire amount of money robbed that day. Joker wasn't actually in need of the money, he was robbing mainly for the thrill of it as could be seen later in the movie when he burns down a mountain of cash. Heath ledger did an amazing job as acting the downright evil, corrupt, insane, psychotic nemesis of batman as he goes all out his way against what batman upholds: justice, even to the point where he made Harvey Dent aka half-face( Aaron Eckhart) a villain to Gotham city who was previously deemed as "white knight" of Gotham. Comparing it to Jack Nicholsan's rendition of Joker, Heath Ledger's version of Joker was more scary, evil and less funny which was similar to the later versions of the comic book.

Besides Heath Ledger, the rest of the cast were excellent. Christian Bale has done a tremendous job as our Caped Crusader as he struggles between his 2 personalities of being a rich heir and an upholder of justice which also puts his relationship with Rachel Dawes on the rocks.

Aaron Eckhart also did an amazing job as "white knight." His sense of justice was also what brought him and Rachel Dawes(Maggie Gyllenhaal) together. However, the loss of his love and with Joker's mind-playing, he was drove to insanity and became the villain that he would have previously hated. Aaron Eckhart's portrayal of Harvey Dent's as he struggles with emotions, justice and insanity brought Half-face to another level.Maggie Gyllenhaal did great replacement for Katie Holmes as Wayne's love interest Rachel Dawes, as she shows more sensitive and caring side towards Bruce but chose Harvey in the end. Michael Caine(Alfred) also delivered as the loyal butler who cares and took care of Bruce as well as Morgan Freeman(Lucius Fox), aiding Batman in the remake of his batsuit, batmobile and use of equipments and technology. Gary Oldman( Lt. James Gordon) also deserves an applaud as Batman's sidekick and police officer as both track down Joker.

In short, this is probably one of the best 2008 films but not without its flaws. Firstly, there were too many characters for the given time. Both Joker and Batman were supposedly the main cast but so was Harvey. I wished that he was given more screen time as half-faced because the ending seemed a little rushed. There should be more acknowledgement to his role. Secondly, there were times where I got confused as the film progresses and I couldn't understand the discussions between La(Chinese mobster)and Bruce as well as the significance of Joker's killings. True he killed them to lure out Batman but I couldn't understand why he chose them.

I feel that this film will appeal to audiences of a larger age group or those who read the comics. Teenagers might find it hard to understand. I had problems with it initially but after the movie, when I pieced everything together, then it started to make sense.