Change Your Image
stampe128
Reviews
The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
Expectations were met!
It's funny how high my expectations were before watching this movie. It was easily the movie I had anticipated most eagerly, ever! That being said, I left the movie with a strange feeling. The movie was as great as I had thought, but it took some turns that I felt was quite unexpected. For one... any comparisons to The Dark Knight are misplaced. TDK was a genius crime saga with an intelligent moral twist. The Dark Knight Rises is more of an epic movie. It's a war epic, in a sense. At the same time, however, it focuses extremely much on character building. It becomes very clear in TDKR that Bruce Wayne can't be understood separate from Batman, and visa versa (also, SMALL SPOILER: Expect a vast representation of characters from the Batman universe - it is truly an amazing combination of all kinds of character stories).
Few would argue that the major focus point is the choice of Bane as a villain. And let me say: All comparisons between TDK and TDKR, and hereby also between The Joker and Bane, are completely futile. Bane is the pen-ultimate choice for TDKR, as The Joker were for TDK. And actually, though The Joker arguably was a more interesting character psychologically speaking, Bane is much more of a frightening villain. I've read a lot of reviews stating that Heath, as expected, was a greater villain. But I disagree. No doubt that the Joker was a psychopath, but you were just waiting for Batman to deal with him, really (no hard feelings, I love TDK)... but Bane is intimidating, completely scary, and you'll find yourself questioning Batman in the fight against this physically superior opponent. Although Bane is not in any way unpredictable, the sheer evilness of his character is completely frightening. It's genius (and the accent and postures, they're just awesome).
Yes, there are some questionable plot holes and corny scenes, but that's Nolan for you. Deal with it. Fact is, you will never see greater blockbuster movies than that of Nolan. TDKR is no exception, and it concludes the trilogy in amazing fashion - with equal portions action and depth!
Maybe, I have to let it sink in, but my hunch is telling me that this might be my favourite of the three. And again, the last 30 minutes will blow you away!
Kureimoa (2007)
Incredibly paced and straight-down entertaining, but too sentimental for it's own good
I've always been a fan of anime series, my favourite being Berserk. I tend to focus a lot on the pacing and the built tension when I watch anime, and Berserk is The master of pacing. Another thing I tend to focus on is character development and overall sentimentality of the show. Many anime characters are quite over-the-top, a major let-down for me. As are many scenes in anime. Claymore succeeds on most levels. The pacing is some of the greatest I've ever seen, and the inclusion of ranked characters just adds to the excitement. It's always interesting to see who's got the higher rank. Furthermore, you really start caring for the characters and picking out your favorites (mine being no. 6, Miria). The show only fails on a few levels. You're in for a lot of melodramatic scenes, and the protagonist's male friend, Rocky, is just another annoying brat who cries more than good is. It's no worse than so many other animes and gets better halfway through. The second, and final, major letdown is the anti-climatic ending. There is an epic battle, but the way it ends after the battle is simply not good enough. It feels unfinished, ill and way too sentimental and moral for a show of this kind (it might have something to do with the continuing issues of the manga).
However, you're in for a treat. And you're not going to want to put this show down, before it's ended.
Devil (2010)
You will find yourself waiting in vain for the peak of 'Devil'...
Prior to watching Devil I'd only heard good stuff about it, and a rating of 6.4 on IMDb is actually pretty great for a horror film. Maybe my fairly high expectations contributed to the disappointment I was about to experience. I've seen my fair share of horror movies (especially zombie-flicks), so it takes quite a lot of suspense for me to get startled or feel a shiver down my spine. Movies like 'The Strangers' managed to do this (albeit failing to deliver a satisfying conclusion), '28 Weeks later' managed to do so (though not as satisfying a movie as its predecessor) and a specific scene of 'Mulholland Drive' has managed to do so (the scene about the dream "behind the diner"). Besides these exact examples quite a lot of Spanish horrors have managed to do this, also (apparently Spain is the only country who delivers great horror films again and again).
The point of my name-dropping is simply to steer you away from 'Devil', onto a much better experience. The first mistake the film makes is failing to create any sort of sympathy for ANY of the characters. Most characters are just plain irritating, while others are too cliché to make us feel like where watching anything but another mediocre horror. And 'Devil' is just another supernatural horror film. Actually, it succeeds to rank just beneath a mediocre horror film. Another mistake is, and this is what really does the movie disservice, the lack of any peak during the film. Along the one hour and twenty minutes-ride there'll be some suspense leading to... absolutely NO climax. The suspense peaks slightly during the first blackout in the elevator, but for each blackout and each death the suspense drops. It all becomes the ultimate letdown, when the character who turns out to be the devil, is actually the one you had expected.
Everyone who has enjoyed their share of horror movies, and therefore has certain standards, should steer clear of 'Devil'. You will be wasting one and a half hour of your life, which you could have spent on watching, or re-watching, '28 Days Later'.
Just Go with It (2011)
Surprisingly good, though quite typical.
Let me start out by saying that I'm by no means an Adam Sandler fan, not so much because of him but mainly because of his choices in acting as well as his co-actors (I absolutely despised 'Grown Ups' with Kevin James and the ever-so abysmal Rob Schneider, as well as 'Waterboy'). As such I had no expectations to the quality of 'Just Go With It' whatsoever. And on the surface I should've probably hated this movie as the overall plot, and especially the plot development, is no different than any other romantic comedy: *SPOILER*(or not so much a spoiler, actually) - Man meets girl, falls in love with girl, gets help from female friend, falls in love with female friend. Ring any bells?
So it comes as no surprise that it is not the plot that drives the movie, but rather the chemistry between the three main characters Dannie, Kathrine and Eddie. It feels right, and not for a single second was I bored (not for more than a few minutes at least). Quite an achievement taken the movie's incredible length. The script really saved the movie for me, and only major low-point is the clichéd ending (and Sandler's role. What is the deal with Adam Sandler. He is by no means a super attractive man and neither a bad-ass... still he tends to play both - One of Hollywood's greatest mysteries).
Admitted, I laughed a lot even though I saw it by myself. Swardson's character is awesome - again a typical character who's saved by a great script. And this goes for almost everything about the film. Truly a great enjoyment, though not my type of movie at ALL. So... I guess the only thing left to say is "Just Go With It" (corny, I know).