Reviews

Had a friend with a decent high end PC download the two disc DVD set for me and have just watched the film and a handful of the extras.

All, I can say is... wow! For a fan made film with no financial backing other than the directors' pocket, this truly is excellent. The plot segues nicely after Episode III while introducing a new type of Jedi (the Seers). The effects are almost universally incredible, and having watched the effects documentary on disc 2, I am even more impressed.

Sure, it's got it's faults - the acting can be a little... meh, and the sound & music mix ebbs and flows all over the place (I was constantly reaching for the volume control), picture's a bit dark sometimes, way too much hair-tossing too! But all these are minor faults when you realise just how much work went into it

It actually feels like a Star Wars film, and I for one would be happy for it to be the first episode of the up-coming TV series - it's all but crying out for a sequel as it is. Give these people jobs and a salary!

And kudos to the creators for producing a fantastic DVD set as well. Animated menus, a blooper reel, making of docs (wonderfully produced); there's even an easter egg. (disc one- above the play movie option - 'radio')

Very impressed, let's hope Lucas sees and approves. To all at Panic Struck Productions - a huge well done.

WARNING - MINOR SPOILERS.

There's a lot right with this movie, but there's a lot wrong as well, which makes it a very hard nut to crack. For every good point, there's something not quite right. The plot itself is sound, if a bit 'seen it all before', but why wait 200 hundred years to bring back Ripley? It could have been two weeks, or a month. How long does it take to clone someone in the future? 200 hundred years is too much. 57 was about right for ALIENS. And for two hundred years beyond the events of ALIEN 3, things are pretty much the same technology wise. In fact they may have taken a backward step!!!

My biggest bugbear with Resurrection, as it was with part 3, is that we see far too much of the damn aliens. Did no one notice why the first two were so scary? You never got a good look at the beasty. You filled in the blanks with your imagination which made it more terrifying than any guy in a suit (excellent suit though it was). Now you get long, lingering shots of the alien, dribbling on the floor, swimming gracefully, dodging bullets!!! Not in the least bit scary, which is probably why the newborn failed so miserably. I personally thought the newborn wasn't too bad. Looked like a cross between a human and an alien to me (love the human eyes).

The Special Edition threw in a few mixed moments. The references to Newt were a real bonus and add to Ripley's character no end, but the knowledge that 'the company' was bought out by Wal-Mart is simply laughable. Wal-Mart for God's sake!!! The new opening credits were okay, but needed a hell of a lot more work in the CGI department. What was the badly drawn thing supposed to be? Ditto for the new ending. Nice to allow Ripley to set foot back on Earth, but at least make it look a bit better. Still, nicely ambiguous. Why is Paris (or Blackpool as someone said) in such a state? Did we do it, or have the aliens already landed? It's a nice premise for part 5, but please God, ask Ridley Scott to direct, and bring back the species that crewed the derilect from the first film. That way, it can all tie back into one cycle and the circle will be complete - no more mediocre Alien films, and perhaps Sigourney Weaver can turn her talents to something else. Maybe it's not too late to avoid total typecasting.

All in all, an okay film, with some good moments and nice music, average acting and OTT gore. Should have been better. *** out of *****

WARNING **SPOILERS**

I don't like to be led too much by previews and reviews before I see a film, although I happily read them. So I was quite distressed to read so many negative pieces in the press about The Matrix Revolutions. Naturally, I ignored them, and went to the cinema to see it. Frankly, I felt let down by part three. Addmitedly, Reloaded was a loud, brash rollercoaster, but it was bloody good fun at least. So even though the good guys win in the end of Revolutions, it was alarming how much it felt like a downer.

Nevertheless, when the DVD came out, I snapped it up (gotta complete the set, y'see!!), and having seen it a couple more times, I now look at it in a different light.

It's good. Not great, but good. Some people have said that it is a shame that Neo, Trinity and Morpheous are not part of the battle for Zion, but why should they be? They weren't in Zion at the end of Reloaded, and as Revolutions is a direct continuation of that film, there is no real reason for them to be there. Certainly Neo (Keanu Reeves) has bigger fish to fry, for one thing.

Oh course, if you haven't seen the first two films in the series, this will leave you completely lost. In fact, first time round, I was still completely lost by the end. What happened exactly? Has Neo been turned into a machine, or is he alone powering the machines so that the rest of the enslaved human race can go free? Is the Oracle dead? (should that be off-line?) Why did they kill off Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss)? She died once already didn't she? It seems a bit much she has to die twice in the space of twenty-four hours (in film time)!!!

Still, if you sit back and think about everything that happens while it's happening, it does start to make sense in a pseudo-religious, larger-world kind of way. All the Biblical references are there, but I won't go into them here, as so many other people have beaten me to it, suffice to say that in one sense, the Deux Ex Machina sacrifices its son - Neo, in order to save the world, and defeat the renegade Smith(s). Revolutions is more in tune with the first film than the second and is a fitting, if disconcerting, end to the saga. Give it a chance, just don't expect so much kung-foo this time around.

Oh, and watch out for deja-vu's!!!