Film Reviews

OK, so I have a list of reviews to write longer than my arm. Lately instead of reviewing movies in 3 paragraphs or less I've been watching them and listening to reviews (rather wordier reviews) from The Guardian podcast and from Mark Kermodes BBC podcast, both great podcasts if you like films.

Anyway, here are some reviews I wrote earlier and some films I would like to recommend to you.

Chronicles of Riddick

Riddick is the deadly anti-hero of the film Pitch Black. He is mean, fearless and determined and only seems to derive pleasure from other peoples discomfort. He’s a great character and perfectly played by Vin Diesel in this no-brainer of a popcorn movie.

Special effects stand up even a few years on from this films release and the action compels the viewer to watch on, excited for the next big set piece and then the finale, which comes in a timely fashion and doesn’t disappoint.

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

Confessions is a movie about a television programmer or thinks that he’s a black-ops assassin, or is a black-ops assassin. The film is stylish, quick and full of dark humour. The joy is to be found in the utterly ridiculous plot, the over the top lead performance and the quirkiness.

Matrix Revolutions

I loved the Matrix when it came out, its rare that a film is thought provoking and easily digestible at the same time. The sequel again didn’t disappoint, Revolutions isn’t a superior movie to the original, the original was seminal, but it's a worthy successor all the same. The fight scenes are far more extravagant, visceral and violent, the love story is believable and the action comes thick and fast.

If it wasn’t for that scene, that computer game scene, then I would have been totally drawn in and willing even to accept the confusion of the scene with the architect. However, when the wires show that obviously all suspension of disbelief is lost and its difficult to then get past such an expensive and obvious gaff.

Flesh Gordon

I have a new computer game for my PSP, it’s called Kollon and it's a puzzle game in the same vein as Columns and Hexic, you trun groups of colured blocks to make groups of boxes with the same colour. It’s a good game. I mention this because during the entirety of Flesh Gordon I played Kollon, because Flesh Gordon is a bad film, for it’s time, for it’s discredit.
In fairness to the film it does try to be bad, it attempts to throw in the cheesiest music, the worst one-liners and the poorest costumes (when the cast is actually dressed), the fact that it achieves this doesn’t make the film ironically bad, it just makes the film bad.