Raphael Suter’s Blog

I came into this film not quite knowing what to expect. I have never been a huge Superman fan, and so was not hyped or especially eager to go see this movie. So, it was a nice treat to watch what turned out to be a fairly solid film. The acting in Superman Returns is decent with strong performances all around. Tristan Lake Leabu did well for his age playing the son of Lois Lane, and Kevin Spacey took a comical yet dark approach to Lex Luthor.

The pacing of the movie could have been tightened up just a touch, and some of the comic dialogue – while funny – could have been cut. My largest issue was with the man of steal himself. The problem was not with the story, or the acting or the effects, but with the action. After a while I simply became bored of watching Superman be Superman. How many times do we need to see him lift, throw, or prevent something from crashing to earth that’s really, really heavy? Most of the time, if something large is falling you can bet that right before it hits Superman will be there to stop it. After a while, because of this somewhat repetitive nature, the action became predicable and stale. Also, I had a hard time relating to his character simply because he is so invulnerable in the first place. Heroes like Batman and Spiderman have way more weaknesses and limitations to what they can do. This in turn makes for more appealing and more dramatic action sequences.

The music was nice and the small bits of John Williams’s old score strewn about were like little jewels in a sea of silver. John Ottman’s new stuff was nice and complemented the action sequences well but he did not bring any memorable themes of his own to the plate.

Superman Returns is a good film. It’s not a great film, but it does not reek of failure like most of today’s comic book / video game based movies do. It has plenty of action, lots of drama, a little tiny bit of heart and a whole lot of Superman lifting stuff.

Score 7.8

After “Sharks Tale,” and “Madagascar,” It was becoming apparent that something was amiss over in the story development side of the studio. This time around DreamWorks offers up something that feels more genuine, has more laughs, and seams generally more thought out then its past offerings. This story of animals that awake to discover that their home has been encroached upon by suburban land developers proves to be a solid platform. Also, Vincent the gruff grizzly bear voiced by Nick Nolte makes for convincing antagonist.

Unlike €œMadagascar,” every character was not moving at eye blistering; pose saturated, speeds, save one. Hammy the squirrel voiced by Steve Carell is extremely hyper and thanks to him being the only one as such, he stands out and is really funny. At the theater I viewed this movie in; he stole most of the laughs. One does tend to wonder if the creators looked to Scrat from €œIce Age” for this fomula.

On the improvement side of things I thought that the story moved a tad fast and did not delve deep enough into the back stories of RJ the raccoon (Bruce Willis), or Vern the turtle (Garry Shandling). This loss of depth detracted from the emotional elements of the film and while I did, €œfeel” for” these creatures, it might have simply been because they were all modeled to look hyper cute and cuddly. Also, a lot of the creatures get knocked around in this movie but they never get hurt. It gives the whole film a feeling that none of them can or will be hurt by the actions and risks that they are taking. Simply put, this lack of danger removed a lot of the tension from the action scenes. I never feared for, or worried about any of them. The one last thing I want to mention is the Human characters in this film. They all look creepy in a bad way. They all feel a little too plastic-like, and move with a quickness and rigidity that looks off and wrong. This is in stark contrast to animals who are all fairly well designed, (though maybe a little to adorable for the movies own good,) and move in a believable manner appropriate to their character.

Over the Hedge is one of the better CG animated offerings from DreamWorks in a while, and while it is not without its flaws, it proves to be solid family entertainment.

Score 7.5 out of 10

Before even seeing Xmen, I read and heard tons of bad reviews of the film.  Maybe it was for this reason that I was not so sorely disappointed with this movie.  It did seem as if – for this round of the franchise – the decision was made to focus more on the effects and the action rather then on the characters themselves.  While some might argue that we did all of the meeting of the characters in the first and second films, the lack of emotional development does tend to hurt the more poignant moments of this movie.

Some of the big budgeted effects were great looking and added to the feeling of power that these mutants wield.  The pure scale of them blows anything in the first two installments away.  However, the hand-to-hand-to-powers combat in this movie fell way short.  After seeing Night Crawler’s fight in the beginning of the second Xmen I was ready for more, but instead, was left with a lot of cheesy wire work and fighting that lacked any true feeling of impact, grace, or power.  If you’re going to make a movie that trades story for action you really need to make sure that the action is solid.  The Last Stand’s action was – simply put – very underwhelming.

To me, the movie as a whole was at least and entertaining ride but lacked the depth and charm that would have made it great.  Also, with out giving anything away, the way it wraps up is extremely typical of an American Hollywood movie.  In my opinion they should have let it be instead of tying to make everyone happy.  Oh well.

I would recommend – if you are going to see it – to see it in the theaters so that you can appreciate the size and scope of some of the more impressive and large scale effects.  Just go and be ready for C+ action, and a C- story.

Score: 7 out of 10

Like the book it’s based off of, this movie had a lot of controversy on it before and after its initial release. I like controversy so even though I had not gone though the book my interest was perked. Then €“ before I went €“ I read the avalanche of bad reviews burying it this film, and was instantly turned off. However, I was persuaded by mob mentality to check it out, and once again found out the cure for a mediocre movie is extremely low expectations.

I have heard that this is one of the most faithful book to movie adaptations that has ever been made. That being the case I have to wonder if the pace of the adventure just works better as text. This brings me to the main issue I had with this film€¦ Its pace. It starts off ok and then goes into this long streaming drone of strung together situations that each riddles you with a new fact. It picks up towards the end but then flips right back into the drone until the credits role, leaving you with a sense of extreme un-fulfillment. “That’s it?” “Is it over?” Also, if you have read the book and know how it ends I don’t think that you will find added pleasure in watching this history class of a movie. That’s the one thing it has going for it. It’s mystery which I had admittedly guessed mid way through, is a compelling reason to watch the film so if you know the answers don’t waist your time. If you don’t know the answers€¦ Waist your time at home when it comes out on DVD.

Acting wise, Ian McKellen did a great job and was – to me – the most entertaining person in the film. He’s funny and seems much more genuinely committed to his character and to the ideas his character believes in. This is not to say the other actors did a bad job, but most of the cast seemed like they just didn’t put forth the extra bit of effort that would have sold me, and plused the believability of the film even more.

The Da Vinci Code is not a super horrible movie like most of the reviews I have read claim. (Part of me wonders if some of the reviewers religious beliefs seeped into they’re opinions). But the film is in fact an extremely tedious exercise in patience that ends in a whimper rather then a bang.

Score: 6 out of 10