Where I loved the first Matrix for its great mix of special effects and philosophical story, and the second Matrix just for being a very entertaining action movie, I couldn't see any of it in this third of the trilogy.
Mostly this movie is about Agent Smith fighting and robots shooting at robots. Neo himself is lost for most of the time, other characters are either shooting their way back home, or shooting to defend their home. Not much philosophy there. Lots of action though, but not entertaining at all. Main characters were turned into side-characters, so I had nobody to care about. It was clear how the story would end, so no real reason to watch, except for the pretty special effects.
The part of this movie that impressed me most was the very booming voice of the machine mind at the end, which says enough about the rest of the movie.. I was actually bored and on the verge of turning it off. Wouldn't have missed much if I did.
As a sequel to the Matrix, it didn't live up to the original, not by far.
It has become pretentious instead of interesting, and the gradually developing user-friendly philosophical approach of the first Matrix has made way for straightforward philosophical speeches (e.g. from Morpheus, the Merovingian and the Architect) that could have come from my lecturer. It's a good thing I'm a bit of a nerd and appreciate the references, but the philosophical presentation was not entertaining.
However, purely as a visual action spectacle it is incredible. The highway chase is incredible, the visual style is beautiful, the costumes are great, the fighting scenes are amazing (except for the 1 against 100 cgi fight). Also the new characters are interesting, as long as they're not having philosophical monologues.
Basically: as a standalone action movie with a standard lousy story, it is an amazing visual feast and serves as a great popcorn flick!
Even though it's not nearly as good as the first Die Hard, this is still an entertaining movie. The basics for a good action movie are there, even a somewhat unexpected twist at the end and another iconic 'Yipi-ka-yee motherfucker'-scene. Some of the 'ordinary guy in extraordinary situation'-flair of the first movie seems to be missing however, which gives this just an entertaining status as opposed to the classic status of the first
The good: great themesong, two iconic scenes (hanging inches from the floor and exploding from a helicopter onto a speeding train), lots of action and spy-stuff.
The bad: terribly annoying plot that only consists of running from one actionscene to the next. Whenever some plotpoint gets stuck it gets solved by the fact that someone was doublecrossed, even if it doesn't make sense.
The ugly: Throughout the movie I kept expecting development in the (cardboard) characters, some overarching storyline or some surprising twists to get me emotionally involved, but this movie consists only of empty thrills. I might as well have only watched the actionsequences and skipped the rest of the 'story'. I get the feeling this movie was only made because Tom Cruise wanted to star in an actionfilm.. There is no tension throughout the film, no excitement, no funny dialogue, no romance, no emotion whatsoever: just actionscene followed by a doublecrossing, actionscene followed by a doublecrossing...
Let me start by saying that I really loved the previous three 'Pirates' films. They were a great mix of treasure-seaking adventure and humor, action and romance. They were the Indiana Jones of this generation.
While this fourth 'Pirates' movie has all the ingredients of the previous ones (with the addition of Blackbeard and man-eating mermaids), and even looks and sounds just as great, it seems like the magic is gone. For some reason I couldn't get involved in the story or the characters (old or new). Both the story and the acting seemed contrived (even more than before), meaningless and empty. Instead of the two hours of high-quality entertainment I expected, I got mediocre. Not bad, but I've come to expect more of it.
Unfortunately, this movie is easily forgettable. Not up to par with the previous installments. Let's hope they get their groove back in the next one.
Now this is your typical I-don't-have-anything-better-to-do-tonight-so-let's-just-watch-this movie. Everything about it is average: the story, the acting, the music etc. It does have a feelgood vibe about it, with suntanned people running around on yachts and beaches, so it makes for some decent entertainment.
Loved it. Beautiful shots of the American prairie and its animals. The story is slow at times, but there are so many great scenes that it's worth it. The story is done many times (pocahontas and avatar come to mind), but this is an excellent effort, where I genuinely hated the army guys and got really intrigued by the Indian way of life. Of course there should've been more nuances (not every Indian should be a good guy, not every American should be violence-obsessed), and the movie should've been shorter, but overall it's a great movie, with many many great shots!
After falling in love with My Neighbour Totoro by this same anime director, I decided to see if Nausicaa is just as great. And it is, but in a totally different way. It requires some fantasy on the viewer's part, and has a steampunk sciencefiction backstory, which will make it less approachable to some viewers.
This imaginary world dragged me into an epic struggle, where a young girl is forced to chose between her friends or her passion, between fighting or surrendering and between her country or her life. (For connaisseurs: it's like Dune). A wild ride follows where the girl finds her way and I was on the edge of my seat. At times the message to follow your heart, be eco and 'make love not war' was a bit overdone, but this epic story was so exciting and delivered that message so strongly that it deserved to be a bit preachy.
Amazing imaginary world crafting, beautifully drawn, a powerful message and just a great story. It sucked me right in and I'll be watching this over and over.
As a kid I used to love this movie! I remember laughing throughout the entire movie and watching it over and over again. Now I've rewatched it and must say times have changed. It a decent action/comedy, maybe even better than most recent Hollywood efforts, but it's nothing more than that. If anything; it's a great look into the 80's. The theme music is legendary, Eddie Murphy's fast trashtalk, laughing and movements are iconic, and the whole interaction and atmosphere breathes 80's. Unfortunately the 80's are more than 20 years ago and this movie feels just as oldfashioned as Madonna's (then) revolutionary videoclips from that same time.. The rebel behaviour is not so rebel anymore, the jokes are rather lame, times have changed..
I still enjoyed it, but wouldn't recommend this as a great action/comedy, but more as a great example of a general 80's movie, just like Ferris Bueller and The Breakfast Club.
Completely over the top comedy, but if you're in the right mood you'll be laughing all the time. Lots of bizarre situations, funny quotes and memorable characters. One of the best parodies I've ever seen!
Incredibly cute and innocent movie. I guess perfect for younger children, perhaps a bit too childish for adults. But an enjoyable experience nevertheless.
This movie had such a big impact on pop-culture. It's a tribute to the 60's that became an iconic 70's product. The songs, the romance; Grease is the word! And it's almost impossible to have missed it. But for some reason I had never seen it.
Good things first: the songs are great. The happy songs make you feel happy, the dancing songs make you want to dance and the romance songs make you want to hold your partner. Choreography is also great and really adds to the songs. A real musical!
But.. the actors are supposed to look like teenagers, but look like 30 year old actors. The storyline can probably be written on a napkin. The acting (outside the songs) is just plain bad. And the morality is: boys be as macho as you can, girls be as slutty as you can, bully as many as you can, then all your dreams will come true! wtf..
Perhaps I'm just not a musical person, but I'd recommend watching the songs (they're great!) and skip the rest of the movie. You'll have a great time!
An exciting detective story that had me guessing until the end, set in a very eery environment and time that got me sitting on the edge of my seat, a great take on universal morals like truth and love, and of course the idea that 'this might have happened for real' to top it all off. However: you need to be in the right mood to watch this, since it's a bit more than just mindless entertainment.
First time I've seen it and in my mind already a timeless classic!
I didn't know what to expect when I put this on, but I thought it was awesome! A modern fairytale for (semi) grownups by Neil Gaiman, with sky-pirates, ancient witches, 'the wall' and a leading role for the northern pole star. Great cast, great setting, great storytelling. It's not perfect, but it's got that genuine feeling to it that most Hollywood films miss nowadays. This is a new favorite of mine!
I watched this movie because I couldn't understand how a 90 minute movie about a guy being stuck in a canyon could get such good reviews. To me, it sounded really boring. And honestly, there are some boring bits, but overall they did a really good job making it interesting. Some scenes are incredibly intense, I almost had to look away in agony. The power of this movie lies in the creative portrayal of how a hopeless situation can drive someone crazy and the places an individual can find strength and hope.
Great filmmaking, nice shots of canyons, great actor, great story about hope and the will to survive, but it's just too intense for my taste. I just hope nobody ever gets into a situation like this again, it must be truly terrifying..
The best thing about this movie is the atmosphere. It does a great job of taking you to New York 1863. I'm no history buff, so have no idea how accurate it is, but the setting is great and there are some truly great shots in this movie. Bill the Butcher is an exceptionally memorable character as the extreme patriotist, played very well by Day-Lewis. The rest of the cast is just ordinary.
There are two reasons why I didn't like this movie. 1: there is only negativity; in the dark setting, the unlikeable 'hero', the motives of the characters (hate and fear), the fighting all the time, the sad ending, everything. 2: there is no character development, they all stay exactly the same throughout the entire film.
It can be said that these two point were done intentionally by the director, to make people walk away with the sad, empty feeling that bad things will never change, but in my opinion it missed something to make me care about. Now I just shrugged my shoulders and moved on.
This starts with a great concept about a robot experiencing human emotions and the consequences that would have. The movie also starts off pretty decent by showing how an emotionless robot is pretty scary, but how emotional humans are also pretty scary. Then it turns into a carnivalesque chase/quest, which is funny, exciting and looks amazing: great mid-story. There were a couple of ways I could see this end, so I figured it would lead to something great. And then, when I least expected it, I got to witness the worst ending I'd ever seen in a sci-fi movie (or Indiana Jones 4), guided by a voiceover (!) literally explaining the moral of the story over and over for 20 minutes.
I was willing to look over some plotholes and some annoying characters (yes teddy and mommy, i'm looking at you) because I liked the fact this movie made me think about what it means to be human. But the ending changed this from an above average movie to a terrible movie. It made me ashamed to be a sci-fi fan...
LA Confidential starts off pretty slow, but gets better with the minute. The first half hour I kept mixing up names and places and didn't really get where the story was going. But after a while it picked up speed, the characters developed, the 'plot thickened' (as they say), and through all kinds of side-stories and personal quests it was slowly revealed where the story was headed to end with a bang.
The story itself is pretty decent, but has been done (many times) before. The good stuff about this film is the film noir crime feeling, which really adds to the suspense. The best stuff about this film is the amazing acting by almost the entire cast; they managed to give so much personality to their individual characters that they really lifted this film from mediocre to great!
The reason I wanted to see this was to see some dark twisted fantasy about ragdolls living in a postapocalyptic setting, fighting for their lives. And that's what I got: visually stunning, beautiful grim environment, some nice action moments and a rather superficial story to tie it all together. The story moves pretty slow, almost to the point of boring, but the better parts made me deal with it and enjoy it all in all . Glad I saw it, won't be watching again, but sure hope there will be more 'dark' animated movies.
Lots of stunts, lots of slowmotion and very little story. Good thing I already expected this; now I could enjoy this as a mindless action movie. Wouldn't recommend it however, there are way better action movies out there. Best part of the movie is the great soundtrack!
I like silly movies. 'Dude where's my car', 'Roadtrip', 'the naked gun', even 'Scary movie' can really make me laugh. This is supposed to be just as silly. I also like the fantasy quest theme this movie parodies. So I figured this would be an okay movie for some easy laughs.
During this entire movie I didn't laugh once! It seems the 'jokes' in this movie are aimed at adolescents who find the word 'penis' the funniest thing in the world. Perhaps Americans are more prude (to quote Eurotrip) and enjoy so many sexual references; European as I am, I just thought it was boring. Natalie Portman was the only highlight in this movie, the rest was just a big waste of time..
Can't honestly say it's a good movie, but it is entertaining! A romantic action-comedy that both guys and girls can enjoy. Most things are over the top (chasing-scenes, dodging bullets) and don't make much sense storywise. The romantic moments aren't awfully romantic and the comedic moments aren't laughoutloud funny, but this movie still manages to provide some mindless entertainment and put a mild smile on your face.
Kind of recommended for a laidback evening with your girlfriend/boyfriend, when you don't really want to focus on the movie, but still want to be entertained. Just don't expect a particularly good movie.
This movie started out decent. Some people crash-landed on a strange planet and have to discover both the mysteries of the planet and the mysteries of their partners. This leads to some exciting moments, either by unexpected characters or unexpected alien behaviour.
Unfortunately, halfway through the movie, everything gets explained. Now you know who the bad guys are, and what's wrong with the alien planet. Because of this, the tension is gone and the movie ends in a very slow pace, where you can already predict most of what's going to happen. Too bad..
Can't really recommend this, because it's nothing special. The build-up of the story is nice, Riddick is an interesting character (although you don't learn too much about him), the acting is okay, unfortunately it turns into a very generic movie halfway. It did make me curious about the sequel though, so it must have done something right.
One of the modern classics.
The Matrix successfully combines the visual spectacle of modern action movies with the intelligence of the older (60's) science fiction movies. And in my opinion it's one of the first and only movies to do that.
The special effects, fighting scenes and overall cinematography (color, detail, viewpoints) may still be some of the best ever. The atmosphere is great, the characters and the acting are great, especially Morpheus and Agent Smith. But what makes the Matrix really special is the combination with a philosophical story.
The question of 'what is real, what is not and who decides' has been handled many times before in books and films (Ubik, eXistenZ, etc.), even in better ways, but not in a blockbuster Hollywood action movie that appealed to the masses on an entertainment level as well as a thought-provoking level.
Modern masterpiece that is worth to watch multiple times.
This movie really stays true to its name. But it's entertaining pulp.
This movie has taken a good look at the standard gangster movies, with the violence, sex and drugs. It knows that it's a cool theme, but has been filmed too many times. So instead, it goes way over the top with the stereotypes and violence and throws in some absurd twists in characters and storyline. It doesn't go as far as being a parody, but is more like a black comedy with heated discussions about a cheeseburger, a wildly religious hitman, accidentally blowing someones head off, a gangsterboss getting raped by a gay nazi policeman and much more absurdity.
All that absurdity, combined with decent gangster-storylines, an atmosphere of coolness, memorable characters, great acting (incredible cast!) and some of the best (and most meaningless) movie dialogues ever written, turns out to be a very entertaining mix of serious action and absurd black humour.
A great parody on 60's and 70's James Bond movies. If you've seen those Bond movies, you'll instantly recognize so many of the, in retrospect, laughable plotlines, semi-evil villains, cheesy dialogues and oldfashioned special effects. Don't get me wrong; I love those Bond movies. But compared with 90's movies, they appear so old. And this parody just makes great fun of almost every aspect of it. Since it's a parody I won't go into the quality of the story, the acting, or presentation, because the only thing it should do is make you laugh. And for me that is just what it does, even 15 years after it's release.
Cheesy and predictable, but still it makes me laugh so hard!
The premise is good: experience life inside an arcade game.
The story was terrible: lots of plotholes, unfinished storylines, characters suddenly disappearing, solutions coming from nowhere, it made no sense at all.
The 'deeper meaning' was poorly brought: questions about perfection, uniqueness, daddy issues and human nature were briefly introduced, but left virtually untouched.
The acting was reasonable: at times The Dude annoyed me, but the actors did their best to make as much out of the horrible story as they could.
The atmosphere was good: if you can get over the fact that the world inside the arcade game looks like a neon/victorian clash with futuristic vehicles, it sticks with that consequently and sucks you in.
Music: awesome and very appropriate!
Special effects: just amazing! Loved the bikes, ships, etc.
Summary: Standard blockbuster, watch it for amazing visuals/sound and lots of action, but (as usual) turn your brain off before watching.
A pretty great time travel shoot em up! Some decent action scenes, a pretty good story for a shoot em up and some terrifying ideas for time travel gone bad. It slowed down somewhere past the middle, but still had me on the edge of my seat for most part of the movie!
Now those were 4 incredible videoclips! Too bad it was supposed to be a coherent movie, so as a movie it's terrible, but still.. I'm going to rewatch those 'dream parts', because the visuals and the music are amazing. Just don't expect a story this time :)
It's hard to predict whether someone will like this or not. But I suspect you'll be able to tell within the first few minutes, when the documentary-maker introduces himself and the following docu. I wasn't sure what to expect except a 'mockumentary', but this was so incredibly lame, but so spot-on, that it had me laughing out loud. It's so boring, that I would call it over-the-top boring. And I happened to like it. The same goes for the rest of the movie; a spot-on parody that shows how boring and predictable 80's rockband documentaries were. I liked it a lot!
