Change Your Image
Rilkan
Reviews
Privateer 2: The Darkening (1996)
Ok game, but not a worthy sequel
The first Privateer game was one of the greatest flight sims ever made. Not only did it include the excellent flight combat system that the influential Wing Commander games made famous, it had an intriguing story-line that took you through numerous systems and to interesting planets. It was also one of the most enjoyable games to play because of the fact that you could choose your own ships and missions, increasing the variety in an already vast and open-ended game.
However, for some reason, Privateer 2 failed to continue the trend of innovation that Origin had been known for. There were many problems with the game. First off, it was behind the times in that it was a DOS-only game. Windows 95 had been out for a very long before this game was released, giving the developers ample time to convert whatever they needed to to make it a Windows game. I was especially perturbed at this because the game was delayed for several months, and the developers STILL did not decide to convert it. Second, the game had a high degree of instability. Often I would try to land at a planet or a star base and the game would crash. This would make me very upset because there was no in-mission saving, and if it was an especially difficult mission, then you would have to start over completely.
Other problems were that it did not have the engrossing story-line that the first one had. The story was too short, and not very in-depth. While I enjoyed Christopher Walken's cameo, the story was just too confusing to follow completely, and then it abruptly came to an end. The missions also did not have the variety of the first game, so while you were trying to get to the next part of the story, you would not be having as much fun as in the first game.
As a whole, the game was simply "all right." It wasn't horrible, and it was sufficiently similar to the first Privateer, but it was definitely not a worthy sequel...
Traffic (2000)
There is hope!
In 1999, we were blessed with such masterpieces as "American Beauty," "Being John Malkovich," and "Magnolia." But what have we to look back on from the movies of 2000? Sure, there were some very entertaining movies, like "X-Men," but none of these matched the exhilarating experiences of "The Matrix" and "The Sixth Sense." The only movies that deserve recognition are "Gladiator" and "Almost Famous." The year 2000 was a year filled with utter atrocities and just downright bad movies. However, the movie industry is starting the new year on the right foot. With movies including "O Brother, Where Art Thou?," "Shadow of the Vampire," "Thirteen Days," and, of course, "Traffic," my faith in the movie industry is being resurrected.
"Traffic" is the first of these critically acclaimed movies being released this year that I have had the pleasure of viewing, and I was exceedingly impressed. Every performance was top-notch, the cinematography was excellent, and the screenplay was perfect. "Traffic" is the first sign of land after a year lost at sea. I was drawn in immediately and it held me in its grasp until the credits were over.
I recommend this movie to anyone, film connoisseurs and casual movie-goers alike, but especially to those as disappointed as I was with the movies of 2000, it is a truly great film.
The Cell (2000)
Should be on the AFI Top 100 list...
...of unbelievably disappointing movies. I can't believe I shelled out 7 bucks to watch this bilge. I was excited at first, thinking that it would be a souped-up "Silence of the Lambs" (which was great), and then I became even more anxious when I saw that Roger Ebert gave it one of his trademark "Thumbs Up!" and 4 stars to boot, so I thought it was safe to say that it has enough original content to possibly compete with "Silence of the Lambs." However, when I finally sat down in the theater and began to watch it, I was greatly disappointed with what I viewed. Not only was "The Cell" a horribly done recycled plot...no, scratch that...it was like an aluminum can that someone crushed, spit on, thrown to the side of the road, and was then recycled by a good Samaritan attempting to clean up the streets. Anyway, what I saw was a movie that was too intent on showing us disturbing images and vast environments done completely in CGI...true, some of these images were beautiful, I'll give it that, but, for example, the desert scene at the start pales in comparison to, say, Lawrence of Arabia, which, by the way did not need "magical" computer graphics to display stunning visual effects.
Not only was Tarsem too intent on "wowing" us with fuzzy, dated visuals, he seemed to think that these would replace a solid plot. I don't think so...in Stargher's subconscious, for instance, there were great scenes of strange and interesting things, but there was no in depth look at his mind. Even "Being John Malkovich" achieved at least some insightful looks at how the subconscious could be made up. But, Tarsem again felt that visual effects would be a suitable substitute. Also, the plot was very jumpy and shaky that I didn't know how some of the things happened. I mean, half of the "problems" in the movie solved in about the time it takes me to yawn from boredom, and some of them are remedied from out of the blue.
So, in conclusion, I must say that this movie was a big disappointment, but I'll admit that some of the scenes were impressive, and D'Nofrio's performance was excellent, but one actor and cool-looking special effects are not enough to make a good movie (look at "Hollow Plot"--er, uh, "Hollow Man"). Next time, try to keep some semblance of a plot for us, Tarsem.
The Usual Suspects (1995)
Not EDGE of your seat, completely OFF your seat!
This is one of the true great moments in movie-making. Put some low-profile actors and a great story together and what do you get? "The Usual Suspects." This is a must see...10 times over. And over, and over, and over, and over...