Change Your Image
veltle_l
Reviews
Land of the Dead (2005)
Intelligent zombies isn't necessarily a bad thing
When you hear a synopsis of this movie, it's easy to think that the good old Mr. Romero finally have passed into the ranks of the senile. Zombies capable of communication and simple logics? Well, I can't say that I were thrilled over that particular twist. Pessimism aside, now on to how the movie actually works out. I, personally think it works out just fine, there are gore, blood, walking corpses and comments about society. Strange combination? Yeah, but in a good way. You can, essentially, part the movie into two different 'modes.' It's the one that describes a dystopian post-apocalyptic society, with some certain references to the current American government, and there's the one with walking corpses that rip humans apart while they're still alive. Both are enjoyable in their own way, but if you go to this movie, it's probably because of the gore. Let me just tell you this, you won't be disappointed. The gore is very well done, and there's loads of it, especially on the directors cut version.
The plot in the movie isn't too complicated, once you can get your mind wrapped around the concept of learning zombies, that is. Not saying it's not enjoyable, in fact it's about light enough that the gore doesn't seem off, but it's interesting, and depending on how much you read into it, it can be typical entertainment or something deeper.
All in all, I'd say this movie is two hours not completely wasted, at least if you like horror movies with zombies, if you like gore, you'll probably even enjoy it, at least a bit.
Kurono toriga (1995)
The best fantasy RPG of its time
Although Chrono Trigger is, from a video game perspective, ancient, it still retains its charm for a modern RPG-gamer. Why? The list is long, for one thing, it has rid itself of many common problems in other RPGs, for example are the characters original, not suffering from the classical Mary Sue-complex many other RPGs struggle with. Also the combat system is nice, again different in a good way. The game is in addition amazingly non-linear, considering when it was made. The thirteen different endings gives the game a certain extra replay value. Speaking of which, the game also gains some replay value by the interesting character gallery alone, from the primitive Ayla to via the chivalrous Frog to the futuristic Robo, these characters interact in a manner that pulls you into the game with them, and the standard ending, which probably is the first ending you will see, will make you sad, or sad-ish.
V for Vendetta (2005)
Modernized, but still good
The Graphic novel V for Vendetta was a piece of art, and an interesting comment to society that still holds a decent level of relevance seventeen years later. Question is how well this is translated to the silver screen. I'd say pretty good, make no mistake though, a lot have been changed, but seeing as there's a seventeen-year gap between the novel and the movie, and the idea of what is a 'near future' also have moved seventeen years. When you judge this movie, it's a bad idea to compare it to the book, so I will leave the matter of comparing them by saying there was some removed or altered scenes I missed, but that there were some added scenes I enjoyed. The acting in this movie is in general very good, with Hugo Weaving as the masked terrorist madman we all love, as a main attraction of sorts. The special effects are also nice, and the pyrotechnics in the start and end are truly breathtaking, especially mixed with the classical music added. The lighting and camera usage is also interesting, used in many cases to add more emotion to V's mask, most notably under Vs last fatal encounter with the authorities. The plot isn't too bad either, and flows well. All in all, this movie is a feast for both mind and eyes, but will possibly fail to satisfy if you've read the novel.
Fainaru fantajî sebun adobento chirudoren (2005)
Fan-fodder, the good kind
Movies based on video games are not amongst my favorite things, mainly since many of them have a shaky plot and is in vast majority made to squeeze additional funds from die-hard fans. We've seen it before, will probably see it again. This movie, however, is not bad. The animation, for one thing, is great, balancing on the very border of complete photorealism, showing off what modern CGI is capable of. The plot isn't all that bad, a nice follow-up from the game, from what I gather, and the English voice-acting is very good, compared to many other dubs I've heard.
Now, the pacing is probably this movies main problem, not much action at all until a certain point in the movie where it all explodes into a dazzling epic nonstop fan-service that ultimately ends with the return of the arch-fan-fodder to end all others, Sephiroth himself. Cheap shot? Possibly, but the final battle that follows makes you forget this rather quickly.
All in all, the movie was enjoyable, more so once it reached the heaviest action parts, recommendable.
Fei hap Siu bak lung (2004)
Too westified for its own good
This movie seemed promising, following in the wake of movies like House of Flying Daggers and Crouching Tiger, Hidden dragon, this movie seemed to follow in their footsteps. Already a few minutes into the movie, I find that I am partially right, the wire-work and choreography is clearly inspired by previously mentioned movies, however, the quality of said elements lacks the dance-like qualities Crouching tiger, Hidden dragon and Flying daggers had, and the tempo makes it less enjoyable to view. The movie has some interesting camera use, but it doesn't reach the sophisticated level of the two previously mentioned movies.
This movie clearly shows how eastern movie-making becomes heavily influenced by western ideas of how a movie is supposed to be made. Roughly the first half hour of this movie could just as well have been an American college-movie moved to a Dynasty era China. The dialog and thematics are heavily modernized. You even hear some modern expressions and one asiafied American brand name, if this is supposed to be a joke, or very poorly disguised product placement, I don't know.
The plot is strikingly similar to any American romantic comedy, and the ending fails to surprise with anything, except exceeding all limits for exactly how happy it can be, almost to the point where it becomes parodic, but not quite.
All in all, I feel that this movie had promised me another Flying Daggers, but ended up giving me an Asiatic movie that tried too hard to appeal to a western audience, and ended up turning silly, possibly even provoking for fans of Asian movie-making.