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Reviews
The Phantom of the Opera (2004)
Absolutely Unwatchable
A trite story with a wishy-washy lead female, a barbaric love interest, and a bland vanilla other love interest. In a word, nothing happens. Sure, there are contrived moments of "drama" and "sex" thrown in to qualify this for something other than a G-rating, but the attempt is incredibly transparent and makes no pretense about denying it.
Mediocre songs that all sound the same. Dark but uninspired photography. Questionable directing. Flat performances.
Interminably long.
Don't waste the money. Not even on a rental.
Unless, of course, you're into the whole renaissance fair, unicorn, cat fancy, eat your feelings, perpetually lonely sort of thing.
Then you'll probably love it.
Millions (2004)
Amusing But Shallow
I saw MILLIONS at a free screening in Los Angeles. It's a cute little film with a fun premise, some enjoyable performances by its youngest cast members and an uplifting ending. That said, it was only a serviceable movie.
Danny Boyle is known to make some highly quirky, often dark yet entertaining films with endings that come out of nowhere (think: 28 Days Later, Trainspotting, Shallow Grave). Here, he goes for a softer, kinder Boyle mixed with quirk and ends up only marginally hitting the mark. Boyle's trademark over-cranked camera and twisting plot points fail to save what, in the end, is an amusing but shallowly executed story. And that's a shame.
Blame it on Boyle's inability, or unwillingness, to make a firm decision on tone and stick with it. Instead, he splits the difference to appeal to both his core fan base and the families with kids that will see the film based on the poster, and ends up with mediocrity. Albeit his mediocrity is light years beyond some of Hollywood's "best".
MILLIONS might be a poor use of theater money, but it's not a bad rental. Or a matinée when you need a spirit lifter.
12 Monkeys (1995)
A True Masterpiece
Director Terry Gilliam and writer David Peoples, both talented in their own right, have collaborated to create the best movie of their careers. Twelve Monkeys is a time travel story mixed with an apocalyptic air about a killer virus and a man from the future who must go back in time to stop it. But the movie is also about mental illness, it's about what constitutes reality & non-reality, and it's about how small mistakes of identity or incorrect assumptions can alter the course of history.
Weaving a multi-textured and highly nuanced script from Peoples, Gilliam invents a movie that stands up to repeated viewings and seems to reveal more layers of itself each time it's watched. Performances from Bruce Willis as the time traveler, Cole, and especially Brad Pitt as Jeffrey Gomes, the mentally disturbed son of a viral scientist, head up a cast of sturdy, if somewhat over the top, performances (keep in mind that this is Terry Gilliam, and over the top is par for the course).
Any who dismiss Twelve Monkeys as a silly exercise in filmmaking or a confusing movie about time travel have missed the point. It is both of those...but it is made that way intentionally and used as a thin commercial hook to disguise a deep and meaningful film, something American audiences tend to shy away from.
High credit to Peoples and Gilliam. Twelve Monkeys is a must-see and an experience the viewer not easily forget.