Reviews

This movie never appeared in theatres... Big mistake. It was great, thoroughly entertaining from start to finish. Van Damme has really dug himself out of the hole drugs had him in a few years ago. He's 41, in great shape and doing the best acting of his career. Replicant was an original story... how many stories have you heard where they clone a serial killer? and it raised very interesting sociological questions: Is the killer's killer instinct biological or something caused by society? The film gives the impression that the latter is the case. Van Damme did a stupendous job acting the Replicant, he really seems like an animal in a world it doesn't understand but is learning to. His role as a bad guy was almost too good, that is to say he's so good one might want to see him again in a bad guy role. And Micheal Rooker does a bang-up job for his part as well. Great movie, well filmed by Lam, must see and remember... think while watching. :)

For any Stallone fan who has seen Rocky, FIST or even Copland and expects to see their favorite tough-nice-guy in another movie, think again. Only Stallone could go from the extreme of Rocky and end up playing the other end of the spectrum as the be-all and end-all of bad guys, as Jack Carter. He has his reasons for being this way but Carter is frankly dispicable, which is the goal with this movie. He's just plain ugly and Stallone does an incredible job of making you hate him. The only good thing, is that you hate the antagonists even more than you hate Carter. A great movie with directing like nothing you have seen, this movie hits home. Right up there with the best.

I went to see this movie last Friday and was absolutely blown away, walking out of the theater saying it is now one of my favorite movies. Not for the intense action from start to finish. Not for the intriguing storyline which accurately depicts roman life (as far as I know). Not for the special effects, video and audio which are breathtaking to say the least, leaving holding the arms of your chair for dear life almost screaming to you friend beside you THAT WAS INCREDIBLE, MORE, MORE!!! Not for the touching "can't be" love story which leaves a know in your heart. Not the incredible acting on the part of Rusell Crowe or his charming easily understood accent. Not for the bad guys who you just want to strangle to save the good guys the trouble. Not for the incredible soundtrack, a sort of Conan style big orchestra power music. Not for the originality of the movie itself, a sort of mix between BenHur and Braveheart. Not for the directing with huge scenes leaving you to wonder how they filmed it all. Not for the general casting, the production team, the little odds and ends that come together to add the finishing touches. BUT FOR A COMBINATION OF ALL OF THESE IN JUST THE RIGHT PROPORTIONS. It's so rare to see movies that don't have a little too much of something, be it melodramatic acting, abnormally large special effects or too harsh music, etc. This movie has just enough of everything. One of the first movies of the twenty-first century... it's an instant classic, even epic.

This is a different style of film for Jean-Claude Van Damme, he doesn't play the invinsible hero of so many other previous movies (Bloodsport, Kickboxer, Hard Target, et al.) In this movie he is desperately fleeing his own tortured past, having been a highly trained soldier at one time who is haunted by the images of the people he has killed. He's become a drunkard, the only way he knows to stop killing people. "If I'm drunk, I won't kill anything" sort of sums it up. He has decided that he wants to take his life, so he goes to his friend to get the O.K. But something gives him an excuse to start killing deserving people again. Then he finds a reason to go on in the person of the local waitress. The best scene is the first, which truly takes advantage of John G. Avildson's (Rocky, the Karate Kid) gift for directing, when we see at what point Van Damme's character is tortured by his past (maybe the finest acting from this kicking sensation to date). The role itself is a better one than in the past, not robot-like with no emotions, this one evidently has emotions but is also sort of a goof off with a real "sense of mischief" which was fun. The supporting cast lend a lot of humor to this movie as well. Finally, the aboriginal overtones were the finishing touch, showing a rich culture that's not often demonstrated. The music by Bill Conti (Rocky) is also excellent, giving a certain sense to the movie. Van Damme is starting to get a little more seasoned and so his acting style should follow, getting a little deeper. This movie is a good start.

The first common misconception about Rocky, and something that's almost inevitable when you put a half-naked Stallone with boxing gloves on the cover is that it's a fighting movie. In that time it would fall into a category including Jean-Claude Van Damme and Jackie Chan. Now don't get me wrong, I like both of these actors a lot, they're among my favorites, but Rocky is not just another cheap movie about a man who like to win a fight or tournament because he deserves it (Bloodsport, Quest). Instead of a fighting movie we should say that it is a movie about a fighter. That changes the context altogether, it means that sure he has fighting on his mind but has other personal issues that are demonstrated throughout the movie. In fact in the whole movie there are two fight scenes (at the beginning and at the end) which together add up to about 15 minutes.

The rest is the portrayal of a man who has never had it easy in his life but nonetheless keeps his heart. That is to say that he keeps his moral and ethics, just keeps on trying no matter the hardships. A MAN WITH A DREAM... an un-realizable dream to be frank. But in the end, a lot, even most, of our dreams are un-realizable... but we try anyway. The difference here is that this man is given a shot at his dream, a "one-in-a-million shot". It's something that we all would like so we can relate and CAN'T HELP but cheer for him at the end of the movie.

The largest portion, in minutes, of the movie is actually devoted to the love theme between Rocky and Adrien. So that should maybe make this a "love story" movie instead of fighting movie. Adrien is another of his dreams, slightly more attainable which is why he devotes more of his time everyday to trying to attain it (her). She won't open up to anybody but in the end, with a certain amount of tenacity on the part of Stallone, she can't help but fall for the heart deep inside the rough exterior.

Another theme here is that of fraternity between Rocky and Mickey, his trainer/manager. In fact THE MOST TOUCHING SCENE in the whole movie in my opinion is one of about 15 to 20 seconds long and without any words. It's when Mickey goes to see Rocky at his home the first time to see if he can manage him. Rocky gets angry with him but keeps it to himself until Mickey leaves, at which point Rocky takes it out on the door jam and yells at Mickey who can still hear him outside. Rocky's life is being turned upside down by this whole "fighting Creed" business and although it is his dream, he doesn't know how to deal with it and is scared to get mangled in the ring, knowing he's not of the same caliber as the champ. The touching scene is when he realizes that he has yelled at an old man. His heart takes him out into the street after Mickey, he joins him and shakes his hand. The beginning of an enduring friendship which will ultimately lead to tears in a later film (Rocky 3 and 5).

This movie simply seeps with "classic", and by the end you know you have just seen a movie of courage, of the portrayal of "the indominable spirit of man" (Rocky 3). No matter the difficulties, Rocky's heart takes him through it all. It doesn't fit the mold of today's classics (like Private Ryan) with melodrama and grandiose scenery, just a simple movie, with simple qualities but very large meaning intricately woven into the fabric of the film itself by Stallone and the director John G. Avildson, with the musical overtones of Bill Conti. A classic from a different age, and the mold of a lot of movies to follow.

I just got out of The World is Not Enough and I only had one problem with it, Denise Richards. When I first heard a year ago that they wanted to cast the two-timing babe of Starship Troopers for this role I thought, nah, never. But they did! Leaving the fact that she cannot act out of this, she is not a Bond girl! Bond girls are supposed to have charme!! Something like Sophie Marceau has, now there was a Bond girl. As for the rest of the film, it was what I call a holy cow movie (for lack of using words my mother wouldn't want to see), otherwise said, I spent the whole movie saying "Holy cow!!!", "Holy cow!!!" at all the action sequences. An avid Bond fan I can truly say that this is one of the best because only now, with current pyrotechnic technologie could these Bond action scenes be filmed. Like the explosive debut which was like it's own movie. The story was not as good as Goldeneye (006 betraying Bond because he is a Lienz-Cossack) but the action was a lot more fast paced. As for the bad guy, Renard (fox in french, which no one could pronounce right, not even Sophie Marceau who is French) was excellent but not as good as Trevelyan, someone who forcefully was better than Bond because he was at MI6 longer (006) so the perfect bad guy. Pierce Brosnan just plain did another excellent job with this movie, like Goldeneye and Tomorrow Never Dies and though alot don't agree, he is the best Bond, being more naturally sophisticated, suave and debonaire than Sean Connery (whom I like second best). I just don't how they'll top this.