Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Public Enemies
So late on the Transformers one. Good thing Im not getting paid for this shit, or I woulda been fired by now. Then again, if I were getting paid, that'd prolly be motivation enough for me to post these right away...
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
The bottom line about the movie is that there actually isnt more than meets the eye. You know exactly what you're getting yourself into: minimal plot, unremarkable acting, and over the top action sequences with Michael Bay signature music video-ish editing. And like its predecessor, thats exactly what we've got here.
Most of the peeps I was with seemed to thoroughly enjoy it. I was left mostly unimpressed. Yes, it was fun, but there is such thing as too much fun, which is exactly what 150 minutes of mostly meaningless cinema is. We all know Im an action junkie. Exhibit A: my adrenaline double feature back in April of Crank 2/Fast and Furious. So when Im getting bored with an action sequence, thats a bad sign--a _really_ bad sign. I really dont think the last sequence needed to last 45 minutes. But then if you really cant bring yourself to cut any of that, dont skimp on the final face off battle (trying to be unspoilerly as possible). 60 seconds there compared to the previous 45 min is not at all balanced.
Im not saying that the action sequences were bad necessarily. I remember that the original Transformers was the first time I saw a flick that was heavy on the CG and I hadnt even noticed it. Well, obviously I noticed the large impossible robots, but it was the first time I'd seen CG done well enough that I didnt immediately start picturing the nerd at his computer animating him. And the robo-CG was great in this movie as well. Although, some of their other effects were a bit sub-par. Guess they either forgot about the other stuff in the budget or thought no one would notice next to the super cool robots.
Not much to say on the acting front, because well there wasn't very much acting. Ive loved Shia LaBeouf since Even Stevens, and he brought his usual humor to this role, but didnt do much else. Megan Fox is good at looking hot, and the boys I was with were quite pleased with the constant gratuitious pretty-girl shots of her, but she's not good at much else.
Anyways, this review almost seems pointless to write. Most of you have known whether or not you were gonna see this for months already, and if you were planning on it you probably have by now. And I dont think any of it was unexpected or particularly noteworthy even. But explosions are cool.
Public Enemies
Why has this summer movie season been full of so many disappointments? Seriously, with only one maybe two worth-watching movies coming out a week (as opposed to two or three in previous years) you'd hope that smaller quantity would equal greater quality. Well we've hit July and the next movie on the list that I was really psyched about, Public Enemies, was yet another let down. So...mother...freaking...sloooooooow.
It's about 2 and a half hours long (depending on if you count trailers and if you stay for credits). I can usually gauge how long a movie will feel based on the first time I check my watch. From there its usually half as much time until I check again, then half as much time, and so on. Example: I saw There Will Be Blood and The Pirates Who Dont Do Anything: A Veggie Tales Movie in the same week. (And dont go knocking Veggie Tales. I used to love them...) Blood is nearly 3 hours. Veggie tales was 85 min. I first looked at my watch about an hour into Blood. Loved the movie and it flew by. First looked at my watch about 20 min into Veggie Tales. The 90 minutes crawled by infinitely slower. I coulda sworn that was the 3 hour movie. So how long until I checked my watch at Public Enemies? 13 minutes. Not good.
Throughout the whole movie, it felt like nothing was happening. Even leading into the climax when the suspense was really building, it dragged on too long such that I didnt even care by the time we finally got there. My frozen lemonade was far more interesting than the movie. When I finished that, I started nibbling on my nails to keep occupied.
I did love Johnny Depp. We all know what a fantastic character actor he is, and he's simply amazing when he's playing a character with depth. I was captivated by him whenever he was on screen (not just cause he's pretty, which simply didnt hurt), but I just wish I was more interested in everything else going on as well. Christian Bale was kinda unremarkable. He's a good actor and all, but he didnt seem to ever be doing anything. And Marion Cotillard is simply adorable. I was really surprised by a lot of the supporting and featured actors in this: Giovanni Ribisi, Stephen Graham, Emilie de Ravin, Channing Tatum (who I didnt even recognize), Billy Crudup (who I also didnt even recognize, mostly cause he's never as hairy as he was in Almost Famous), David Wenham, and a bunch of even smaller names that prolly only matter to me (Matt Craven, Sean Hatosy).
If you've been following my LJ, you know I usually try to end reviews with positive comments whenever possible. And I have saved the best for last this time. As a period piece, it was absolutely gorgeous. The 1930's aren't an era I'd ever paid much attention to (if you saw my Facebook status today you'd have learned that the 60's are actually my favorite) but this movie really made me fall in love with this time period. The guns, the cars, the clothes, all amazing.
Michael Mann also intrigued me with how a lot of the movie was done. Most stuff was shot in extreme closeup, like someone just kept hitting the zoom button the camera. It was a really interesting look. And the shoot outs looked incredible. Particularly this one big one that takes place at night. The camera would focus on a tommy gun aimed toward the audience, and there'd be a blinding flash of light coming from it as it was shooting. With action sequences like that, this write up woulda gone in a whole different direction if they'd tightened up the script a bit.
Im not even sure whether or not to recommend this movie. It was pretty and kinda interesting, just way too dragged out. Maybe wait til DVD and have your player set to show the flick twice as fast?
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
The bottom line about the movie is that there actually isnt more than meets the eye. You know exactly what you're getting yourself into: minimal plot, unremarkable acting, and over the top action sequences with Michael Bay signature music video-ish editing. And like its predecessor, thats exactly what we've got here.
Most of the peeps I was with seemed to thoroughly enjoy it. I was left mostly unimpressed. Yes, it was fun, but there is such thing as too much fun, which is exactly what 150 minutes of mostly meaningless cinema is. We all know Im an action junkie. Exhibit A: my adrenaline double feature back in April of Crank 2/Fast and Furious. So when Im getting bored with an action sequence, thats a bad sign--a _really_ bad sign. I really dont think the last sequence needed to last 45 minutes. But then if you really cant bring yourself to cut any of that, dont skimp on the final face off battle (trying to be unspoilerly as possible). 60 seconds there compared to the previous 45 min is not at all balanced.
Im not saying that the action sequences were bad necessarily. I remember that the original Transformers was the first time I saw a flick that was heavy on the CG and I hadnt even noticed it. Well, obviously I noticed the large impossible robots, but it was the first time I'd seen CG done well enough that I didnt immediately start picturing the nerd at his computer animating him. And the robo-CG was great in this movie as well. Although, some of their other effects were a bit sub-par. Guess they either forgot about the other stuff in the budget or thought no one would notice next to the super cool robots.
Not much to say on the acting front, because well there wasn't very much acting. Ive loved Shia LaBeouf since Even Stevens, and he brought his usual humor to this role, but didnt do much else. Megan Fox is good at looking hot, and the boys I was with were quite pleased with the constant gratuitious pretty-girl shots of her, but she's not good at much else.
Anyways, this review almost seems pointless to write. Most of you have known whether or not you were gonna see this for months already, and if you were planning on it you probably have by now. And I dont think any of it was unexpected or particularly noteworthy even. But explosions are cool.
Public Enemies
Why has this summer movie season been full of so many disappointments? Seriously, with only one maybe two worth-watching movies coming out a week (as opposed to two or three in previous years) you'd hope that smaller quantity would equal greater quality. Well we've hit July and the next movie on the list that I was really psyched about, Public Enemies, was yet another let down. So...mother...freaking...sloooooooow.
It's about 2 and a half hours long (depending on if you count trailers and if you stay for credits). I can usually gauge how long a movie will feel based on the first time I check my watch. From there its usually half as much time until I check again, then half as much time, and so on. Example: I saw There Will Be Blood and The Pirates Who Dont Do Anything: A Veggie Tales Movie in the same week. (And dont go knocking Veggie Tales. I used to love them...) Blood is nearly 3 hours. Veggie tales was 85 min. I first looked at my watch about an hour into Blood. Loved the movie and it flew by. First looked at my watch about 20 min into Veggie Tales. The 90 minutes crawled by infinitely slower. I coulda sworn that was the 3 hour movie. So how long until I checked my watch at Public Enemies? 13 minutes. Not good.
Throughout the whole movie, it felt like nothing was happening. Even leading into the climax when the suspense was really building, it dragged on too long such that I didnt even care by the time we finally got there. My frozen lemonade was far more interesting than the movie. When I finished that, I started nibbling on my nails to keep occupied.
I did love Johnny Depp. We all know what a fantastic character actor he is, and he's simply amazing when he's playing a character with depth. I was captivated by him whenever he was on screen (not just cause he's pretty, which simply didnt hurt), but I just wish I was more interested in everything else going on as well. Christian Bale was kinda unremarkable. He's a good actor and all, but he didnt seem to ever be doing anything. And Marion Cotillard is simply adorable. I was really surprised by a lot of the supporting and featured actors in this: Giovanni Ribisi, Stephen Graham, Emilie de Ravin, Channing Tatum (who I didnt even recognize), Billy Crudup (who I also didnt even recognize, mostly cause he's never as hairy as he was in Almost Famous), David Wenham, and a bunch of even smaller names that prolly only matter to me (Matt Craven, Sean Hatosy).
If you've been following my LJ, you know I usually try to end reviews with positive comments whenever possible. And I have saved the best for last this time. As a period piece, it was absolutely gorgeous. The 1930's aren't an era I'd ever paid much attention to (if you saw my Facebook status today you'd have learned that the 60's are actually my favorite) but this movie really made me fall in love with this time period. The guns, the cars, the clothes, all amazing.
Michael Mann also intrigued me with how a lot of the movie was done. Most stuff was shot in extreme closeup, like someone just kept hitting the zoom button the camera. It was a really interesting look. And the shoot outs looked incredible. Particularly this one big one that takes place at night. The camera would focus on a tommy gun aimed toward the audience, and there'd be a blinding flash of light coming from it as it was shooting. With action sequences like that, this write up woulda gone in a whole different direction if they'd tightened up the script a bit.
Im not even sure whether or not to recommend this movie. It was pretty and kinda interesting, just way too dragged out. Maybe wait til DVD and have your player set to show the flick twice as fast?