Movie Review – Quickie Edition V

The Great Escape – An oldie but a goodie to start the year. Superb movie – if you haven’t seen it yet, do yourself a service and have a look-see. ★★★★★

I Am Legend – Will Smith is the last man left alive, a virologist named Robert Neville who has survived a virus which turns people into aggressive, cannibalistic, vampire-esque zombies who cannot come out in the day. Great effects, especially the empty New York, makes the setting effective. Smith plays the character well, and the zombies for the most part live up to the hype, but the plot has some holes in it that you’re expected to ignore for the sake of the horror/action part of the flick. Very different from the book, apparently. ★★★

Stardust – based on the novel by Neil Gaiman, Stardust is a fantasy flick that doesn’t try to follow in the footsteps of Lord of the Rings et al. This is more of an old fashioned fantasy adventure, with all the cues, and a well executed (albeit obvious) romance angle to boot – Gaiman in particular is adept at weaving the romance with the fantastic, and the actors don’t disappoint in executing the vision. ★★★★ (am kicking myself for not watching it sooner)

Wag the Dog – A political dark comedy set in the Clinton era; a president hoping to get re-elected needs something to distract the media when a potential sex scandal arises late in the campaign. Robert De Niro plays the deep-cover spin doctor who is brought in to save the day, as he stages a war built on rumor and doctored footage, with the able assistance of Dustin Hoffman’s Hollywood producer, to make it seem like the nation is at war and thus swaying the public to the incumbent. A little dated but very pointed and incisive. ★★★

3:10 to Yuma – Ponderous, slow burning Western from the school of old school westerns. ★★☆

National Treasure – Dear god, who comes up with these plots? Grabbing every possible conspiracy theory it can, this is cringe-worthy action that tries to be more intellectual about things. Not. ☆

Shoot ’em Up – The point at which you will realise how ridiculous this movie is when Clive Owen takes out a team of Secret Service agents while skydiving from a passenger jet. Forget realistic – this movie has no relation to reality what so ever. ★★ (one star all by itself for Monica Bellucci for… just being Monica Bellucci.)

War (a.k.a. Rogue Assassin) – Looks like a by-the-numbers organised crime movie until about 10 minutes from the end, and then… voila, good twist! Guess that, audience. Not enough ass-kicking, but that can be forgiven. ★★☆

Brick –

Nora Zehetner (above) is my new favourite cutie. Also, this movie needs watching more than once just to follow the goddamn slang, but it wouldn’t be the same without it. Feels very Chandler-esque. ★★★★☆