If you have graduated high school then more than likely your have read the fantastic epic poem Beowulf. I wish I could say the same for the movie.
I went into this movie thinking it was going to be a war type movie, because I have never read the story.
The movie starts off with Grendel killing local villagers and them sending out a message for people to kill Grendel. This is where Beowulf comes in. He is supposedly the best demon hunter there is in the land. So he shows up all cocky and what not. Now, I haven’t read the story in school yet, but I am sure that the movie is NOT accurate with the story. I can safely say for this movie that Hollywood yet again, has killed a classic story that had a chance to be a great film.
The use of motion capture and CGI was unnecessary, in other words it would have been better with real people and live action. Your probably saying “How would they do all the different types of monsters?” well look at 300 and Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Both had tons of CGI without being totally CGI.
Beowulf is like a mixture of Shrek’s animation mixed with the atmosphere you wanted in 300. The only reason I didn’t fall asleep during it, is because I went to see the 3D version.
I know my review may seem a little harsh, but I am tired of Hollywood destroying dare to be great movies.
Entertaining? Yes. But nothing more.
Written by: Optimus Rob (OC Movie Reviewer)
Robert Redford tries to make a profound political statement in “Lions for Lambs”. Three interconnected stories converge, a congressman played by Tom Cruise desperately tries to spin a story to journalist Meryl Streep; an idealistic professor played by Robert Redford tries to inspire a gifted student, and a pair of young soldiers who naively head off to war. This movie is a complete and total misfire. I appreciate that Redford is able to use the film industry to shove his political views down the viewer’s throat, but it comes off as preachy, calculated and extremely un-engaging. I was expecting something more along the line of an action movie; something inspiring, instead being forced to sit through 88 minutes of political jargon. In light of our country’s current military operations in Iraq, “Lions for Lambs” does little to capture the viewer.
Written by: Maddeek (OC Movie Reviewer)
American Gangster is unable to bring the Heat.
Ferociously gripping the two and a half hour American Gangster is just that, seemingly all too familiar, lurking in the shadows of ingenious crime epics such as Heat and Scarface which today’s gangster films are so often compared.
Bringing back the 70’s nuance, Director Ridley Scott had no problems getting the film to look and sound authentic. Packing the soundtrack and wardrobe with funk, soul, big collars and even bigger mustaches, the vibe was definitely flowing.
American Gangster tells the true story of New York drug kingpin Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) who went un-noticed as the body guard and driver of one of Harlem’s leading black crime bosses. Ruthlessly ambitious, Lucas exploits the availability of drugs during the Vietnam War by transporting back pure heroin in soldiers coffin’s on United States Air Force Cargo planes returning home. Flooding the streets of Harlem with a pure form of heroin, and out pricing the competition, Lucas underbids and outplays the leading crime syndicates and becomes Harlem’s most notorious drug lord.
Enter outcast detective Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe) who begins his quest to solve Manhattan’s drug problem, somehow just by chance stumbling across Lucas’ shady deals as well as his own colleagues in the process. Roberts a street-smart drug cop in New Jersey, is Lucas’s opposite: He can’t help alienating everyone who crosses his path. His wife wants a divorce, insisting he leads a life entirely unsuitable to the welfare of their only child. Fellow cops shun him from the moment he brings in nearly a million dollars of recovered drug money. No one can understand why he didn’t keep it, which says a lot about the state of policing in the New York/New Jersey area in the 60’s. Roberts’s major opposition comes from within. New York’s anti-drug task force, the Special Investigations Unit, is rife with corruption. As personified by Detective Trupo (Josh Brolin).
With the bravado and charisma from Training Day, Washington is able to steal the show, placing the viewer in his corner throughout. Although the film attempts to focus equally on the lives of both characters, Washington breathes more passion; fear and tension into the movie than a meager, soft-spoken almost mouse like Crowe. While Lucas is meant to be portrayed as charismatic and as a legend in the community for his personality and societal donations, Washington is able to captivate the viewer while leaving Crowe to wallow on his dull broken marriage storyline.
Still as the tension builds throughout, so does the hope that Lucas is able to come out on top. Just a pity that as the film builds towards its conclusion, the finale seems so hurried; even after such a long running time–and that as much as you enjoy the ride, American Gangster never reaches the unforgettable dramatic heights of previous gangster films. But the movie’s fast pace and plot holes leaves a lot to be desired. This story is too big to be told in two and a half hours, and it shows as the director cuts corners in his mad rush to the film’s anti-climax ending - which I had to ask myself, “is that it?”
The plot keeps these guys apart for nearly the entire movie in a cat-and-mouse chase as Roberts gets closer and closer to arresting Lucas. But when that finally happens, you’ve got Washington and Crowe sitting across from one another at a table trying to outsmart each other. I was at the edge of my seat (but not for long)!!! The film concocts a final sequence in which the two finally meet head to head, mono y mono; in the blink of an eye Lucas flips on just about everyone involved in the operation. Roberts ends up leaving the force to become a lawyer and eventually represents Lucas in some capacity; however none of that is touched on or explained. I would not pay to see this movie in theaters, wait a few months, save your money and rent it when it comes out on DVD!!!! Or, enjoy American Gangster on Online Cinema, the real way I enjoy my movies…
Written by: Maddeek (OC Movie Reviewer)
