July 15, 2006

  • movies I've seen recently...

    Over the Hedge  (2006)  B-

    ...and in this corner of CGI animated movies adapting a comic strip about fuzzy creatures is "Over the Hedge." This is another animated film that appeals to adults as well as to children, but in this case it is more skewed towards kids entertainment. Because of the kiddie nature of the movie, a lot of the humor is in the physical cartoony absolutely incredulous variety. That's not necessarily a bad thing, because it's no different than the Road Runner vs Wile E Cayote cartoons of old and I still enjoy watching those. All the creatures here are very human in personality, while the humans are pretty much there as idiotic comic adversaries. Wait, actually there's one animal that acts like he's suppose to; the dog ("play? play play play"). There's tons of entertaining scenes in Over the Hedge, and the voice cast are great in it. The one thing I enjoyed the most is the exchange and relationship between the Racoon "R.J." (Bruce Willis) and the Turtle "Verne" (Garry Shandling). This movie is not exactly a classic, but it's not bad either.

    Pirates of the Caribbean : Dead Man's Chest (2006)  B-

    This can't be helped, but being that "Pirates of the Caribbean : Dead Man's Chest" is the sequel to "Pirates of the Caribbean : The Curse of the Black Pearl," I will be making comparisons between the two. Now despite the negative feedback
    I've been hearing prior to seeing the movie, I honestly thought it wasn't that bad at all. In
    fact, I thought it was good. I actually kinda liked it a little more
    than the first PotC to tell you the truth (PotC got a C+ from me).

    The first PotC I thought was just going through the motions of a
    typical average Pirates movie with supernatural baddies, while the
    sequel feels more ambitious. I was definitely more captivated by the
    story in Dead Man's Chest, with it's various plots. I admit the
    execution of the movie itself is kinda a mix bag, with the length being
    longer than it probably has to be (blame director : Gore Verbinski), and the scenes are kinda strung
    together a little too conveniently. The cliffhanger ending didn't
    bother me at all either, and I thought it can stand on it's own rather
    well.

    The action I thought was very good, the special affects were excellent,
    and Davy Jones (Bill Nighy) is one of the best CGI characters I've ever witness.
    Speaking of characters, unlike the first one where Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) stole
    the movie from everybody else, this one has every main character
    sharing the spotlight. Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), Elisabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), and even
    Norrington (Jack Davenport) are less one dimensional than they were in the first one.

    The biggest improvement I thought was the immersion of the world
    created in the movie. The first PotC felt too much like they were just
    showing off set piece after set piece. The sequel however's got it's
    world down to a very realized and believable level.

    Basic Instinct 2 (2006)  C-

    Simply put, Basic Instinct 2 did not need to be made at this point in time. It is very much a pale imitation of it's predecessor; Basic Instinct. The problem with this sequel is that it tries too hard to be like the original, with it's twisty mystery, tragic heroes, violence, mind games, sex and nudity. The problem here is that director Michael Caton-Jones is no where near as daring as Paul Verhoeven was, as every single element are a huge notch below the original that it almost comes off like a parody. It's obvious that part of the appeal of the original was the shamelessness in the nudity and sex, but this sequel is a lot more bashful in comparison. Sharon Stone however is still very good at playing her character Catherine Tramell, and still oozes sexuality, even though she is already arguably too old to play the role. I probably should mention though, that as disappointing as Basic Instinct 2 was, I couldn't help but be compelled to finish the movie.