Perhaps I'm just weird about certain things but I don't like movies about illusionists. Thing that annoys me about them is that they can make things as crazy as they want, without having to explain anything. And yes, this movie also features all sort of implausible magic tricks in it. It feels like cheating! It should be a law, that when you decide to do a movie about illusionists, you are only allowed to use actual magic tricks and no 'movie magic'.
But besides all of that, this movie has plenty of other problems in it as well. The premise actually still sounded kind of nice and promising to me but I was absolutely annoyed and disappointed by the way certain things played out.
It believes that keep pulling rabbits out of the hat and stack surprise upon surprise, equals being a clever and surprising movie. But more often than not, things just don't add up too well. It's a typical example of a movie that thinks it's being more clever than it in fact truly is. As a matter of fact, the movie is a very lazily written one in some regards. It mostly relies on coincidences and other conveniences for its story. When looking back at this movie, you have to agree on it that certain things just don't make any sense or add up too well, no matter whether you liked the overall movie or not.
And it still is a very easy movie to like. I mean, sure, it's an entertaining one to watch. It has a constant fast pace and some fine actors, that help to keep you interested in the movie, all throughout. It's not the fun heist movie I expected it to be but it certainly is not without its entertainment.
Thing that still at the same time annoys me about its pace is that it's trying to go to fast at times. Sometimes the camera literally can't stand still and it keeps swirling all over the place, even when not an awful lot is happening. No, I'm not talking about shaky cam but swirly cam...shaky cam's lesser known but far more annoying cousin!
Guess you could say that the foremost thing this movie has going for it, is its cast. Not all characters are equally likable but the actors playing them still give a fine performance. I particularly liked Mark Ruffalo and Woody Harrelson in this movie.
Really, calling this movie a terrible one would be crazy in my opinion. It actually, despite everything, still succeeds to bring some entertainment, some good snappy type of dialog and fine performances by its cast. I just wasn't too fond of its story however and the way certain things played out.
This movie is a bit of a disappointment. Not because it's bad but simply because it starts off so well but starts to run out of steam, before the movie reaches its halfway point.
I was totally with this movie at first. The humor was great, the characters intriguing, the story interesting and even somewhat mysterious but it's like the movie makes a 180 degree turn, the moment the Mickey Rooney character makes his entrance.
Nothing against Mickey Rooney of course but once his character shows up, the movie changes and not for the good unfortunately. The comedy becomes different and the movie its story slows down, while before that point it was really having a very pleasant and fast pace to it. It's funny but the moment the Mickey Rooney character makes his entrance, the movie absolutely becomes a less fun and funny one to watch. It's funny because Mickey Rooney is actually the only true comedy actor in this movie but he's the one who's actually brining the movie and its comedy down. Not his fault really, he simply does his own thing and he does it well but it just doesn't really tie in too well with the rest of the movie.
Reason why I really liked the movie at first was because it had a sort of classic screwball comedy quality to it. The comedy was goofy but everything about it felt 'real'. It didn't feel like the movie was exaggerating or was pushing things too far. Besides, I liked where the story was going. It had a great mystery- and adventure like vibe to it, when the main character, played by Michael Caine, who is a writer, starts his travels and attempts to get in contact with his next subject. I honestly think I would have preferred this movie if it was entirely set aboard the coach bus he uses to travel with and the direct vicinity of it.
As the movie heads toward its end, it does not become a less fun one to watch but also definitely a less interesting one. The story has some developments in it that don't really work out all that interesting and it actually causes the movie to slow down and even drag a bit. It definitely feels like the final 30 minutes could have been trimmed down a bit, also especially since nothing good or interesting is really happening in it. It's not like this movie is building up to a spectacular or all revealing climax, so the movie definitely fizzles out, toward its end.
Well, it's still watchable enough all I guess. After all, it has Michael Caine as its main character, who never really disappointed in any '70's movie, when he really was at the top of the game. The movie is also definitely fun to watch, at least for its first half.
Even though this is a real good and enjoyable movie, I still have no
doubt about it that it still works out way better in the theaters, as a
stage-play. The dialog, the settings, the acting, the story, its
progress, it's all very stage-like and sometimes stuff like this
doesn't translate to the screen very well but this movie still manages
to work out well, not in the least thanks to its performances by
Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine.
They really have to carry this movie, almost entirely on their own. Of
course it should come as no surprise that their acting is just great
but luckily they really have a solid dynamic as well.
You can basically see this movie as an elaborate cat and mouse game, in
which two persons constantly try to outsmart each other. It's not as
innocent as it sounds though, since it actually also involves murder.
The movie is entirely set at just one location but luckily there are
plenty of developments to keep things fresh and interesting, even while
the movie is over 2 hours long.
Probably the most underrated aspect about this movie remains its
cinematography by Oswald Morris though. Chances are you won't pay much
attention to it, since it's mostly quite subtle but it perfectly
captures the mood of the story and helps to make it feel that you are
watching a stage-play on screen. It also does a good job at dropping
certain hints at times, or to divert attention to a certain object.
Despite its serious story aspects, the movie still works mostly out as
an entertaining one. It has a fun undertone to it, once the movie start
to develop into a battle of wits. Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine
all handled the material very well and I bet they also had some fun
with doing this movie. It's the sort of movie that seems to be
enjoyable to do for an actor; a movie were they have lots of screen
time, with little to none distractions to its story, lots of dialog and
they basically have to make this movie and let it work out as both
something engaging and interesting enough.
Interestingly enough, 35 years later Michael Caine would also star in
the remake of this movie, directed by Kenneth Branagh, playing the
Laurence Olivier role this time around.
Maybe this movie- and especially its approach, is not for everyone
(actually I myself wasn't always too fond of it) but it's quality is
still high enough to wholeheartedly recommend it.
First of all, "The Dark Knight Rises" ain't no "The Dark Knight",
meaning that this movie never truly reaches the level of brilliance but
I still consider this movie to be a more than fitting and great ending
to the Nolan trilogy of Batman movies.
Obviously I had some problems with this movie, or else I clearly would
had given it a perfect rating but none of the problems ever prevented
me from seeing this as a great movie! So obviously none of the problems
I had with this movie ever troubled me too much, though it still are
some things that are worth pointing out.
I for instance did had some problems with the main plot of the movie.
Bane's motivation and plan just seemed to weak and silly to me, while
the character of Bane himself remains a great villain for this movie.
He's incredibly strong but above all things can also really use his
brain. It makes him a worthy adversary to Batman, on the same sort of
level as the Joker in the previous movie. I only did wish he would had
used his brains to truly get something out of all of it and wasn't just
being evil for the sake of being evil.
Another thing that bothered me, about the whole trilogy as well by the
way, is the fact that the movie has an incredible amount of characters
in it. Every new movie also keeps on introducing new characters, while
I feel that some of them truly weren't all that necessary. Let's face
it, did this movie really need Catwoman in it? I so easily could see
how this movie would had been without it and it really wouldn't had
been anything lesser to watch. Besides after all, the whole dynamic
between her and Bruce Wayne/Batman never felt that interesting and gave
me a feeling as well that a lot of their scenes together were left on
the cutting floor. I pretty much felt the same way about the Joseph
Gordon-Levitt character, though this changed toward the ending when his
true purpose became apparent. Don't worry, I won't say anything more
than that but I thought it was a good and interesting move by the
movie.
The movie did perfectly fell together by the end for me and it's final
3 minutes or so are absolutely great! I do admit it made me a bit
teary, which means the movie did made an impact on me and I truly felt
involved with the events and characters who were all in it.
And this entire movie is basically being handled and buildup as a
finale conclusion. You can sense a sense of closure throughout the
entire movie, which makes it a bit of a dark and sad one at times. I
certainly don't see this movie as a spectacular and entertaining one.
As a matter of fact, I still dare to say that Christopher Nolan isn't a
great action director. But that's all OK really, since it's going for a
totally different approach and seems more concerned about adding layers
and reaching conclusions. This is not criticism, for the simple fact
that it makes "The Dark Knight Rises" a much deeper and more meaningful
movie that just the average superhero attempt, which is also something
that can be said for the trilogy as a whole by the way. In that regard
'The Dark Knight' trilogy is truly a great and special one and one to
treasure for many years to come, no matter how soon they are going to
reboot the franchise again, which is inevitable of course and already
had been announced before the release of this movie.
A great movie, that I just didn't love though. Well, expect for its
final few minutes maybe!
Reason why I really liked the movie at first was because it had a sort of classic screwball comedy quality to it. The comedy was goofy but everything about it felt 'real'. It didn't feel like the movie was exaggerating or was pushing things too far. Besides, I liked where the story was going. It had a great mystery- and adventure like vibe to it, when the main character, played by Michael Caine, who is a writer, starts his travels and attempts to get in contact with his next subject. I honestly think I would have preferred this movie if it was entirely set aboard the coach bus he uses to travel with and the direct vicinity of it.
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