You know something is wrong when I just can't say with absolute certainty that I liked this movie better than "Superman Returns".
"Superman Returns" arguably had a worse story but it did a better job at telling it. That's the main thing with this movie; I just never could get really into it, due to poor story handling. The pacing felt off and even though this is a 143 minutes long movie, it still felt rushed.
It just doesn't take the time for its story and characters to truly set itself up and develop into something interesting and engaging. It's as if every sequence is missing 1 or 2 scenes that would have helped the movie to develop its story, characters and emotions more effectively.
It felt like a very bland movie to me. I never felt any excitement, there was never any tension, it never moved me, it never surprised me with anything and it just failed to make an impact on me, in any shape or form. No, even entertainment-wise this movie falls kind of short, due to the way how it's constructed.
The movie starts off as a Star Wars type off science-fiction/action flick, it than starts to focus more on some its drama and after that it turns into a full blown, summer blockbuster, action-packed, popcorn flick. These different movie segments however don't blend together very well. The start on Krypton feels needlessly long (I mean, common! We all know Superman's origin story already) and overcomplicated, probably just to give Russell Crowe more screen time and stuff to do. The middle part doesn't work out that interestingly, due to it that it just doesn't seem able to do anything interesting with its characters and emotions and by the time the real big action starts to kick in, the movie has already worn you out, with its constantly fast pace, other 'minor' action and its (rushed) rapid story developments.
Guess they did try to give the Clark Kent character some more depth and personality and yes, I probably also like this Clark Kent better than any of the other Kent's from the past but once he turns into Superman, he's a far less interesting and fun character to watch, as weird as that may sound. The Clark in this movie feels more 'human' than any of his predecessors but the Superman character still remains a quite boring and bland one. The movie perhaps could have used some more humor at times but that simply wasn't the approach this movie was going for unfortunately. You could say it's taking itself a tad bit too serious, as is the current trend for modern superhero movies. This certainly goes at the expense of especially the movie its main character in this case.
Some people are at least going to like and appreciate this movie for its action. And yes, the second half of this movie offers plenty of that. Problem for me however was that it constantly seemed to be repeating itself and was relying too much on its special effects. I lost counts, the amount of times Superman or one of his fellow Kryptonians crashed into a building, during a fight scene. You should make a drinking game out of it! And there is just something terribly effective about watching a bunch of super human's, OK aliens in this case. having a go at each other. You know that every punch that gets thrown isn't going to sort any effect and all of the other stuff that is thrown and shot at them isn't neither.
Thing with movies that are heavy on its CGI also is that no matter how well they are made and awesome they look, back in your mind you always know you're watching something that isn't real and it feels like you're watching a very fancy video game, in which you yourself don't even get to do- or control anything or anyone. I'm not bashing this movie its special effects, since it's all fine looking but surely they could have held back a little during some of its sequences. The movie goes all out and just a tad bit over-the-top with its action and special effects toward the end, if you would ask me.
I know, I probably sound more negative than I should be. After all, I didn't hated the movie, not at all! It's just that there is so much wrong with it and so much potential had gone to waste. The movie as it is is a still watchable enough one but far from my favorite Superman telling. Kind of funny that the goofy, over-the-top, colorful looking- and significantly cheaper Superman movie from the '70's is still the best telling of the story till date!
This movie had a hard time holding my interest. Not necessarily because
it's bad but more so because it all was being a tad bit too generic,
even down to its look and not all that interesting to watch.
It's just a far too typical movie. Once you have seen a few decent
political-crime-thrillers already, there is no reason for you to watch
this movie as well. It adds nothing new to the genre really and besides
is hardly being the best that the genre has to offer.
It's not that the movie is too predictable but you still pretty much
know how the movie is going to play out and develop. You know not all
things are what they seem and you know that at some point the main
character will get framed or put into a tight spot, he can't easily get
out of. In that regard this movie does far too little surprising and
pretty much sticks to the familiar genre formula.
Some of the tension, mystery or drama might had still worked out, if
only I would cared some more about the story or any of its characters.
As far as political orientated thrillers go, this one just isn't all
that interesting or clever enough with its story. It's a bit too dry to
watch and never involving enough. Besides, the story features far too
many needless distractions in it, that distract from its main plot line
and add nothing good to the movie. It causes you to feel even less
interested and involved with this movie.
Basically the one thing the movie still has going for it is its cast.
It has a pretty impressive cast in it, with actors like Mark Wahlberg,
Russell Crowe, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Jeffrey Wright and Barry Pepper
involved. You might wonder how all of these find actors ended up in
such a mediocre movie. The answer might be Allen Hughes, who is a
pretty big name director. They probably thought that his involved with
this movie might mean it could work out as something classy and
special, even though it's script was a very generic one. But I really
don't know what happened or what went wrong during production already
but the movie really looks and feels like it got directed by a first
time director, who only might have had some prior experience directing
stuff for TV. Perhaps it's true he needs his twin brother Albert to
deliver a good movie, who also is a director he used to work with on
all of his previous earlier productions.
But really, the cast of course still does a good enough job. Mark
Wahlberg is being Mark Wahlberg again but luckily Russell Crowe is
there to spice things up a little bit more. He sort of is the main
'villain' of the movie and it's actually a weird thing to note that
Crowe so often gets picked to play the hero instead. Not that he's bad
at it, on the contrary but his look and voice always seems far more
suitable for a more evil and villainous part. Luckily he occasionally
does still plays a villain, as he does in this movie. I further more
also liked Jeffrey Wright in his role, who's suddenly starting to look
very old by the way.
It honestly isn't the worst movie you could watch. As a matter of fact,
when you catch on TV some time, when nothing else is one, you might as
well watch it and afterward you most likely won't feel like this movie
wasted your time. Despite all criticism, it remains a perfectly
watchable movie and it never becomes a terrible one. Problem is that
it's being far too generic and doesn't stand out in any way to truly
consider this to be a great movie, by any stretch of the imagination.
Sometimes I just really don't know how to feel about a movie. On the
one hand; musicals really aren't my thing and I also doubt I'll watch
this movie ever again but on the other hand, I just can't deny that
this is a wonderful made movie, also especially from a technical
viewpoint.
Visually it's an absolutely beautiful movie. The sets, the costumes,
the makeup, it's all perfect looking. It helps to set the mood and
besides also feels very consistent with the mood and atmosphere of the
stage play. Yes, despite the fact that this movie is all grand and
spectacular looking, it at the same time also manages to feel like a
very intimate one. I feel that in that regard this movie truly did the
stage play justice and was respectful toward it, without constantly
winking and nodding at it. The movie is truly its own thing and doing
its own thing.
The movie almost entirely consists out of people singing. Even normal
dialog is being sung in this, which might annoy some people but in this
particular case it worked out well in my opinion. It's also most
definitely due to it that the music is simply great and the actors all
did a fine singing job as well. The movie is filled with some actors
you perhaps really wouldn't expect to sing or see in a musical
(espeically not Russell Crowe) but it's absolutely true that everyone
fitted their role well and did a great job, both singing- and
acting-wise. By saying that Anne Hathaway or Hugh Jackman impressed the
most, you are not doing the other actors in this enough justice. It's
an ensemble piece after all.
But that at the same time brings me to the biggest problem I had with
this movie. It's focusing on many different characters, throughout and
it's hard to really point out one main character. First it's all about
Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman), then for a short while all about Fantine
(Anne Hathaway), back to Jean Valjean again, next about Cosette (Amanda
Seyfried), after that Marius (Eddie Redmayne) and his revolution,
etcetera. It's hard to attach yourself to one character really because
of this approach, since the movie doesn't spend enough time with any of
them to ever become emotionally involved. I get it to this storytelling
is supposed to give the movie an epic boost but I for one would had
preferred if it was being a bit more focused at times and wouldn't keep
jumping to different places, different time periods and different
people all the time. I know it's not the movie's fault and that's just
simply how the story goes but it just all were reasons why I wasn't
ever truly grabbed by the story or ever felt involved enough with
anybody's story and motivations.
Still in the long run, it's a rewarding experience, after you let it
sink in. It's a long sit, so it might drain you a bit but the good news
about it is that the movie never gets a slow or boring one. It's always
moving and making sure something is happening. Due to its storytelling,
it's never sticking too long with anything or anyone, which is
something positive I still took out of its story and way of
storytelling.
Whether you like musicals or not, there is just no denying it that this
is one fine made movie and despite everything a wonderful viewing and
hearing experience!
In 19th-century France, Jean Valjean, who for decades has been hunted by the ruthless policeman Javert after he breaks parole, agrees to care for factory worker Fantine's daughter, Cosette. The fateful decision changes their lives forever. From: IMDb.com
Directed by: Tom Hooper
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway and others
An alien infant is raised on Earth, and grows up with superhuman abilities. He sets out to use these abilities to guard his adopted world. From: IMDb.com
Directed by: Zack Snyder
Starring: Henry Cavill, Russell Crowe, Amy Adams and others
This is far from a flawless movie but then again, the movie was also
obviously aiming for something else. It's simply meant to entertain and
to be sort of a throwback to the golden era of old fashioned, Asian,
Kung Fu flicks. And I must say, it works out well enough as such.
It's obvious this was a labor of love for RZA and for
co-writer/producer Eli Roth, who share a passion and understanding for
the genre. You could say this is the foremost thing that lets the movie
work out. It doesn't quite feel like a millions of dollars budgeted
movie, that attempts to be a deliberately bad and silly Kung Fu flick
at time but rather it feels like a quality movie that's paying homage
to the genre, by not just nodding at it but also by doing plenty of
original genre related stuff of its own.
It's actually a pretty detailed movie, both visually as story-wise.
This might sound strange, since the actual story can get quite messy
and simplistic at times. But this actually is something that's very
consistent with the genre. Even the best genre examples 'suffer' from
this and movies such as this mostly thrive on its characters, fight
scenes and everything else that is leading up to its, always
inevitable, finale.
I can definitely see how its story and storytelling in particular could
bother people but you have to keep in mind that nothing about this
movie is going to be air tight and not everything is going to make
sense or explained into detail. It's just a movie in a genre that
forces you to just go along with things and don't question things too
much. After all, it relies on a silly premise and the laws of physics
don't apply to this movie neither.
Having said all of that; this clearly still isn't the best thing the
genre has to offer. The fight scenes looked cool enough but there
aren't always shot that well, for example. Not sure if it was the
editing or the directing but something often felt lacking about it.
Another thing that bothered me was the fact that this movie featured
too many different characters in it. It tried to do and tell too much,
while the story itself really didn't need any of that. It probably had
everything to do with it that the movie its first initial cut was about
4 hours long and the movie got trimmed down heavily after that. The
movie instead is now trying to put too much into 95 minutes, making
things feel a bit messy and rushed. It really should had focused on one
main character and one main character alone, to make things at least a
bit more involving and easier- as well as more pleasant, to follow.
I still definitely liked the movie good enough for its silliness and
all of the entertainment it had to offer, even though I actually still
think they could and should had pushed things a bit further at times.
It wasn't a punishment to watch so to speak and I could even say about
it that it's a movie I probably would watch again at one point. But be
aware though, it's clearly a movie that's not just for everybody.
An adaptation of the successful stage musical based on Victor Hugo's classic novel set in 19th-century France, in which a paroled prisoner named Jean Valjean seeks redemption. From: IMDb.com
Directed by: Tom Hooper
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway and others
Guess they did try to give the Clark Kent character some more depth and personality and yes, I probably also like this Clark Kent better than any of the other Kent's from the past but once he turns into Superman, he's a far less interesting and fun character to watch, as weird as that may sound. The Clark in this movie feels more 'human' than any of his predecessors but the Superman character still remains a quite boring and bland one. The movie perhaps could have used some more humor at times but that simply wasn't the approach this movie was going for unfortunately. You could say it's taking itself a tad bit too serious, as is the current trend for modern superhero movies. This certainly goes at the expense of especially the movie its main character in this case.
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