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 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
Having not been the biggest Madagascar movies fan, this third movie
came as a bit as a surprise to me. It was much better and more fun than
basically the two previous installments combined.
Thing I mostly disliked about the previous two movies, was that they
felt rushed and had two much jumping around and bright colors in it. It
didn't seemed all that worried about telling a fun story or having
impressive looking animations in them. They thought that simple,
childish actions and comedy would be enough to draw in a big crowd. And
I guess they were right about it but it didn't exactly made them good
movies to watch, at least not to me.
This third movie feels far more well thought out. Everything was
written far better and all of the comedy was being much more clever and
got executed better in the movie. I can even actually actually say that
most of the comedy and gags really hits and the movie had me smiling
and laughing, basically the whole time.
It also definitely makes all of the characters work out as much better
ones. In the previous movies they all had something annoying to them as
well but that's all truly gone in this film! They are all simply
amusing and the movie introduces a whole bunch of new fun characters as
well this time. This also has as a result that there is no time and
room for any distracting side-plots, featuring either Marty (Chris
Rock), Melman (David Schwimmer) or Gloria Jada Pinkett Smith. It makes
the movie feel more balanced and focused, since there aren't really too
many distractions from its main story this time around.
But even though that the story story is far better written, I really
can't say that the movie is being anything too brilliant with its
actual story. It's all being some incredibly formulaic stuff but at
least they knew how to make things fun and the story really doesn't
feel that important for the movie at all. The story leaves plenty of
room and opportunities for fun and gags, involving all of the
characters, new and old ones.
Also the animations seemed to be more smooth, as if they decided to
spend some more money and/or to put some more time into the making of
this movie this time. Some great choices, that helped me to finally
truly love a Madagascar movie and made me interested in actually seeing
more Madagascar movies now. I most definitely would rather want to see
another Madagascar movie than a new Shrek, that's for sure!
A really fun movie to watch, I'm surprised to say.
Seriously, I love Sacha Baron Cohen as both a comedian and actor and I
am actually still convinced of it that he will win an Oscar some day
but this movie unfortunately was a big misstep.
Lets be honest. Is this movie in essence any better than a Ben Stiller,
Adam Sandler or even Rob Schneider flick? In my opinion absolutely not!
It suffers from the exact same problems and comedy-wise they have just
about as many hits and misses in them.
It is simple; this movie its foremost problem is really its script.
It's actually shockingly weak and simplistically written. First of all,
it isn't being original enough in any way and second, the way it
progresses is all extremely predictable. Nothing in this movie happens
as a surprise but what is maybe even more disappoint and troubling is
that the movie is lacking edge and punch. It's actually a pretty tame
movie, by normal Sacha Baron Cohen standards, even though its concept
and main character all sounds like something potentially offensive and
politically incorrect. However I feel that nothing about this movie
works out as anything offensive or edgy and Sacha Baron Cohen is simply
just playing a comical character, that is way over-the-top and relies
on written material, rather than Cohen's improvisation skills.
It really is a movie with more misses than hits in it, comedy-wise. And
when it hits, it doesn't ever hit very hard. There are some mild laughs
but that's about all I could get out of this movie.
I don't even feel that Sacha Baron Cohen plays a very good character in
this case. It's a character that is way too over-the-top but yet he
still never goes far enough with it. Aladeen is never really being
cruel or threatening enough. His actions are just simply stupid and
ignorant, in a childish kind of way.
The movie is never anything annoying or truly horrible to watch but
still there is no good reason why you should ever go watch it, in the
first place.
(Review originally written at 1 May 2009) To be honest, I though that the first "Madagascar" movie was often being more irritating than funny. "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa" is a big improvement however, as this movie is actually really pleasant to watch. The comedy has been really improved for this movie. While "Madagascar" was often more relying on its fast pace and lots of screaming and jumping this movie actually builds up its comical moments, providing the movie with plenty of laughs. There are lots of returning comical characters for this movie, as well as some new ones. The most fun characters from the first movie luckily make their appearance again but it also gives the new characters their room. It makes the movie a bit full perhaps when it comes down to all of its characters. You can even wonder if Marty, Melman and Gloria were truly necessary for within this movie. They often cause the movie to slow down and drag at points, as the movie in essence is mostly about Alex who is getting reunited with his parents after a failed flight back to New York from Madagascar. The story, though also not much special, is more interesting and memorable than was the case with its predecessor. The movie has a villain, a love story and basically everything else in it that is required to make a typical enjoyable animated movie with. The movie is fun entertainment for the entire family. The animations still aren't exactly top-notch looking when comparing it to different genre movies but in this movie this gets actually less distracting since the movie is simply almost constantly so fun to watch. The animations of course also still are an improvement from its 2005 predecessor but it really visually isn't the best the genre has to offer this present day. All of the big voice-actor names are back for this movie as well such as Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen and Cedric the Entertainer. The movie its cast list got expanded this time with Bernie Mac, Alec Baldwin and Will i Am. It was one of Bernie Mac's final roles and this movie got also dedicated to his memory. A definite improvement over the first movie! 7/10 Watch trailer
(Review originally written at 27 October 2008) First of all I love Tim Burton and the dark style he always manages to put in his movies but I feel that he somewhat overdid it this time, which perhaps is not as much Burton's fault but more the story's. For me the main problem with this movie was its story and then particularly its characters. There just is no good character within this movie. All of the characters are evil in a way. Sweeney Todd is supposed to be the main 'hero' but he isn't much of a likable character, since he's a person who slices innocent people's throats. There isn't really a person to sympathize for within this movie. It's like you're watching all bad people, which in a way also somewhat makes this a depressing movie to watch. I know this certain darkness suits Tim Burton well and is part of his trademark style but I just feel he overdid it this time and it doesn't work out as well as it does in most of his other movies. He perhaps also overdid things with the movie its visuals. The movie is so stylish and done mostly in gray and black & white tints that the movie looks fake at times, as if it came straight out of a computer. The fairytale like feeling and dark Gothic atmosphere Tim Burton is so well known for is mostly missing within this movie and perhaps Burton too much tried to make this movie like an old horror movie from the black & white era. Also some of the computer effects within this movie feel pointless, mostly because of the reason that they look like they come straight out of playstation game cut scene. It's pointless and it doesn't add anything to the movie. It instead only lets the movie look even more artificial and fake then it already does. Nevertheless the movie turned out to be in a way also better than expected really. I mean a dark violent musical? Sounds like a real odd and bad thing on paper but it's a movie that works out surprisingly well and knows to combine it's violence, images and musical moments nicely, even though I wasn't that impressed by its musical moments and not a too big fan of the movie its visuals. The story did worked out well and surprisingly, despite of its earlier mentioned flaw of not really featuring any likable characters. I must also say that out of all the Tim Burton and Johnny Depp collaborations, this is probably the least. Why? Because Johnny Depp doesn't really feel like Johnny Depp in this movie. Perhaps it's because of the style of the movie or all of the make-up he has to act underneath but there are only a handful of great Johnny Depp moments within the movie. It's as if most of the time he is restrained, which is probably also due to the fact that he has a lot of singing to do in this movie. Sacha Baron Cohen on the other hand was really great and perfectly cast. In a way he plays more of Johnny Depp type of role than Jonny Depp played within this movie. Cohen's role is quite small though but nevertheless memorable and entertaining. Alan Rickman is also fine and so is Tim Burton's girlfriend Helena Bonham Carter, who always perfectly fits into his movies and style in particular. So, it's a movie that works out surprising well and I can also recommend it but this doesn't take away I had some problems with the movie its style and main characters. 7/10 Watch trailer
(Review originally written at 7 October 2008) This is actually a quite lame comedy with some extremely childish humor but it all still somewhat works out due to the presence of the legendary Ali G character in it all. Even though this movie has basically nothing to do with the "Da Ali G Show" the character still works out as well in this movie. It's of course a ridicules and outrageous character but he's all the more hilarious because of it. It's obviously a satire on the whole rap and hip hop scene and it's still Sacha Baron Cohen most legendary character, despite the successes he has had with Borat and Brüno. The movie has some very childish humor, which mostly is about sex and it has an almost non-existent story. It's just the kind of movie in which the story really doesn't matter. It's all purely about the main character. Even the lamest and most predictable movie in this movie will still surely make you laugh a couple of times. "Ali G Indahouse" is not the most hilarious movie ever made or the best thing Sacha Baron Cohen has done in his life but it's good enough for a couple of dumb silly laughs. Still the movie gives you the feeling it has more misses than hits in it but jokes are bombarded at you so fast that you just tend to sort of forget the movie its weaker moments and enjoy the movie its more funny moments.
Quite amazing actually that respected actors such as Michael Gambon and Charles Dance appeared in this type of movie. Or perhaps they knew of Ali G's success and just wanted to be a part of it. Still I feel that when looking back at it they won't regard this as their finest moment. Good enough for a couple of dumb laughs. 6/10 Watch trailer
I like a good dumb simple comedy from time to time but I don't really see this as a good and fun enough movie to watch over and over again.
First of all I really like Will Ferrell as a comedian actor. Unfortunately his movies are often of questionable quality and the reason these type of movies still remain watchable is thanks to the very presence of Will Ferrell and often lots of other fine comedy actors, such as also is the case with this movie.
This is just not the greatest made comedy. Of course the movie its story is rather weak and simple but the movie makes the mistake that in its middle part mainly focuses on the more personal and emotional aspect of the character Ricky Bobby. almost as if it starts to take itself too serious, even though the movie keeps its silly comedy style all over it all of the time. If you cut the first part of the movie and you glue it back together with the last part of the movie you'll have one movie and if you cut out the middle part of the movie and release it on its own you'll have a whole other movie. Some characters suddenly disappear in the middle and then suddenly pop up again for the last part of the movie. This is the case with the Sacha Baron Cohen character, who is the main 'villain' and Michael Clarke Duncan.
It remains a technically well made movie though. Also the races themselves are good looking and well captured on camera and brought to the screen. I like this new sort of comedies that are being made this decade. It often are movies with both hits and misses but throughly know to remain perfectly fun and watchable, mostly because of their overall silliness.
Of course "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" is also a silly movie. I mean, just look at the title. It's mostly a movie that will amuse you but not really one that will make you laugh out loud all the time. Also the story and mostly the storytelling prevent this movie from being a true successful comedy.
Thank goodness for the cast, that makes up so much and are the main reason why this movie remains so very amusing to watch. Will Ferrell is good as always, as you would expect and really in his element again, this time as a NASCAR driver. He forms he good comical duo within this movie with John C. Reilly, who had his share of serious roles but seems to feel most at ease within comedies these days. The movie also has some truly great supporting actors such as Gary Cole, Michael Clarke Duncan and Amy Adams among others. Sacha Baron Cohen shows up as the movie its main villain, a French Formula 1 driver who has turned over to NASCAR and becomes Ricky Bobby greatest new sport competitor. Baron Cohen with this movie, perhaps for the very first time, shows that he can really act and he is a great comical talent and he is not just good for playing his characters Ali G, Brüno, and Borat. No wonder that he is a much wanted actor these days and not just only for comedy roles.
Yes it's a watchable amusing movie for on a rainy afternoon when you have nothing else to do. But it's not really a movie I would be anxious about watching again any time soon.
(Review originally written at 19 March 2007) This movie was probably most and the highest criticized from Kazahkstan itself. Unrigthfully so. The movie doesn't make fun of Kazahkstan, it makes fun of Americans, in a criticizing way. Kazahkstan is merely used as a platform to show the (of course exaggerated) contrasts between the advanced and 'civilized' America and the simplistic Kazakhstan and how a simplistic man, from such a simplistic place, such as Borat Sagdiyev (Sacha Baron Cohen) is capable of pinching right through the advanced and civilized Americans and puts his finger right on the spot. The movie is about Borat learning from America and Americans. for the benefits of his country Kazakhstan but the question raises; Shouldn't America and Americans also learn from simplistic countries such as Kazakhstan, for their own good and benefits? Just like in Michael Moore movies often is the case, Borat knows to put his finger on the right place and manages to show America how it really is. An uptight, patriotic, homophobic, God fearing, anti-social country, in which minorities still have a hard time and not all rights are considered equal to some. It's funny, in the interviews it often is not Borat who says the most offensive things, it are the interviewees who do so, such as the rodeo-guy and the frat boys. But no, the movie is not all criticism. For most part it's just a fun and often also hilarious people about making fun of ignorant people. In all honesty it's hard to tell how much of the movie was actually improvised and how much of it was real. Obviously some sequences were scripted such as all the scene's in Kazakhstan and some other sequences will make you really doubt. Some of obviously planned the camera-positions are often too coincidental and also the fact that the movie had an actual professional director attached to it, makes you really wonder. It also is hard to imaging that all those people actually took this silly talking and looking character so seriously as they did in this movie all the time. When a person who wears his underwear above his pants and is talking slang is entering your hotel with a camera-crew following him, wouldn't you crack up, realizing that this just can't be for real? The movie is also edited in such a way that the emotions and reactions get exaggerated. It's also are the reasons why you can't really call this movie a fake documentary or mockumentary. What I loved about the "Da Ali G Show", in which Borat often made an appearance, was that it was improvised, real, often had no point and was all about the responses of the other person on the Sacha Baron Cohen characters. It was fun to see the peoples reactions and how they did respond to the character and its outrageous and often also offensive questions. This movie is overwritten in my opinion. The movie has a main plot line in in, in which Borat falls for non other than Pamela Anderson and makes it his personal mission to find her and marry her. In my opinion the improvising way of traveling through the USA and meeting and interviewing people would had worked way better, in both terms of criticism and humor. Now some parts in the movie feel planned and acted, which is definitely not Borat's strongest point. It also again raises the question of how much of the movie is actually improvised and how much of it was planned, though I definitely believe that most of the interviews and Borat with other people were for real. Ironic, since it was the screenplay that was actually being nominated for an Academy Award. But all this criticism aside, this is a very fun and also often hilarious movie to watch. Some of the situations Borat gets himself into are priceless and the reactions from the ignorant persons are even more hilarious. They often don't know how to cope with this odd talking and looking character from the far away and insignificant country of Kazakhstan. There are a couple of especially memorable sequences, such as when Borat and Azamat wrestle naked in their hotel room, after Azamat's 'hand-feast' and then start running naked through the hotel, elevators and eventually ending up wrestling naked in a convention room with hundreds of people in it. There are a couple of more hilarious and memorable sequences but no one really matches up to that moment, that totally catches you completely off guard. It's all fast paced, which makes sure that you'll probably laugh your way non-stop trough this movie. A perfectly fun and amusing movie that also has some striking criticism, that could had used some less story and perhaps should had been more like the show. 7/10 Watch trailer
