Saturday, June 25, 2011

Green Lantern

I have had issues with movies based on comic books and graphic novels for some time. Neither translate to movies smoothly, but some turn out OK, at least comic books can. Green Lantern is based on a beloved, long-running comic book, but you couldn't tell based on the movie. It's very cliched, rather disjointed and kind of pro forma - it's supposed to be a big action-hero movie, and it is, but it's not very engaging.

1:44

Monday, June 20, 2011

Super 8

Well, there was a lot of running in Super 8, but not as much as I would expect in a JJ Abrams movie. Super 8 unfurls in a leisurely fashion, introducing the characters and situation slowly. I read that Abrams was trying for the feeling of an early Steven Spielberg movie and he succeeded, to a point.

Super 8 has received a lot of buzz - or maybe hype - but it's not a big movie. The train crash was ridiculously complicated yet non-fatal and the way the thing in the train behaved was inconsistent. No, Super 8 is a just decent little movie. The characters were nice, the acting was good and the movie is an adequate way to spend a hundred minutes, but it's not a movie for the ages and it won't be on the list of 2011's top popcorn movies.

1:44

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Pre-impression of Super 8

I'm off to see Super 8 shortly. I predict a lot of running. Yep, running.

Super 8 was directed by JJ Abrams and if he has one trademark, it's running. He used it in his previous movies Mission: Impossible III* and Star Trek, and on his TV shows Alias, Lost and for all I know, Felicity. Extended, occasionally unnecessary tracking shots of people running in profile. While Jennifer Garner always looked good running for her life on Alias, the rest of the examples are somewhat mixed in effectiveness.

I predict running.

* Don't get me started on why the modern Mission: Impossible movies have nothing in common with the original TV series. For your own good, don't get me started.