drew-89 Reviews

Titan A.E. (2000)

A fantastic mature animated film

[2 June 2000]

The makers of Titan A.E. have put heart and soul into the characters on screen for this eagerly awaited animated film. Don Bluth has once again proven that Disney is not the only game in town. I would compare this to The Iron Giant as a film not only children will enjoy but teenagers and adults will have their fun with this film as well. Some parents should be warned that there is a fair share of sci-fi violence and gun play in this film, it's not Bambi by any means. Cale is one of only a hand full of earthlings who have survived an attack from aliens of pure energy that have compleatly destroyed the planet and made humans space refugees. His father was the inventor of a space craft called Titan which holds the key to mankinds survival and the aliens held this as a threat and exterminated man because of it. Cale is the only one, unknowingly, who has the map to find the Titan since his father was killed in the attack. A race against time on all sides is on to find Cale, the map and the Titan. Fantastic computer animation blended with Bluth's characters are a sight to behold and will impress even the most jaded of science fiction fans. This is a highly recomended film, so don't just sit there, get ready for the human race and go see this film!

Mission: Impossible II (2000)

And I thought the first one was bad

[24 May 2000]

I manage a theatre so I see a lot of films for free, so all I have to spend is time. Now I want my time back. It seems at one time there was a good idea going for this film, a hip director and a good screen writer, but something went drastically wrong. This film failed on every level. John Woo's direction seems to be held back by the system that made the film, it has his style but that is all. The plot moves at a snail pace and the action comes in way to late to even begin to make it interesting. Tom Cruise has his "Matrix" on for the fight scenes but in no way did I buy it. It just looked so much like they said lets do a lot of "Matrix" style fighting and it just did not work. Dialog for the most part is horrible and unbelievable. "We just sent a snowball to hell, so lets see if it's got a chance." Please! Goofs abound in this film. Just look at the motorcycle tires during the chase scene, for that matter the cycles themselves go from street bikes to dirt bikes at least four times in that many minutes. So in short do yourself a favor and please do not see this film it will be a huge let down to you and you will want not only you're time back but you're money as well.

Frequency (2000)

And the summer starts off with a bang!

[10/10 · 15 April 2000]

Going into this film I had no idea what the true story line was. Is it a time travel film, is it a sci-fi film or is it a murder mystery? Well it's a little of each of these. Put behind you images of flying Delorians traversing through time and just let the film soak you in it's original story of what if. What if you could change history and bring back the ones you lost long ago. What if that power came with a price. Is it better to leave things as is or if given the chance to change the world you live in would you? These questions and more rise in this film that ask, would you, could you, should you. Dennis Quaid, in one of his best roles, is a fire fighter from New York in 1969. His hobby is ham radio when not rescuing people from near death in the line of duty. His son John is just a child and dreams of being a baseball player when he grows up. But in the realities of life somethings were not meant to be. John grows up and becomes a police officer working on the homicide squad in 1999, and his father never made it out of a burning building in 1969. On October 10th 1969 sun spots rise up the day before the fatal day in the warehouse. 30 years later the same event happens on the same day in 1999. John finds his fathers radio and begins to play with it and finds a man who seems to have the same call letters and last name. The sun spots allow his radio waves to traverse 30 years into the past to his father. He can save his life with the knowledge of the future and have him back in the present. This comes at a deadly price for in 1969 there is a serial killer who preys on nurses. Johns mother is a nurse. Together John and his father must stop this killer from taking more lives in a game of cat and mouse that unfolds, reverses, and progresses over the 30 year gap. Memories disappear and new ones open in there place, people survive and others die. All this leads to a fantastic final battle of old and new.

This really is a film not to be missed. Fans of thrillers, sci-fi and action will all be pleased with this film.

Last Chance (1999)

a very well made film

[14 March 2000]

Just saw this film at the Valley Fest and it was a crowd pleaser. It is a good script and was well acted and directed. I wish only the best for Cranston. His vision was clear and the dialog true to the characters who spoke them. recommended

Mission to Mars (2000)

Can it get any worse than this?

[1/10 · 10 March 2000]

Depalma puts on his Kubrick hat and tries his hand at space and the infinite beyond. This is good but apparently the plot to this film went on another mission and left the crew of this castaway film drifting with no direction. Lots of pretty spaceships float about and cool gear fill this film but the heart of it is as cold as the vast space it occupies. All the while I was just waiting to hear Blue Danube fill the soundtrack. At one time I thought Depalma was a great director but now he has just became a Francis Ford Coppala ala "Jack". What has happened to the talent that these great directors once had? Visionaries in the seventies, demographic whores in the nineties. All signs pointed to this film as being good. Marketing, word of mouth, and press were all very enthusiastic about this film. But it just goes to show what Disney's financial backing of a film can do to drive your advertising over the top. I went into this film with aspirations of trying to relive a moment of my youth, another "Star Wars" moment, if you will. Immediately, I realized that this film was not going to be anything that I expected it to be. Assembled are a good group of actors. Sinise and Robbins, both have proven that they are good actors with critical acclaim. But really, was the rent due this month or what? Why did they choose to be a part of this film? I felt no emotional attachment with any of the characters. Even Robbins and his wife seem distant, as if they had just met that day on the set. Each character has their typical trademark. Sinise, with his sly grin. Robbins, with his patriotic ramblings. Not to mention O'Connell, with his "awe shucks, we're going into space" attitude. Once we have actually reached our destination of Mars, many of the original characters are either gone, or disappear from the film for long periods of time. Characters unravel one mind boggling conundrum after the other without batting an eye. Come on, you're trying to tell me that Jerry O'Connell plays a part in discovering the origins of life?

So in closure, avoid this movie if at possible. But if you, like me are unavoidably attracted to car crashes, or train wrecks, then you might just enjoy seeing the tragedy that has become Brian DePalma's career.

Fight Club (1999)

OH MY GOD!!!

[19 October 1999]

Please see this film. If only one or two films are worth seeing this year, see this and "American Beauty". First rule off fight club is don't talk about fight club, so I will not. I will say however this is the best use of violence in an anti violence film I have seen. The characters are drawn with such depth that I found myself wanting to speak to them as if they existed asking why were they doing this. Brad Pitt once again proves he is more than a pretty face with his demented portrayal of "Tyler Durden", cool and repulsive all at once. Edward Norton is the everyday man trapped in a daily existence of waking up, or not waking up, and going to the same kick in the balls job every day, and wondering if the corn blue table lamp goes with his sofa. This corporate world is flooded with light that gives it the fake look that it is, and Norton finds solice in the dark real world of the fight club. Two men, no guns just beating the hell out each other, removing the pains of a world brought on by society that will not let men be real men. As the club grows so do the fights and homework follows with deadly results. Does life imitate art or does art imitate life? You decide.

The 13th Warrior (1999)

re: 13th warrior

[8/10 · 31 August 1999]

If you enjoy such films as Braveheart then this is a must see film. Wonderful cinemaphotograpy, with good usage of natural light and fantastic night scenes. The ending battle is very thrilling.