Steve_1977 Reviews

The Last Horror Movie (2003)

Genuinely creep horror movie breaking many taboos

[9/10 · 27 November 2005]

May I ask why this movie didn't get more exposure? Why wasn't it ground breaking and why wasn't it peppered with awards? Probably because it was British and wasn't hyped to the gills. When the film began in USA I started to get worried, wasn't this British? When they started acting I was about to stop the movie but thankfully this was the whole set up. They taped over some generic movie and were about to show something that was very real. Thats the beauty of this movie, it presents itself as being very real and truly horrific as we follow a psychopath as he 'does' members of the public to get his kicks. The way he argues his case is very clever to in that he started by killing someone who was miserable in his life - thus he was giving them a service. Very creepy how it plays with our expectations too by omitting various information. For instance when he picks up a boy from school you'r left thinking, he cant be about to kill this young lad surely? Then we find out he's the kids uncle. In the end I thought it would have been better to have a better resolution to this all. Perhaps in the early 80's the notion that someone was watching you as you watched this movie - and then murdered you after watching it, would have been far more creepy and believable on some dirty VHS littered with scratches. But on DVD you'r left yearning for perhaps a vindication that what this person was doing was indeed plain wrong. Perhaps he could have been driving his car and then the police took him out. As it is we find out a little of why he's started video taping his victims but we never really discover anything new. However due to the fact it was very believable and close to the bone I'm prepared to forgive it for the lack of narrative. This film isn't designed to show the repercussions of said acts, instead this is about one simple thing. Horror. It truly is, the ultimate horror movie but the last one? Nearly. Its painful though when you discover that such a fantastic concept barely caused a ripple on the cinematic landscape whilst some generic remake gets all the plaudits.

Hulk (2003)

The Hulk – 13th July 2003 – Most imaginative super hero film ever

[16 May 2004]

Yep, its true. Maybe I'm a sucker for the stylish split screens, or maybe I just like to see the Hulk jumping around canyons. This my friends, is one heck of a movie. Before it came out, most of the talk was about the CGI, namely that of the Hulk. Well, ILM have excelled themselves, in fact, the main player is all CGI and from the first minutes he's on there you sorta forget that. You believe he's a real character and there's lots of genuinely touching moments in this film. Interesting to see that most of the Humans in this movie are angry, adrenaline driven monsters whereas the Hulk is fairly timid. He just wants to get at those people who are attacking the ones he loves the most. A paradox that was evident in the TV show and one that's been successfully replicated in this movie. I loved the use of Split screens too. For once they were used in a movie and they actually made sense. It makes you believe you're watching a real life comic book. When the Hulk first makes his entrance I thought the action scenes were OK but thought maybe Ang Lee nailed the character side of the movie but the action might be sorely lacking. Mid Way through the genuinely terrifying dog scene those fears were quickly dispelled. This guy can do action and take it to the extreme. Anyone worrying that this film would have no humour and be 100% straight as a dye will have their worries dispelled too…from a certain point of view. You see, this is the genius of this film. The humour is in the vein of The Royal Tennenbaums. It doesn't give you a musical cue to laugh, neither does the director throw a joke in your face. The scene where Banner has a table full of food was great. Also the scene where the Hulk is having it out in the desert and we see two army personnel duck. Not to mention the 'he's stole my rocket line' pure fun moments in the heat of battle. Superman The Movie for me is the perfect comic book film, its probably my favourite film of all time and whilst super heroes have been flying onto the big screen recently with an unrelenting ferocity STM is still on that pedestal high in the sky above all those pretenders. The closest are two films I love, Spiderman and the first X-Men. But now Ang Lee and ILM have crafted a film which is so good, its joined STM up there in the 'best super hero ever' movies pedestal that adjourns the comic book skyline. Whilst its not better its not far behind at all. Id prefer to see new movies based on The Hulk that's for sure.

Battle Royale (2000)

Battle Royale – 13th May 2004

[16 May 2004]

Japanese films where they be live action or animation always seem to have a certain quality, a certain quirkiness that makes them appealing no matter what the subject line or whether the main story is any good or not. Battle Royale has a fantastic premise and is very enjoyable. Its very brutal too with these pupils turning on their friends and even the pupils who wanted to create a team to overthrow the army are ruthlessly murdered. Once the film ended though I did have some questions that were thrown up. Firstly, at the beginning we see a girl who has seemingly won the game yet by the end of the film she hasn't won anything instead 3 main characters escape with one passing away. Then the remaining two are on the run for murder. Did she really win the game? Or had she committed some crime to show how bad society had become? Either way it didn't explain it in the film. Secondly, it was hinted upon that the girl who survives has some sort of 6th sense when she has a vision of the teacher being alone, then just after he has an argument with a family member. She also sees him in the forest, but perhaps he was a hallucination?. Again, it was something which made the film seem deeper but it gave no valid reason for this. Sure, we don't have to see a pay off for this but at least give us a reason! Its never mentioned at the end that she has these new abilities whether with dialogue or acting. Thirdly, the pupil who won the game last time suddenly turns on our heros and seemingly wins the game. The army disappears and all that's left is the teacher and its then that the trio turn up for their revenge, all seemingly friends again. Now it appears that he knew what the other pupils had figured out, in that he knew how to stop the army from hearing them. Therefore, wouldn't it have made sense for him to figure it out, or let the others in on the secret? Instead in the film we see the other group figuring it out and then their discovery seemingly disappears with them when they'r killed. Fourthly, what was the deal at the end with the teacher having a fascination with the girl pupil? Was he infatuated with her? Was it his daughter? Was she meant to win? Its never explained. Finally, I could deal with the cheesy way the film pans out, for instance it takes quite a few rounds of lead to kill certain people but it was questioning the viewers intelligence when the teacher seemingly gets shot then gets up to answer the phone…and then collapsing. It was as if the people in the film were looking at the viewer as equally perplexed. Despite all this, I did enjoy the film but it seemed to include things just to make it seem deeper, more intellectual but it gave no reason for this. Were this an Hollywood film, or if it is seemingly re-made then its critical that they do another draft of the script because it clearly needs one. It needs a bit more focus, needs to be tighter otherwise it will get lambasted by the critics and the general public. Perhaps the fact it isn't Hollywood explains peoples lenience on the holes within the film?

Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)

Episode II – Attack of the Clones - Exhilarating!

[16 May 2004]

After what many perceived to be a weak entry in the prequel trilogy of the star wars movies with regards to TPM. Lucas still 'did his own thing' and produced one of the most breathtaking, exhilarating and fantastic star wars films to date. In this film we have already established characters thrust upon the cinema screen once again. The opening scroll is simpler than in TPM, it doesn't require us to think, it just puts us into the right frame of mind to pick up the story. As soon as we see a ship gliding through the foggy clouds we see straight away that something is amiss in the republic. The bright and breezy republic in the previous film seems to be bathed in fog. Difficult to see the dark side is. Lucas said these are silent movies and the visuals tell their own story and it happens a lot in this film, like the Darth Vader silhouette that had no digital tinkering whatsoever . The footage of Anakin with his robes on was basically a mirror image of darth vader but without the helmet. The footage of Padme next to him was strikingly reminiscent of Emperor Palpatine in Return of the Jedi. Absolutely everything in this movie is intriguing, Obi-Wan Kenobi investigates a clone facility on the planet of Kamino. A mysterious Sifo Dyas placed an order for the Clone army based on a template of a Bounty Hunter called Jango Fett. Jango Fett states he was employed by a man called Darth Tryannus. We find a former Jedi, Count Dooku knows all about the corruption in the senate, even if the Jedi arnt yet aware and plans to do something about it. Secretly creating a new order with the goal to build an army powerful enough to fight the Republics army. A republic army which was mysteriously started at the Clone facility even though the Jedi Council were not aware! Confused? No…intrigued? Most definitely. Anakin Skywalker also gets given a sole mission on his own. Its here that the much vaunted love story begins. To be honest, it's a bit choppy and seems rushed. Its not a smooth romance like in The Empire Strikes Back, instead it's a romance which reeks of desperation, as if the characters themselves know about their impending doom and they just want to be as one before the inevitable happens. The deleted scenes on the DVD really should have been implemented within the film. They are gold, with regards to character motivations and shows little glimpses of their affection to each other. Would have made the final, declaration of love scene less jarring. In fact, would have been completely smooth and believable. The final showpiece in this film is the Clone Wars, they begin on a planet called Geonosis and this is where the film gives us a scene so wonderful it just keeps on piling the cherry's on top of the cake. A superb full scale war better than anything in any star wars movie happens, its absolute mayhem and its absolutely brilliant. But it doesent end there, we have not one lightsaber fight, not two, but three. With the third being one of the most memorable of all time. Also, a plot point that culminated in A New Hope makes its entrance here and it left me absolutely gob smacked Basically, this film is everything you would want in a star wars movie. Is it the best star wars film out there? Quite possible, difficult to call. Had George Lucas just gone with the flow and put in the Padme/Anakin deleted scenes plus toned down the over bearing nature of Anakin in the fireplace scene (after reading an earlier draft there's some vocal foreplay at the beginning that would have been great to have in the final movie) then this would have been the best Star Wars film without a doubt. We see intrigue, we see action and we see the galaxy begin to rot away in a very obvious way. The beginning of the end.

Four Stars out of Five.

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)

Episode 1: The Phantom Menace – Review: 11th June 2003

[16 May 2004]

Its 1983 and one of the most visually appealing Star Wars movies ever, has been released. The film is Return of the Jedi. We have some of the best set pieces ever committed to celluloid and we see the culmination of characters we have cared about since 1977. We finally see Anakin Skywalker return to the good side and the galactic war is at an end…many years pass then its announced that George Lucas, will create a whole new trilogy, chronicling the life of Anakin Skywalker and explain just why he turned to the 'dark side'. The release of the star wars trilogy: special edition only increases the expectation for Episode 1: The Phantom Menace and so it begins. The year is 1999 and the movie begins… Does it start off with General Kenobi and Anakin facing off in the Clone Wars? Does George Lucas enthuse it with hard core mythologizing from the start? Do we find out how good Anakin was as a pilot from the very first frame? Nope…George Lucas goes back to basics. Return of the Jedi was the last film where we had an intergalactic war, but this film is essentially about a small planet being attacked by a Greedy trade federation. Doesn't sound too star warsy does it? Well not on the surface. To fully appreciate this movie you have to accept its not going to the rip roaring roller coaster ride that the originals were. By their very nature they were extremely exciting adventures with characters on the run . In this film, we have a peaceful galaxy as opposed to galaxy engulfed in a intergalactic war spanning hundreds of planets, instead its one planet. That of Naboo, which has came under attack from a Trade Federation.

So why start with this planet? Well, Senator Palpatine is the senator from there and as we know, Palpatine, just like Lucas for introducing the films at this unexpected episode is genius for planning ahead. Upon its release, many movie goers attacked Jar Jar what with his bumbling nature he was hardly your typical star wars character and unlike the previous movies, he even had the audacity in acting the fool in the final space battle. But people who let themselves get distracted by this, mis-interpret it and thus, take an instant disliking to the film. But concentrate on what many perceive it to be its flaws and you see that it's the films and overall, the trilogies greatest strength. It shows how even the smallers things can have a bearing on the bigger picture, from a small time senator of Naboo promoted to the ruler of the galaxy and how the Jedi Knights trigger a count down to their own destruction, by taking a young boy away from his mother. George Lucas should be given credit for trying to do things differently and not hanging off the coat tails of his original films. Had we seen a Han Solo character in this movie like many wanted then it would have cheapened the real Han Solo. Likewise, many other circumstances which fans wanted in the movie. Sure, the characters dialogue is more stilted, but this is the Victorian area of the star wars universe (you will notice the dialogue loosens up somewhat in Episode 2). So basically, the galaxy is peaceful but there's a few things rumbling and its these smaller things which will shape every film following it. A great epilogue for the star wars movies and a movie which compliments the other films, as opposed to blatantly copying their style and therefore, robbing them of their originality. 3 Stars out of Five.

X-Men (2000)

X-Men 1 – Review: 11th June 2003

[16 May 2004]

Having never seen a comic book adaptation at the cinema, I settled into my seat and expected a few hours of pretty soul less antics. Many had tried to put one over the greatest comic book movie of all time, Superman The Movie, but where that film had heart, verisimilitude and great effects. Most of the others only seemed to succeed at the 'great effects' part. How this presumption was shattered. Right from the get go it calmly faded in to a World War 2 camp and we see Eric (Magneto) as a child, using his powers. The look of horror on the faces of the army men is subtle, yet brilliant. Then we go to the present day and the film just gets better and better. With Wolverine, we have one of the best movie characters of all time. Hugh Jackman is absolutely superb. Anna Paquin is wonderful too, playing a teenager who's tormented by her changing bodily functions…something everyone can relate to when growing up. Overall, this movie simply kicks ass. I came out of the cinema and it was the first time I had ever left the auditorium and wanted to walk straight back in for the next showing. It was that good! Since the release, many have complained that the action scenes don't really deliver…but the beauty of this film is that first and foremost, it makes you care for the characters. When these are put in the tiniest bit of peril, you want them to succeed. So although the set pieces may not be as hard core as some people had liked. It didn't really need them to be and when you take into consideration that the budget wasn't exactly large, it shows that the director had his priorities right. 5 Stars out of Five!