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jmacdavidson
Reviews
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 (2014)
Is there such thing as a set-up movie?
I had never heard the term "set-up movie" before today. There has definitely been a trend of splitting up a story into multiple movies. These movies don't have a beginning-middle-end the same way other movies do but at the very least there's some progress.
The problem with the Mockingjay Pt 1 is not that it's boring or poorly made. In fact, there is a lot of excitement in this movie. The problem is that from beginning to end there is hardly anything that changes. If you look at where the characters are in the beginning and where they are in the end there isn't much that's changed except for what happens in the very end. Katniss has been doing things but we haven't seen much of the effects of her actions.
I didn't dislike this movie that much despite it's slow beginning. I just can't give this my seal of approval when I left the theater feeling like I saw half a movie. By the time the story gets its payoff my memory of this movie will be worn-off.
Unbreakable (2000)
a cheesy superhero movie that pretends to be interesting
I've heard many people say that this is very subtle. It isn't. It's boring. This movie is actually very straight to the point even though it doesn't feel that way. It takes very long to say something very simple. We don't need to listen to a baby cry for 10 minutes just for someone to straight up say the babies bones are broken. This movie takes a while for David to realize his powers, which we assume he's had all along. Because of this we're expected to believe that David has never noticed he hasn't been sick. He even checks with his boss just in case that he had forgot about being sick. We are also expected to believe he has never before maxed out on his bench press. Once he is convinced about his obvious superhero abilities he uses his "bad guy detector" powers to save a family from a murderer. After the clumsiest action scene ever, David returns home and reaffirms his son's suspicions by showing him the newspaper story of what he did. Huge spoiler alert. David discovers that Elijah, whom I haven't talked about, was causing the disasters he was researching in order to discover a superhero for whom he can be the supervillain. Just when you think we're supposed to accept this, The only rational thing that happens in the movie is said in text as the movie ends that Elijah was put into an insane asylum.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
How can you review 1/3 of a movie?
I gave this a five just because I won't know what to think until the trilogy is completed. This movie doesn't even try to stand on it's own. The movie ends on a cliffhanger and hardly apologizes for it. Nothing is resolved. To contrast with the 2nd installment in the Lord of The Rings Trilogy, "The Two Towers" ends with the victory at Helm's Deep as well as Frodo and Sam escaping Gondor and the Nazgul to continue into the next chapter of their journey. The story's not over, but there is some resolution. That's what I was somewhat expecting out of this movie. What's worse is it's obvious what's going to happen in the next movie because they already set it up in this movie. The more time there is to speculate whether or not our redemption story human (forgot his name) will hit his mark with the black arrow the less suspenseful it will be.
Now that the ending is out of the way, this movie was enjoyable although it suffers from slow pacing. although not as badly as the first one. Some scenes would have been really good if they were just cut shorter. The barrel scene could have been cut in half and be just as funny and action packed. Legolas's role extends far beyond a cameo. There is a unnecessary love triangle between Legolas, an Elf girl, and a dwarf (forgot their names). Gandalf's journeys are pretty interesting for the most part and are what gets me most excited to see the third movie. Again it's hard to say what's good about this movie because if the final part in the trilogy isn't good it will all be for naught.
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013)
wasn't bad but wasn't good
Why didn't I love this movie? It's not because it lacked in laughs or that the laughs were merely chuckles. It's because every hilarious scene has one or two moments where you just put your head in your palm and say "Why did they leave that in?" Some of the most hilarious scenes were nullified by 5 seconds of sheer stupidity. This movie has more of a plot than its predecessor. As much as I am a fan of plot, I didn't think this movie needed one. I thought the jumpiness and the blown out of proportion situations in the first movie was one of the reasons the first movie was so funny. The characters in this movie outside of the San Diego news team aren't nearly as odd as the last movie. The only thing new that seemed to be an improvement of the last movie was Kristen Wiig's character. Overall I might see it one more time when it comes out on DVD, and I'll probably quote some of the funnier scenes.