Movie Reviews - Quick catchup

[Paladin]

It's been a while, and a bunch of movies, since I last typed up a review. These will be short, but I want to get something posted to catch up.

The Book of Eli, starring Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis. Directed by The Hughes Brothers

Just got home from seeing this one, and it is an excellent. It's rare that a sci-fi movie actually manages to tell a clear message, and this one does. It also manages a ton of action and some genuine humor. It also nicely balances the shades of gray between what is right and wrong, especially in a world where law is gone and morals give way to survival. I highly recommend this one.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, starring Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, Jude Law, Lily Cole, Vern Troyer, Tom Waits and Christopher Plummer. Directed by Terry Gilliam

This is the film Heath Ledger was working on when he died, but rather than starting from scratch, director Gilliam cast three other big-name actors to play Ledger's part in the dream-world created by Doctor Parnassus. Depp's turn is great, while Jude Law practically blends in with Ledger's performance. Only Colin Farrell's performance didn't fit for me. Lily Cole does a great job with her acting gig (she's been a model for years). It's kind of creepy that she's 20-something playing a 16 year-old pretending to be 12, but hey, in the end it's nice to know she's legal. Vern Troyer ("Mini Me" from Austin Powers) gets an honest to goodness meaty, non-comic relief role, and hits it out of the park. Tom Waits is also great as the Devil. In all, a very good film and very true to Gilliam's style. If you liked "Baron Munchausen", you'll like "Doctor Parnassus".

Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams and Mark Strong. Directed by Guy Ritchie

I've been a big fan of Guy Ritchie's movies ever since "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels[/b], so I was expecting an over-the-top romp through 18th century London with this film. Well, it was over-the-top, and I actually liked Downey and Law as Holmes and Watson. Unfortunately, while the movie manages a fun romp, it completely misses on being a Sherlock Holmes mystery. There's no real mystery. Oh, the "how" is up for some guessing, but the "who" is never in question. The game is afoot with this one, but the foot is sticking out just waiting for Holmes to trip over it. Save it for a rental.

[Paladin]

Daybreakers, starring Ethan Hawke, Willem Defoe and Sam Neill. Directed by Michael and Peter Spierig

In the world of 2019, most of the population is infected with a virus which turns them into vampires. The humans that are left are either hiding and on the run or have already been caught and are kept in blood farms run by the big pharmaceutical corporations, similar to the huge power farms of "The Matrix". This is a movie with a lot of potential, but which fails to deliver on the promise. It's a movie which can't figure out what to do with it's vampires and it fails to deliver the proper sense of scale.

For the vampires, we see early on that these, which I remind you are virus-infected humans, don't have reflections in mirrors. You get the empty suit of clothes effect. But then, they show up on camera just fine. Huh? Pick a myth and stick with it. Oh yeah, they have no heartbeat and don't breath either, yet don't rot. Again, are we dealing with virus-infected humans or soulless undead here? Let's not forget that they are explosively allergic to UV light, supposedly a violent reaction by their blood. It's a strange attempt to explain the nature of vampires that actually manages to create more contradictions than it resolves.

The other problem is the scale of the movie. The world is 95% vampires/5% humans, yet somehow the fact their food supply is about to become extinct seems to go unnoticed by everyone but the phamaceutical company right until the movie starts. And then, in what seems like about a week, society just falls apart as starving vampires mutate into feral creatures. "The Matrix" managed a much more believable world and "Blade" managed more believable vampires. All this movie has going for it is Willem Dafoe, who plays his role with gusto, even though he seems to be playing Dennis Leary for much of it. Add this one to the rental pile, if you bother with it at all.

Avatar, starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez and Stephen Lang. Directed by James Cameron

Not much I can say about this one that hasn't already been said. It's a technically astounding film, even without the 3D, which in my opinion is overhyped. The story is just average, as is the acting. When the humans are playing themselves, the performances are flat. When they play the CG Na'vi, that's when they come to life. This is probably a good thing, because in too many movies the switch from real actors to CGI actors (for action or stunt scenes) tends to come off looking fake. Since just about everything in this movie is CGI to begin with, the immersion isn't broken. I'd love to see this technology applied to a more fun (and interesting) story, such as David Weber's "March Upcountry" book series. Still, it looks like Avatar will be the first of a trilogy. Here's hoping now that James Cameron has the technology down, he'll focus more on getting better performances from his actors and providing a more compelling story.