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Reviews
The Lazarus Effect (2015)
Flatliners and Pet Sematary had a baby
It's pretty interesting most of the way through but then ends like the writer got drunk while trying to write a twist ending. It teases like there's going to be some sort of redemption for a character then betrays that idea for no real reason.
All in all, it's one of those movies that you don't mind watching once but have no real desire to see again.
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Saw it at the movies, and when I needed it most..
I suspect I can't add anything that hasn't been said, but I can add two things.
1. My personal experience seeing the movie for the first time
2. Examples of virtues the story beautifully portrays.
I won't spoil the ending, but IMO, any detail about this movie is a spoiler because it's just that good. So read at your own risk.
*Personal:*
This film came out in 94, which was an important year for me. I had just graduated high school with no direction and saw this movie "accidentally." I went to the movies with three friends. We were in line for the movie and couldn't decide on what we wanted to watch, even when we got to the window. One of my friends, frustrated at our indecision, chose "Puppet Masters" with Donald Sutherland and went his way. My other two friends chose Shawshank and I went with them as I could remember seeing a preview on TV and could tell that it was about something positive, though I had no idea what.
I had never been so engrossed in a movie my whole life. Do you know those moments in your life when something special is happening and your mind is 100% in the moment? That's what it was like for me. Like the moment that you are rounding the bases after a home run. You're not thinking about anything else. I was hooked and took the ride.
*Virtues:*
What's good about the movie? Well hope is certainly the biggest message of the movie, but there's more. Think of all the greatest human virtues. They're all in the movie.
Friendship: Andy and Red had the best bromance you could possibly ask for.
Tenacity: "Andy Dufresne, who crawled through a river of s--- and came out clean on the other side."
Purpose: "Prison time is slow time, so you do what you can to keep going. Some fellas collect stamps, others build matchstick houses. Andy built a library. Now he needed a new project. Tommy was it."
Direction/Decisiveness: "Get busy living, or get busy dying."
Salvation: Andy is saved in every way possible. And by doing so, saves others around him also, most of all Red.
Wits: When physically resisting a gang rape doesn't work, Andy goes for psychology: "Sudden serious brain damage causes the victim to bite down hard."
Influence/Wits: Andy provides financial advice for the captain of the guards while simultaneously getting free beer for his prison mates, thereby creating harmony on both sides.
Sincerity: Andy is not a fake, about anything.
Forgiveness: Though never stated, it's obvious that Red and Andy struggle with forgiving themselves for what they've done.
I'm sure there are other examples.
If you haven't seen the movie, watch it in the dark with no distractions. Watch without pausing if possible. Turn off your phone. Take it all in.
I Spit on Your Grave 2 (2013)
Half the movie has great value, the other doesn't. Which is which may surprise you.
For those with a negative review, are you sure you just don't like the overall genre of revenge movies? If you hate the genre, you won't like any movie in this category, so why review it? I wouldn't much care of your opinion on a sports movie if you didn't like sports.
I haven't read all of the negative reviews, but the ones I have label this one "torture porn."
I disagree.
Sexual porn is just about sex. It's just sex from beginning to end with no other point but displaying sex, then more sex. There is no character development. Just primal urges being satisfied over and over. For torture to be porn, it must do the same. It must be nihilistic in nature from beginning to end. It could be argued that this movie does that. I however believe there is some substance here.
I do however concede the idea is simplistic. I have not seen the other installments but the plot is the same:
Woman gets brutally raped and tortured, woman gets brutal revenge.
So why see this one? I saw this movie because I noticed that this one deals with an element the previous installments don't. Human trafficking.
Trafficking is real and most don't take an unflinching look into the experiences of its victims. Even as you are reading this, somebody out there is suffering severely (it's hell o'clock somewhere). This film clearly wants you to experience it.
Other positive reviews have said that the pay off is in the revenge, implying apparently that this eliminates the torture porn aspect (and the hopelessness). Maybe. I admit that I felt that way too. I find it therapeutic to observe a fictionalized revenge when I'm angry at other people. It can be a good release. After thinking on it though, I also realize that the biggest value of the movie is actually in the FIRST half of the movie, NOT the second!
No moral person likes to watch a woman get raped and tortured. But what happens in the first is entirely realistic, the revenge segment isn't. There is no way that Katie could have pulled off what she did in the second half. I believe her physical strength alone would have prevented it (how could she have dragged the fat man so far in her condition?) There are others that I'll not mention in order to not spoil anything. So let's just say that I believe any realistic person would have found several flaws in her technique and planning, even though it was satisfying to watch her take an eye for an eye.
Now for the technicals.
What's good:
1. The makeup. Anybody who suffered looked pretty damn bad. Most was believable, at least to me. A doctor or policeman may disagree though.
2. The victim's overall performance. I have hella respect for Jemma Dallender (Katie) for doing this. She's fully nude and boldly portrays an experience that is every woman's worst nightmare. Many women would be humiliated to even do half the acting she had to do. Jemma, I got mad respect for you. Well done.
3. Aside from the obvious physical suffering, the story includes what in my opinion are the two worst psychological torments of all living beings, betrayal and dread.
I deducted two stars for the following:
1. The actors weren't convincing in their torment. Katie by far did the best job of all those who suffered (especially during the rape), but there were times that her performance in the revenge segment just wasn't believable to me. However whenever she was slamming the lid to the box over and over and screaming psychotically, I really felt that.
As for the guys, their portrayal of suffering just didn't match the punishment being inflicted. If the punishment inflicted was at level ten, they appeared to be suffering at a level four or five. It was like hearing a woman giving birth just say "ouchie."
I can certainly forgive the actors for this though. It's not like Tom Hanks and Morgan Freeman would be jumping to do this movie. Given the reviews of the previous movies, it was almost certainly destined to get low marks.
2. Some of the transitions were too B movie like. It would go black for a moment then go to the next scene. I don't know if the editors were trying to be original or just lazy, but it didn't flow.
In short, see the movie for a reminder of the horrors of trafficking, and if it helps you, enjoy it for the payoff of revenge.