scootser-1 Reviews

Death Race (2008)

Best action in years

[8/10 · 15 March 2009]

First of all I have to confess that I'm a major video game freak and it might have something to do with why I like Death Race so much. The plot in two lines (filler plot in brackets): (Jason Statham is framed by someone for killing his wife and is sent to prison) where he is forced to participate in a vehicular race using highly modified and armed classic cars (by the prison's warden who is an evil woman with issues).

As you might have already guessed, Death Race's concept isn't the most complex. This, however, doesn't matter. Whatever little story there is is taken care of quickly and about 80% of the movie consists of cool killing machines driving fast and using inventive weaponry and tactics to get rid of their competition.

IMDb's trivia on Death Race says that each car cost 250k$-300k$ to modify and it shows. All of the modifications look real and functional and you can't shake the feeling that you are watching Carmageddon the movie. The look and sound of Gatling guns going off and heavy armor taking the punch seem real and spectacular at the same time which is a really good combination. The single most impressive thing in the movie is definitely the huge wagon called Dreadnought which is armed with a harpoon-like weapon and artillery cannons.

Vehicles are not the only part of the movie that looks great. The tracks are well designed and the scenery is gritty and almost otherworldly. Factories and rust all over the place kept reminding me of the Unreal and Blade Runner universes.

There is not much to say about acting except that it's good enough. Statham pretty much plays what he usually does and Joan Allen plays the heartless witch part well. Ian McShane acts the best of the bunch and makes his minor part memorable.

Death Race is so packed with action that I can understand why some people will not like it but if you find yourself often playing games of the racing or action genre then you should give it a shot.

Faintheart (2008)

Half adult, half child

[7/10 · 28 February 2009]

Knowing nothing about Faintheart before watching it I was fooled by the opening sequence where two armies were preparing for battle so imagine my surprise when a cell rang and the scene was revealed to be a re- enactment in modern world. After that I was excited to see what the movie has to offer because it had never occurred to me before that there are no comedies about Live Action Role Playing and anyone who is familiar with that hobby knows that it is a goldmine of hilarity.

Faintheart indeed takes great advantage of its unique setting and shows us how imaginative people have to be to be able to enjoy dressing themselves up as knights or mages and swinging a sword made of plastic. However, at about 70% into the movie they seem to have run out of funny scenarios and choose to close the show by introducing clichés that we have seen so many times before.

The main male cast consists of Ewen Bremner and Steve Ryland who i hadn't heard of before but after looking them up on IMDb I was surprised at how many movies I had seen without noticing them. The female lead is Jessica Hynes from the amazing series "Spaced" looking better than ever. It was interesting to see her act in a role that requires a somewhat more serious approach but she pulls it off quite well.

Overall Faintheart is an enjoyable piece of British cinema and if I had kids I would make sure they saw this movie.

V2 - jäätynyt enkeli (2007)

Small Town Politics

[7/10 · 9 February 2009]

Vares 2 returns to follow another comical investigation conducted by a private investigator Jussi Vares. This time he is called to investigate an unsolved murder by the victim's main suspect who claims he is innocent and wants to clear his reputation so he can get a business loan. Even with no real leads to go on, Vares manages to get himself deep into the small town's bizarre underground and find out all its dirty secrets.

Characters and their dialogue are well written with no inconsistencies which is pretty surprising as the plot is full of holes. The direction and cinematography in Vares 2 are solid. I love movies portraying small towns as they are. In this case Pori was shown as a sunny, comfortable place where nothing happens and if you have ever been there then you know that that's exactly how it is. The editing, however, is sloppy, unnecessarily flashy and annoying. Scene transitions are handled badly and feel like the work of a second year student of a film college.

This is by no means Grosse Pointe Blank or Snatch but on its own Vares 2 is a decent way to spend an hour and a half. Do yourself a favor and don't take the story too seriously as it doesn't hold up well when looked at closely.

12 Angry Men (1957)

An ignorant take on this classic

[9/10 · 3 November 2008]

I was born more than 40 years after the release of 12 Angry men so I'm from a different generation than the crowd that first saw it. I only know Lumet by his new films and I think this is the first film I've seen Henry Fonda act in. This is why I could watch this movie unbiased and without prejudice.

12 Angry Men is one of those rare movies that would not benefit from modern cinematography or acting. It is perfect as it is. Obviously the movie is this great because of its screenplay but all the technical aspects of it were at least on par with it so I had a really hard time guessing what decade the film was made. In my opinion what determines a movie's timelessness is its rewatchability and the ability to attract new viewers from new generations. 12 Angry Men definitely has both of these characteristics.

Max Payne (2008)

Uneven but entertaining

[7/10 · 20 October 2008]

When I went into the cinema I wasn't expecting a grand story because I didn't care much for the game's plot either. What I expected were stylized gun scenes and eerie scenery. I was surprised when I realized they went in the other direction and created their own plot which sadly left out many memorable scenes such as the subway massacre and the playground. They also added three years between Max's vendetta taking place and his tragedy which made the character a lot less menacing. The first half an hour of Max Payne is admittedly a mess. The starting point is way off and the plot goes places as if no one knew what they were doing. After the mentioned half an hour however the plot becomes a lot more coherent and the action starts.

Mark Wahlberg certainly looks the part of Max but he doesn't always act like him which is because he has never played the game. On multiple occasions his voice doesn't show the deep hurt he is supposed to have. One obvious miscast was Mila Kunis as Max's partner Mona mostly because her acting felt like watching a school play. All others do a decent job but then again they don't get a lot of screen time.

Most of the scenery is copied straight from the game complete with floating snow and high rises. Sometimes it works and sometimes it feels a little forced. The scenes inside the Aesir company are beautiful to look at and exactly as I imagined they would look like. I for one loved the Valkyrie and fire and brimstone scenes even though there was nothing like them in the game. I have seen some complaints about how slow motion or bullet time was used in the movie but in my opinion it was implemented in the best possible way. Fighting scenes were well shot with red color flashing when Max got hit.

The plot has some leaps of logic and the side plot with Lupino didn't seem to have much to do with the main story. However, I think it is much stronger as a movie than the game's story would have been. The ending is definitely very Max Payneish and anyone who wants to see the film because he has played the game won't be disappointed.

Conan the Destroyer (1984)

Not the Barbarian

[6/10 · 18 October 2008]

Conan the Barbarian was and is one of the best movies of the eighties. Sadly, the successor does not live up to it. With the change of the director and the cinematographer the gritty look and incredible combats that made the first movie were replaced with a bright set and uninteresting brawls that come out of nowhere.

The serious philosophical side of the Barbarian is gone and instead they gave us a comical side complete with one liners, sidekicks and, of course, Arnie having revenge on the camel. While in the first movie you had such great characters as Thulsa Doom and Valeria, who you truly cared about, here we have an annoying princess called Jehnma who makes you wish the bad guys would succeed in their mission.

On its own Conan the Destroyed is a decent action movie but compared to the masterpiece that was Conan the Barbarian it is not even worth watching.

Conan the Barbarian (1982)

Heads roll

[8/10 · 18 October 2008]

Filled with gore and nudity, Conan the Barbarian captures the spirit of Conan perfectly. Schwartznegger shines in his role of a crude man out for revenge and I cannot imagine anyone else performing the same role. His acting even pulls some emotional strings which is very unusual from him. Even with some corny and outdated special effects this film is extremely beautiful to look at. Conan riding through the steppe in a fantasy setting has something that not many movies have been able to top.

The plot is solid and clear. Even though it is basically a straight forward tale of revenge, the plot incorporates many unusual turns of events and does not hide the barbarity of the character or the world that he lives in. Supporting characters are really well fleshed out and you come to care about them instead of wishing to see them die in a spectacular manner. The only real downside of Conan is poor dubbing. None of the lines said on screen fit the characters' mouth movement perfectly which gives the film a somewhat campy form.

I do not understand why Conan the Barbarian has only 6.7 rating on IMDb since it cannot be boring to anyone and it is certainly seen in good light by the more attentive film goers. This is easily one of the best movies of the 80s and deserves whatever praise it gets. If you haven't seen this classic already I recommend you see it before you die.

Collateral Damage (2002)

Schwartznegger's most realistic

[5/10 · 16 October 2008]

This is one of (if not the) last Arnold vehicles. The plot is using the standard 80s action formula. Our hero's family gets slain by terrorists and enraged he goes after the bad guys. What makes Collateral Damage stand out from most of the other action movies is its realism. There are no over the top stunts or mowing down hordes of enemies with a high caliber machine gun. Instead Schwartznegger is acting his age as a 50-plus fireman who uses his skills realistically. All of the fighting scenes are extensive and well choreographed so the hero doesn't come off as having superpowers or fighting experience. Character development leaves much to be desired as all side characters are literally cardboard cut-outs which again is an attribute copied straight from the 80s. Towards the end the plot gets really absurd with many unnecessary twists that really do not belong and could have easily been removed in editing. If you have nothing new to watch or if you want to see all Schwartznegger's movies then give Collateral Damage a shot. However, if your time is limited and you have a variety of movies to choose from then skip this and watch something else instead.

The New World (2005)

Cinematic Poetry

[10/10 · 18 January 2007]

Terrence Malick, the director of The New World, is known for not rushing his projects and concentrating on the quality and the details. As a result he has directed only four motion pictures over his 30-year career but each one of them has with time gathered a loyal and strong following.

Starring Colin Farrell (Phone Booth, Alexander), Christian Bale (Equilibrium) and the young actress Q'Orianka Kilcher, The New World tells the well-known story of Pocahontas. British settlers arrive in Virginia to establish a colony called Jamestown. Relatively soon they run into troubles with their food supplies and the natives and decide to send Captain Smith to a nearby village to try to negotiate a trade agreement. While in the village Smith and the youngest daughter of the chief, Pocahontas, fall in love despite the chief's caveat. Soon after Smith's return to Jamestown, he is sent on a faraway mission, leaving Pocahontas alone. After a while John Rolfe arrives and also falls in love with her. In the end Q'Orianka, as well as the viewer, is torn between the loves of these two equally respectable men.

Everything about The New World is extraordinary. One can see that it was filmed with great passion, dedication and pure artistic interest. The direction of the movie is not completely clear and unambiguous. Some short parts of the otherwise continuous script are skipped and replaced with genuinely alluring shots of nature. The actors' first-rate performances reinforced with the aesthetic direction, careful editing and the cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki (Children of Men, Y Tu Mamá También) truly bring the characters to life and you feel their emotions as well as your own. Parts of the film are narrated by the three leads. The narration differs from conventional in such that it does not work as a plot device but rather comprises deep and profound dictums describing the characters' emotional state. One of the greatest technical achievements of this film is that contrary to other films, in which the music is edited to fit the scenes, the music was mixed first and then the scenes were cut to fit the score. The soundtrack is mostly classical music including the ingenious "Das Rheingold" by Richard Wagner. The scenery is mostly pure untouched nature but they also built a copy of Jamestown, canoes, natives' shacks and a lot of other props; all real and out of authentic material. This goes to show just how much affection and love was put into The New World.

Audiences and critics are much divided by this film. This is most likely because The New World requires a lot of attention and if you are not used to sitting in a chair staring intensely at the screen for more than two hours you will not get much out of it. The New World may have not received the Academy Award it deserved nor was it a big hit at the box office but everyone involved in making of this film should be proud for they have proved that motion pictures can be art too.