Although this adaptation of Haggard's book is apparently more faithful to it than the 1982 version (the only other version I've seen so far), it is a much less enjoyable film. "She" doesn't appear until halfway through the film, and she is a beautiful and buxom blonde (Ophélie Winter), but you get the feeling that eternity with her would be boring - I would much rather spend only a normal lifetime with the other major female character, the feisty brunette Roxanne. She is played by Marie Bäumer, who adds the only real spark to the film; her fist-fight with another woman is the first lively scene of a movie that has been, up to that point, boring and meandering. The second half is rendered pointless by an ending that doesn't make much sense, at least in the way it's shown in this version. Not recommended. (*1/2)
3 Reviews
A waste of potential
johannes2000-123 October 2007
Warning: Spoilers
What a waste of money, potential and opportunities!! There's a great story (thanks to Rider Haggard), there's evidently some money to spare (to build the sets and bring in all the extra's), and there's even a handsome hero we can sympathize with. So what went wrong?
Almost everything in this production falls flat. The village of the tribe looks like a shabby camping ground, and the supposedly grand palace of "She" is basically a big empty cave where the production designers crafted a long staircase where all the action takes place. The costumes are plain silly, the "She"-followers wear neatly ironed Egypt-like garments, "She" is dressed in a mesh curtain, and our poor hero has to fight throughout his last scene in an absurd gown that made him look like a hospital patient that escaped from the operating-table.
The biggest disappointment however is "She" herself. She should be the center of the story and the movie, and for more than an hour we go through this built-up suspense and anticipation, like we are going to meet an awesome mixture of a terrifying She-Devil and Helen of Troy. What we get however is someone who looks like a peroxide blond secretary with no charisma whatsoever. Sure, she drops her dress now and then and shows a slender body that could star in an add for shower-soap, but for the rest she talks, acts and looks like a high school girl dressed-up for the prom in her mothers evening-gown.
I must say that I had a soft spot for Ian Duncan as the young and dashing leading man, because he is very handsome with a winning smile and a great physique. His acting was by comparison fair enough and his athletic skills gave the movie at least some of the intended adventurous action. The only other decent acting came from old school actor Edward Hardwick, and from Marie Baümer, the love interest of the hero, but alas they still had this below-average script to work with and all these lame lines to say, so even they couldn't rescue this second rate vehicle.
Surprisingly enough there was one aspect in the movie that DID work: the fighting scenes. They are fast paced, well choreographed and pretty convincing, so this sadly added up to the frustration that this production could have been so much more with a better script and (much) more money.
All in all, I rank it 4 out of 10 (and a 10 for the looks of Ian Duncan!).
Almost everything in this production falls flat. The village of the tribe looks like a shabby camping ground, and the supposedly grand palace of "She" is basically a big empty cave where the production designers crafted a long staircase where all the action takes place. The costumes are plain silly, the "She"-followers wear neatly ironed Egypt-like garments, "She" is dressed in a mesh curtain, and our poor hero has to fight throughout his last scene in an absurd gown that made him look like a hospital patient that escaped from the operating-table.
The biggest disappointment however is "She" herself. She should be the center of the story and the movie, and for more than an hour we go through this built-up suspense and anticipation, like we are going to meet an awesome mixture of a terrifying She-Devil and Helen of Troy. What we get however is someone who looks like a peroxide blond secretary with no charisma whatsoever. Sure, she drops her dress now and then and shows a slender body that could star in an add for shower-soap, but for the rest she talks, acts and looks like a high school girl dressed-up for the prom in her mothers evening-gown.
I must say that I had a soft spot for Ian Duncan as the young and dashing leading man, because he is very handsome with a winning smile and a great physique. His acting was by comparison fair enough and his athletic skills gave the movie at least some of the intended adventurous action. The only other decent acting came from old school actor Edward Hardwick, and from Marie Baümer, the love interest of the hero, but alas they still had this below-average script to work with and all these lame lines to say, so even they couldn't rescue this second rate vehicle.
Surprisingly enough there was one aspect in the movie that DID work: the fighting scenes. They are fast paced, well choreographed and pretty convincing, so this sadly added up to the frustration that this production could have been so much more with a better script and (much) more money.
All in all, I rank it 4 out of 10 (and a 10 for the looks of Ian Duncan!).
Re-heated banquet leftovers
wellsangel28 February 2006
The greatest shame in this film is that it is taken from outstanding source material, and doesn't even come close to living up to its breeding. This is mostly because Hollywood audiences can't be counted on to be English Lit and History buffs, nor to have a working knowledge of Greek, Latin and Arabic. What remains is a weak, improbable adventure tale that relies on over-exposition, swagger and sex, those great movie mainstays. Filming is somewhat reminiscent of campy 1970's schlock sci-fi.
"She", "Ayesha" and the prequel "Allan (Quartermain) and She" are, in fact, the stuff of which Indiana Jones was a pale and Americanized Everyman version. Haggard's novels are worth an epic cinematographic gesture, a la Peter Jackson, but this, the ninth attempt, isn't it.
Three flaming mummies out of ten for persistence, though, and some fun scenes.
"She", "Ayesha" and the prequel "Allan (Quartermain) and She" are, in fact, the stuff of which Indiana Jones was a pale and Americanized Everyman version. Haggard's novels are worth an epic cinematographic gesture, a la Peter Jackson, but this, the ninth attempt, isn't it.
Three flaming mummies out of ten for persistence, though, and some fun scenes.
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