christopher-45 Reviews

Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004)

Better then the first one.

[8/10 · 10 October 2004]

Milla kicks zombie butt again, and does it harder. REA is bigger badder and more fun then RE, OK the script was pretty dire, and the quality of the acting the same, the zombies still look the same as in RE for scariness but Milla's Alice is now a gun toting action woman with an attitude who you don't mess with-especially if your a zombie.

Wheather they'll be a third episode of the franchise is anyones guess, but if they do do it, then it would be nice to have Sienna Guillory's character back as a counter to Milla's Alice. Fast paced lively and dosn't challenge your mind. 8 out of ten.

Just on a nitpicking point how many of you saw the same zombies being repeatably killed in different shots as they slowly plodded towards the STAR police line.

Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004)

Better then the first one.

[8/10 · 10 October 2004]

Milla kicks zombie butt again, and does it harder. REA is bigger badder and more fun then RE, OK the script was pretty dire, and the quality of the acting the same, the zombies still look the same as in RE for scariness but Milla's Alice is now a gun toting action woman with an attitude who you don't mess with-especially if your a zombie.

Whether they'll be a third episode of the franchise is anyone's guess, but if they do do it, then it would be nice to have Sienna Guillory's character back as a counter to Milla's Alice. Fast paced lively and doesn't challenge your mind. 8 out of ten.

Just on a nitpicking point how many of you saw the same zombies being repeatedly killed in different shots as they slowly plodded towards the STAR police line.

Chain Reaction (1996)

Boom

[8/10 · 8 September 2003]

An interesting movie thats good fun and highly enjoyable. With a good cast, impressive locations, and terrific explosions at the beginning and at the climax. I have it on DVD and each time Ive seen it I enjoy it as much as the first time I watched it.

I give it 8 out of 10.

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)

Crash, bang, wallop, BOOM, but somethings missing.

[8/10 · 3 August 2003]

After a gap of over 10 years I was a bit hesitant about watching the third part of the story, and left the theatre with mixed emotions, as although good with a stunning main chase sequence something was missing in T3, and it was the darkness and hard edge of T1 and T2 that Cameron produced.

It was strange not seeing Linda Hamilton, and her character dieing of leukaemia and then cremation tangent to remove her character just somehow didn't sound right considering what a strong character she'd developed into in T2.

Big Arnie was as awesome on screen as only he can be, but he's starting to look his age, and at times I got the feeling he was playing his character for laughs, and with clinches going back to T1 and T2. But, why didn't he kill anyone besides the TX, he is after all a terminator? I hope it isn't due to south California PC attitudes getting into the movies. Plus with a possible nuclear war coming the story wasn't as stressful and dark as it should have been.

Beautiful Kristanna Loken was very efficient as the unfeeling TX, but she's not as cold as Robert Patrick was in T2, but she was one ice maiden as emotionless and as ruthless given that T3 has a different feel to T2.

Nick Stahl although a bit whiney at the start, and Claire Danes in a very ballsey role grew into their respective characters, and if T4 to finish the story off gets made before Arnie gets to old they can develop and mature their characters.

On a lighter note it was nice to see Earl Boen again although like Arnie he's now showing his age, but it was a case of blink and you'd miss his small part.

As for 'Skynet' I hope more of how it works is explained in T4, as we only got a taste of the nature of the chief villain.

In conclusion, I personally think to long has passed between T2 and T3, and if Cameron isn't going to direct T4, I hope Jonathan Mostow gives T4 the cold dark edge of T1 and T2 to get back some lost ground.

I give T3 8 out of 10 for the great stunts and a good foundation for the final movie.

The Matrix Reloaded (2003)

A little confusing but SO cool

[9/10 · 25 May 2003]

Matrix Reloaded re-introduces the story's principal characters, and introduces more supporting characters, and expands the story by introducing the city of Zion.

The party at Zion looked out of place, but for the rest of the movie it had great action sequences, with especially the car chase, tragedy, and a nice slight touch of black comedy provided by Hugo Weaving character Agent Smith, the outfits of the principal and supporting characters were terrific and, it was just SO cool. But it had two strange dialogue exchanges in two key scenes, which require a second viewing to understand what was being said, and WHY it was being said in the story.

However, Matrix Reloaded succeeds in setting the stage for the finale by its hanging finish. In conclusion, 9 out of 10 for shear entertainment value and money well spent.

Zulu Dawn (1979)

ZUUULUUUUUUUUUU

[6/10 · 5 May 2003]

An impressive recreation of the events leading up to and of the battle of Isandlwana. The cast quality was first class, but the film jumped about from British to Zulu camps and back again to much, and some more footage of the Zulu rulers and their decisions would have been nice.

As it is the film gave a fairly balanced account of both sides. The actual battle scenes were very impressive but given the area at Isandlwana were not as tightly shot as in Zulu nor as good, and thus the same atmosphere just wasn't there, with scenes jumping around, and you could not relate to the individual characters as much as in Zulu, as they were on and off screen to quickly.

The Zulu charge though was frightening, and you felt for the soldiers who had to meet it. In short, not as good as the original, and with some mistakes in the British weapons and some equipment, but a very good introduction to Zulu if you were to see both movies back to back.

Fortress 2: Re-Entry (2000)

What happened to the wife.

[3/10 · 2 May 2003]

What a difference a film makes. The first Fortress was quality; the sequel was a world apart. Rotten script, poor sets, so so acting and one dimensional supporting characters, even if Liz May Brice was very pleasing on the eye, which only served to verify how much on the cheap Fortress 2 was done compared to Fortress.

Plus Christopher Lambert fails to have noticed that his wife played in the original by Loryn Locklin was replaced by Beth Touissant, which explains why she only had 2 scenes.

The models were good though, and you have to give the makers credit for their cheek in Brennick's space walk without a space suit.

The luckiest cast member however was Arnita Swanson as Combs, who rightly saw what a stinker this movie was and decided to literately jump ship.

Armageddon (1998)

And not a dirty vest in site.

[20 January 2003]

Spectacular flash bang great entertainment, with wonderful views of space, alright it had a LOT of scientific mistakes, but come on everyone its just a movie and not real life. Bruce, Liv and Ben were great, the rest of the supporting cast enjoyed themselves and the always watchable Steve Buscemi as always had the best lines. Mention must also go to Swedish actor Peter Stormare as Russian Cosmonaut Lev Andropov, as he had great fun with his role characters accent.

A special mention must also go to those two all important and ubiquitous items in any American blockbuster action movie, the digital countdown clock, and the GO GO GO line in the script, which sadly never make it to the credits.

Independence Day (1996)

Watch out aliens here come the yanks!

[23 November 2002]

Spectacular, and pretentious flag waving rubbish. With America saving the world...again. To bad the aliens didn't zap Hollywood, then the world wouldn't have to put up with such over blown rubbish like this which was full of American stereo types from central casting, and which was clearly made for acne faced American teenagers, and red necks.

Men in Black II (2002)

Tries very hard

[5/10 · 10 August 2002]

MIB 2 was not as sharp as the original, but then very few sequels are.

The fault lies not with the cast, as both Will Smith and Tommy Lee are top line actors, as are the supporting cast, but with the script writers, who wanted to capture the original formular, but I found the script wasn't as sharp as the original MIB, and the story seemed to rely to much on the alien special effects to support it.

That said there were a few moments that made me laugh, with the worms being the best alien characters. The talking dog though was just irritating after a few minutes.

If you liked the original, you will love this, if you didn't then the film is entertaining, but lacks the spark of the original.

Resident Evil (2002)

Better then I expected

[6/10 · 28 July 2002]

Having never played the game myself, I didn't quite know what the film would be like, but I quite enjoyed it. Milla Jovovich apart from being beautiful is now the holder of the Sigourney Weaver title of female bad guy ass kicker, and she dominates the sceen when ever she is on it as I couldn't take my eyes off her, and Michelle Rodriguez as the fiesty Rain was using her trade mark pout to maximum effect.

On the negative side, the Zombies just were just not scary, and Ive seen better horror makeup in other films, one zombie I noticed was trying very hard not to laugh, and the sceen in the tunnel gave me the feeling the zombie gang, were all waiting off sceen ready for the director to say go before they all joined the shot. The laser guard was good, and its special gory effects was good but the final laser victim of the traditional black man victim death was a waste of the best of the supporting characters, and was to brief to be really shocking, but this was understandable given the films British 15 certificate. The zombie dogs though were good, and even gave me at 45 years old a start, and the way Milla took care of them, was in tune with the films source for action, well done Milla.

As for the super baddie licker dog, it was all a bit fast in the train to get a real good look at it, but it gave off enough evil intent to be the best of the baddies.

The ending sceen was really good, but before that who was the person walking across the screen before Milla escapes from the hospital, one of the crew? The final panoramic sceen sets the tone nicely for a sequel that I'll probably be going to see.

Verdict, just enough gore, a reasonable adherance to the game play, and the lovely Milla Jovovich, showing lots of flesh and kicking zombie ass.

The Time Machine (2002)

What a waste of time

[4/10 · 1 June 2002]

Apart from the special effects with the geological changes being the most impressive, what a waste of time the movie was.

To many open ended items, like why didn't he go back a third time to try to save Emma. And before he gets to 800,000 A.D. he only does one stop, instead of three in the original movie so no sense of change.

A couple of nice touches from the original 1960's movie, but the movie gets lost long before Jeremy Irons appears, what WAS his characters function about. Mumba looks pretty and is effective but is just a reason for the hero to go through the heroic numbers in a typical Hollywood action packed light show final.

Even the ending was left you hanging. Don't go and see the movie if you have seen the original and want to compare it, you will be disappointed.

Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)

The Force is Strong with this one.

[10/10 · 19 May 2002]

The developing story lines are now bridging the gap from The Phantom Menace to A New Hope, and I'll be giving Attack of the Clones a second viewing.

No matter what the critics say about it I thought it was spectacular entertainment, and a fabulous roller-coaster ride, and all the while like the other Star Wars movies it still remains essentially a people story, of friendship, commitment, love, honour and fortitude in the face of adversary. Star Wars is now truly a classic movie saga that will be enjoyed by people of all ages in the years to come.

Oh how I just wish the galactic society of the Star Wars saga was for real.

Well done George, your back on track, looking forward to on Episode 3.

Red Planet (2000)

A nice idea, but I hated the dog.

[24 February 2002]

Red Planet is the second of the 2 films about Mars that was made in 2000, on a technological level it is better then Mission to Mars, but the idea that a native moss eating giant aphid can exist on Mars was just the plain old Hollywood monster, as was the mechanical dog.

The story minus the two villians of the film was belivable with the novel twist of there being air on Mars. The romantic aspirations between Val Hammer and Carrie-Ann-Moss hardly gets going before our intrepid heros reach Mars for the usual highlights and dangers.

The Martian landscape though was superb, full marks the the production crew, the escape in the Russian sample rocket is good, as is the overall special effects, including the nice touch with Soujouner. But I felt the cast didn't have much of an opportunity to develop their characters as much as I would have liked.

Of the two Mars films this was the most visually impressive and not a 'Face' in site, but was let down by taking some libertys with real facts about Mars.

Zulu (1964)

"Because were here lad, and their's nobody else"

[10/10 · 24 December 2001]

I first saw Zulu when I was 8-Im now 45, and even today the scene when the troops start singing Men of Harlech before the final Zulu charge still gets to me. A wonderful all action movie with an excellent top-notch cast, and the intelligence to show the Zulu's as the proud warrior nation they are, and their soldiers every bit as disciplined as the British Red Coats. Even if some of the most famous scenes in the movie never happened like the above, the way Zulu was made made it look like it really happened as the film portrayed.

Beautifully shot with a breathtaking landscape, and not an American in site.

The courage and fortitude of the ordinary British soldier of the day of that period shows why the Empire was able to last as long as it did, in short, John Bull in uniform.

My favourite character after the favourite Hookie must be Colour Sergeant Bourne, if any one looks like a Victorian British Army Sergeant in a movie, it has to be him.

The Final Countdown (1980)

What if it happened, what if he did.

[9/10 · 19 November 2001]

An interesting workmanlike scifi movie, with a clever script and a solid supporting case.

As it has been over 20 years since I first saw it, it is one of those rare film that have aged very well, and still comes across as nice and fresh.

The principle cast members all seem to have immensely enjoying there roles, as did the ships crew bit part cast members, and the film music's main theme was one of those tunes you find yourself humming after the film is over.

An unusual film to say the least, and I particually liked the nice and gentle endnig to the film, and thought it was a lovely touch.

Mission to Mars (2000)

Not 2001 but a nice movie.

[10/10 · 23 October 2001]

Mission to Mars despite its panning is an enjoyable movie, and even though it isn't in the same class as 2001, its central story line is just as thought provoking, in that it just might be real.

The space special effects were impressive, and the characters though lacking in some depth were believable. Contrary to the above comment, I found the sound track and especially the closing sound track nice and fitting to the movies end.

In short a none violent film for space enthusiasts, with the right amount of tension, and an interesting mystery that is real enough.