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Reviews
Agent Cody Banks (2003)
Muniz and Duff Look Great in this One
Blatant rip-off of Bond movies for the teen set. It's been done so many times that it doesn't seem to matter anymore.
I really liked it, but then I was going into it knowing what it was and just had fun. I didn't detect any pretension that the film-makers thought it was anything more than it was: a thoroughly enjoyable piece of fluff with a couple of very attractive stars. I was surprised on one or two occasions when Muniz appeared to be doing some stunts that didn't involve wire work to see that this boy has action man potential.
This is the kind of movie that will have the young set whooping with delight. That hottie Angie Harmon also provides interest for older male viewers.
Alice in Wonderland (1999)
Good Rendition
It's very good but I know the books too well to accept all the changes. I was really hoping for what amounts to a literal interpretation of the books.
I have a big problem with the combining of both stories. Disney did it and I was hoping this one wouldn't. When you mix the two, both stories are diluted. "Through the Looking Glass" is a sequel both written and set a number of years after "Alice in Wonderland". The feel of each is quite different.
I really wish the characters had said exactly what was written in the books. They were written in Victorian England and the style is a bit dated, but completely understandable. Lewis Carroll could have been writing screenplays.
The cast is superb. No disappointments there. Highlights are Gene Wilder as the Mock Turtle, Christopher Lloyd, perfect as the White Knight, Martin Short as the Mad Hatter and George Wendt and Robbie Coltrane as Tweedledum and Tweedledee.
The thing I really couldn't stand was the attempt to string all the experiences together with a storyline about Alice performing in front of family members. In Lewis Carroll's own opinion, the stories are pure nonsense, so to try to make sense of them is pointless.
I hope that someone finally makes the literal interpretation of each book that I want, with two separate movies. Each book is short, so the film-maker could spend the length of the movie faithfully recreating them.
Mysterious Island (2005)
Very Lazy Effort
This has got to be one of the lousiest special-effects movies I've ever seen. It reminds me of B-grade '50s movies. It is unforgivable that the production was so lazy in this era of realistic CGI effects. The most atrocious part of the film was the attack in the cave of spiders. They looked like limited-animation cutouts. The poor effects throughout the film spoiled any experience of it.
Aerial shots were obviously filmed in front of a green screen. The balloon moved unrealistically against a backdrop of sky.
Time scale is wrong. How did these guys travel from the Eastern US to the Pacific in one night? It seemed they fitted out the limestone cave in a day and night, etc. Totally lazy effort.
How did top actors like Patrick Stewart and Vinnie Jones get roped into this mess? I love Stewart but this role forces him to sleep-walk. The best part of the movie was Jones' accent and attitude.