rbruckner Reviews

Bolt (2008)

Hilarious

[8/10 · 26 January 2009]

Well, watched this movie recently at a sneak preview and didn't know anything about the movie. My first thought was "Oh no, no another crappy animation film...". 15 Minutes later I was really surprised how funny this "crappy" movie actually was, and many people around me laughed their guts out.

Well, it's got the same "true friendship" moments you might find in every movie of that kind. And also some of those over the top "this could never happen by chance" moments. But thanks to the great characters featured, especially Rhino the hamster and the reoccurring pigeons this movie stands out of all those other animation movies featuring some animals on a difficult task. And the ending isn't even that heart-warming as it used to be in that kind of movie. Afterall, great fun for either children or adults, as long as you make it through the first 15 minutes.

8/10 Stars.

All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (2006)

Very disappointed

[4/10 · 27 July 2008]

I watched the movie because the trailer had a lot of pretty interesting shots and an interesting flair... felt somehow sixties.

And well, at the beginning i was really impressed of the shots and how well the music fits to the scenes (The movie's really got a great score). But at the moment the killer approaches, everything drops back to standard, or even below. Nearly every scene reminds you of bad teeny slasher movies back in the eighties. And every shot looks either ridiculous or overambitious. So in the mid part of the movie I got really bored and couldn't await the ending.

In the end it separates again from those standard slasher movies adding some new elements, and i somehow woke up again, but approximately five minutes later it dropped back to standard (or even below...).

A few minutes later a nice plot twist wakes you up again, but this time the scriptwriter's taken it too far, so it ends up ridiculous...

Well... the end scene's great again (great camera, great score), but it's way to late to save the movie.

After all, i gave it 4/10, because the mid part really bored me, and some good shoots and a great score couldn't compensate that.

I Am Legend (2007)

Good Movie, but way too short

[7/10 · 16 January 2008]

I really enjoyed this movie, but somehow it ended way too early The movie is told by switching between flashbacks, that explain why everyones beside Will Smiths character is dead, and Will Smith in an empty world, three years later. There is nothing to complain about the acting, everyone involved does a good job, and everything else was technically perfect and i was entertained the whole time. So the only thing i have to complain about is the length.

As i mentioned before, the movie starts three years after the events that lead to the extinction of mankind. And all these three years the life of Wills character must have been really boring, frustrating, desolate and repetitive. And the first maybe twenty to thirty minutes give a short peak at what he did all the time. But right after, several events seem to rush on him, and the viewer doesn't even get time to breath. And that's the point that really annoyed me after the movie ended. You didn't get a chance to put yourself in the situation of being the last man on earth, cause the story is pushed forward with an immense speed.

This could have been a really haunting movie, but it seems the studio didn't want to risk to bore the audience, and made a fast paced Hollywood movie instead.

That's why I (beside of being good entertained through the whole movie) give this flick only 7/10 stars

The Mist (2007)

Could be worse, but not much

[6/10 · 13 January 2008]

Well, i saw this movie last weak in a sneak preview, and was really surprised it had such a good rating (especially because it seemed that everybody in the cinema hated this movie). At first, the idea behind the story isn't that bad, but in my opinion too much inspired by dawn of the dead and half-life. Some people are trapped in a supermarket and threatened by an unknown power from the outside. It could have been a really haunting movie about a group of people in an extreme situation, with some suspense added by the supernatural powers from the outside, and somehow it really tries to be this movie. But there are 2 big reasons, why this doesn't work:

1.) Most of the characters act too stereotyped, and after some dialogs you think: "Did he really say *this*", and thereafter: "Yes he had to, he's the classical hillbilly/snob/leader/whatever". You're getting either annoyed by the stereotypes, or you have to laugh about them. So you can't take the movie seriously anymore, which destroys the whole atmosphere the setting could have constructed.

2.) There's an religious fanatic, and you are hating her after she said two sentences. And the director let her do several monologues about several minutes, which are that annoying that they really keep you from enjoying the movie.

So i gave this only 2 stars. It was technically well done, but i would strongly recommend to watch dawn of the dead instead of this one (the remake), because the situation is quite similar and the people act much more realistic.

Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007)

Above average action movie

[4/10 · 2 January 2008]

First of all: Anybody who's expecting a great story should think twice before watching this movie. In fact: There isn't anything like a story. In the last scene of AvP 1 you could watch an alien emerging from the sleeping predator. AvP 2 starts exactly here by letting the Predator's ship crash on the earth again and the aliens escape. From now on, everything that's happening are fights between predator and aliens, humans and aliens or even humans and the predator (Yes, there's only one in this movie). So why 7/10 Stars? Well, i liked the idea of aliens invading a town in contemporary setting, revealing how helpless the humans are in such a situation. On the other hand, most of the action and gore scenes are well made in my opinion. And hey, i guess action and gore are the main reason for most of the people to watch this movie. So it fulfilled everything i expected from this movie, that's why it got 7 stars. (Why not more? Hey, it's only action and gore! Shouldn't be worth more than 7 stars, eh?)

Day of the Dead (1985)

Nice Idea, but it doesn't work

[6/10 · 26 July 2007]

Well, the title say's it all. Romero had a nice idea when he was writing this film. Putting a small group into a bunker, while the world outside has been overrun by zombies. The movie could have been really shocking, intense, claustrophobic and psychological. But somehow, it isn't. Somehow i was neither scared, nor shocked from the way the people acted. Maybe because most of them were to stereotype. We've got the evil general, who's tyrannizing the scientists, because he doesn't understand their work. We've got the crazy scientist, who's doing terrifying experiments with those living dead. We've got the crazy lieutenant and the clinical doctor, who's only trying to do her work. So in the and all the characters are doing, what we expect from the to do and there won't be too much surprises within the movie. In the end, it's a nice movie for a rainy Sunday evening, but nothing worth watching again or that stays in mind any longer, so it's 6 of 10 Stars on my scale.

The Great Challenge (2004)

Great Action Flick

[8/10 · 24 March 2007]

After being quite disappointed by the first Yamakasi film, i didn't expect very much. But after watching Les Fils du vent i was literally blown away. First of all, forget about the story. It's an action movie, and not a drama, so a good story won't be that important after all. The director took a free running group from France and added some martial arts artists from Thailand(?). The outcome of the equation were some very impressive action scenes. I gave this movie 8/10 stars, because it fulfills everything i expect from an action movie. So if you like martial arts and/or those little free running clips from all over the net, you won't be disappointed by this movie.

Yamakasi (2001)

Simply boring

[2/10 · 19 March 2007]

Well, the movie is about some free running gang. So when i watched i didn't expect a great story, I just wanted to watch an entertaining action movie. At least - as i expected - the story wasn't great, sadly the action wasn't either. There are much cooler free running scenes with more spectacular stunts on the internet for free. And if you want to see some cool free running action within a real movie you should try Banlieue 13, it's nearly the same style but with more impressive and most notably more action scenes. So it's only 2/10 Stars, i didn't really enjoy it and it's got this one additional star, because there are quite worse movies :)