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steven-beckham
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Extremedays (2001)
Doesn't take itself seriously... and that's why it succeeds
One of the most common mistakes for low-budget films (and especially Christian-targeted movies) is to attempt to be something they're not: Hollywood material. If Extreme Days had attempted to follow this pattern it would have failed miserably, because it simply can't be taken seriously; but that's the best part. It doesn't take itself seriously either. They knew it sucked when they made it, and they embraced that; and the result is surprisingly funny. I've shown this movie to lots of friends, and while they initially shrug it off and look at me like they can't believe I'm actually recommending it, after watching it they agree that it was much better than they ever expected.
X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
Spoof
X3 is possibly the most disappointing film since Matrix Reloaded. The movie is high on action, but low on plot/character development. The first 90 minutes feel cheap, cheesy, and quickly thrown together, and have some genuinely bad visual effects. There are also several continuity issues that terribly obvious. The final battle between mutants is obviously the only part that was given much effort, and it proves to be the film's only highlight. The effects in this part are top-notch and the action is great, but this serves mostly to remind of how cheap they were for the rest of the movie. Other than the final battle, X3 feels almost like a spoof of the previous two films. This film had the potential to be great... Brett Ratner settled for barely mediocre.
Underworld: Evolution (2006)
Sequel syndrome
I enjoyed the first movie and I own both DVD versions, but Evolution left much to be desired. The script was not only poor, but insulting (flashbacks remind us of events we saw just a little while earlier in the film), the VFX cheesy (Selene actually flies around a tree at one point), continuity is forgotten, and all characterization is lost, with the result being a mediocre follow-up intended to do nothing more than capitalize on the success of the first movie. Director Len Wiseman tried to set up for a third film the same way he set up for the second, with a voice-over from Selene, but "An unknown chapter lies ahead..." just doesn't have the same effect as Selene's original monologue. Evolution disregards everything that made the original Underworld good, and in doing so becomes not only a disappointing sequel, but an altogether disappointing movie.