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DiegoTF
Reviews
King of the Jungle (2000)
Unrealized Potential
This really seemed from the packaging, summary, & trailer that it had potential. Great actors, great location, great storyline. But clocking in at just over eighty minutes the whole thing felt incredibly rushed.
The acting was considerably decent given that John Leguizamo carried more than 95% of the running time (very well nonetheless) on his shoulders. However, the story line has a minimum of a dozen plot holes & even more areas where additional insight into the major elements of the story were missing. John is the only one that benefits from any real character development, or, over development.
Not usually one to spout off & generally very casual when approaching & even more easy-going with reviewing and recommending movies, I truly felt like this could have been so much more & am slightly frustrated that it was obviously as rushed as it was. Supporting this, at least twice in the 'Behind The Scenes' featurette on the DVD the director refers to his actors (Marisa Tomei, etc.) having 'a small window of time'.
Adjust your expectations, check it out casually and enjoy it for what's it's worth. An over-the-top John Leguizamo showcase that does at the very least & at the expense of all others involved, well represent his range as an actor.
Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985)
Why is everyone so hard on this film?
Why is everyone so hard on this film. Lets look at it a different way. It dared to be different. God forbid a new idea should be presented. I mean when the Final Chapter was over, Mr. Voorhees was dead. So how does Hollywood re-invent the series? To bring Jason back so quickly would be insulting to our intelligence, the hockey masked killer is the backbone of the series, wait, I got it! Let's make the audience wonder just how Jason came back, but at the end, it will be a real twist to see that it wasn't Jason at all. We still got 90 minutes of hockey masked killings, one of the highest body counts of the entire series, some of the most innovative deaths in the series, and a continuation of the story line with Tommy Jarvis. The film was shot well, the atmospherics were well done, the acting was on par for a lower budget horror sequel, and everyone involved in the film cared, and that projected forth from their performances. I think the reason everyone comes down so hard on this film is that it had the fortituide to be different. Do you?