tbm-5 Reviews

Tomorrowland (2015)

All hail the queen of Mary Sue's

[6/10 · 1 June 2015]

Raffey Cassidy delivers an absolutely fantastic performance as Athena, George Clooney is great as he always is, and then there was Britt Robertson as Mary Sue.

Does Casey Newton have any flaws at all? Is there anything including saving the world that she cannot do? Is there anything that would make you think this is a human girl?

No, no and no.

If Athena had been the main character, if Casey had been killed half an hour into the movie, and if social commentary had been used as a spice rather than the main dish, this could have been a really good movie. And the sad part is it fails on the social commentary as well. It is a noble goal to inspire girls to pursue a career in science, but giving them a completely unrealistic role model who can do anything without hard work and experiencing setbacks is doing them a disservice.

Manson, My Name Is Evil (2009)

Interesting approach

[6/10 · 22 June 2014]

First off, if you're looking for realism, see Helter Skelter (1976) instead. This movie is not, nor does it attempt to be an accurate retelling of events.

The movie focuses on the Manson girl Leslie, and the young juror Perry. Perry is about to get married to a Christian girl, but is having doubts about Vietnam, his faith and the values his father has taught him. Causing him to question if Leslie should receive the death penalty, and if he himself would have behaved differently, had he been in Leslie's position.

The movie unfortunately is so badly made, that while it tries to be social commentary it ends up as being a parody. With a parody of a cult, a parody of a murder, a parody of an all American family, a parody of a Christian girlfriend, and a parody of a trial. The only 'real' people in the movie seemed to be Leslie and Perry. But given the subject matter, the meaningless slaughter of innocent people, the joke is either not there or it isn't funny.

I would call this movie a guilty pleasure. Kristen Hager and Gregory Smith both deliver a good performance, but they cannot carry the movie all by them self.

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show (1997–2000)

New take on common sitcom situations

[5 May 2005]

There were two things I enjoyed about this show. The first was the actors who actually did a better job than those in the movies. The second was how the show used (odd) science and magic to put a new spin on the problems facing the cast of countless other family sitcoms.

The boy wishes he was an adult, no problem, drink a potion and he becomes an adult. The girl has a stalker, but here he is an alien. The dad doesn't get the credit he deserves at work, but why should he when his invention turns the future into a dystopia.

But while the cast was great, and the action even greater. The one thing I did not like about it was that despite being a comedy show the dialog simply wasn't funny. I cannot remember a single time I laughed watching this.

Paycheck (2003)

John Woo tries his best to kill an intelligent plot.

[5/10 · 14 March 2004]

What a waste.

If the movie had been directed by someone like Terry Gilliam, and the main character had been a middle aged somewhat clumsy geek, who had to rely on his intelligence to handle situations, rather than simply picking up a karate stick and beating up 10 people at the same time. It could have worked.

The plot is nothing short of brilliant, but the movie is so filled with carchases, shootouts, fights and big explosions that its hard to notice. It also doesn't help that some of what is going on is just plain dumb. The bad guys fire a hundred bullets but miss every time, or how about a lab thats secured by a two feet thick steel door but with a big ventilation shaft making an easy escape route.

Snake Eyes (1998)

Reaching high and falling deep.

[6/10 · 16 January 2004]

I think this could have been a good movie if only it had been kept simpler. The plot basically is that a murder takes place during a boxing match, the local detective must solve it and runs into a conspiracy involving a military arms deal. This is also where the movie fails, because the plot goes on to being just plain stupid.

If instead the conspiracy had been about robbing the casino, you would have an ordinary gangster movie, and that might just have worked. But the movie tries to be something it can't be, and thus fails.

The Matrix Revolutions (2003)

well, the effects are nice.

[5/10 · 7 November 2003]

Big letdown. The plot is tangled like spaghetti and makes little sense. If you go watch this do so because you want to see the latest in special effects.

Unfortunately I have a feeling the Warner's has their eyes set on future income from Matrix IV, V etc, computer games and books. And therefore deliberately wanted to keep the 'ending' as open as possible.