Elektrum Reviews

The Passion of the Christ (2004)

One of the best comedies of the year

[3/10 · 2 April 2004]

Although 'The Passion of the Christ' is difficult to watch due to its tacky use of excessive gore, it can be taken as an amusing comedy. We are given a glimpse of Mel Gibson's warped mind, and it is fascinating from a psychological perspective. Thankfully, there remain handfuls of individuals whose brains have not been raped and tortured into faithful obedience. Such individuals may appreciate their own fortune as they witness the atrocity exhibition (simply fabulous) that is Mel Gibson's mind. The fact that countless confused individuals find this masochistic horror show to be a touching and spiritual film is an indication of how barbarously ignorant our society as a whole remains.

The self-critical clichés of recent times are brought to mind by this film: technology has brought us along a bit, but how far removed, in terms of barbaristic* ignorance, are we from our ancestors?

That 'The Passion of the Christ' has been met with mostly widespread appreciation forces us to realize how intellectually impoverished some of our fellow citizens are. My dramatic delivery is clearly unnecessary, as this revelation regarding ignorance-that-persists was made long ago and is repeated often enough.

Hulk (2003)

Slow and mediocre.

[6/10 · 22 June 2003]

This film was slow, and Ang Lee's attempts at comic-book feel (through the use of split-screens and multiple angles) degraded the quality of the otherwise decent cinematography.

Eric Bana was fortunately a good fit for the role of The Hulk. The film's problems were primarily the pacing of the story. Midway through the film, you assume that it will have to last another 2 hours if it continues at the same speed. And somehow, the film manages to last another two hours, or at least the audience will feel that way.

The Matrix Reloaded (2003)

Disappointing

[21 May 2003]

The first Matrix film was successful; it was even good. The plot was interesting, though the on-screen events were focused. We heard of a place called Zion, though we never got to see it. Good. Great. We (guys) all wanted to see Neo dodge bullets inside the Matrix, and our girlfriends shed a warm tear at Trinity's (ho ho) life-saving kiss. What a delicate balance.

But now The Matrix is a trilogy, so a new formula needs to be followed: Take the first movie, identify important aspects of the plot (The oracle, Zion, the charismatic Agent Smith) and expand them. Now we have The Matrix meets Star Wars in film #2, as we get to see the unimaginatively-displayed Zion, which is capable of fending off diabolical machines and manning advanced ships. When it comes to providing running water and clothes-that-arent-tattered for its inhabitants, however, it seems that Zion is direly lacking in resources. Oh well, it's aesthetically intuitive right?

We also get an extremely uninteresting glimpse of a tangential character's (love) life. Since most of the Nebuchadnezzar crew in film one did not make it to the sequel, we have this new fellow who pilots the ship. His girlfriend/wife doesn't want him to die (strange), and so she cries on camera for us. I'm pretty sure we don't care. This is The Matrix 2, and it's difficult enough to deal with Neo and Trinity's contrived 'magnetism', yet now we are supposed to digest this unintroduced character's dealings with mortality in a post-apocalyptic world?

As I mentioned, there are some hideous Star Wars elements in The Matrix: Reloaded. For example, we are forced to learn that there are disagreements among the humans at Zion, and that the counsel folks wear robes and appear old and wise (though they can't pull jedi tricks on you... unless if you meet 'em in the Matrix). These politics are severely boring due to poor acting and dialogue. Even Morpheus is to blame, although his speechwriter for the rave scene deserves most of the corporal punishment.

Have I mentioned that the movie was a video game during most of the fight scenes? "Keanu Reeves" was inadequately represented by some computer model.

How many Agent Smiths does Neo fight in The Matrix? One. What is more than one? A lot. And that's how many Agent Smiths Neo fights in The Matrix: Reloaded.

Now, before I relax, allow me to note that the attempts at philosophical profundity in The Matrix: Reloaded are a slap in the face for any individual with a partially-functional brain. Determinism is a fine concept for a movie, yet it is severely out of place in this film (esp. in the Neo & Oracle conversation). The matter of Free Will is superficially addressed, and if you pay attention, and do not simply assume that the scriptwriters know what they're doing, then you may become sadly amused during this scene. Now, if the rest of the movie were any good (including the fight scenes), then I would shut my brain off during the Philosophy bubble-gum parts and the part where Neo shoves his arm into Trinity's chest to rip out a small bullet from her heart ("WHOA, what's this bullet doin here?", "I KNOW FIRST AID KUNG FU", etc.).

But, nah. The movie contains very few tolerable scenes.

The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob (1973)

Louis de Funes in another great role

[30 April 2002]

Give Louis de Funes a good role and the freedom to go nuts, and you will have a good movie. In Rabbi Jacob, Funes is the owner of an industrial plant who "knows that the people like to be lied to" ("mais il AIME qu'on lui mente, le peuple!"). His character is intolerant of Arabs, Jews, Blacks, etc. At one point during the story, however, he must take on the identity of a Rabbi and try to pass himself off as Jewish in order to save his hide. With him is an Arab, who must do the same. If you've seen de Funes before, I'm sure you can imagine the hilarious scenes that arise out of this predicament.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Slow-moving film with astounding cinematics

[9/10 · 28 April 2002]

2001: A Space Odyssey progresses slowly, and the lack of dialogue can be unnerving. Those who dislike this movie (there are quite a few, Kubrick films tend to be either loved or hated) tend to focus upon this "flaw". However, the movie is extremely well done. Most science fiction movies do not survive more than 5 or 10 years; yet in 2001: A Space Odyssey the scenery is more than simply believable, it is immersive. Viewers will feel the atmosphere. Kubrick films simply don't look like they've been filmed with a camera. As for the film's "message"... Kubrick didn't like to talk about his movies because he thought they should "speak for themselves."

The movie's craft is enough justification to see it, if you haven't yet. If you're impatient then be forewarned: the pace of the movie is quite demanding.