Denden667 Reviews

Shrek the Third (2007)

Shrek 3, a pleasant surprise after all the hideous hype.

[7/10 · 29 October 2007]

I have just been pleasantly surprised by Shrek 3. Trying to ignore all the hype around it, I tried to watch it (on DVD) as the second sequel to one of my favourite films, nothing more. Although it comes nowhere near the quality of the first film, it does try to recreate its pleasant pacing and isn't overstuffed with easy film/commercial/real life-reference jokes (I'm looking at you, Shrek 2). And if one pops up, than it got more laughs out of me than Far Far Away ever did in Shrek 2. The Medieval high School was just hilarious, especially the mix-up between today's teen slang and Middle English. As an English student, it really appealed to me.

I really liked the dialogue between the characters like in Shrek 1, it's something I kind of missed in Shrek 2, where the characters just jumped from one crazy situation to the next with a few one-liners her and there. What I did miss, was the bickering between Puss and Donkey. Both characters do in fact get way too little screen time, and that's a big mistake since both characters were the highlights of Shrek 2. Somewhere near the end they do get in a situation that brings back some of the comedy gold of Shrek 2, but it's too little and too late.

All the old characters get to do something funny, but in the end they are all just great to see as old friends you know from the past. It's nice to see Donkey, Puss and Shrek get along so well with each other, but there's nothing more they can do to fill another film. We know the characters, and they have all found a place in the world they live in. I have gotten all I wanted out of the overall storyline, I'm happy with the way things are for the characters now, and I don't mind that the third journey had to replace the "insert joke every few seconds"-mentality of Shrek 2 with a bit more storytelling. There were still plenty of big laughs left, I can tell you.

Ultimately, Shrek 2 was funnier, but I think I like Shrek 3 better. I felt that this adventure was more meaningful for all the characters, and I know that this is the part where a lot of critics thought it wasn't necessary. But if you ask me, Shrek 3 was unnecessary. But since they really had to make a Shrek 3, I think they did well to make the adventure a bit more meaningful and make it really count in the end. It's only too bad that the message is the same of the previous two films, we get it already.

The only thing I really didn't like was one of the major characters they used to tell us again that you must accept yourself and others as they are. Artie was a really un-Shrek character. His speeches were dull and Justin Timberlake does nothing to make the character more likable. Of course, he has little to work with. I liked Justin timberlake's part better as a poster in Shrek 2 with the text "Sir Justin". It was funnier than anything Artie said or did in Shrek 3. Let Shrek, Donkey or Puss do the talking, dude.

As far as I'm concerned, Shrek 3 was an unnecessary sequel that still worked for me with some good humour and the characters being as charming as ever. The story was more meaningful for the main characters. The end of this adventure, even though repeating the message of the previous films, provided me with satisfying closure on the story of the happy Shrek family. Too bad that another unnecessary sequel is coming, undoubtedly with even more hype and more dull characters like Artie. Sadly, the Shrek franchise seems to be the most inspired thing coming from Dreamworks Animations.

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (2005)

A dream come true!

[7/10 · 9 May 2006]

A wish I had for four long years has finally been fulfilled. I had the chance to watch it a pretty long time ago, illegally on the internet, but I let it slip. I said to myself: "You've been waiting for this thing for several years now, when you finally see it, it must be special." So I waited, and I waited. Time and time again it got delayed. But last Friday the moment was finally there when I held the precious DVD in my hands. I'm not talking about Corpse Bride, I'm talking about a movie that's even more precious to me, a movie that continues my favourite story. The story of my all-time favourite game. Imagine your favourite game(BG&E or anything else) being made into a movie(or continued by means of a movie), and it exceeds your expectations even though your expectations were higher than any hype before could have done. Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children made it happen for me. Four long years, I've waited. When I was finally home alone today, I turned up the volume of the Dolby Surround and I put the DVD of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children in the DVD player. I will remember this as one of the most special moments of my life so far. That doesn't mean my life is meaningless, it only means that my passion for games and movies has been combined in the most perfect way imaginable, and I call it Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. Finally I had closure on the story of the game, finally I could see my beloved friends again in full detailed 3D-glory. Thank you, Square-Enix. Every delay and frustration has been forgiven, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, which may seem a flawed movie in the eyes of every Final Fantasy-nitwit or hater, is a true masterpiece to me. I couldn't be happier.

Corpse Bride (2005)

One of Tim Burton's greatest masterpieces!

[10/10 · 9 May 2006]

I waited for so long that I couldn't even believe anymore that my expectations would be met by it. Thankfully, Corpse Bride didn't disappoint me. On the contrary, it's every bit as good as Burton's finest work. It has got the typical Burton-style, atmosphere and humour. How could I not enjoy it? The intro was beautiful, with the butterfly flying through the streets of a grim city, being just about the only living thing around there with some colour to it. What a beautiful art-style this movie has. I couldn't believe my eyes, it was breathtaking. Tim Burton certainly hasn't lost his touch. The first song didn't really sound that good to me(unlike other songs in the movie), but I watched it at night so I couldn't turn up the sound that high. The second time I watched it, it became clear to me how the sometimes odd lyrics(that didn't seem to fit the music at times when I first watched it), actually fit the music very well. It was just that these are kinds of songs I never heard before, so I guess I had to get used to it. The songs are constantly playing in my head now, they are truly great. The voice acting is top-notch. Johnny Depp does a fantastic job as Viktor van Dort, a nervous chap who is thrown from one unwanted situation into the next. Poor guy...Helena Bonham Carter as the Corpse Bride does a fantastic job as well, as she really gives life to the dead character. The parents are voiced by actors unknown to me, but they sound really good. Especially Viktors future mother-in-law sounded terrifying. Just like Christopher Lee as the priest, but he never fails to impress me anyway.

Going back to the art style, that's really something in the world of the living, but it really impresses when you are introduced to the colourful world of the Land of the Dead. With the awesome mister Bonejangles singing a really cool song. The dead are a colourful bunch of characters too, so it's actually a bit depressing if a scene goes back to the world of the living again. But this has to be said: once the Corpse Bride gets into the picture, you are completely sucked into this modern fairy tale and when it ends you will say "Wow, I have never seen something so amazing before, I want more!" Before I end this review, I just want to say that Danny Elfman once again proves that he hasn't lost his touch. To me anyway, as I read a lot of people whine about his latest soundtracks. I think he gets better and better every time. His score and songs for Corpse Bride were amazing and sounded just as magical as his score for Edward Scissorhands was. What is a Tim Burton movie without a Danny Elfman score, anyway?

King Kong (2005)

King Kong: a modern masterpiece!

[9/10 · 7 May 2006]

I wrote this review after I just saw King Kong for the first time:

The acting in this film is very good. Jack Black doesn't convince entirely in this serious role, his face just looks too funny for that. It's not his fault, he tries his best and that's good enough for this role. Thankfully, his character is oftentimes meant to be funny anyway. Adrien Brody as Jack Driscoll is good as always. He does well as the hero and the one who will risk his life to save Ann. Naomi Watts also proves that she is a very good actress and also a very good scream-queen. She has some difficult parts in the film, where she needs to convince the audience that she's building up a kind of relationship with the big ape. I must say she succeeded and it's heart-breaking at times when you see her sadness at the look of the big ape's suffering. The supporting roles contain no weak performances at all. And then there's the King of Skull Island himself, who has been motion captured and face captured(whatever you call that) by Andy Serkis. The same actor who gave life to Gollem/Smeagol and made him a believable digital character. What he did for Gollem, he also does for king Kong. Although the big ape naturally doesn't speak, the way he moves and his facial expressions make King Kong every bit as believable and expressive as Gollum was. Andy Serkis is the real star of the movie.

The movie is divided into three parts. In the first part we are introduced to the characters. The story unfolds, you get to know some characters a little better thanks to a few background stories. There are too many characters to get to know all of them, but it is enough to make you feel a little sad when they are crushed, thrown away or eaten. This first part takes place in the New York of the thirties and on the ship to Skull Island. Thanks to the good acting, the convincing environment(NY '33 looks great) and good pacing, this first part doesn't drag as you might think it would. When king Kong shows up(and I do believe that's just before the middle of this 170 minutes film), the action takes off. And oh my, what amazing action does this movie contain.

The second part of the movie follows Ann and King Kong in the jungle, they're getting to know each other and Kong is trying to protect Ann in spectacular fighting sequences with three V-Rex's(I believe that's what they are called). You also see Jack Driscoll and the crew going after Ann and lose many men in the process. From this point on, the special effects department takes over to create the most beautiful environments and creatures I have ever seen. The dinosaurs and giant insects look either magnificent or terrifying. It's really made clear how outdated Jurassic Park actually looks nowadays. The jungle is really something too, claustrophobic and beautiful. In open spaces, with ruins and waterfalls with Kibg Kong climbing all over you just gasp at the sight of it. But it's the action scenes that made my jaw drop for several minutes on numerous occasions. The fight between King Kong and the V-Rex's is truly stunning, you've never seen anything like this before. Trust me! The greatest special effect is of course, King Kong himself. Thanks to Andy Serkis' efforts, WETA was able to make King Kong move life-like and have a believable "acting performance". All they had to do was make him look life-like and so they did. Most of the time, I really had the idea of looking at a real gorilla. Amazing achievement on the technical department. Some of the best scenes in this second part of the movie are the ones where Ann and Kong interact with each other. How they do that? You'll have to see, but it's certainly hilarious to watch but also very much convincing. Wonderful acting on Naomi Watts' part.

The third part of the movie is spectacular and dramatic as well. King Kong is captured and taken to New York. Initially it's very sad, you get to hate the humans for being so foolish by applauding for the chained beast, who is taken from his love and his jungle. when King Kong brakes loose and goes on a rampage in the city, I found myself to laugh at all the people getting crushed. I was on the ape's side now, it was like I was watching it all from Kong's point of view, from his anger and frustration. It could have been just me being weird, but in any case: I liked it! Kong and Ann have one quiet moment of joy before the final, famous showdown. In the end, I was devastated by Kong's death, even though I knew the story and I knew what was going to happen. Thanks to Peter Jackson's wonderful vision, which made it possible for me to enjoy the story I already knew all over again in a whole new way.

There is no word that could describe how I felt about this movie. It's clear to me that a lot of love went into the making of this movie, Peter Jackson certainly didn't lie about that. There are so many good things about this movie, so many things I have never seen before. So many things I was impressed with, "fantastic" just doesn't cover it. I often said I expected this to be the movie of the year. Needless to say, my expectations were incredibly high. Did it deliver? Oh yes, it totally delivered!

Silent Hill (2006)

Everything a fan or horror fanatic could wish for!

[7/10 · 7 May 2006]

The guy who directed it, hasn't lied about his devotion to the games. Everything he put in the movie, will be recognisable for silent Hill-fans in one way or another. Of course changes have been made, of course it still shows its video game roots now and then, in the negative sense of the word. But when it all comes down to it, this movie will be at the very least enjoyable for Silent Hill-fans and horror fans who are unfamiliar with the source material.

In my opinion, Silent Hill is the very first game-movie done right. There have been quite a few game-movies over the years, but they never ascended beyond the level of "fairly amusing", and I think that none of them stayed to true enough to the source material, while they should have. Christophe Gans, the director of this movie, stayed true to the source material in almost every way, and yet he also knew how to alter it just enough to make it interesting for a good horror movie.

The atmosphere of the Silnet Hill-games has always been the most important thing to me, you really felt alone most of the time and creeped out by what this ghost town had to offer. The movie provides the same experience, because the town has been recreated for the movie, based on the looks of the games. That's marvelous. The same fog is there, the darkness, the nightmare world. It's all there, even the sirens. I loved it.

And then there are the monsters. thankfully, it wasn't all CGI, puppetry was also used and humans in suits. It worked incredibly well, but the CGI too looks amazing. I didn't know whether I should cheer or scream when a familiar Silent Hill-creature showed up. It was great to see them without having to worry about them coming after me, but on the other hand they were every bit as scary as they were in the game. Except Pyramid Head, he was every bit as AWESOME as he was in Silent Hill 2. You see? You CAN have an iconic game villain in a movie without having him looks stupid(looks at Nemesis in RE: Apocalypse). I was very satisfied with the appearance of the SH-creatures in this film. They didn't always act like they were "supposed" to act, but it was all for the good of the movie.

I read a lot of criticism about the acting in this movie. Well, I've seen much worse in other horror movies, I can tell you that. the main character was good in her desperate search for her daughter, she really reminded me of poor Harry Mason in the original SH-game. And then there was Cybil, also from the original game. The woman who played her was pretty good, she was as tough as I had expected Sybil to be. the girl who played a demon and the daughter of the main character, wasn't too bad at all. She received the most criticism, but I think she's quite good. There was one line that made me cringe at the beginning, but that was it. Especially as a demon kid I liked her acting. Sean Bean was a pretty worthless addition to the story, but at the very end of the movie, you'll see why he had to be in the movie. I won't spoil the ending. You may like it or you may hate it, but I loved it as heck. It was a perfect Silent Hill-ending.

Now for the worst part of the movie, and that is sadly the story and the dialogue. I have to agree with others I've seen making comments on this movie, that the movie clearly shows its gaming roots. Sometimes a character would say something so damn obvious, that it felt like some B-movie. As a whole, this movie is definitely no B-movie. Also the times that characters seemed to know exactly where they had to look for clues, was very much like the game. Coincidences happen more than once in this movie, it all look very linear like the games. The character are 'driven' by an unknown force towards the ending, that is very clear. Gans did exaggerate the coincidental nature of the games in this movie. Changing the purpose the mysterious clan from the original Silent Hill-game wasn't really a good change for me. Until the finale came up, and I realized it was perfect after all.

Finally, I want to make comments on the sounds and the music. From the very beginning I was creeped out by the terrible sounds that the monsters make, and the terrible sounds of the nightmare world. There is a good use of the source material's music in this movie, not ever out of place like so many people say. I didn't think that Gans went too far in this case. Sure, the games were silent a lot of times, but that's no reason to make it like that in the movie. Gans put a lot of music from the games in the movie, and it doesn't feel like fan-service only. the music fits, and it's awesome music at that.

Final Judgement: Gans did a wonderful job on creating the typical Silent Hill atmosphere in a two-hour movie. The images, the creatures, the sounds and the town in both of its versions are in there, and they couldn't have been better. the acting is very decent, unlike what some would want you to believe. The dialogue isn't too good, but the same goes for the games very often. That's no excuse for the movie of course. The story and its changes to the original game's story bothered me at first, but it all fit in at the end. This movie is the perfect fan service, a wonderful movie for the true horror fan and the best game-movie ever.