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MrSyntax
Reviews
The Dark Knight (2008)
Stunning as hell but totally overrated and mildly confusing.
The Dark Knight is not a masterpiece. It is however, the best comic book movie ever made to date. I have unfortunately found it to be a frustrating roller coaster ride. First off, I would have to say that I was never a fan of Batman Begins for many reasons, the main one being the way the story was told. It was a strange and uninteresting amount of information packed in a short period of time which maybe the fans will accept but for those that are not familiar with the history of Batman will probably struggle with.
In Dark Knight it felt like an extension of this odd and fan acceptable presentation but packed with phenomenal up to date state of the art technical film making. The choreography of action and combat have been improved since the last time which was a great relief even though there has been far better seen in other action films, but the overall flow of the film in general seemed to ramp and decline over a very lengthy time. In saying that though, there were one or two of these wonderfully crafted scenes that were jaw dropping achievements.
Christian Bale's performance in Dark Knight seemed to have lagged a bit behind what he did in the first film but that could well have been because of Heath's incredible and almost history making Joker execution, totally dragging every other dumbfounded actors behind him. The Joker has never been portrayed this good and I don't know if it will ever be topped unless you actually took a lethal weapon tagged psychotic person out of a real mental institution and appointed 4 maybe 5 armed guards as backup during film making.
Oscar worthy for Heath? Dumb question. My God yes. I think he's done it. If only he was still here with us to accept it.
It is hall of fame stuff, if only the story of The Dark Knight could be just as great. It was frustrating to see it so convoluted in the first couple of acts out of what seemed like a strategic five or more. I do love batman but I'm not a dedicated fan of him. My view for this is only that of an enthusiast that can look objectively for the true fans who may or may not agree with my comments.
But hey, I recommend this to every film enthusiast whether they are a fan or not because this is something new for the big picture that frustratingly wasn't really there in the end but it will pave way for a great future in cinematic achievements to come.
Underbelly (2008)
Like "Neighbours" and "Home & Away" with a bit of violence.
Only mild spoilers ----
I was looking forward to Underbelly for many weeks. The advertising campaign was fantastic and the banning in Victoria definitely helped this. With all respect to the parties involved in the current litigation, I am only commenting on the artistry of this project more than anything related to the events it represents.
Underbelly is correctly based on a true story about the gangland battlegrounds of Melbourne Victoria. This is quite a powerful story and quite possibly something that will be marked for the crime library of Australian history.
This is only a comment on the pilot episode, so I'm unsure of how the rest of the series is going to be. I understand that it is wrong in some cases to even begin to comment on an entire series just on the strength of a pilot so I will only comment for the pilot.
The opening of this series felt weak. So weak that it was almost embarrassing. It was only thanks to Vince Collosimo's performance, that it held together. Even so, with dialog that was undoubtedly written by a soap opera professional, it was amazing to see that all of this almost worked. The violence was not that violent considering the camp "Terminator SCC" was on immediately afterwords and left it for dead. The sexual content is about as sexy as a bad hand-job. I don't know what the tabloids are trying to enforce because the Direction on these areas were mild. Doesn't matter much on this point though, we know that this kind of thing doesn't make up for a good story. Now, a lot of the introductions to these characters were almost comical, like a lock stock and 2 smoking barrels kind of slating for gang members. This felt cheap, it looked cheap and it was unintimidating in any way. If this was an attempt to make us aware of a possible "coolness" to come from these characters, then it just wasn't right.
One begs to wonder whether this series needs or now needed a better Director and a better cinematographer or should I say a videographer. (Well, it felt like that anyway) Maybe even a better writer, because a lot of our actors here deserve way better than this. I think some of the most unfortunate and lifeless work was lingering around the gang meeting scenes at the sports arena (or was it a racecourse?) But apart from this, there are definite believable and smooth moments. I hope more of these moments occur and I must say I am somewhat interested in seeing more of Gyton Grantley who looks exactly like Carl Williams in real life.
There are more episodes to come and I look forward to eating my own words. For a TV mini series, it's not over till the fat lady sings - but so far, I'm hearing a scratchy record loop.
The Hitcher (2007)
Just another total piece of garbage
I will be blunt because I just couldn't believe how bad this was. First off, yes OK, I do love the original to death. But I can promise you, I didn't watch this film to satisfy my despise for any remakes out there at all. This film was just absolute crap.
Sean Bean's creation of John Ryder was a mess. No dread or mystery compared to what we saw with Rutger back in the 80's. No suffering of our heroes at all. You can even tell through Bean's performance that this brilliant actor was fed up with it. This has become a tragic Direction problem and so it was in many ways. Rock n Roll popcorn movies really are going down the pits lately. The "interesting" twists that everyone has been on about in the Hitcher 2007 are nothing more than just twists on the original film itself. If this was a tactic to impress and excite fans of the original, then in my opinion it has failed.
(SPOILER HERE) The use of NIN "closer" during the shockingly directed action scenes on the highway was just outrageously stupid. It made no sense at all in any way.
Just another fodder remake from the fodder masters of Hollywood. Don't bother, trust me. If you haven't seen the original, then do yourself a true favour.
Ward 13 (2003)
Ward 13, a must for any fan of animation
There hasn't been a short animation as heartfelt or mesmerizing as this. Ward 13 takes you to the pinnacle of breathtaking action packed adventure, complete with tremendous craftsmanship and superb Direction. Not a great fan of stop motion animation? That's OK, here is your cure. After seeing Ward 13 for the first time, my immediate response was that it is easily the best animated short film I have ever seen. There are many animated shorts which come close but there is nothing compared to how much energy and entertainment Ward 13 has given to many a audience. No wonder there ware 2 sellout crowds at Fantasia film festival in 2003 where all that most of the unfortunates could do was stand outside and hear a roaring audience from within the cinema.