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Posted: |
May 23, 2015 - 5:14 PM
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By: |
TominAtl
(Member)
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Tomorrowland:
For all it's pedigree, budget and hype, it is a bit of a disappointment. It does make a noble effort to being a fun, escapist family affair with some social and environmental relevance behind it, but it never fully gels into a cohesive film. Director Brad Bird gives it his best shot but I kept thinking this was a movie that Robert Zemeckis could have done in his sleep.
It's interesting that the trailers and previews never really give you a sense of what this movie is about and after seeing I now know why: because it's pretty damned difficult to explain it without boring one to death. To put it as succinctly as possible: this eco friendly/environmentally charged film has a smart teenaged girl approached by another young girl from the future/alternate world, Tomorrowland, which is populated by other smart people, to basically help save the world from approaching cataclysm and to restore Tomorrowland back to its former glory because 'something bad' happened. Said young teenage girl and other younger girl then seeks out George Clooney's reclusive character who too had one time been a part of said world/alternate universe but was banished back to our world many years back. And some nasty humanoid robots want to stop them all.
There are a ton of fantastic special effects all throughout the film and there are some very well done action set pieces as well, in particular the one at George Clooney's booby trapped house. But as much as the movie wants to have fun with an escapist flair, there are several moments of surprising violence that throws the movie off balance. On top of that, there are too many moments of dialogue that try to explain the plot of the movie to keep it from being bogged down.
I don't mind having a sentimental ending to a film. But it only pays off if what goes before makes the end deal seem authentic. And it just fall shy of it unfortunately. Thankfully Giacchinos score is fun and serves the movie very well in both the action scenes and the schmaltzy ones.
Too bad they missed the mark on this one. This could have been one hit out of the ballpark.
6 out 10 stars for me.
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Steven Soderbergh's TRAFFIC - 15 years after I first watched in a cinema.
As terrific as back then. Brilliant film.
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Posted: |
Sep 26, 2015 - 5:35 PM
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By: |
TominAtl
(Member)
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The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials
I thoroughly enjoyed the first film and I enjoyed this one almost as much, albeit it is pretty much filler for the final part of the trilogy. But I got what I totally hoped for and more: for a minor budgeted film it boasts some excellent production values, with the look even exceeding that of some of it's bigger counterparts. The CGI is very spot on, the acting is uniformly good and the action scenes are full of hustle and bustle. And the story I found compelling, if not all that original. But for a rainy, dreary Saturday in Atlanta I found this to be good time at the matinee. And the score was very exciting and one that I may be looking for on it's near release.
7 out 10
Everest
If you ever want to see just one IMAX feature length film, this should be the one you chose. It's an exciting, thrilling, gut-wrenching and ultimately moving drama that pretty much goes as far as one could hope for in dramatizing a true story from 1996. The script makes you care of the players and based on a couple of miscalculations or judgment calls made for one of the worst tragedies to take place on the tallest peak in the world. Yeah, it does take its time in getting to the actual drama that unfolded but I appreciated the fact that they give the audience time to get to know the people who both ran the operation and those that wanted to scale the mountain. Everest boasts gorgeous photography and not one false CGI that I could find. And when the storm that ultimately claimed so many lives hits, it's a techno wonder in both sound and visuals. The movie stuck with me for a few days afterwards, because for me this is as close as I would ever want to be climbing that mountain. As they say in the film, the mountain always wins.
8 out 10
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