The Happening (2008) - movie review

Writer/director/egomaniac M. Night Shyamalan should be making commercials and music videos. I'm sorry that had to be the first thing you read but i honestly think that he'd be great at it.

See, the problem with The Happening (just like Lady in the Water and The Village actually) is that the story is told beautifully. I mean the attention paid to every detail, the orchestrated balance of sights and sounds, the timing, the camera angles - perfection in motion, but... the story can be summed up in 2 sentences at most and as in the case of The Happening it is a story that is not particularly interesting.

In other words - Mr. Shyamalan does have a talent of making even the most absurd look breathtaking and if he only rediscovered that which gave birth to The Sixth Sense the world would be a better place. Until that time he should really stick to making commercials - that industry is in constant need to make stuff nobody really needs look delicious enough to consume. That and music videos (for the same purpose).

You don't have to read further if you don't want to. The movie is terrible for the most part and i am going to attempt to humor myself just to compensate for the 91 minutes of my life that i will never get back by giving you the bad and the good with my short commentaries.

First the bad stuff. I'll save you the time and just bullet it out:

• Mark Wahlberg stars as…Mark Wahlberg... either that or he was just too upset about being dragged into this movie to think about his character (or lack of such).
  
• John Leguizamo is probably the highlight of the whole movie. Too bad he dies as fast as everyone in the movie theater falls asleep.
• Zooey Deschanel is no doubt a capable (and very beautiful) actress, too bad it looked like she was reading lines from a different script.
• There is no twist or plot change to speak of. What you "get" during the first 15 minutes of the movie stays throughout the whole painful experience until it and the movie end in perfect harmony.
• There is absolutely no character development. The most interesting character is the guy who was calling Zooey (Alma Moore) on the phone (2 or 3 times). The guy she talks with for about 7.2 seconds... about having desert together and obviously terminating the relationship as soon as they got the check.
  
• It (the happening) is being talked about (in the movie) as being a very short event. Please, it was long enough. The whole thing (both the event and the movie) could have been wrapped up in under 10 minutes - the effect would have been the same.
• And finally - Spoiler: The whole movie is about global warming or something along the lines. We are destroying our planet (and we are by the way) like damned parasites so it (the planet) politely notifies us that it would like us to stop. Since it (the planet) can not talk or communicate with us in any way or form it decides to serve up the "warning" by killing a few thousand people, leaving the rest wondering "what the fuck was all that about?". I just hope this does not mean there is going to be a sequel, you know, another warning for the remaining population that didn't get the first one.

Now the good stuff (hey, i am optimistic by nature... pun intended):

• Mark Wahlberg is a good actor and thus you'll be comforted thinking that he suffered way more than you did since the filming of this movie must have taken well over 91 minutes so if he could stick it out it should be no sweat for you.
  
• John Leguizamo slit his wrists early in the movie - good for him, he got off easy.
• Zooey Deschanel was so absent from the whole "event" that all i can think is that she must have been day dreaming about all of the scripts and proposals she must be getting these days so be happy for her as well.
• And finally - besides the salaries the studios could not have possibly spent that much on filming trees, bushes, grass and... the wind. Not such a big loss, nothing world-wide DVD distribution can't cover.

Verdict: 3/10

Commercials Mr. Shyamalan, think about it.

The Incredible Hulk (2008) - movie review

So i went to see The Incredible Hulk today. Expectations were high, too high i was worried.

15 minutes into the movie i thought "hmmm... this sure does not seem like the trash the last Hulk movie was". 30 minutes into the movie i was thinking "Edward Norton is surely on the of the finest actors of my lifetime as he gives even a straight forward action flick underlying meaning".

By the time the movie reached half-time i was hooked. I was loving it.

I have to admit, i was a bit afraid to see sub-par CGI on the Hulk but they did a pretty good job, no complaints here.

Action is abundant, plot very straight forward yet not as dry as one might expect, acting is top notch, effects are gorgeous and dialog well sprinkled into the whole mix. Overall the movie has big bold flavor and provides great entertainment for children and their parents at the same time.

Score one more for Marvel (hot on the trail of Iron Man which was a blast as well). Now i will be eagerly anticipating Iron Man 2, Hulk 2 and... The Avengers.

P.S. Previews before the movie were awesome as well. Wanted which is coming out on the 27th should be one wild ride.

Verdict: 8/10

Rock on Marvel.

In Bruges (2008) - movie review

Having just finished watching In Bruges i thought i would write a quick review.

Overall, the movie left a great impression on me, in part but because not being a huge Colin Farrell fan i thought he put up a rather solid performance. Lets face it his version of Alexander wasn't exactly inspiring and Miami Vice plain out sucked (not to mention Daredevil which was one of the worst superhero movies i have ever seen).

Anyway, for some reason i could fully not match this actor to any of his previous roles (although he did come close in SWAT) yet i think his boyish charm, flamboyancy and "innocent" recklessness (and at times silly goofiness) finally made a match in the role of Ray, an aspiring hit man who underneath all the "kill people for money" front turns out to be a decent, good-hearted man who is heavily burdened by his horrible mistake of "accidentally" killing a little boy while on the job. Anyway, yes i was impressed. Good job Colin.

Enough about Colin, on to the movie: Martin McDonagh tells a clever story in which two hit men wind up in the beautiful surroundings of Bruges while laying low after a botched job on the orders of their boss Harry (played by the very talented Ralph Fiennes (note: is it me or did Mr. Fiennes borrow heavily from Ben Kingsley's Don Logan in Sexy Beast and The Rabbi in Lucky Number Slevin?). Bruges serves as the setting for a number of events that (think coincidental as in Snatch) come together in an ending that reflects on the meaning of life... to an extent. This is an action movie first and foremost as shootouts, blood and gore are given great detail and fabulously clash with the old architecture of Bruges. It is also a story of self discovery. In fact this movie seems to be about the difference, the contrast and the underlying closeness of our lives. The accent on intonation and repetition in the dialogs, the mix of racial and cultural differences, the softness and ease of the developing love story (Clémence Poésy (Fleur Delacour in Harry Potter and the goblet of fire as best known in the U.S.) has this "something" about her that makes her fit perfectly into her role of Chloe, Ray's love interest), the meaning of friendship (Brendan Gleeson was perfectly cast for the role of Ken, Ray's partner), loyalty and morales, the beauty of Burges and the cold brutal violence - somehow it all works when put together. In fact the movie can be read as a poem. A tragic poem... with both a possibly happy and sad ending at the same time.

If you love Guy Ritchie movies you will love this one. One thing i would suggest is watch it alone, at home, on a nice wide-screen TV with a glass of fine scotch. I promise you will be entertained and who knows, you might even draw some food for thought out of this one.

Verdict: 8.5 out of 10.