Once Again, Sutton Briefly Goes To The Movies
Hi, everybody! ("Hi, Dr. Nick!") I'd like to start by wishing friend of the blog Krissie Moore a happy belated birthday. Happy 19, Kris, and don't take no crap from no hurricanes.
I caught both Dark Water and Fantastic Four last night, and I have to say that I was entertained by both. So let's get to the mini-reviews...
Dark Water: This little gem is similar to The Ring, in that they're both ghost stories drawing inspiration from a book written by Kôji Suzuki and a Japanese movie directed by Hideo Nakata. But that's where the similarities end. Dark Water is everything that The Ring Two should have been: suspenseful, brilliantly acted, and just downright spooky. The movie doesn't rely on cheap scares or musical stingers to frighten its audience, instead opting to use its atmosphere and creepy ambient tones. The direction and cinematography are brilliant, and the acting is extremely well done. Jennifer Connelly is great, and gives what I felt to be one of the best horror movie performances in a long time. The film shows her character's descent into madness, and the movie never really answers if it's the haunting or her own mental scarring that are driving her insane. The cast's other highlight, eight-year-old Ariel Gade, is both creepy and adorable as Connelly's daughter. I really enjoyed Dark Water, and will gladly give it a solid four stars.
Fantastic Four: I'll admit, I'm not a follower of the Fantastic Four mythos, so I didn't exactly know what to make of it at first. I'd heard the bad reviews (such as Roger Ebert giving it only one star out of four), so I went in thinking, "It can't be any worse that Roger Corman's Fantastic Four can it?" The good thing is yes, it is better than the old Fantastic Four movie. But is it any good? Well, that depends on your own personal outlook. I personally thought that it was a good intro to the powers of the Four and Dr. Doom, but it didn't really tell much of a story. The movie could have benefited from being twenty minutes longer. We're dropped right into the movie mere minutes before the fateful space trip that gives our lead characters their powers, and it's as if the filmmakers expect us to jump right in and expect us to be familiar with the characters from frame one. What are their backgrounds? How did they get to where they are? How are we supposed to believe that they're a family if we never really establish that dynamic? I'm not a reader of the comics, I don't know these things. I understand they want to avoid wasting time by getting to their powers quickly, but a little character introduction is nice too. The cast all do good jobs with what they're given, with my personal favorites being Michael Chiklis and Chris Evans as The Thing and The Human Torch. Much of the movie's comic relief comes from their interaction (or just Evans by himself), and that made the movie far more enjoyable that it probably had any right to be. The acting is give or take (though I thought Chiklis, Evans, and Jessica Alba were all really good), though I felt the Alicia Masters character (played by Kerry Washington) was underused. She's supposed to be pivotal in the Thing's development, right? It's kinda hard to be pivotal when you're only in one scene. In spite of its glaring flaws, I had a good time watching Fantastic Four, and I'll give it three and a half stars. But as always, your mileage may vary.
I'll close by saying this... Super Saturday is coming soon. Get the word out there, folks.
Sutton out.
I caught both Dark Water and Fantastic Four last night, and I have to say that I was entertained by both. So let's get to the mini-reviews...
Dark Water: This little gem is similar to The Ring, in that they're both ghost stories drawing inspiration from a book written by Kôji Suzuki and a Japanese movie directed by Hideo Nakata. But that's where the similarities end. Dark Water is everything that The Ring Two should have been: suspenseful, brilliantly acted, and just downright spooky. The movie doesn't rely on cheap scares or musical stingers to frighten its audience, instead opting to use its atmosphere and creepy ambient tones. The direction and cinematography are brilliant, and the acting is extremely well done. Jennifer Connelly is great, and gives what I felt to be one of the best horror movie performances in a long time. The film shows her character's descent into madness, and the movie never really answers if it's the haunting or her own mental scarring that are driving her insane. The cast's other highlight, eight-year-old Ariel Gade, is both creepy and adorable as Connelly's daughter. I really enjoyed Dark Water, and will gladly give it a solid four stars.
Fantastic Four: I'll admit, I'm not a follower of the Fantastic Four mythos, so I didn't exactly know what to make of it at first. I'd heard the bad reviews (such as Roger Ebert giving it only one star out of four), so I went in thinking, "It can't be any worse that Roger Corman's Fantastic Four can it?" The good thing is yes, it is better than the old Fantastic Four movie. But is it any good? Well, that depends on your own personal outlook. I personally thought that it was a good intro to the powers of the Four and Dr. Doom, but it didn't really tell much of a story. The movie could have benefited from being twenty minutes longer. We're dropped right into the movie mere minutes before the fateful space trip that gives our lead characters their powers, and it's as if the filmmakers expect us to jump right in and expect us to be familiar with the characters from frame one. What are their backgrounds? How did they get to where they are? How are we supposed to believe that they're a family if we never really establish that dynamic? I'm not a reader of the comics, I don't know these things. I understand they want to avoid wasting time by getting to their powers quickly, but a little character introduction is nice too. The cast all do good jobs with what they're given, with my personal favorites being Michael Chiklis and Chris Evans as The Thing and The Human Torch. Much of the movie's comic relief comes from their interaction (or just Evans by himself), and that made the movie far more enjoyable that it probably had any right to be. The acting is give or take (though I thought Chiklis, Evans, and Jessica Alba were all really good), though I felt the Alicia Masters character (played by Kerry Washington) was underused. She's supposed to be pivotal in the Thing's development, right? It's kinda hard to be pivotal when you're only in one scene. In spite of its glaring flaws, I had a good time watching Fantastic Four, and I'll give it three and a half stars. But as always, your mileage may vary.
I'll close by saying this... Super Saturday is coming soon. Get the word out there, folks.
Sutton out.
posted by Matt Sutton at
3:20 AM
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