Tuesday, July 05, 2005
Movies: Mini-Reviews for Batman Begins and War of the Worlds
Technorati Tags: Movies Reviews Movie Review Batman Begins Superhero Comic Book Movies War of the Worlds Science Fiction Alien Invasion
First two movies in a long time that I've really enjoyed, but I don't feel up to writing a full review for them, so these mini-reviews (watched Batman Begins 3 weeks ago and War of the Worlds on July 2nd (nothing in-between, or since, at a theater):
Warning: Important Plot points revealed. Don't Read below (at least not the plot section; so you don't need to read below, I give Batman Begins 4.89 stars out of 5 and War of the Worlds 4.64 out of 5 stars):
Batman Begins (2005): Starring: Christian Bale as Batman/Bruce Wayne, Michael Caine as Alfred, Liam Neeson as Ducard, Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes, Gary Oldman as Jim Gordon, Cillian Murphy as Dr. Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow and more. Director: Christopher Nolan ("Insomnia", "Memento"); Plot: As a young kid, Bruce fell down a hole in the ground and had to be rescued by his dad. Ever after the kid was very frightened by bats (that "hole in the ground" had a lot of bats in it). While Mr. and Mrs. Wayne, and little Bruce attend a musical, Bruce starts to become very scared and begs his father to leave immediately. They do, mother and father are killed by a mugger and little Bruce blames himself. He ends up hating himself and with a huge need to understand the criminal mind, and ends up in jail in Asia. Movie continues, don't want to give too much away. Review: All other superhero movies pale in comparison to this film. This is what all other such films have been striving for (if they weren't going down the campy path). A great movie that is well worth watching. (4.89 out of 5 stars)
War of the Worlds (2005): Starring: Tom Cruise as Ray Ferrier, Dakota Fanning as his daughter Rachel Ferrier, Justin Chatwin as his son Robbie Ferrier, Tim Robbins as strange guy Ogilvy, and more. Directed by Steven Spielberg and based on an H.G. Wells novel (which has been previously turned into a movie). Plot: While construction worker Ray Ferrier has the kids for a certain period of time (separated from wife, kids visiting Ray), some strange storm clouds erupt worldwide ("the wind is heading toward the storm"), shooting out strange lighting, thunder-less lighting. Ray finds this to be quite interesting and fun, until the lighting gets too close and he ends up hiding under the kitchen table with his daughter. Eventually the storm ends and Ray goes hunting for his missing son Robbie, who earlier had speed off in Ray's car (before the storm attacked). Ray finds him, sends him home, and goes to investigate (and find his car). He finds a group of people around a spot in the ground that had been repeatly hit by lighting. Suddenly the ground splits, and a massive machine raises out of the ground and looks around. Ray and the huge crowd around him run away, and the machine starts to shoot the running people . . . and the rest of the movie occurs (don't want to give everything away). Review: A very interesting exciting movie. This version has both important differences from the book and the prior movie, and important similarities. Of the three (the 1953 movie and the 1898 book, and the 2005 movie), this version seems to be the best of the three projects. (4.64 out of 5)
First two movies in a long time that I've really enjoyed, but I don't feel up to writing a full review for them, so these mini-reviews (watched Batman Begins 3 weeks ago and War of the Worlds on July 2nd (nothing in-between, or since, at a theater):
Warning: Important Plot points revealed. Don't Read below (at least not the plot section; so you don't need to read below, I give Batman Begins 4.89 stars out of 5 and War of the Worlds 4.64 out of 5 stars):
Batman Begins (2005): Starring: Christian Bale as Batman/Bruce Wayne, Michael Caine as Alfred, Liam Neeson as Ducard, Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes, Gary Oldman as Jim Gordon, Cillian Murphy as Dr. Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow and more. Director: Christopher Nolan ("Insomnia", "Memento"); Plot: As a young kid, Bruce fell down a hole in the ground and had to be rescued by his dad. Ever after the kid was very frightened by bats (that "hole in the ground" had a lot of bats in it). While Mr. and Mrs. Wayne, and little Bruce attend a musical, Bruce starts to become very scared and begs his father to leave immediately. They do, mother and father are killed by a mugger and little Bruce blames himself. He ends up hating himself and with a huge need to understand the criminal mind, and ends up in jail in Asia. Movie continues, don't want to give too much away. Review: All other superhero movies pale in comparison to this film. This is what all other such films have been striving for (if they weren't going down the campy path). A great movie that is well worth watching. (4.89 out of 5 stars)
War of the Worlds (2005): Starring: Tom Cruise as Ray Ferrier, Dakota Fanning as his daughter Rachel Ferrier, Justin Chatwin as his son Robbie Ferrier, Tim Robbins as strange guy Ogilvy, and more. Directed by Steven Spielberg and based on an H.G. Wells novel (which has been previously turned into a movie). Plot: While construction worker Ray Ferrier has the kids for a certain period of time (separated from wife, kids visiting Ray), some strange storm clouds erupt worldwide ("the wind is heading toward the storm"), shooting out strange lighting, thunder-less lighting. Ray finds this to be quite interesting and fun, until the lighting gets too close and he ends up hiding under the kitchen table with his daughter. Eventually the storm ends and Ray goes hunting for his missing son Robbie, who earlier had speed off in Ray's car (before the storm attacked). Ray finds him, sends him home, and goes to investigate (and find his car). He finds a group of people around a spot in the ground that had been repeatly hit by lighting. Suddenly the ground splits, and a massive machine raises out of the ground and looks around. Ray and the huge crowd around him run away, and the machine starts to shoot the running people . . . and the rest of the movie occurs (don't want to give everything away). Review: A very interesting exciting movie. This version has both important differences from the book and the prior movie, and important similarities. Of the three (the 1953 movie and the 1898 book, and the 2005 movie), this version seems to be the best of the three projects. (4.64 out of 5)
