Wednesday, July 20, 2005
More Movie Madness
A couple of weeks ago, I hit you with a bunch of mini-reviews of movies I have seen so far this summer. I've seen a couple more now, so without further ado....
FANTASTIC FOUR
My brother just ripped this apart on his blog (link is over there on the left sidebar), but I must say I enjoyed it quite a bit. I will concede his point that Dr. Doom just didn't seem dangerous enough; the would-be world conqueror from the comics was portrayed here as a slimy CEO who had a hard-on for the Fantastic Four. One would assume that in the inevitable sequel, which is set up for quite nicely in the closing moments, Doom will return with much greater ambitions. Until that aforementioned sequel comes, however, we are left with this, the "origin" film. It did take just a tad too long to establish some things (about 15 minutes could have been shaved off between the time the group had their outer space "accident" and the time their powers actually manifested themselves), but taken as it is, I just thought this was a really fun ride and I had a good time with it. They nailed the group dynamic amongst the Four themselves pretty well, and Chris Evans as The Human Torch was an absolute blast. All in all, this was an enjoyable summer popcorn flick, and I look forward to the next installment.
CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
I had been looking forward to this for quite some time now, and I must say it was worth the wait. Johnny Depp is pretty much the greatest actor alive today, and his performance here is absolutely off-the-wall and positively brilliant. Depp's portrayal of Willy Wonka is the polar opposite of Gene Wilder's 1971 version of the character (and none of this should be taken as a swipe at Wilder's performance, which remains an absolute classic). Wilder's Wonka came across as a relatively normal guy who reveled in acting like an eccentric inventor with a devilish twinkle in his eye, while Depp's Wonka feels much more like he is an eccentric. You really believe that this man has been completely cut off from society for a whole bunch of years. This version of Roald Dahl's book is also much more faithful to the source material, with the Oompa Loompas in particular being recreated much closer to Dahl's original vision than they were 34 years ago. For those keeping score at home, Veruca Salt's expulsion from the factory is also taken directly from the book this time in one of the film's best sequences (the last movie created an entirely different method for Veruca to be eliminated from contention). This movie also has a bit more closure to it, as I always felt that the original ended rather abruptly. It's hard to not keep comparing the two films to each other, but I'm going to stop now, because this is really a fantastic movie that should be allowed to stand on it's own two feet. Go see it now.
FANTASTIC FOUR
My brother just ripped this apart on his blog (link is over there on the left sidebar), but I must say I enjoyed it quite a bit. I will concede his point that Dr. Doom just didn't seem dangerous enough; the would-be world conqueror from the comics was portrayed here as a slimy CEO who had a hard-on for the Fantastic Four. One would assume that in the inevitable sequel, which is set up for quite nicely in the closing moments, Doom will return with much greater ambitions. Until that aforementioned sequel comes, however, we are left with this, the "origin" film. It did take just a tad too long to establish some things (about 15 minutes could have been shaved off between the time the group had their outer space "accident" and the time their powers actually manifested themselves), but taken as it is, I just thought this was a really fun ride and I had a good time with it. They nailed the group dynamic amongst the Four themselves pretty well, and Chris Evans as The Human Torch was an absolute blast. All in all, this was an enjoyable summer popcorn flick, and I look forward to the next installment.
CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
I had been looking forward to this for quite some time now, and I must say it was worth the wait. Johnny Depp is pretty much the greatest actor alive today, and his performance here is absolutely off-the-wall and positively brilliant. Depp's portrayal of Willy Wonka is the polar opposite of Gene Wilder's 1971 version of the character (and none of this should be taken as a swipe at Wilder's performance, which remains an absolute classic). Wilder's Wonka came across as a relatively normal guy who reveled in acting like an eccentric inventor with a devilish twinkle in his eye, while Depp's Wonka feels much more like he is an eccentric. You really believe that this man has been completely cut off from society for a whole bunch of years. This version of Roald Dahl's book is also much more faithful to the source material, with the Oompa Loompas in particular being recreated much closer to Dahl's original vision than they were 34 years ago. For those keeping score at home, Veruca Salt's expulsion from the factory is also taken directly from the book this time in one of the film's best sequences (the last movie created an entirely different method for Veruca to be eliminated from contention). This movie also has a bit more closure to it, as I always felt that the original ended rather abruptly. It's hard to not keep comparing the two films to each other, but I'm going to stop now, because this is really a fantastic movie that should be allowed to stand on it's own two feet. Go see it now.
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Look at us, just like your regular Ebert and Roeper.
Good to see that Burton delivered with Charlie and the Chocalate Factory. I can't wait to see it. And I think now is as good a time as any to ask why the original movie went with the title Willy Wonka and the Chocalte Factory? That has always bugged me.
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Good to see that Burton delivered with Charlie and the Chocalate Factory. I can't wait to see it. And I think now is as good a time as any to ask why the original movie went with the title Willy Wonka and the Chocalte Factory? That has always bugged me.
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