Belgand-4

I was very impressed by both of Marshall's previous films. Dog Soldiers was a very good addition to the often poorly served werewolf sub-genre and The Descent had some really good and realistic ideas for a horror film... until the cave monsters showed up and it went a bit further than necessary. Still, both were reasonably intelligent modern horror films that showed him to be a talent to watch.

I saw this as a free screening due largely Marshall's other films. After seeing it, however, I really wish I had passed.

It's little more than a mish-mash of much better films with little in the way of plot or character to fill in the moments between set-pieces and gratuitous moments: e.g. random topless girl, something blows up for no reason, something explodes in a cloud of blood... these occur left and right and entirely without reason or purpose. It blatantly rips off the plot from Escape from New York (a character is even named Carpenter in apparent homage), the set-up will be compared to 28 Days Later (though any "massive viral outbreak in Britain" plot will get that now), steals a lot of design and atmosphere from Mad Max and still manages to throw in some medieval nonsense in there as well.

Fight scenes were of the terrible, overly-fast, shaky-cam, quick-cut style making them a jumbled mess and none of the effects really felt that impressive. Almost none of the plot has any semblance of sense with almost every action occurring for little to no reason and characters being encountered so randomly that the writing doesn't feel quite good enough to even be considered lazy.

In all I really enjoyed most of the films this is derived from. Heck, I even enjoyed Escape from LA to a moderate degree. This, however, was a waste of time and money even as a free screening.

While the Sting was entertaining it is also astoundingly over-rated.

The music, while setting a fun mood, is incorrect as ragtime had fallen out of favor 20-25 years before the film is set. Likewise the costuming and set design are cartoony and create a sense of time and place that never existed and will only be recalled by viewer who have little to no experience with the actual time and place and simply view it as "old-timey". The sets in particular stand out as being obvious studio backlots and the requisite editing to make chases and the like seem seamless are glaringly obvious.

Most films based on cons tend to share the characteristic of keeping something back from the audience in order to keep a level of suspense up that would otherwise be lacking (afterall, the viewer is in on the con already). There are a couple of such cases in this film, but they're all pretty obviously telegraphed and the ending feels a bit hollow as everything simply plays out before you just the way you thought it would. Even without knowing the details of some of the cons used they're all presented simply and obviously enough that it's no feat to tell what's going on. At times it feels like the film has intentionally set the bar a bit low so that the audience will feel special and clever for picking up on the supposed "twists".

Redford and Newman both do a decent job, but (especially in Redford's case) neither seems to really inhabit their role. Instead it's just Redford playing the guy who's a conman rather than a legitimate character.

At the same time it's still a fun and enjoyable film. A good way to waste away a lazy weekend afternoon. It's cotton candy though, once you bite in there's nothing there and it's not going to stick with you for long.

This is a pretty good film, but not great. It is a bit derivative and the creators state in the "Making Of" featurette on the DVD that it really isn't an original idea. When posting this it was rated around 6-7 and this is exactly where it belongs. Above-average, but not amazing. I suggest a rental as it is certainly enjoyable and interesting, but one viewing ought to be enough.

There were some ideas that could have been followed better, especially the girl's slow process of learning to see again and finding out what is real and what isn't. As it is most of the scares are nothing more than shocks and almost always telegraphed by an excessive swell in the music. Likewise there isn't much mystery to be had either. If you liked Ringu/The Ring and possibly the Sixth Sense you might enjoy this film a bit more than most.

This is definitely a film with a heavily divided opinion. Some chide it for being long or boring, others over-praise it as powerful and emotional. Myself I respect it as a rather good film, but cannot see it as a great film.

Having been born in '81 it's a product of another generation and something that try as I may I can't fully relate to. To the generation that produced it and lived through the Vietnam war I can certainly understand how it would have much greater relevance and impact. This is not only one of the earlier films to deal with issues raised by a highly controversial war, but also one to be done in a humanistic manner focusing on the lives of the people effected by it.

Reasonably they are the ideal audience for the film. To those of us following this generation we do not have the same experiences and I feel the film is less prepared to speak to us about more universal experiences as it is rooted in its own time. Not that this is a bad thing, but it will definitely detract from the film's appreciation by a modern audience.

Overall I would give this film a 6 or 7 out of 10. It is above-average, but not great. If you were around during the war and aren't looking for a more action-oriented film add a point or two, it's your film, not mine.

Going in I was rather interested in this film, but any interest dropped off shortly after it started. No one seemed to really bother acting instead walking around and going through the motions and while the script had some amusing moments on the whole it was very bland and lifeless. The final 20 minutes are predictable to anyone who's ever seen a film before and the scenes with Julia Roberts seemed tacked on and unnecessary.

The weakest point, however, was definitely the pacing. It simply moves far too quickly to allow the audience to really become interested or allow the rather simplistic plan to be planned out and executed. The concept of even robbing three casinos is quickly pulled away when you learn that they'll only be robbing one vault containing the money from all three. A film requiring a synchronized robbery of three casinos at once using a large, largely talented cast could have been very enjoyable, but at present the film disappoints in almost every way. See it at a matinee if everything good is sold out, but otherwise wait til it's overplayed on HBO. 4/10

I was positively vitriolic about anime before I had the chance to see this series. It may not have changed my opinion in general (I don't particularly care for the artistic style used primarily) but it didn't prevent me from taking time out of my week to obsessively watch the US broadcast on Cartoon Network every week (and often twice a week) and lust after the boxed DVD set. Try it and you'll quite probably like it, even if you don't like anime.