tom_marcham

I saw this film having read Red Dragon, and I'm afraid that may have meant I couldn't enjoy it as much as I would've done coming to it with no prior knowledge of the story. However, this is a generally effective film, with a very interesting atmosphere and solid performances from all the main cast members. Tom Noonan is excellent as Dolarhyde, but unfortunately his character is vastly cut down from the book, meaning the viewer doesn't understand much of his background or motivation. I understand that Dolarhyde's a very difficult character to adapt due to the fact that he generally keeps his thoughts to himself and spends a lot of time alone, but the film fails to even explain some of the more basic facts about him. The film is quite true to the book apart from the underdevelopment of Dolarhyde, and is generally well done. Unfortunately, the ending in Manhunter is vastly changed from the book, and certainly not for the better. I know a lot of people didn't like the ending of the book and it's not worth arguing about how good it was here, but at least it was quite interesting, unexpected and clever. However, Manhunter just goes with a boring, standard action movie kind of ending.

Overall, it's quite a good film, and people who haven't read the book will probably especially enjoy it. 7/10

This is a really good game. It's a spy story, kind of like James Bond, but with a slightly more serious tone. The gameplay is a mixture of action and adventure, with the focus on adventure. Most of the time you will think your way out of situations rather than using force, as you only have one gun to use, and risk capture if you overuse it.

The gameplay is very enjoyable and fits nicely into the interesting story.> It's a fast paced, exciting game that keeps you wanting to play all the way through.

There are some flaws - such as the character graphics and the controls, but these are easily overlooked as the overall experience is enthralling. 8/10

This series is great. The two leads act their parts well, but it's most notable for the weird and wonderful ideas that they've thought up. There are lots of really odd, interesting, and most importantly, hilarious sketches. Armstrong and Miller deserve to be better known, as they've created one of the best sketch shows of recent times. This deserves just as much recognition as The Fast Show, Harry Enfield, or Goodness Gracious Me. I saw their live show and it was equally good. Highly recommended.

This film has received some criticism for being a bit traditional and not so interesting as Coogan's TV work. This is true but to me it doesn't really matter, as it's very funny throughout, with all the actors doing well and some excellent moments. 8/10

Before I explain why I don't think this is worthy of much of the praise it's been given here, I'll point out that I haven't read any of the Lord Of The Rings books, so that may affect my judgement. The main reason I didn't like the film much was that I don't think many of the characters were very well developed. Once the fellowship was formed, it seemed that I was supposed to sympathise with the members, when there was barely any information given about them. From then the film became repetitive, moving from one fight sequence to the next, with emotional interludes that didn't involve me much. I lost most sense of excitement at the battles because in many cases we didn't know anything about the adversary - the name of something was mentioned and a fight began with little explanation. There were good points to the film - generally good acting, great scenery and special effects. Many films would get away with a procession of action set-pieces, but I don't think this does, because most of the fights are not well filmed. There are fast cuts and camera movements, presumably intended to make it feel more exciting, but I felt they simply confused and reduced the freedom to watch what was actually meant to be going on. My enjoyment of this film may have been affected by the huge hype. If I hadn't been expecting so much, I might've liked it simply as a fun sequence of battles and scenery. As it is I can say it was not bad, but I certainly don't reccomend it highly. The final thing that disappointed me was the ending. I know it's leaving it open for a sequel, but I still think the ending was disappointing. For a film with a sequel already planned, there should at least be something which appears to be an ending, or there should be a cliffhanger. Fellowship Of The Ring just seemed to stop in a random place. 5/10

Lord Of The Flies was a classic book, which was both an exciting story and a fascinating study of human behaviour. This modern film adaptation, with the British schoolboys replaced by US military cadets, is also very good. The acting is generally good and the main events of the story are portrayed well to maximise the shocking nature of them. You get a good feel for the characters, and the Americanisms are not problematic. I think this is a lot better than the 60s film version, and is easier for young people of today to appreciate. The only thing that keeps it from being a classic film is that it doesn't go into anywhere near the amount of interesting symbolism and psycho-analysis that was present in the book. An enjoyable film, but not as good as the book. 8/10