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Satweavers
Satweavers's stats
- Review count2
- Helpfulness votes1
- First reviewMay 18, 2008
- Last reviewJuly 27, 2008
- Featured reviews0
- Average rating3.5
Satweavers's Reviews
Overall rating
3
/
5
As I Expected...
PostedJuly 27, 2008
Satweavers
from Los Angeles, CA
One thing that makes the first in a series of sequils compelling is the gradual revelation of the characters inner workings and their inter-dynamics. One thing that seems common to sequils is that the richness of the first installment is gone. Such was the case for Hellboy II. I really liked the first film. The pathos and the tension between Hellboy and Liz was amazing. Abe was inigmatic and perfectly alien. John Hurt was magnificent. The story flowed organically and worked like clockwork with unceasing momentum. I had reservations about seeing the sequil because I enjoyed the original so much.
It was sad to find Hellboy and Liz behaving like Alice and Ralph Carmden, their honeymoon over. Abe seemed outside his character and spent too much time walking around without using his breathing aparatus. Somehow, the whole thing just seemed out of synch. I might have suspected it was created by a different director, but I know differently.
If you enjoyed the first Hellboy as I did, you will see the sequil. There is plenty of Eye-Candy and Action, and it appears that for some that is all that is really required.
Yes, I recommend this movie.
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Overall rating
4
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5
Speed Racer
PostedMay 18, 2008
Satweavers
from Los Angeles, CA
I admit it. I was too old to have been watching Speed Racer when it was broadcast in Dallas, Texas back in 1970. Japanese animation had this indefinable allure, an intangible, surreal, weirdness factor that made Speed Racer and Tobor the Eighth Man irresistable. All my friends watched them. Some even named their '80s garage band Speed Racer. Of course, I HAD to see this trans-cultural oddity translated to a major Hollywood blockbuster whose budget surely eclipsed the money spent producing the entire run of the original show. The very idea that anybody would do this in the first place has a curious psychological twist that's akin to the underlying inspiration of Tim Burton's decision to do the same fror a pack of obscure bubblegum cards when creating Mars Attacks. If your interest in this film is along these lines, I think you will enjoy the experience. The casting is perfect. the manipulation of the motion picture media is amazingly plastic, played with in a zealous abandon that matches the zaniness of the original show. The races are correctly incomprehensible in scope and purpose. There are plenty insider details to revive the dumbfounded joy of watching the cartoon. My only regret, was the length of the film. Because the races are intentionally senseless, there's little gained by extending them too much, and I found myself squirming in my seat during the last half hour. My initial anticipation turned to regret when the beginning of the film took a detour from a roller coaster send-off, into flash backs of young Speed living, eating, dreaming and breathing his racing aspirations way past us "getting it" and wanting to move on from there. Still, my 13 and 16 year old daughters enjoyed it. I prepped them by explaining that this was the first migration of Japanese Anime to our shores. I showed them some clips on You Tube to set their taste buds for the inscruitable strangeness of the original, and they 'go it'. Overall, we found Speed Racer to be a very tasty experience.
Yes, I recommend this movie.
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