Movie Recap.

I have been doing traveling for work over the past few weeks, and thus my whole writing schedule was essentially disrupted to a bad point of disrepair. Unfortunately, my mind is still not functioning to where I can write a full review, but I wanted to give a quick recap of what I have gotten to see over the past couple of weeks.

Men Suddenly in Black. The film is a parody of the Triad gangster films, and it does a great job of capturing the style of those pictures and putting a twist on the proceedings. The film follows the exploits of 4 guys on a mission to cheat on their wives and girlfriends. Of course, with a plan like that how can you expect it to go smoothly. The wives find out about the plot and put in a plan of their own to catch them in the act.

The film is an absolute riot, and one of the more cleverly executed satires I have seen in a long time. It is far and away better than those that have been produced in America of late. The elaborate plans, the chase, the riotous "shootout," all combine into a comedy that is also very effective as a thriller.
Recommended.

Alone in the Dark. I should have known, you would have thought I would have learned my lesson after House of the Dead. But no, I had to go and see this pile of excrement laid out for an unsuspecting public by director Uwe Boll. This movie, based on the video game series, is horrendous. There is no logic to it, you know your in trouble when the film begins with a screen crawl that is read to you and last for a very long time. There are other voice overs throughout which seem to have been done as an afterthought.

I don't even know where to begin describing the story, not that it is terribly coherent. There is stuff about an ancient civilization that opened a gateway to evil and then disappeared, a government agency investigating the paranormal, experiments on orphans, creatures in the dark, all manner of nonsense which doesn't fit together. To that add on the performance of Christian Slater, who always seems to be channeling a Jack Nicholson impersonator, and Stephen Dorff, who wants to be Kiefer Sutherland's Jack Bauer. And to top it off Tara Reid, perfectly cast as a museum curator, whoever convinced her she could act owes all of the viewing public a debt for having to put up with it.

This is easily the worst film to be released in 2005. Horrible acting all around, rotten dialogue, laughable effects, shall I go on?
NOT Recommended.

House of Flying Daggers. Zhang Yimou's second film to hit US theaters in 2004 is an incredible experience. Much like Hero, the tale told is a simple one, yet has much more epic implications. A story of a love triangle in the midst of a political battle between a guild of assassins and the local ruler. A beautiful martial arts epic that is as moving as it is intriguing.

It features some wonderful martial arts action, great use of color and yet another fine performance from Zhang Ziyi.
Highly Recommended.

Elektra. I had hopes for this movie, I love Jennifer Garner, and the trailers looked promising. The end result was, shall we say, a little lacking. I was still entertained by it, but the story was just not there, just as we started to get a story, it was over. It seemed to end before it got a chance to get going.

The performances were OK, with Garner faring the best. The film was shot and edited well, the fights were convincing, if disappointingly bloodless, and the effects were realized well. The problem lay with the screenplay, there was no depth to it, nor was there really anything going on. The story, such as it was, is very reminiscent of John Woo's The Killer, where the assassin gets the target, but cannot go through with it and becomes the hero.

I can only hope that if they continue with this series that the writing steps up a notch or ten.
Mildly Recommended.

Hide and Seek. Robert Deniro seems to be set on getting into a decent "creepy kid" film. He had a supporting role in last year's abysmal Godsend. This time he steps into the lead role, costarring with the wonderful young actress, Dakota Fanning. This one is much better, but still leaves a lot to be desired, mainly a satisfying end.

The first half of the film gives us a great slow burn feeling, as we watch Dakota and her invisible friend as she deals with the death of her mother, withdrawing into an emotionless shell. We watch as Deniro tries to help her and deal with his wife's death. The performances are good and the story is good, until we reach the twist, then it all heads into a downward spiral.
Mildly Recommended.