Movie Reviews 2.0

[Mariner]

Took my niece and nephew to see the Lego Movie yesterday afternoon.

A bit frenetic and perhaps too many jokes aimed at adults, but not bad at all as these things go.

Oh, I finally got around to watching Elysium last week as well. After District 9 (which I loved), a huge disappointment from Blomkamp. Bad storyline, bad acting (from some good actors), bad dialogue, bad science.

It seemed to me that the screenplay had perhaps been written by committee as it was all over the place. Such a letdown after D9.

 

[Rurouni]

I kinda like Lego Movie, but it is definitely below my expectation after seeing 96/92 score on rotten tomatoes. The stop motion style is really distracting. The bigger pictures is definitely aimed at kids, but the jokes is a bit hit and miss for my taste... most felt flat.
As for Robocop, very nice. Probably need more moral conflict between obeying the rules and human judgement. Overall, I enjoy it a lot even if it only got 48/64 on rotten tomatoes.

 

[pjbliverpool]

I watched Oblivion on Sky last week, I'd heard it wasn't particularly good but I thought it was awesome.

 

[Laa-Yosh]

Well the thing is if you've seen a few SF movies or read about their themes in novels, then there really is very little content in Oblivion.

Spoiler

I mean it's basically Matrix and The Island and ID4 and maybe Terminator combined into something not really new...

So it's probably very cool for a teenager, but us 30+ SF fans can't appreciate much beyond the visuals and the music...

 

[pjbliverpool]

I'm 30+ and have seen all those films. It does draw a lot of classic sci-fi elements together(space odyssy, and Matrix spring to mind for me) but I still thought it was a pretty awesome story well told.

 

[Grall]

Thanks, Pjb! Wasn't sure about this movie, but I think I will look for some Oblivion next time I go on a blu-ray hunt.

 

[Laa-Yosh]

I'm 30+ and have seen all those films. It does draw a lot of classic sci-fi elements together(space odyssy, and Matrix spring to mind for me) but I still thought it was a pretty awesome story well told.

Honestly, the last sequence

Spoiler

was lifted pretty much straight from Independence day, with flying into the mothership, getting past some security check, seeing the invasion forces, detonating the bomb and so on... Even the visuals and camera angles were an almost straight copy.

It was effective and cool, but partially because the original was effective and cool already

Spoiler

except for the virus upload, of course

Much as I liked a lot of stuff about Oblivion, this is still too much. You can't just recycle entire sequences from previous movies.

 

[pjbliverpool]

I never even thought of it that way at the time but yeah now that you mention it there are definitely strong similarities. Doesn't take away from it being an awesome film for me though.

 

[Mariner]

Honestly, the last sequence

Spoiler

was lifted pretty much straight from Independence day, with flying into the mothership, getting past some security check, seeing the invasion forces, detonating the bomb and so on... Even the visuals and camera angles were an almost straight copy.

So?

Spoiler

Most of the whole Independence Day mothership guff was just a rip off from Footfall by Niven and Pournelle. Destroying a gigantic impregnable mothership from inside? Now, where have I seen that before? *cough* Return of the Jedi *cough*

The thing is that the breadth of SF writing over the years means that, as with action movies, there are certain archetypes which are always going to be in play. Reviewers who ignored this and claimed Oblivion was derivative of earlier movies are themselves ignorant of how the plotlines of these movies were derivative of other books!

I really enjoyed Oblivion. Well produced, well-acted, good effects, few glaring holes in the plot and much better than most poor SF showings we've seen in recent years which have received better reviews for some unknown reason!

 

[London Geezer]

Oblivion served his purpose, i'd say.
And after all is said and done, you can't help but friggin love Tom Cruise on the silver screen. He's just great in any movie he's ever done that I've seen. Shame he's a little weird outside the big screen.

 

[Grall]

Oh, Oblivion is the one with Tomster Scientologist in it? Whups! I've got that one already (and it was alright, I thought), I was thinking of that other, newer movie whatsitscalled that on the surface looks like it shares A LOT of plot with Oblivion. Damn, I can't even remember the people featured in it.

 

[London Geezer]

The one with Will Smith and his annoying son?

 

[pjbliverpool]

The one with Will Smith and his annoying son?

Lol that's what also sprung to mind for me. I found it weak, but watchable.

 

[Laa-Yosh]

So?

Again, it wasn't just the story part, but also the visuals, the camera work, the pacing, that was pretty much a remake.

 

[Grall]

The one with Will Smith and his annoying son?

You find him annoying? I thought he was fine in...*quietly sneaks off to check IMDB*...Pursuit of Happiness. Yeah, I knew that! Of course. I remember the name of all the movies I watch.

No, it was some other movie, came out a few months after Oblivion. Gave me quite the copycat-alert on my scanners. Crap, can't remember anything about it. I'll have to look for it next time I go to my local movie store.

 

[London Geezer]

You find him annoying? I thought he was fine in...*quietly sneaks off to check IMDB*...Pursuit of Happiness. Yeah, I knew that! Of course. I remember the name of all the movies I watch.

He was a baby then. Nowadays he's just an irritating teenager, and I blame his parents for that!

No, it was some other movie, came out a few months after Oblivion. Gave me quite the copycat-alert on my scanners. Crap, can't remember anything about it. I'll have to look for it next time I go to my local movie store.

Enders' game? Now that was a waste of 2 hours.

 

[pjbliverpool]

You find him annoying? I thought he was fine in...*quietly sneaks off to check IMDB*...Pursuit of Happiness. Yeah, I knew that! Of course. I remember the name of all the movies I watch.

No, it was some other movie, came out a few months after Oblivion. Gave me quite the copycat-alert on my scanners. Crap, can't remember anything about it. I'll have to look for it next time I go to my local movie store.

Elysium?

 

[Mariner]

After Earth was a bit poor, it must be said.

Didn't help that Will Smith's kid has pretty much no charisma or acting ability whatsoever but it was also pretty weak in most other respects.

Spoiler

I had to chuckle when 'General Smith' (can't remember the character name) is thanked by the injured one-legged bloke with the hover-chair with two attendants on hand to help him stand up. The film is supposed to be set 1,000 years in the future but apparently, crutches and prostheses no longer function!

I've already had my moan about the disappointing Elysium.

Can only hope for some decent SF from somewhere during 2014, but I'm not holding my breath!

 

[Laa-Yosh]

Guardians of the Galaxy is more like space opera, but you can't beat an angry raccoon with a big gun

There's also another Tom Cruise flick, Edge of Tomorrow - sort of Groundhog Day with a SF explanation and lots of combat against aliens.

 

[Mize]

Not a movie but just finished the BBC's first season of "Broadchurch" and what a well done show it is. Well written with excellent cinematography and character development. Highly recommended.