Resident Evil

I went to see Resident Evil: Extinction last night. I wasn't impressed.


Zombie/Horror movies have never been my thing. I don't like pointless death and destruction in my movies or books. And that's what this movie seemed to be - lots of pointless deaths, gratuitous blood and guts, and very little in the way of actual character or story to hold it all together.

I guess part of the problem is that I didn't see the first two movies, or play the computer game it's all based on. But having seen this one I have no desire to go back and see them.

The ultimate bad guy in this movie starts out as just amoral, although in pursuit of a worthy goal (saving the human race, of course!). At the end though, he mutates into the strongest and most intelligent of the zombies. And then the heroin manages to kill him off in just a few minutes. Not exactly the worlds greatest threat at that point...

Overall, it was a silly movie, and a waste of time. There were probably better things to do with my time last night. If I want to watch a zombie movie that's actually clever, I'll watch Shaun of the Dead instead.

Continued around the bend...

Stardust

I went to see Stardust last night. I wanted to see this movie because I enjoyed the book. It's another screen adaptation - this one from a book by Neil Gaiman. I thought it was pretty good overall - a good night out.


It's been years now since I read the book, but from memory I think the movie was pretty faithful to it. The witches, with Michelle Pfeiffer leading them were evil and fun at the same time. The love story between Tristan and Yvaine was well handled. And the scenery was lovely. I think the effects owed quite a bit to Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, but I guess there's only so many ways to show magic onscreen.

I couldn't remember the Captain Shakespeare character from the book, though. I'm going to have to re-read the book now - maybe they inserted him into the movie to make it easier for the characters to cross Stormhold, rather than having them walk the whole way. But maybe I'm wrong; like I said I'll need to re-read it now and find out for sure.

I think I might even have to buy the DVD when it comes out. I love this kind of movie - simple story, a hint of magic and dreams that captures the imagination. It might not work so well if you're not familiar with the book, but it is worth seeing.

Continued around the bend...

Harry Potter

Well, I went to see the latest Harry Potter movie last night. I was impressed - this is a good movie. It's definitely the best one of the series so far.

Since I haven't actually read any of the books, I didn't know what to expect from this movie. I've managed to get all the way through the series so far without getting hold of any of the books, and that's probably not going to change. After seeing the first couple of movies, I decided that they really were just books for kids. While the movies were fun, I couldn't see any point in reading the books then. But as the series has gone on and Harry & co. are growing up, it's getting more interesting.

The story was mainly responsible for that, I think, but the acting is getting better too. The story is more complicated, darker, and more mature than the earlier ones. The kids are growing up and becoming better actors (except for the guy who plays Draco Malfoy - didn't think he was much good at all, but since he only had a few lines in this movie it wasn't a problem).

The main characters have developed quite a lot through the series, which is great. Hermione in particular has become a much more rounded character.

And Harry learnt some important lessons in this story, too. In the previous stories, it's all up to Harry to save the day. The kids are the heroes while the adults and everyone else stands around looking helpless. This time, the kids all work hard, try their best, but in the end they can't do it all on their own. They need the backup of the adults/teachers to survive and win. There's a very impressive magical battle at the climax of the movie, which shows the kids being out of their depth and lucky to survive. That's one of the things that annoyed me about the earlier stories - Harry won almost too easily. Sure, he was lucky, too, but he seemed to win just because he was Harry. This movie isn't like that. He wins not just because he's Harry, but because he has people like the Order backing him up.

He also learns more about his parents - in particular he learns that his parents aren't perfect. He's always idolised them (natural enough) but this time, when he gets to see some of Professor Snapes' memories, he learns a few things about his dad that I think shocked him a bit. That's a tough lesson for anyone to learn - that the people they idolise aren't perfect. But it does make them more human.

I think the movie was technically really good, too. All of them have been good in that respect, though. The sets, scenery, effects - I guess they've got plenty of money to spend getting it right, though, so they should be good. It certainly gives the film the right atmosphere to make the story work.

Anyway, I thought it was the best Harry Potter movie so far. Definitely worth seeing. I hope they can keep it up with the remaining movies...

Continued around the bend...