Tag Archives: Film Analysis

Not Exactly a Review: The Amazing Spider-Man

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Much as was the case with The Cabin in the Woods, I missed The Amazing Spider-Man when it was released in theaters last year.  There are a bunch of possible reasons for this, but the most obvious was that it just felt too soon to reboot the Spider-Man story.  Sam Raimi’s trilogy had only ended 5 years ago, and the first movie was only 5 years before that, and I just felt that if they weren’t continuing the story that they’d be better off leaving Spider-Man alone for a while.  However, over the weekend I watched it (thanks to a free weekend of HBO) and I generally enjoyed it.  While it’s too far removed from the film’s release to give it a full review (though I’d generally give it a B+), I thought I’d do another “Not Exactly a Review” filled with my disorganized thoughts.

I’ve always believed that films should be appreciated on their own merits, and that it’s unfair to judge a film either positively based on the reflected glow of other films (The Dark Knight Rises benefitting from the praise for The Dark Knight) or negatively simply because it is being compared to something universally loved.  However, it is fair, and in this case unavoidable, to compare this film with the Raimi trilogy, given the close time frame and wide appeal of the previous films.  The Amazing Spider-Man tries to blaze its own trail, succeeding in some ways and failing in others. Continue reading →

Friday Favorites: Favorite Scene – Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End

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Welcome to “Friday Favorites” which highlight some of my favorite movie-related things.

Today’s Friday Favorite, from the final film of the trilogy, is one that I actually spent a long time discussing in part 1 of my Pirates of the Caribbean analysis.  As the final battle approaches, Elizabeth, Barbossa and Jack head to parley with Beckett and Davy Jones (with Will alongside, having lead the East India Company fleet to Shipwreck Cove).  Watch the scene below (in two parts, of varying quality, sorry) and then read on for my analysis: Continue reading →

Not Exactly a Review: The Cabin in the Woods

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It seems a bit silly for me to review a film that came out over a year ago, just because I finally got around to watching it.  So instead of a traditional review, I’m instead going to offer up some disorganized thoughts about The Cabin in the Woods.  (For the record, I give the film an A.)  I didn’t see it in the theaters mostly because we generally don’t go see horror films, both out of personal taste and a general lack of quality.  I’ve never been one for the sort of “jump out and get you” scares, but prefer more cerebral horror.  Give me Hitchcock or The Exorcist over Saw any day.  (We also don’t see a lot of comedy in the theater, but that’s a story for another time.)

Obviously I should have known better, considering the script was by Joss Whedon and one of his frequent collaborators, but the trailers didn’t help the situation.  They presented it as a standard “cabin in the woods” type thriller with a sci-fi/conspiracy twist.  That sort of thing has been done before.  So after it was released I read the plot on wikipedia and it seemed more creative than I had originally supposed, but still not enough to get me to go see it.  However, I recently read the script online out of curiosity which changed my mind, and I finally rented The Cabin in the Woods.  Here are my thoughts: Continue reading →

Why I (Probably) Won’t See After Earth

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After Earth seemingly has a lot of things going for it that would get me to buy a ticket.  I love science fiction, in particular post-apocalyptic stories (which is why I continued watching Revolution, despite the downturn in quality).  I’m a big fan of Will Smith; I had a poster of him from Independence Day on my wall when I was young, I still think Men in Black is one of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen, and his performance in Ali is spectacular.  I’m also a big M. Night Shyamalan fan, even enjoying Lady in the Water and The Village.  And while I was more enthusiastic about Oblivion than I was about After Earth, I still planned on seeing both.

At this point, though, I think it’s safe to say that I no longer have any enthusiasm to see it.  That’s not to say that I won’t.   Continue reading →

Update: Star Trek Into Darkness Writer Apologizes

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In my previous posts about Star Trek Into Darkness (read the review here, and the analysis here), one of the things I complained about was the gratuitous scene whose only purpose was to showcase Alice Eve in her underwear.  The writer of Star Trek Into Darkness, Damon Lindelof, just issued a series of tweets apologizing to fans for the scene.  Read on for the image in question and Lindelof’s apology. Continue reading →

Analysis: Star Trek Into Darkness

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This is my analysis of Star Trek Into Darkness.  Click here to read my spoiler-free review of the film.

I’ve documented my dislike for 2009’s Star Trek in a couple of places.  But to understand my more in-depth opinions on Star Trek Into Darkness I feel like I should summarize my general feelings about this “reboot;” feelings which carry over into this new film.  The gist of it is this: I wish that they had not chosen to use the time travel/alternate universe story telling device.

They really had three options if they wanted to do a story based on a young Kirk and his crew.  The first option was to simply do a prequel film, set within the timeline and beholden to everything we’d already seen in the various incarnations of Star Trek.  I can completely understand why they chose not to do this.  It would be very restrictive, with 10 films and 28 seasons of television that their prequels would have to respect and fit into.  It would be a chore simply to ensure accuracy, much less to write an enjoyable film within those rules.  And while many fans would surely have loved to see the Kirk that we love in Starfleet Academy, it’s probably for the best that they chose not to go this route.

The best option, in my opinion, would have been to opt for a complete reboot. Continue reading →