Reviews

Megamind

Maxim and I went to the cinema yesterday, in hopes to see “Tangled”. But unfortunately it was in Greek only. We checked both Rio and K-Cineplex cinemas. Since we were out anyway, we decided to go for “Megamind“. Which, despite the 3D advertising, was in 2D. (Maxim prefers 3D, while I am a 2D man).

“Megamind” is a cartoon about superheros and about the fight of good an evil. It is somewhat original in the story though. While most other stories accept the fight between the good and evil and spend most of the time on the details, “Megamind” takes a different route. It explores the world after the fight of good and evil. And not just that, but the world where evil won the fight. I thought it was an interesting twist, even though it required slightly more talking than usual. And, as every kid knows, talking is boring. Bring on the fight!

The story is well balanced though. Surprisingly, there is still plenty of fighting and other types of action. Bonus points from me are for having a geek (wearing geeky t-shirts) and for the soundtrack that included AC/DC, Ozzy Osbourne, and Guns-n-Roses. I think that’s the first mainstream animation to ever do that. Kudos!

And while this flick wasn’t a jewel that by now everyone expects from Dreamworks, it is still a pretty good entertainment choice. Overall rating from me is a 4 out of 5. Not bad.

Fair Game

Went to see “Fair Game” in the cinema. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a disappointment. It felt like the filmmakers couldn’t really decide on what kind of movie they are making. There is a bit of a spy movie, which sucked. There is a bit of political conspiracy interlinked with a bit of documentary. That sucked too. There was a brilliant part of family drama. But it was only a small fraction of the film without really being linked to the rest of it.

The film is not really fulfilling. After all that time watching it, I had to ask myself – “what did I really get out of this film?”. And unfortunately I had to answer – “Nothing”. It’s not entertaining. It’s not thought-provoking. It’s not education. It’s not emotional.

That’s too bad really. Because both Naomi Watts and Sean Pean were involved and acting, trying to make this film better. But there was just no base for their acting. The storytelling was so bad. What is even more surprising is that the director of this film – Doug Liman – for sure knows how to make good movies. He proved that with directing both “Bourne Identity” and “Mr. And Mrs. Smith”.

Overall, I’d give this film a 3 out of 5. If you really want to see it, don’t waste your money on the cinema. There is nothing there that you won’t see on a smaller screen, in the comfort of your home.

Wild Hogs

“Wild Hogs” is a fun adventure comedy about a few somewhat grown-up friends taking a road trip for the old times sake. It’s a not a bad movie at all, but whether you’ll enjoy it or not depends a lot on your mood. Gladly, I was in the mood for some light entertainment. And I had a blast. While there are a few places which are slow or silly, there are enough of those that made me laugh out loud. Overall it was worth it.

4 out of 5 from me and a solid recommendation for Friday evening entertainment.

Fargo

A few days ago I watched “Fargo” once again. I saw it before, but couldn’t help falling asleep somewhere in the middle. Thanks to many pints of beer beforehand. This time though I was hooked and watch it through. And I really enjoyed it.

Like most other Coen brothers’ films, this movie is funny and sad, easy to watch, but with something to think about. It is an atmospheric masterpiece with splendid visuals. The soundtrack is great as well. Lots of good acting. And somehow, while having very simplistic appearances an slow pace, this film feels rich and enriching.

5 out of 5, highly recommended.

The Social Network

“The Social Network” is a movie about Facebook. There’s been a lot of hype about it, since that’s pretty much the first mainstream movie about the modern Internet and the social networking. And Facebook having half a billion registered users doesn’t sound like geek-only territory anymore. But on top of that, what added plenty to the hype was that the film is not a documentary. There is plenty of fiction in it. Not in the sense that things didn’t happen, but in the sense that they didn’t happen exactly as shown, and they weren’t as important as shown. Have a look at this Wikipedia page for more on that.

I was interested in seeing this movie for a number of reasons. First of all, I am much involved with social networking and the modern Web. And even though I don’t find Facebook particularly interesting for my personal needs, I do consider it to be paramount for the current state of the Internet. Secondly, I wanted to see how the filmmakers will balance the geeky nature of the story. And thirdly I wanted to see if I could disconnect from my technical bias and see this film as pure entertainment, without passing judgement to its authenticity.

So, here’s what I think about it. I was able to see at as a “normal person”. The film is not very technical, and it not being too accurate historically, I really didn’t have any other option. It’s similar to how “Inglorious Bastards” are not a historical World War II movie. So I had no problem with it.

The film is entertaining. I think the character of Jesse Eisenberg who played the found of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg was interesting. I was surprised as to how many technical details were allowed in a mainstream movie – Perl programming, web scrapping, security concerns over Apache directory listings, etc. And yet, how all these technical tidbits were not at all important for the film. I knew what they were talking about it, but I could in a very similar way had no clue and it wouldn’t have affected my perception of the film.

But even though the film was interesting and entertaining and wasn’t a waste of time by any means, I am still disappointed. I think that there is a lot of cool stuff going on with and at Facebook. I think there are plenty of cool people in and around it. And I think that the real history of Facebook creation or milestone episodes of that history would have made a way better film. It doesn’t have to be less entertaining, but it does have to be more accurate. After all, it does have half a billion of registered users. After all, it is one of the most successful business on the Internet. After all, it is a social phenomena. And I think that makes the history of Facebook and people who are involved with it very interesting.

I won’t however allow my personal wishes for this movie to interferer with what this movie is. And what it is a good entertainment bit. My rating overall – a 4 out of 5.