slider-9 Reviews

Casino Royale (2006)

Pleasantly Surprised, but not convinced

[6/10 · 18 November 2006]

When I first heard Daniel Craig had been cast in the role of Bond, I was convinced that the film was going to be awful. Having seen the film I have to say it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be.

The action sequences are very well done and Craig at times shines in the role. Where he fails is in the card scenes and those scenes which require sophistication.

The script is sharp and witty as one would expect from a Bond film, the quips are very well delivered and the scenes are well put together. One can forgive the obvious continuity error in having Judi Dench play 'M' in this film when it is supposed to be the story of how Bond became Bond and she was not appointed until Goldeneye.

While this has proved not to be the flop that many have predicted it would be, it is not however the definitive success that others may have hoped for it.

It definitely heralds a new era in Bond, and Craig may possibly have learnt enough from this film to be able to polish his rough edges should he decide to continue in the role.

All in all, it was enjoyable though at the end of the day it, despite all that was good in it, it lacked that certain something that marks out Bond films. Were it not marketed as a Bond film, it would pass as a very good action thriller film.

Sahara (2005)

If you're a Cussler fan avoid like the plague! - MAY CONTAIN SPOILER

[1/10 · 28 September 2006]

I'm a Cussler fan and have been for many years, so when I heard that this was in production I looked forward to seeing it when all the kinks were ironed out.

After watching this, I actually reread the book again and realised that the film only deals with about twenty pages in the book and at that it comes nowhere close to even keeping with the spirit of the Dirk Pitt books.

In the film, Dirk works for the NUMA and is portrayed reasonably well by Matthew McConnaughey, but his character is more of a playboy treasure hunter than a troubleshooter (In the book his official title is Special Projects Director, later head of NUMA), whose life's goal is to solve the mystery of missing Confederate Gold. In the book, the reason that he is in Africa is first a research project in Egypt and then an environmental project to trace the source of mysterious pollution.

Steve Zahn does Al Giordino very well, however he doesn't look Italian nor does he even come close to stocky, although he does manage to get an element of Giordino's 'never-say-die' determination and a portion of the humour (his conversation with himself at the café was quite good) The character of Rudi Gunn was downgraded from his senior and serious position in NUMA to that of comic sidekick. He spends much of his time on screen whining about the behaviour of Dirk and Al, rather than being an integral part of the team.

Granted the book is quite complex and to make a decent job of it on film would probably require something along the lines of a "Gone with the Wind" epic, but that doesn't excuse the poor job done with what we got. I know it's alway impossible to get the full flavour of a story, particularly when it's a book like Sahara, onto the screen, however this doesn't excuse cutting 95% of the story out.

There were good points to the film, however they were few and far between. That's not to say it was a complete disaster, just that for a Cussler fan it was a major disappointment.

Close to Home (2005–2007)

In a reality all its own

[31 January 2006]

I watched an episode of this last night, the only episode I will be watching and from the beginning it didn't flow right. The lead-in to the case was good, but from there it took a swan-dive and did a delightful belly-flop.

I think it extremely unlikely that a prosecutor with a supposedly strong case would throw the entire case away by questioning a suspect after a request for an attorney has been made. Everything from there on became what is referred to as "Fruit from the Poisoned tree". Her whole case was based on this evidence, which when it came to arraignment was thrown out, except for ONE single piece of evidence which they obtained through a "seperate investigation". The last time I looked a single piece of evidence which proves intent, doesn't necessarily go beyond reasonable doubt.

The main character Annabeth, appears to be written as a smartly intuitive prosecutor, who can clearly tell when a suspect wants to confess, but it appeared that once the writers got that far, they didn't know what to do next.

The dialogue in it was wooden, certainly the supervisor in the Prosecutor's office appeared so wooden, he either grew on the spot or was poured from a concrete mould.

It's certainly not the edgy drama with an aggressive lawyer that it was touted as, it's a lightweight trying to punch well-above its weight and it's leading with its chin.

Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003)

A waste of a story

[17 January 2005]

I quite liked the first Charlie's Angels film, it was, in a word, quirky. This film was a huge let-down and I'm glad that I didn't spend any money on it.

The opening sequence rescuing the American agent was reasonable, though not a patch on the original. As the storyline developed it became clear that it didn't seem to know where it was going. The musical inserts were initially interesting, but by the time the end of the film came, they were getting very annoying. It seemed that it was trying to out-Moulin rouge Moulin Rouge.

The Irish Mob was a good touch, being from Ireland, I like the concept, the only problem is that a bit of research would have revealed that no respectable Irish mobster would go around like a 1960's London bovver boy. The accents were so corny it was painful! I'm still trying to figure out what the thin man had to do with the story, other than screaming for haircuts every time he appeared.

As a trio Barrymore, Diaz and Liu are very good, the main letdown I would have to say would be the director. His C.V. is way too light to take on a project of this nature. I've heard him described as someone who had complete autonomy when making the film and his inexperience shows. Rather than going for a smooth flowing film, he goes for disjointed set-pieces which are in essence taken from other films.

This is good as a spoof film, but it's nothing more than a waste of the talent of the actresses involved in its making.

American Hot Rod (2004–2007)

American Rod, nothing hot about it

[14 December 2004]

I've seen a few episodes of this and thought in the beginning that it would be like American Chopper, but I was severely disappointed. I won't be watching it again, after the episode I saw last night. The people in this are one dimensional and the mechanic I saw last night spoke in the same monotone the whole time.

Comparing the two series American Chopper and American Hotrod, Boyd seems to have little or no interaction with work in the shop, unlike Senior who is always about the shop checking on the progress of projects and other bits and pieces. For people working with and designing engines, I find it hard to accept that in last nights episode for an Alumatub(?) they could make such a mistake as to mess up the dimensions of the manifold and have to have it welded to fill the gap. I just hope that the car was not going to a customer.

Also there doesn't appear to be the same interaction between the team, that there is on American Chopper. Everyone in American Chopper has no problem with lending their specific talents to a project if they are needed, or indeed giving a hand out when required. In American hotrod they don't seem to interact at all, though there was the play fight to settle a dispute between two team members, one of whom later parted company with the workshop. The fight didn't really serve to do anything other than increase the animosity between the two.

This series should be put out of our misery or come with a health warning.

Amú (2003– )

Mad, bad and fun to watch

[20 January 2004]

Made for the Irish Language station TG4 (aka TnaG & Telifis na Gaeilge) this series follows Hector as he travels throughout various parts of the world. Filmed primarily in Irish, but using English or the local language when necessary to communicate with locals, Hector shows the other side of places to visit, from the Bull run in Pamplona (he did a part of the run) to genital weight-lifting in Asia, his infectious humour and use of phrases which are often largely unique to Ireland keeps the viewer interested, if only to find out what he will get up to next.