ZebraGreg Reviews

Lucy (I) (2014)

If you have any love from Magic-Reality and Non-linear Story telling then see it.

[10/10 · 26 July 2014]

Plot: Lucy (Scarlett Johansson) is forced to be a drug mule, but the bag holding the drugs in her stomach bursts, and she gets a super-mega dose of a psychoactive drug -- this supercharges her brain and gives her great intelligence, mind-reading, body morphing, and other super powers. She tracks down the rest of the drug mules in Europe, and the drug lord tries to get back at her. She keeps developing and growing until she can't anymore.

Review: I loved it, and I want to see it again.

It has a magic-reality, non-linear story telling style that I like, but everyone doesn't. Everything isn't literally happening or true like they show it -- you are seeing the symbolic reality. Cloud Atlas was like that -- and many people never understood what was happening there.

There is a lot of philosophy speak, and it is the same way -- it is a symbol for philosophy -- you don't need it to make sense to "Get it." See Major Spoiler at the end.

I loved Scarlett Johansson -- who gives us a great tearful phone call to Mom, and a kick ass super hero too. Morgan Freeman is great, but I am tired of him playing a scientist. I get it that he can be geeky without being threatening, but let's move to the next generation.

There are several good visuals including the cheetahs eating the antelope, Lucy's hand morphing scene, and who expected a pile up of French police cars.

Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman

Written and directed by: Luc Besson

Rating: 4.0 stars:. Loved it. Loved it. Loved it.

Major Spoiler:. OK: This is really the same story as 2001 Space Odyssey. We see an ancient ape making the step to humanity (the first Lucy.) and the we see a modern human (the modern Lucy) making a step to be come a trans-human or star baby or the singularity. We see that everything we need is really all in our head already. We see that reality is much simpler than we thought it was.

RED (2010)

Entertaining Mindless Bullet-fest

[5/10 · 16 October 2010]

If you have read down this far in the review list, then you know the plot. Frank (Bruce Willis) is getting the old spies together to take down the bad guys.

The plot is a rehash of a dozen movies like A-Team and Rambo III where old guys get together and fight for justice. This version kept moving, and the support cast was strong including Mary-Louise Parker, John Malkovich, Richard Dreyfus, and especially Helen Mirren. Helen delivered some great lines that were fun to watch, sadly she was not in the movie that much. RED worked as a movie, and I enjoyed watching it.

Head tough-guy Bruce Willis is not interesting or likable enough, and he is the weak point of the movie. I'd like to have seen a dozen other actors. Bruce is bald, just like the cartoon character, but he is not really a very good action hero.

I liked paranoid Marvin's (John Malkovich) paranoid rants that turned out to be just what the NSA was doing -- in terms of their listening to them and tracking them.

The special effects were solid; they didn't achieve splashy. I did not care for the post card motif -- perhaps this is borrowed from the comic book.

The end of the movie was pretty clever, and I liked that.

I give this movie an average rating, so it is a five. Bruce Willis fans might give it a seven.

More: I love Helen Mirren with a machine gun. She was the best!

Avatar (2009)

Spectacular Movie Entertainment

[10/10 · 19 December 2009]

Great movie entertainment that is simply spectacular with action, emotion, and movie-house morality. I really liked the realistic way the animated Na'vi moved so gracefully though the trees, and later through the air. The movie characters were evocative and emotional -- unlike most motion capture characters, and even better than Lord of the Ring's Gollum -- far better than Disney's A Christmas Carol.

Writer/director Cameron rapidly sets up the conflict between the humans and the Na'vi. Jake and the audience spends a long time with the Na'vi, and the wonderful visual world they inhabit. The audience is won over by the time the bulldozers arrive.

Although the story is predictable, that is because it is archetypal. The story is like the European migration into North America and the displacement of the native Americans. Visually it is more like Europeans coming to tropical Africa -- perhaps like displacement of natives in Nigeria for petroleum. There is the more elemental conflict between the spiritual, grounded and connected natives with the mechanized and money-grubbing humans.

Sam Worthington's performance as Jake shows his emotional shift in loyalties, and this is the best performance in the film. The supporting characters are one-dimensional. Zoe Saldana's Neytiri is combative and cat-like. I am not sure she handles the slow scenes as well as she might. I liked seeing Sigorney Weaver too.

I want to see it again.

District 9 (2009)

Clever Viral Marketing Aside, The Film Isn't Very Good

[4/10 · 16 August 2009]

I am tired of hearing about the clever marketing campaign, and how cool the preview showings were.

Objectively, this movie was not very good.

The first half of the movie is a political allegory, and the second half of the movie is an action movie. The whole movie is told with a hand-held camera in a documentary style, that works for a while, and then gets annoying.

The character development is awful, and Wikus Van De Merwe played by Sharlto Copley, is creepy and unlikeable. Copley is competent enough, but he is played as simply nerdy and the performance did not have enough depth. The only alien with a personality was the baby alien. The rest are just targets for abuse.

On the bright side, the art direction was solid, and the initial premise of the story is interesting. I don't know how they animated the aliens, but that seemed realistic throughout. They were pretty ugly, and they spent a lot of time wiggling their facial appendages at the camera.

This is a Sci-Fi, and it does not need to make sense, but this movie makes less sense then most. There are too many plot twists that have no purpose except to advance the story.

There is a tradition of Sci-Fi that is darker and scarier than recent Sci-Fi films. This film is trying to channel that tradition, and maybe it succeeds in bringing Sci-Fi back to its roots -- on the other hand, better dialog, more character development, and more attention to the plot would have helped.

I ordinarily give a extra points for taking on a tough political or moral issue, but this was a heavy-handed morality play. The messages of this movie -- something like, "People are terrible," and "Be nice or the aliens will get revenge," -- do not seem worth the effort.

The Proposal (I) (2009)

Likable Comedy With Alert Directing and Good Facial Acting

[8/10 · 14 June 2009]

This is a funny, enjoyable movie with alert directing and good facial acting. The chemistry between the Bollack's Margaret and Reynold's Andrew is fun to watch as they worm their way through the predictable consequences of an immigration scam.

The story is that powerhouse publisher Margaret Tate (Sandra Bullock) is in immigration trouble and blackmails her secretary Andrew (Ryan Reynolds) into marrying her so she can stay in the country. To make the lie believable she goes to Alaska to visit his family. As they get to know each other, the movie draws toward the inevitable happy ending.

There are several good scenes including the dress fitting, Ramone the exotic dancer, the eagle stealing the cell phone, and just about all the office cubical scenes.

ON REALISM: Margaret is a self-centered bully, and she treats people terribly -- early in the movie this is funny as a spoof of office life, like "Devil Wears Prada." In reality it is unlikely that Andrew would see anything in her. This plot is not-at-all realistic, and it is an excuse to set up the comic situations of the movie. The Proposal is good because of the dynamics between the characters within the context of the ridiculous circumstances. The movie is more believable than "Star Trek", "The Hangover", "Up!", "Terminator Salvation", and about as believable as "The Solist".

This is light comedy with no redeeming social value, but it is well-done, and most people would enjoy it.

MORE: They showed too many jokes during the preview.

EVEN MORE: The end is OK, but they should have been more creative.

YET MORE: Sondra Bollack looks great for 45 years old.

Ghost Town (I) (2008)

Worth seeing because of Gervais is so deliciously grouchy.

[6/10 · 20 September 2008]

Plot: In Ghost Town, a grouchy Dr. Pinkus (Ricky Gervais) is suddenly able to see ghosts. The ghosts chase him around New York City begging him to complete unfinished business for him.

Review: In the first half of the movie we are introduced to the grouchy Dr. Pinkus, who is so rude that he is funny. There are also great hospital scenes with Kristen Wiig. In the second half of the story where Dr. Pinkus breaks up and then romances Gwen, the widow, the action is slower and not as interesting. The dialog is always snappy, but it turns into more of a romantic comedy at the end with cute scenes, but not as witty. The first half is the clever and fun --Ricky Gervais makes the character come alive. The second half is less creative and fun, although I liked the twist at the end.

The movie is like Dicken's Christmas Carol and Groundhog Day in that supernatural forces cause our hero to become a better person.

Get Smart (2008)

A genre bending Spy-Action-Romantic-Comedy Movie

[7/10 · 21 June 2008]

Get Smart should be taken on its own terms. It works best as a spy spoof of course, but it disappoints if you are expecting another Austin Powers movie. It has the soul of a romantic- comedy and the best part is the chemistry between Anne Hatheway's 99 and Steve Carell's Maxwell Smart. The chemistry of Steve Carell with most of the supporting cast is outstanding, and includes the two younger geeks, Alan Arkin's chief and Dwayne Johnson's 23.

I thought the dialog from the series like "Missed it by that much," and "Sorry Chief" did not work that well. I liked the shoe phone gag though.

The Bank Job (2008)

The real star of this movie is the storyline.

[9/10 · 8 March 2008]

Britain's MI-5 stages a robbery of London bank to steal back blackmail photos of Princess Margaret. MI-5 gets hooked up with Martine Love and Terry Leather, played by Saffron Burrows and Jason Statham, who are struggling at the margin between the criminal world and the ordinary world. In time, real gangsters, the Police and MI-5 are all chasing Terry's gang and roughing up each other.

The movie is a grand bit of story telling. It is a great cops and robber story with lots if credible twists and turns. This is refreshing because we have all seen too many Hollywood crime pictures that are just too comical and science-fiction like Mission Impossible or Oceans 11+. It's entertaining, and would have been without its irrelevant nudity.

This movie is not providing social commentary, or teaching us about history: it is just a fun story that is told well. Kudos to the writers, Clement and La Frendais. The performances are believable especially Jason Statham and Saffron Burrows --although the action oriented story does not test their range. The real star of this movie is the storyline.

Charlie Bartlett (2007)

Starts strong, but finishes like an After-School Special

[5/10 · 23 February 2008]

This is the story: Charlie Bartlett, Anton Yelchin, is expelled from private school, and is sent to the public school by his rich Mom. He has high school outsider adventures until he sets himself up as an amateur psychiatrist with a illicit pharmacy, and then everyone loves him including the principal's daughter, Susan, played by Kat Dennings. The principal, played by Robert Downey Jr, has his own mental health issues, and this is an interesting plot twist, rather like Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

There are engaging performances from Anton Yelchin and Robert Downey Jr. They are fun to watch. I would like to see more from Anton. Kat Dennings and Hope Davis give interesting performances, but their characters are not as rich.

The first half of the movie where Charlie has problems and needs to solve them is far more interesting than when he is solving other people's problems. I did like the Kip Crombwell suicide episode.

This movie could have used some punched up dialog. It makes me appreciate Diablo Cody's Juno. The end was embarrassingly sappy. I almost closed my eyes.

Eastern Promises (2007)

Some very memorable scenes in an entertaining movie - which has no humanitarian or intellectual heft.

[7/10 · 22 September 2007]

This is the background of the story: The movie is about Russians living in London, and their organized crime gangs. A father (Semyon, Amin Mueller-Stahl) and a drunken son (Kirill, Vincent Cassel) are important smugglers and restaurant owners. They employ Nikolai (Viggo Mortensen) who gradually gets involved with the gang. In the meantime, an underage Russian prostitute dies during childbirth, and she was some sort sex slave associated with Russian criminals. A Russian nurse (Anna, Naomi Watts) has compassion for the dead mother and the baby, and tries to find the father. This leads to a complicated plot with some interesting twists in the end. The movie has lots of memorable graphic images. There are unexpected killings, violent sex, and naked wrestling far more brutal than in Borat.

I enjoyed the movie. It had a nice blend of action and drama with enough story to keep thread together the memorable (violent/sexual) action scenes. While Semyon's family begins to look like the Godfather's Corleones it does not really; the family is not developed; there are little love in that family. There are few likable characters aside from Anna (Naomi Watts) and perhaps her Mom. The movie is a simple genre picture for entertainment only. It does a nice job of creating the enigmatic character of Nikolai, but I don't think that the drama rises to the level where we get a new insight about human nature. Viggo Mortensen does an especially nice job. I don't think the movie has a social message either. Because of the high level of violence and the lack of a social purpose to justify it, I can't recommend this movie highly, although the acting and directing are superb, the movie as a whole is merely a worthy effort.

Apocalypto (2006)

Its different, but endlessly violent, and with no redeeming message.

[3/10 · 9 December 2006]

Only ambitious movies can be as bad as this.

Yes, Apocalypto is creative and different, and yes, I have never seen major movie about the pre- Columbian Central America.

Unfortunately, this is not a insightful exploration about village life or about the brutal wars that occurred. Neither is it a movie about how all people throughout time are the same in some universal way.

The real message of the movie is to give an evil depiction of pre-Columbian life to justify the brutal colonization of central America by the Spanish.

Apocalypto has a ton of brutality without any levity in the latter two hours. This is not similar to the violence of Kill Bill, which was highly stylized and spaced out. In a good movie the violence would be in the service of a bigger message, but there isn't one here.

I did not enjoy the movie, and it was not worthwhile. It might spur conversation, but I don't recommend seeing it.

Babel (I) (2006)

I'm glad I saw it. Four great, but loosely connected stories. Like Crash, but intercontinental.

[9/10 · 11 November 2006]

This movie has four loosely connected stories, two in Morocco, one in Mexico and one in Japan, which are all intercut together. The Morocco story involves goat-herder boys shooting at a tourist bus, and the treatment for the woman who was shot. The Mexican story involves an elderly Nanny who goes to Mexico for her son's wedding, and troubles on her trip back. The Japanese story is about a deaf girl who feels rejected.

I am glad I saw this movie this week since I am sure it is too artsy to play at the Movieplex very long. It is a good movie, but requires some dedication to appreciate.

I liked each of the individual stories, and each have memorable performances and some great pictures. I liked visuals of the disco scene and the Mexican wedding festival. There were many actors, and many good performances. So is the is 3 star movie or a 4 star one I thought the movie was excellent, but I wish the whole story hung together a little better. I don't think it had the inter-racial tension aspect of Crash, but it had a one-world community aspect.

Borat (2006)

I laughed until I cried. Shows a mirror to America's dark side.

[10/10 · 4 November 2006]

Story: Barat comes to America and travels from New York to California. It is a road movie, and most of the episodes are real people saying and doing outrageous things. There is a framework of staged scenes to create storyline.

Review:

This is clearly the funniest movie in years. I laughed so hard that I cried. When I was at the movie I thought that most of the scenes were staged, and found out later that it was mostly real. The realness makes this even more remarkable, even though some of the fake scenes are memorable too.

Of course this is an outrageous mirror showing America ugly things.

I am worried about foreigners seeing this movie and getting an even more negative idea of Americans. I have read a review in German. It is one thing for Americas to laugh at Americans, and another to have the Germans believing that Americans are this bad. Mostly it shows that Americans are a little stupid and maybe too polite.

So is this a great movie or just a good one? Movies need to be both enjoyable and meaningful to be great. Since this movie had a real purpose and because it was the funniest movie in memory, I must give it a top rating. On the other hand, it is mostly entertainment, and not a documentary, even a biased one like Fanrenheit 911.

My wife noticed that the IMDb ratings for women were much lower than for men. Nonetheless, she liked the movie a lot. I think it is helpful to know that the movie is a satire, and not a affirmation of prejudice. Still this is not a good date movie.

Hollywoodland (2006)

Well crafted, but a movie with no reason for being.

[5/10 · 9 September 2006]

A biographical movie about the life and death of George Reeves, the actor who played Superman in the television series in the 1950's. The movie concerns itself with George's motivation, love life and professional life. A second dimension is provided by the detective investigating the murder on behalf of his mother, who believes that his death could not really be a suicide. There are a number of romantic subplots and love triangles.

This is a well made and well acted film, but the movie has no reason for being. The story is not intrinsically interesting, and there is no deep hidden allegorical message. I liked watching the actors with the interesting dialog and good characters. The movie is fun to watch, but its not Spiderman or even "Snakes on a Plane."

I am disappointed that there was not a clever plot twist, a truth-is-stranger-than-fiction spectacle or a deeper meaning. As it is, the movie seems to be a half-hearted analysis of Hollywood corruption, and it does not succeed on that level.

Miami Vice (2006)

Fun to watch; A movie you can follow visually only; Not for folks looking for Deep Hidden Meaning.

[6/10 · 29 July 2006]

This is a movie about undercover detectives who get involved with smuggling drugs, but anyone who saw the TV show knows that.

The movie is very visual. One can follow the story without the dialog, which I did since it was hard to hear the finer points. The movie is fast paced, and I needed to pay attention to get the subtleties.

The timeline of the romance was too compressed, but otherwise I bought into most of the plot twists. The characters were not deep, but they were well-acted and distinct enough that we cared about and understood them. The directing by Michael Mann was strong. I have heard others say the photography was great, but I did not think so. I did not care for the graininess of many shots. I did like the art direction, even though I would have snuck in a few pastels.

Fun to watch; A movie you can follow visually; Not for folks looking for Deep Hidden Meaning.

Inside Man (2006)

Good entertainment with many good performances, but basically escapist entertainment.

[7/10 · 25 March 2006]

Assuming that you saw the trailer, everyone knows that bank robbers take hostages, and somehow the bank robbers dress up the hostages to look like themselves.

The movie is entertaining and fun to watch. I most enjoyed the supporting characters --people like the individual hostages, and the detective's wife. All these little roles made the movie better.

The main story is about how are the robbers going to get away with it, and there are some clever twists, that are pretty satisfying.

My main objection and why this is not a GREAT picture is that it is only a cops & robbers movie that is done for fun. It is not about any greater theme. The movie is fun to watch, but other movies are fun too. That makes it seven stars.

The Matador (2005)

Quarky movie about a fictional assassin meeting a regular guy.

[7/10 · 28 January 2006]

This is a quirky movie, and one can address it on two levels. On one level it is a spy drama, and on another level it is a parody of action-adventure flicks. It misses the mark because it does not make a point, but rather is just for fun.

Seeing this the weekend after when I saw Brokeback Mountain, I am struck by how much deeper the relationship between Julian and Danny is than the two shepherd-lovers in Brokeback. Certainly there is three times more dialog. Are people so shallow that they think love is more about sex than about helping each other out when in need?

I really liked the performance by Pierce Brosnan. Hope Davis was good and Greg Kinnear was solid, but not inspired.

I liked the art direction with the bright Mexican colors and the shots of the shiny Matador uniform.

Brokeback Mountain (2005)

Moviemaker confuses lust for love in lonely shepherds. Movie fails as allegory for homosexuality in America.

[5/10 · 21 January 2006]

Two hands at a sheep ranch have sex during one lonely summer, and continue the relationship into their adult life, creating love triangles with their future wives. It explores the power of homosexual lust in adult men. Later in life they face discrimination because of anti-gay stereotyping.

This movie is a story about how sex between two lonely young men gets confused with love. Some interpret the their relationship as a love story and see the movie as an allegory for homosexual lovers in 21st century American society, but this is a false analogy. The men don't really love each other, they don't do the things lovers do like take care for each other, communicate through letters or phone calls, laugh at each others jokes (very little smiling in this movie), or even go fishing together. The men are motived by good sex not love, and the movie explores the power of sex to complicate life, in this case tragically.

The best part is the relationship between Ennis and his wife Alma (Ledger and Williams). This relationship takes place in the real world not the pretend world on the mountain. Williams gives the best performance in the movie.

There are a number of distracting side plots, and in the end the movie peters out.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)

Fun, but I'm a fan. Weakest of the four. Needs more heart.

[5/10 · 19 November 2005]

Harry enters a grand wizarding tournament, but is in over his head.

First of all, I enjoyed this movie, and I want to see it again on video. I am a fan however, and no one who has not read the book could ever follow the story -- especially the end. So if your a fan you should see it. They do a nice job with certain scenes, and it is fun to see them.

On the other had, it is not a good movie. It does not hang together as a story for a non-fan. The characters don't engage enough. Everyone is expected to know the whole backstory and even recognize the actors from the other movies.

This movie strikes me as a marathon to pack in as much plot as possible, and it does not have enough heart. I liked some of the story simplifications, but it needed more interplay between the characters.

The young actors have been good and continue to be. The best part of this movie was the dance scene.

This is the weakest of the four movies so far. That may be because the three contests of the story are hard to make into a movie. I would have trimmed it down to two contests or simply made two movies out of it.

The Weather Man (2005)

Best movie of 2005 so far; Meaningful without being weepy

[10/10 · 30 October 2005]

Summary: A middle aged weather man with a failing family life, sick parent and dull job copes with his life and aspires to move to a national TV show.

A great movie about the modern dilemma. It is about American society and its problems seen through the life of one guy. It talks about his problems, his mortality, his moral failings, and his caring soul as well. Nicely written, great photography of Lake Michigan covered in ice. Lots of great scenes where Nicholas Cage pull off difficult performances. Many sadly comic scenes including a dream sequence with Sponge Bob that is a wonderfully surreal.

I am afraid that disapproving critics don't understand the deep irony and existential humor like a Kurt Vonnegut novel. Nothing illustrates this better than the scene where Cage's character sees the giant balloon of Sponge Bob floating by. The meaning and meaningless of life together with family and ambition together with human frailty come together wonderfully and with humor.

North Country (2005)

Some great characters enacting a cartoon story line.

[4/10 · 22 October 2005]

A single mom gets a job in a Minnesota iron mine in the early 80's and experiences extensive sexual discrimination, harassment and assault.

An overly earnest movie about sexual harassment told through the stories of some great characters. One can enjoy the characters and their experiences even though the company men are just cartoon villains.

It is clear early in the movie that this is a woman-good/men-bad movie. The men are just oppress the heroines for no real reason, much like villains in James Bond simply want to take over the world, for no good reason. This is an excellent telling of a feminist pamphlet, and does not really aspire to be a great film. The message of this movie is pro-Sisterhood in a big way.

I would have liked more subtlety especially at the beginning. Seriously I almost walked out watching these stereotyped guys being so relentlessly mean. Now I know the script-writer needed to make the bad guys awful to create sympathy for the woman, but it was not done well.

Charlize gives a great performance despite the handicap of being too pretty for the role. Frances McDormand is a joy to watch.

A History of Violence (2005)

Uninspired drama about a man with a history of violence

[4/10 · 1 October 2005]

A movie about a small town dad who has a history of violence. This history comes to find him in his new small town life.

Well, I liked the second half of the movie the best, when it was trying to be dark. At the beginning it was too treacle sweet and phony. I have considered that it was supposed to seem phony, because it was, and I have decided that that gives the film too much credit. The irony was unintentional.

I liked the plot with the teen ager who gets bullied by kids, but I am not sure how that contributes to the movie. Viggo's performance was only OK, too wooden. I think we needed to see some subtly in the 1st half of the movie before we know his secret. Now the performance by William Hurt was excellent -- as good as the publicity said it was. Maria Bello did a nice job as did the son, Ashton Holmes. The direction was uninspired except for the William Hurt scene.

So what does this movie mean? It means that bad guys can get away with murder if they live in small towns. What kind of message is that?

Must Love Dogs (2005)

Good entertainment. Not great cinema. Good chemistry between Lane and Cusack.

[5/10 · 30 July 2005]

A forty-ish newly divorced teacher looks for a new guy. Lots of interaction with her brother, sisters and father. The trailers show lots of internet dating, but that is not what this movie is about. It is about dating, and how middle aged women have trouble finding desirable guys.

The movie makes me want to look at the Claire Cook novel. I bet the dialog in the book is excellent.

When Diane Lane and John Cusack are together on screen the chemistry is excellent, and I am willing to overlook the stupid melodramatic plot devices.

There are some stupid parts most especially the chase in boats which is about the tackiest thing I've seen this year, and that is counting "Wedding Crashers."

So I good summer date flick. Not memorable.

Wedding Crashers (2005)

It looks like a party movie, but actually its a sweet romantic comedy. Some funny parts.

[6/10 · 23 July 2005]

It looks like a party movie, but actually its a sweet romantic comedy. Some funny parts.

Two guys crash weddings for to meet girls cheap. At a wedding with a rich well-connected family both guys fall in love. Many weird characters.

I did not really care for the beginning, because two guys are not really very likable. It gets better when Rachel McAdam's character enters the movie. Good performances by Owen Wilson , Rachel McAdams and Jane Seymour. I liked the creepy gay artist brother.

This movie has some mild message about love being more important than one-night stands, but that message is not really well delivered, and I think more guys will come away from this with clever ideas for crashing weddings than will decide to build an enduring relationship.

Batman Begins (2005)

Top notch superhero movie. A great movie for fans and wannabe fans.

[8/10 · 18 June 2005]

This is an outstanding super hero movie. I had a lot of fun, even though I loved the Tim Burton Batman movies, and did not really want to see this movie made. Batman's super powers are not so super, and the treatment of the mental and spiritual nature is more in depth. I liked the tie between the childhood fears and the batman character. It was refreshing that there was no 007-style comic relief. Top performances by Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman. The art direction was solid, but not as great as the Tim Burton films. The movie gets 8 stars because it is a great movie only in its own universe of super hero movies. It does not really tell a universal story--only a story about how a guy becomes a superhero, which of course is make-believe.