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Re: Movie News: Ender's Game
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Lynn McGuire
Dec 22, 2011, 1:55:46 PM12/22/11
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On 12/21/2011 7:18 PM, Shawn Wilson wrote:
> http://insidemovies.ew.com/2011/12/21/harrison-ford-abigail-breslin-enders-game/
>
> Big Budget, Harrison Ford (not as Ender...), 2013.
Cool !
Lynn
> http://insidemovies.ew.com/2011/12/21/harrison-ford-abigail-breslin-enders-game/
>
> Big Budget, Harrison Ford (not as Ender...), 2013.
Cool !
Lynn
Tin Lunchbox
Dec 28, 2011, 3:35:44 PM12/28/11
to
Released 25 years after the original movie, Terminator: Salvation is
the fourth in that franchise. It's a big-budgeted and bewildering
portrayal of the dystopian future that awaits the remnants of
humankind after the omnipotent satellite-borne computer network Skynet
inflicts nuclear "Judgment Day." Christian Bale and Sam Worthington
star respectively as John Connor and Marcus.
Released 18 years after the original movie, Universal Soldier:
Regeneration is either the third or the fifth in that franchise,
depending whether one counts (I choose to) a couple of
made-for-television sequels. Medium-budgeted, it's mainly a long
sequence of gritty and grim hand-to-hand combat scenes set in an
wintry industrial Russian complex and also a melancholy and, I found,
somewhat moving substory of original Unisol Luc Devereaux (portrayed
once more by Jean Claude Van Damme) being pressed once more into
military service after years of psychological rehabiliation aimed at
helping him relate to others and lead a peaceful life. Dolph Lundgren
returns as now-twice resurrected sergeant Andrew Scott.
In my opinion, Regeneration is way better than Salvation. Regeneration
benefits from a straightforward hostage-taking storyline, the realism
of much (though certainly not every aspect) of the mixed martial art
combat scenes, including those with real-life MMA athletes Andrei
Arlovsky and Mike Pyle, and a charmingly world-weary performance by
the talented and perpetually under-rated actor Van Damme. Salvation
suffers from a convoluted storyline, a slickness-over-sensibility
editing where it's often impossible for the viewer to get any spatial
sense of the action, and the difficulty I thought for the viewer to
decide whether to emphasize with dual leads John Connor and Marcus.
Salvation was criticized by Arnold Schwarzenegger (the original
Terminator, who appears here only briefly in digital facsimile) as,
paraphrasing, "the viewer likes to know who the good guy is and who
the bad guy is." It's just not very well written in my view. The
editing of the shots overwhelmingly emphasizes what looks slick, at
the total expense of interconnectedness and realism. The director here
is "McG," who did a similar approach to the action acrobatics of the
heroines in Charlie's Angels Full Throttle, though there it was
tongue-in-cheek. There were some impressive sound effects, one in
particular was a blend of a boom and an hum and a bump, I call it a
"MUMP." It and others were good sound effects, as well the musical
portion of the soundtrack does some creative recycling of past
Terminator themes. But sounds aren't going to save this movie. I
recall where a raving Christian Bale was captured on tape during
filming in an extended vicious on-set harangue at the director of
photography. Among his raves, I think tellingly, was IIRC that "the
weight of this franchise is on my shoulders." Bale had no doubt seen
the rushes and perhaps realized things were going poorly.
Regeneration has a lot of action, and in a sci-fi context, but it's
fights between characters, as opposed to robots and drones and such. A
lot of it is realistic and of course some of it not so much so, such
as one character hurling another through a cinderblock wall and such.
But it is all gritty and in your face and for the most part avoids
cartoonish excess. It was a brave move I think to hire on accomplished
MMA competitors in major roles. It lends a realism wholly distinct
from spinning round-house kicks and yelling airborne acrobatics. As
well it was gutsy of Van Damme to put himself against Andrei Arlovsky
in the final fight. And it's here, aging action star vs.
fairly-current MMA champion, that a viewer must exercise his or her
power of suspended disbelief to its maximum. However Van Damme doesn't
shrink from it at all and the result is quite reasonable. Last, I'd be
remiss to overlook the return of Dolph Lundgren as Unisol Andrew
Scott. Lundgren shows up straight and tall and haggard and ominous and
does a halting and babbling monologue (like it or not it's
distinctive) amidst his punching and havoc-wreaking, and this also
adds something to the flick.
Sex and violence: Neither of these films has sex content to speak of
(the female Resistance soldier portrayed by Moon Bloodgood is briefly
menaced by some rogues). Violence is pervasive in each, but more
intensely in Regeneration, where it's more realistic.
Concluding this dual review, it's clear that Universal Soldier
Regeneration, notwithstanding its lesser budget, is a superior film to
Terminator Salvation. Regeneration's director John Hyams orchestrates
great fight scenes and utilizes Van Damme and the supporting actors to
their utmost. Salvation falls short for the "can't really tell what's
going on" storyline and the slick but otherwise senseless editing, and
I don't think Bale or Worthington could have done much to rescue it. I
find myself cooled to the prospect of another Terminator sequel, and
looking quite forward to the next installment of Universal Soldier,
which is to be in 3D.
TiN[]BoX
the fourth in that franchise. It's a big-budgeted and bewildering
portrayal of the dystopian future that awaits the remnants of
humankind after the omnipotent satellite-borne computer network Skynet
inflicts nuclear "Judgment Day." Christian Bale and Sam Worthington
star respectively as John Connor and Marcus.
Released 18 years after the original movie, Universal Soldier:
Regeneration is either the third or the fifth in that franchise,
depending whether one counts (I choose to) a couple of
made-for-television sequels. Medium-budgeted, it's mainly a long
sequence of gritty and grim hand-to-hand combat scenes set in an
wintry industrial Russian complex and also a melancholy and, I found,
somewhat moving substory of original Unisol Luc Devereaux (portrayed
once more by Jean Claude Van Damme) being pressed once more into
military service after years of psychological rehabiliation aimed at
helping him relate to others and lead a peaceful life. Dolph Lundgren
returns as now-twice resurrected sergeant Andrew Scott.
In my opinion, Regeneration is way better than Salvation. Regeneration
benefits from a straightforward hostage-taking storyline, the realism
of much (though certainly not every aspect) of the mixed martial art
combat scenes, including those with real-life MMA athletes Andrei
Arlovsky and Mike Pyle, and a charmingly world-weary performance by
the talented and perpetually under-rated actor Van Damme. Salvation
suffers from a convoluted storyline, a slickness-over-sensibility
editing where it's often impossible for the viewer to get any spatial
sense of the action, and the difficulty I thought for the viewer to
decide whether to emphasize with dual leads John Connor and Marcus.
Salvation was criticized by Arnold Schwarzenegger (the original
Terminator, who appears here only briefly in digital facsimile) as,
paraphrasing, "the viewer likes to know who the good guy is and who
the bad guy is." It's just not very well written in my view. The
editing of the shots overwhelmingly emphasizes what looks slick, at
the total expense of interconnectedness and realism. The director here
is "McG," who did a similar approach to the action acrobatics of the
heroines in Charlie's Angels Full Throttle, though there it was
tongue-in-cheek. There were some impressive sound effects, one in
particular was a blend of a boom and an hum and a bump, I call it a
"MUMP." It and others were good sound effects, as well the musical
portion of the soundtrack does some creative recycling of past
Terminator themes. But sounds aren't going to save this movie. I
recall where a raving Christian Bale was captured on tape during
filming in an extended vicious on-set harangue at the director of
photography. Among his raves, I think tellingly, was IIRC that "the
weight of this franchise is on my shoulders." Bale had no doubt seen
the rushes and perhaps realized things were going poorly.
Regeneration has a lot of action, and in a sci-fi context, but it's
fights between characters, as opposed to robots and drones and such. A
lot of it is realistic and of course some of it not so much so, such
as one character hurling another through a cinderblock wall and such.
But it is all gritty and in your face and for the most part avoids
cartoonish excess. It was a brave move I think to hire on accomplished
MMA competitors in major roles. It lends a realism wholly distinct
from spinning round-house kicks and yelling airborne acrobatics. As
well it was gutsy of Van Damme to put himself against Andrei Arlovsky
in the final fight. And it's here, aging action star vs.
fairly-current MMA champion, that a viewer must exercise his or her
power of suspended disbelief to its maximum. However Van Damme doesn't
shrink from it at all and the result is quite reasonable. Last, I'd be
remiss to overlook the return of Dolph Lundgren as Unisol Andrew
Scott. Lundgren shows up straight and tall and haggard and ominous and
does a halting and babbling monologue (like it or not it's
distinctive) amidst his punching and havoc-wreaking, and this also
adds something to the flick.
Sex and violence: Neither of these films has sex content to speak of
(the female Resistance soldier portrayed by Moon Bloodgood is briefly
menaced by some rogues). Violence is pervasive in each, but more
intensely in Regeneration, where it's more realistic.
Concluding this dual review, it's clear that Universal Soldier
Regeneration, notwithstanding its lesser budget, is a superior film to
Terminator Salvation. Regeneration's director John Hyams orchestrates
great fight scenes and utilizes Van Damme and the supporting actors to
their utmost. Salvation falls short for the "can't really tell what's
going on" storyline and the slick but otherwise senseless editing, and
I don't think Bale or Worthington could have done much to rescue it. I
find myself cooled to the prospect of another Terminator sequel, and
looking quite forward to the next installment of Universal Soldier,
which is to be in 3D.
TiN[]BoX
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