TA's Movie Review Thread

[That Announcer]

Periodically, I'll be reviewing new movies here. Let's start off with:

"The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl in 3-D", starring Taylor Lautner, Taylor Dooley and George Lopez. ***1/2 out of ****

I'd like to say what a piece of junk this film was, how Robert Rodriguez finally let me down with a picture. I can't, because I really liked this film.

The basic plot line is that a young boy spent the entire summer dreaming up two superheroes called Shark Boy and Lava Girl. Shark Boy lost his dad in the destruction of his lab, so he was raised by sharks and eventually partially metamorphosized into a shark himself. Lava Girl can shoot fire out of her hands, burns everything that she touches and has fire for blood. Max (the dreamer) daydreams that they come to his class when a tornado is about to strike, and they take him away to Planet Drool where an evil force named Mr. Electric (George Lopez) is trying to take over the entire planet and destroy the dreams of everyone.

Formulaic plot? Perhaps. Fair enough, considering that the story was dreamed up by (and the screenplay was co-written by) director Robert Rodriguez's seven year old son, Racer Max. For something that came out of a seven year old, it's really quite imaginative. His father was nice enough to give the film the full professional treatment, with plenty of CG effects, name actors and (this is the big sell, folks) a treatment with anaglyph 3-D!

That form of 3-D (the infamous red/blue stuff) really sucks, as it turns any skin color into a sort of marred blue, and pretty much all hair to brown. All the other colors darken horribly. This, however, is really the only downside to this film. It's actually quite good.

The acting is usually very good, with George Lopez and Taylor Dooley (Lava Girl) really standing out as good actors. The music is appropriate for the setting. The effects, while overused, are cartoony enough that they pull off looking like a dream world and not some pre-viz deal.

Overall, I'd see this film. However, don't expect a whole lot of it. It really is made for kids. I personally am surprised that I liked it, because I usually dislike kid's movies. However, this one was imaginative enough that it fared well. Why is it getting bad reviews? Well, probably the 3-D, really. But other than that, it is highly recommended (at least by me.)

Overall- 3 1/2 out of 4 stars. See it, and take somebody else along for the ride.

EDIT: Oh yeah, forgot to say this. Feel free to put up your reviews as well!

 

[theprawncracker]

Cool idea T.A.!

The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D
theprawncracker's rating: *1/2-****

This movie was not good at all. What it lacked in the plotline, it gained in horrible 3-D graphics. I mean, this 1 hr. 45 min. movie had worse 3-D graphics than the 15min. Muppet Vision 3-D in Walt Disney World! The story seemed to revolve around Lavagirl trying to figure out what she was, instead of the rest of the story. Sharkboy was also played by a horrible actor, although he did do all of his own stunts. This story was a wonderful and creative idea, but the way it was brought to film truly killed it. If it wasn't in 3-D I might've given it a higher rating. To prove how bad this movie was, my 8 year old brother whom I took to see it fell asleep 20min. into it.

theprawncracker's Final Rating: *1/2-**** If you've got kids take 'em, see if they like it, but if you don't, then don't go see it.

 

[chestermcdragon]

Revenge of the sith

5 out of 5

 

[Beauregard]

Hey, gret idea putting reveiws up here. Can we do old films we've watched recently? Or just the new ones coming out?

 

[Kimp the Shrimp]

5 out of 5

1 2nd that

 

[HPDJ]

Can I review my favourite flick-Back to the Future!!!

 

[That Announcer]

Sure, review whatever film you want to! The only rules are that you must put the title in bold, list the three main actors and make your review a minimum of a paragraph long. Oh- and if you can avoid including spoilers, don't include spoilers. If you must include them, say so right before they occur. Here's a new review, from me.

"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" starring Martin Freeman, Mos Def and Sam Rockwell. **1/2 out of ****.

This movie is fair. Not great, not really bad; just fair. Why only fair? Well, let's examine it.

I should really make it clear that I've never read any of the books, so I can't judge the film based on the book- at least not yet. What I can do is judge it as a film. And it doesn't work well as a film. The problem is that in a book, you can have 18 storylines and 5 main ideas, and you'll have a good book. People can imagine with a book. (I should know, I've read over 1000 books in my lifetime.) However, in a movie, if you have too many storylines, it fails. Why? The movie will start to seem cluttered and unfocused, and you'll lose the audience's concentration, because they'll be wondering "When will you bring that back? When will you bring this back?"

"Hitchhiker's" suffers from this problem. There are too many stories at one time, and too many stories end abruptly. For example: [SPOILER ALERT]

Religious leader Humma Kavula (John Malkovich) gives galaxy president Zaphod Beeblebrox (Sam Rockwell) the Infinite Improbability Drive coordinates for the planet Magrathea on the condition that he brings him back the Point-of-View Gun. Now, the gun is found. However, Humma Kavula is not mentioned from the minute his scene is over. So that doesn't work too well. [END OF SPOILER ALERT]

There are some funny parts to the movie- for instance, Marvin the Manic Depressive Robot (body by Warwick Davis; voice by Alan Rickman) is a high point, as are the singing dolphins at the very beginning of the film, as is the thermonuclear missile that becomes a whale. These are all great points.

However, as a film on the whole, "Hitchhiker's" is only fair. It's an OK movie, but it expects things out of itself that it shouldn't. It is, by nature, an extremely goofy comedy. However, director Garth Jennings mostly shoots it as something dead serious, which is not a good thing. Especially not for something as silly as this.

**1/2 out of ****- If there's nothing else to see, go right ahead. Otherwise, make a better choice.

 

[Beauregard]

WOuld anyone mind a second reveiw on the same film? i.e. can I reveiw HHGTTG aswell from an avid fan's perspective?

 

[Kimp the Shrimp]

go ahead beau

 

[That Announcer]

Thread Rules

Here's a list of thread rules that will go into effect so as to prevent argument:

1) You can put up a review of any movie, at any time.
2) Your reviews must be at least one paragraph long and use proper punctuation, grammar and spelling.
3) If you can avoid spoilers, do so. If spoilers are inevitable, place a warning at the beginning of the review.
4) Repeat reviews are acceptable.
5) If the film you are reviewing contains adult elements, allude to them, but do not describe them or use any innuendo.
6) At the head of your review, state the title of the film in bold with quotation marks, the three main actors, and your star rating (out of 4 stars.)

Use these rules, and other than that, feel free to start posting!