Just so you know, I did not see the first Total Recall, so I went into this movie with fresh eyes. The previews made it look pretty exciting, but nowadays, there are mainly two kinds of previews. There are previews that hook you with the first ten or twenty minutes of a movie and don't really give anything away. And then there are previews that tell you the whole story in a nutshell. They are great summaries, but they spoil too much. Total Recall's preview was a bit like the latter. Actually, it was somewhat worse than the latter. It made me think the movie would go one way and be more complicated. In reality, they were faking it. The movie was straightforward with barely any twists and turns and ended up disappointing. I don't think there was any way the movie, as it is, could have won with me. On one hand, I was disappointed that the story wasn't more complicated. But if it had been more complicated, it would have been one of those movies that messes with your mind and makes you wonder what's reality (like Inception, but Inception did it right), and in this case, having everything be in a guy's head would have been even more disappointing.
The cool factor of this movie is definitely the setting (layers upon layers of city suspended in the air!) and the chase scenes that go through it. Kate Beckinsale isn't a vampire this time, but she's as scary as one and looks as good as any vampire ever did (She's 39!).
Not as cool are scenes of nudity and the actual logistics of this science fiction flick, based on a story by Philip K. Dick. I don't mind suspending disbelief for science fiction, but it is a little beyond that to have people commute to work in a 17-minute trip called The Fall through the core of the earth. Cool, yes, but way beyond believable.
Other plot holes make this a story you don't want to think too much about, but it doesn't seem to have been trying too hard to stimulate any brain function. If you watch it, enjoy the scenery and the pretty people (including Colin Farrell and Jessica Biel) beating each other up, but don't expect much else. This is not one of Philip K. Dick's better stories, but maybe the written story is better.
Rated PG-13. Two hours. Two and a half stars. Wait for the DVD.
Showing posts with label remake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label remake. Show all posts
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Footloose
I'm sorry, for all you fans out there, that I have not seen the original Footloose, so this will not be a comparison review. I wasn't all that interested in seeing the new 2011 version either, but a preview I saw hooked my attention and I rented the DVD.
For those of you out of the loop like me, Footloose is about a high school boy, Ren, from Boston who ends up in a little Southern podunk town with his uncle's family after his mother's death. His seemingly rebellious spirit stirs up a town where it's against the law to crank up your music or dance in public gatherings, the law having been made after the death of five seniors coming home from such a dance. But there was trouble in paradise before Ren arrived. The pastor's own daughter, Ariel, is out of control, and Ren's interest in her makes him the perfect scapegoat when the town starts to unravel.
I liked the storyline of this movie. I liked Ren's angry dancing, a combination of gymnastics and parkour. I did NOT like Ariel's sexy dancing. I get that she's the rebellious bad girl, doing exactly what her father doesn't want her to. So, if she dances like she does at first, I understand. But when she continues to dance like she does (the very type of dancing that instigated people to make the law in the first place, what they call lascivious and promiscuous dancing), when the movie is trying to prove that dancing in and of itself is not harmful but fun, there's a contradiction there. Sexy dancing is not just for fun. It has a purpose: to turn guys on. And though turning guys on doesn't automatically equal harmful, it's not just free-spirited fun either. The point would have been better made had Ariel's dancing changed midway through the movie: had her destructive dancing been a side effect of her attitude, and a more creative fun dancing come out as a result of her change of attitude. While Ariel herself does finally put on a girly dress and tone down her dancing for the last scenes, it's too little too late for the movie to carry any consistent message.
It's not that I don't like the dynamics of having Ariel's character in the movie. It could have been a fascinating performance, but instead, it just came off as a little cheap. Ren and his new buddy Willard, however, are fabulous, and I'd kick off my Sunday shoes with them anytime.
For those of you out of the loop like me, Footloose is about a high school boy, Ren, from Boston who ends up in a little Southern podunk town with his uncle's family after his mother's death. His seemingly rebellious spirit stirs up a town where it's against the law to crank up your music or dance in public gatherings, the law having been made after the death of five seniors coming home from such a dance. But there was trouble in paradise before Ren arrived. The pastor's own daughter, Ariel, is out of control, and Ren's interest in her makes him the perfect scapegoat when the town starts to unravel.
I liked the storyline of this movie. I liked Ren's angry dancing, a combination of gymnastics and parkour. I did NOT like Ariel's sexy dancing. I get that she's the rebellious bad girl, doing exactly what her father doesn't want her to. So, if she dances like she does at first, I understand. But when she continues to dance like she does (the very type of dancing that instigated people to make the law in the first place, what they call lascivious and promiscuous dancing), when the movie is trying to prove that dancing in and of itself is not harmful but fun, there's a contradiction there. Sexy dancing is not just for fun. It has a purpose: to turn guys on. And though turning guys on doesn't automatically equal harmful, it's not just free-spirited fun either. The point would have been better made had Ariel's dancing changed midway through the movie: had her destructive dancing been a side effect of her attitude, and a more creative fun dancing come out as a result of her change of attitude. While Ariel herself does finally put on a girly dress and tone down her dancing for the last scenes, it's too little too late for the movie to carry any consistent message.
It's not that I don't like the dynamics of having Ariel's character in the movie. It could have been a fascinating performance, but instead, it just came off as a little cheap. Ren and his new buddy Willard, however, are fabulous, and I'd kick off my Sunday shoes with them anytime.
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