I'm an independent moviemaker in Canada that aspires to do big budget blockbuster summer movies. I'm also an avid comic book reader. But, I hate Marvel Comics & the X-Men. Have for ages. So I can't say I was exactly looking forward to this movie. And I never ever thought I'd LOVE this movie. Bryan Singer (who directed the also excellent "Usual Suspects") & his fellow X-Moviemakers did an amazing job translating these characters to the big screen. Relative newcomer Hugh Jackman gives what may end up being a breakthrough performance as Wolverine. Only die-hard X-Fans may be a bit upset by how some of the characters are adapted to their motion picture versions (Rogue is quite different than the sexy southern bell X-readers are probably used to). My favorite thing is that they didn't have a cheesy top 10 soundtrack to accompany the movie (as they did with Mi2 & other such summer fare). When a movie comes out that's based on something that's already beloved by a large # of fans (whether it's Hamlet, X-Files, Batman or Silence of the Lambs), the key is to appeal to the worshipers AND the people who've never heard of the thing before. Rarely does this succeed, but with X-Men, they pulled off a movie that should be enjoyable to both forms of viewers. I give it my highest possible recommendation. Go see it.
Reviews
8 Reviews
Clerks
(2000–2001)
One of the worst half hours of television EVER.
1 June 2000
Oh. My. God. Please don't make me watch this again. Please. It hurts so much. I've never seen such a poorly put together episode of television. And don't think I'm not a View Askew fan. I own the original Clerks on video & have liked all of their efforts. But this show was just plain bad. No two ways about it. Whereas the movie was a funny character piece, the cartoon is a jumble of nonsense (dream sequences, basketball players, Japanamation, Beverly Hills Cop jokes). All that along with a couple of stupid pot shots at Star Wars made for another in a long line of prime-time cartoon failures (see: Fish Police, Capitol Critters, The PJ's, The Critic etc.). It's a real tarnish upon the legacy of a real fine independent classic. I give it a very generous 3 out of 10. It makes it above the completely awful vote of 1 because I liked the character design & the part with a bear driving a car made me smirk.
Another great addition to the franchise
1 June 2000
OK, sure...at first glance you might not think that I'm a fair person to be giving such a glowing review for Phantom Menace. Yes I wear a Star Wars baseball cap. Yes, Boba Fett's on my keychain. But trust me, I wouldn't lie to you. I LOVE this movie. I've seen it a bunch of times in the theatre & a couple times on video & it still stands up. And, I'm not afraid to admit, I was a bit hesitant of the new movie. What if it doesn't live up to the first three. What if George embarasses himself with a subpar effort. But from 20th Century Fox's opening drumroll right through Boss Nass proclaiming "Peace", I was completely & wholeheartedly enthralled. What do I say to the naysayers? Maybe they forget that these movies are made for 12 year old's. Maybe they've lost their sense of wonder & can't go to a movie, sit back & suspend their disbelief anymore. Maybe they're jaded with adulthood. Who can say? All that I know is despite some negativity to the movie, a hell of a lot of people liked it. And I hate people who pick at it for dumb reasons. They think that it's a continuity error that in Episode IV Obi Wan said that when he met Anakin he was allready a great pilot. I don't see the problem here. Lil' Anakin was a great pilot when they met. Anyway...I don't want to rant. I loved Episode I, am looking very forward to the next two, and congragulate everyone at Lucasfilm. 10 out of 10.
Dinosaur
(2000)
I think this movie was better when it was called "The Land Before Time"
21 May 2000
Too much time spent on the Dinosaurs, not enough on the script. There was really nothing there. You know a movies a bit disappointing when the 1st thing you think after watching it is, "Wow, that cg monkey hair was amazing!". And I wish Disney would've had some backbone to try something new. After seeing the trailer for it in front of Toy Story 2, it seemed like it was going to be a fake documentary (much like Walking with Dinosaurs). But alas no, instead you've pretty much got "The Lion King" with computer animated prehistoric beasties. And to be quite honest, although the fx were quite impressive, it was no Jurassic Park. At least they didn't sing.
Alligator
(1980)
The best giant alligator movie ever!
14 May 2000
This movie is the best damn giant alligator movie I've ever seen. They just don't make then like this anymore. Featuring very cool pre-CGI animatronic fx & a real live alligator. And any time a lil' kid gets eaten by the monster in a horror movie, you know that they're not messin' around.
The Last Broadcast
(1998)
Like Blair Witch but bad.
27 April 2000
Supposedly this movie was made before the whopping success of The Blair Witch Project. Thus getting lots of free publicity off of Blair Witch's greatness. But just because it came 1st, doesn't mean that its good. "Big" was the last in a line of "kids become adults" movies...didn't mean that the movies that came before it were better. To put it bluntly, "The Last Broadcast" was sooooo bad. Bad acting, bad story, bad idea, bad everything. I barely made it through. It was the opposite of Blair Witch in every way. It wasn't scary, & I wasn't fooled by any of the actors or the camera style. The surprise ending wasn't much of a surprise either. Please don't bother seeing this movie. Just watch Blair Witch again instead.
Batman & Robin
(1997)
The worst movie ever.
27 February 2000
Not only is this hands down the worst of the Batman franchise...but it's also probably one of the worst movies ever. Joel Schumacher single handedly drives a great character into the ground & ruins what could have been a very cool series of movies. I long for the days of Tim Burton/Michael Keaton & hope that this mistake (Schumacher) doesn't ever ever happen again.
Early no-budget fun from the guys who went on to bring you Evil Dead & Xena
20 February 2000
Not a good movie by any means. But, it is very cool to see the early no budget work of some of the guys that went on to bring you such favorites as Evil Dead, Darkman & Xena. If your a fan of Renaissance Pictures & Sam Raimi, this one's well worth checking out.
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