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Reviews
The Punisher (2004)
A great adaptation, with only minor inconsistencies.
Adapting a known character is never easy. Adapting that character, in your first directorial assignment, for a group of rabid fanboys is ever more difficult.
Hensleigh does a decent enough job his first time out. The script was good, some little plot holes, and a little cheezy. The cheese is important though, adapting Garth Ennis' Welcome Back Frank requires you to take that little bit of goofiness with you. The real problem with the script lies in the plot holes. If the Punisher is after you, and you know this, why do you let your wife run around town all alone? Why do you not beef up your home security? Also, if you come to The Punisher's apartment, and see a giant, Russian assassin laying dead on the floor, do you think leaving one guy behind is going to cut it?
Tom Jane just takes this role and runs with it. He is Frank Castle. There are not enough good things to say about his performance, and nothing bad about it. All I will say is that I cannot imagine anyone else in that role.
Travolta was toned down here. He wasn't chewing up the scenery in this role. He played the cheesiness up though. He did little things that I enjoyed. The way he walked, mannerisms, smoking a pipe. All those little things that he did really worked.
Again, you can't fault the performers for a slightly weak script. The Punisher is a great adaptation, very true to the source, and the changes only enhance the mythos. It's just those little plot holes....
The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
A satisfying end
The Wachowski's left it up to us. I loved that. Most people had all these grand ideas about the triolgy and what was going to happen. They say it was a let down. From what? How you would have made the movie? Too bad you didn't some up with it first!
Revolutions avoids all the Hollywood cliches, leaves things up to the imagination and effectively proved a point. The movie wan't about machines and kung fu an bullet time, those were tools. The main idea, in my eyes, was balance. Balance was achieved in these films and I loved it.
Fantastic.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
The Lord of the Rings is Perfect
So many times during 2001 have I longed for a movie to come along and sweep me away. But as I look back, nothing did. That is until I saw the Montreal premiere of The Lord of the Rings.
I have never seen a movie that captures the spirit of a book so closely, that includes Harry Potter. Mere words cannot describe how good this movie is. If you like the book, go see it. If you hate the book, go see it and even if you don't know who JRR Tolkien is, go see it.
It is that good
Invincible (2001)
A Great, Made-For-Tv Flick.
I caught a preview for this movie on TBS and vowed to watch after I saw Billy Zane starred. The production team of Mel Gibson and Jet-Li leave their mark with the action. The movie literally starts with a sword fight.
The story is strong enough to hold you attention for the moments where the action tapers off. But the acting is stronger. Billy Zane plays smug, sarcastic and zen-like all with one smirk. David Field is appropriately camp and Tory Kittles, Byron Mann (Street Fighter, The Corruptor), Stacy Oversier and Dominic Purcell play their roles with convincing disbelief and later acceptance.
If you have a chance to see this, take the time. It's well worth it. I hope it is released on DVD...I'm betting the special features and interviews would be interesting.