jwillis81 Reviews

Mean Girls (2004)

An SNL sketch played out for two hours.

[6/10 · 9 May 2004]

The first half of Mean Girls was great. It had all the humor and cleverness I've come to expect from Tina Fey as a writer. The problem with the movie was that it seemed to drag out for the last two acts, with the jokes and gags coming less and less frequently. If a feature movie were a marathon, the script sprints for the first third of the race, then runs out of steam and has to walk across the finish line.

The concept was interesting, although the "out of place girl at a new school" is nothing we haven't seen before. The story is interesting in that, instead of having Cady declare all-out war on the Plastics, she subtly tries to tear them apart from the inside, a welcome change from the typical story where they fight one another until a climactic food fight scene. And although it's by no means unique to this film, it's always fun to watch a movie from an SNL castmember and try to spot all the fellow cast members they've buddied up with. Tim Meadows is, by far, the best among them.

Overall, the movie was this side of average. It wasn't the greatest film I've ever seen, and I probably won't see it again (maybe when it comes out on video), but the bottom line is it's worth seeing once, and a good way to laugh a little on a Saturday night.

Finding Nemo (2003)

Find your way to the theaters

[8/10 · 10 June 2003]

Plain and simple, go see this movie. Unless you hate Disney or animated features, this is definitely a fish tale you'll want to check out. I would say this is the best animated feature since Shrek. It's got everything you could want - excitement, adventure, and of course, lots of humor. The characters are all fun, my personal favorites being Dory, and the turtles, Crush and Squirt.

And as an added bonus of seeing it in the theater, before the show there's a Pixar short that's really good. So if you've got little kids, or just enjoy family movies, go see this one; you won't be disappointed.

8 out of 10.

Daredevil (2003)

Noir superheroes are back!

[7/10 · 22 February 2003]

After seeing Daredevil, I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised. I walked in expecting a stinker. The previews, in my opinion, were not very flattering, and the reviews others had given me were disappointing. The one saving grace I had heard was that Daredevil is a dark superhero story, more reminiscent of 1989's Batman with Michael Keaton than of more recent comic book fare like Spider-Man or X-Men.

Although I dearly loved both Spider-Man and X-Men, I could not justify a nice or sugar-coated story to Daredevil, one of the most interesting characters in the Marvel repetoire. His is a story of darkness and ambiguity, and a noir-style film is best suited for such a story.

That being said, I was not particularly impressed with the special effects. Daredevil's radar vision was fairly impressive, but in general the fight sequences left me somewhat lacking. Kudos to the special effects and sound design teams for blending (or trying to blend) the real world and Daredevil's world during the fights, but for me, it just didn't seem to work that well.

The performances were acceptable. As a fan of both Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner, I wasn't disappointed, although I definitely thought both could have stretched their acting abilities a little more. Both are capable of so much more, and to see them practically walking through the script was a little disappointing. This disappointment was easily offset by Colin Farrell's performance as Bullseye, which I consider the best element of the movie. After The Recruit and this turn in Daredevil, Colin Farrell has cemented himself in my opinion as one of the better in his generation of Hollywood actors.

All in all, I'd say Daredevil was a worthy effort. 7 out of 10.

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003)

Better than expected.

[6/10 · 22 February 2003]

I went into the movie expecting a bomb. To be honest, I saw the previews and had it tacked on my "don't bother to see it" list. But then my girlfriend took me to see it, and I have to admit, it wasn't bad.

Matthew McConaughey was incredibly charismatic in the movie, although I felt that Kate Hudson wasn't really into the movie. The real charm of the movie is in their interaction, and how he deals with all the horrible things she does to him. He does a wonderful job of wondering what's going on, then determining to fight his way back into her heart.

It wasn't the best movie of the year, and it wasn't the worst. I'd say overall, it was worth the price of admission. 6 out of 10.

Swordfish (2001)

Like a good old-fashioned action movie, but with a good plot.

[9/10 · 9 June 2001]

Swordfish was one of my anxiously awaited summer flicks. And after seeing it a couple hours ago, I am not at all disappointed. It's been awhile since I've seen a truly enjoyable, mature action movie. With the slew of PG-13 action movies of recent years, it's refreshing to see one that at least acknowledges that many intense situations do involve language, sex, and mixed character reactions - it wasn't just another black and white, good and bad movie where the good guy does only good things and the bad guy has only evil intentions. The good guy (Jackman) didn't always do the right thing, and the bad guy (Travolta) could hardly be accused of sinister motives.

The film starts off with a bang ... literally. A big-time action sequence to get out attention, then a flashback to show how the climax of the film came to pass. The out-of-order editing was actually effective and interesting, rather than seeming like yet another failed attempt to mimic Pulp Fiction and those other movies that brought attention to the idea of showing a film out of chronological order.

Jackman was great as computer hacker Stanley Jobson, devoted father who just happened to get brought down for computer-related felonies after hacking into and making public an FBI e-mail surveillance operation. Forbidden to even touch a computer for the rest of his days, he is lured back into the life by Travolta, who offers him $100,000 just to meet him (and take an interesting version of an initiation). Jackman is quickly becoming Hollywood A-list material, and with his performance in Swordfish, it's easy to see why. He can keep up with the smooth-talking, fast-moving Travolta as well as show enough emotion to make him seem like a real person and not just a run-of-the-mill action hero.

The plot of the film is fantastic. It's not just a typical heist film, or action plot where the hero has to save the hostages, blowing the hell out of the bad guys in the process. The plot is complex, interwoven, and has a point. The plot was crucial to keeping interest during the slow parts of the film. Starting out with an action sequence carries the danger of losing audience interest if not followed up by more and more action. Thankfully, the plot manages to retain interest during those points in the film where things aren't exploding and buses aren't flying through metropolitan airspace, suspended from a heavy loading chopper.

The best part about this film was the interractions between the characters. Stanley is a smart guy, and Gabriel's smarter. Just when Stanley (and the audience) thinks they have Gabriel in a tight spot, he'll surprise everyone with some improvised ingenuity. There are so many films in the action genre that result to dumbing down the smart villains, just so the hero of the story will look good when he comes up with a relatively weak solution to the complex plot. The villains often slip up or make some kind of fatal faux pas in judgment that allows the hero to triumph. There's none of that here. The hero and villain are both smart, and both stay that way until the very end.

This is a great summer movie. See it. See it twice or three times, even. If you're looking for high art or something that really speaks to you and changes the way you see the world, don't see it. But if you want to see a movie for the sake of entertainment and having a good time, Swordfish is the movie to go to. If Swordfish is any indication of the rest of this summer's big action blockbusters, we're certainly in good shape this year.

Shrek (2001)

The first animated feature I've been excited about in a long time.

[8/10 · 1 June 2001]

My only regret about seeing Shrek right away is that I didn't brush up on my fairy tale lore first. I thought the film was hilarious, and I would have doubtlessly found it even funnier if I had caught half the references I surely would have years ago when the source material was fresh in my mind. Perhaps the best thing about this film is the fact it appeals to everyone. There's enough action for the younger kids, with enough inside jokes and movie references for the old ones. I'm a huge fan of Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio's writing, and they didn't disappoint me on this one. I'd recommend this film to anyone who wants to have a good laugh, see a great piece of cinema, or both.