zeke-66023 Reviews

Whale Rider (2002)

predictable but still eminently worth seeing

[6/10 · 16 December 2017]

At first glance, Whale Rider seems to be just another PC flick affirming girls' ability to do or be anything that guys can do or be. The Maori setting gives it an exotic edge that many films in that category often lack; and it also provides a bit of distance from our own society that makes it seem a little less in-your-face than other formulaic battle-of-the-sexes PC stories. The cultural separation also makes it easier to accept the characters' actions and words more plausibly authentic than in other stories in that genre that are set in our own familiar settings whose characters feel more contrived and unnatural. So it is a clear notch above other stories aimed at shattering sexual discrimination. But in the end, it still occupies that formulaic PC niche.

The Other Guys (2010)

so stupid, it's funny

[4/10 · 24 July 2016]

Trying to make a film that's action, drama, and comedy (all in one) is tricky, and "The Other Guys" can't avoid the difficulty. The parts that tried to be funny seemed flat, the parts that tried to be dramatic were tedious and many of the action scenes seemed intentionally overdone, to the point of being corny. The places where this film scored were the stupid parts, many of which were SO stupid they were hilarious.

Dwayne Johnson and Samuel Jackson were excellent; Michael Keaton is solid, as usual, and I think my hardest laughs were at scenes with Eva Mendez, especially the ones featuring her character's mother.

Judged against those sorts of all-in-one movies, I'd probably give this a 7 out of 10; judged against all kinds of movies, though, it's probably worth only about a 3 or a 4. In fairness, that could just be because in the last few days I watched Red and Red 2 for the first time, both of which did better at pulling off the action/drama/comedy trifecta, in my opinion.