Immortals

The golden rule is: Thou shalt not judge a movie by its trailer.

Even if the trailers have explosions like this.

From the trailer of this film, you might expect it to be like 300, because it said that this was from the producers of 300. But a film is not the creation of the producers. It is merely a production by the producers (hence the root word "produce"), but it is the creation of the entire collaborative effort under the guidance of the director. And this film was directed by Tarsem Singh, not Zack Snyder, so it's nothing like 300 at all.

The look was great. What Singh wanted was for it to be an action film using Renaissance painting styles. Well, it kind of works here:

And maybe also here:

But that's basically it.

Although it works as an action film, don't get me wrong. The fight scenes were spectacular.

"Take that, 300!"

They even had the typical war speech before they started bashing heads in.

Stephen Dorff looking like Kiefer Sutherland.

So what I'm actually saying is that this film has no problems visually. It's the storytelling that makes it fail. The pacing is too slow, and there is no smooth flow from one scene to the next.

Henry Cavill doesn't show much promise in the acting department. Well, how many good actors have played Superman lately? Exactly.

Henry Cavill's acting moment:
Pretending to have an arrow.

Stephen Dorff showed more acting chops here than both Cavill and Freida Pinto combined. Although they did show Pinto's ass, which is a big career boost for her. Now she'll be able to land more roles showing off that cute Indian butt of hers.

"I'm more than just a cute butt!"

Isabel Lucas is really hot, yet no ass exposure, so... too bad for her. But the performances were salvaged by Mickey Rourke, who spoke in almost-incoherent grumbling all throughout, and maybe John Hurt's short-lived role as the old man. Quite unrealistic, though, is the fact that Theseus called him "old man" despite claiming to have known him since childhood. Really now.

One last thing: the casting wasn't so great either. For the role of Zeus, they cast Luke Evans, who kind of looked like an older Orlando Bloom. Zeus is supposed to be the alpha-god, but it just doesn't work with Mr. Evans here. Sorry. You may be a good actor, but you got cast in the wrong role.

Also, you have a dorky whip.

Immortals. USA. 2011.



Rating: Five out of ten.




*some info from IMDb and Wikipedia

Public Enemies

(Before anything else, let me just say that this is the best man-crush movie this year.)

Sadly, Michael Mann did not give me what I was expecting. A biography is totally different from a historical narrative. One is character-driven; the other is plot-driven. From the onset, it becomes clear that this movie is a biography of John Dillinger (since that is what the story focuses on) and not some cops-and-robbers tale. So they should have told more of John Dillinger, since he really was a colorful character anyway. And I blame Michael Mann because he co-wrote the screenplay.

But Michael Mann redeems himself by giving the coolest movie shoot-out since Heat. If there were a lot more shoot-out scenes, this film too could get an Oscar nomination for sound design. Just the brat-ta-tat-tat of the machine guns in digital surround makes this worthwhile.

Public Enemies has two of my favorite actors going head-to-head. This isn't like American Gangster, where the two powerhouse leads didn't have a scene together until the film's final minutes. Johnny Depp and Christian Bale actually talk face-to-face. Not a lot, but still. It's better than Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe.

Now you may think that Depp and Bale will cancel each other out onscreen, both being terrific actors and all. But such is not the case. When cast side by side, Depp comes out on top. Although I admire Bale for his unorthodox acting methods, it is apparently Johnny Depp who is the better actor. Or maybe because this is Depp's movie. I'm not really sure.

Christian Bale is good as always, although his attempt at the southern dialect sounds...unnatural. Sorry.

Also, at the end credits, there's a dialect coach for Ms. Cotillard, and a dialect coach for Mr. Bale. And none for Mr. Depp. Because Mr. Depp doesn't need a dialect coach.

Marion Cotillard is really, really pretty. And, like Yao Ming, her English is getting better. Hooray for Marion Cotillard, who is now my favorite French actress after Sophie Marceau.

On to the supporting cast: 1) Billy Crudup made J. Edgar Hoover look gay. 2) I didn't recognize Stephen Dorff. 3) Giovanni Ribisi was good. And 4) Stephen Graham was so effective as Baby Face Nelson that I hated him.

Oh, and also: Mr. Dillinger and Mr. Depp are both nicknamed "Johnny", and they both have the initials "J.D." Useless trivia for you.


*some info from IMDb
pic from matchcuts.wordpress.com


Public Enemies. USA. 2009.


Rating: Seven out of ten.
Marion Cotillard's English: Eight out of ten.