Movie Review

(On VHS, August 1997) A bland title for an even more unmemorable movie. The plot has been seen a thousand times (Hero cop. Dead partner. Smart bad guy. Car chase. Girlfriend in peril. Explosion. The End. Oh, there’s a New Partner in there somewhere) and Metro confuses smart touches with incoherence (or maybe the other way around). The Girlfriend is cute and there’s one rousing good sequence in the movie (the car chase, surprise!) but the remainder will flee out of your memory as the credits scroll. At least, I didn’t pay to see it.

(Second viewing, On VHS, August 1997) Seen last year during its first week of release, and again this month with great pleasure. By no means a great movie, but one that’s just cool to miss. See it again for the subtle stuff; most of the comedy in this movie is of the type “I can’t believe I’m seeing this.” In retrospect, one of my favorite of 1996.

(Third viewing, On DVD, January 2009) Twelve years later, this spoof of Alien invasions works just as well, and maybe even a little bit better than when it was released. There have been a certain number of alien invasion films since then (and even a few alien invasion spoofs), but Mars Attacks! still holds up thanks to self-conscious camp material, a visual style of its own, and performances from a variety of actors you may not expect, from Jack Nicholson to Jack Black. There’s a cheerfully counter-authoritarian streak running through the film, as the victims are usually people with inflated opinions of themselves and the plucky working-class heroes manage to triumph over everything. It’s still decently amusing, and some of the gags are best appreciated with prior knowledge of the film rather than seen cold.

(In theaters, August 1997) Worst movie of the summer, but it’s so much fun (in a sick kind of way) that you’re unlikely to notice, or to be angry at the picture. Slightly different narrative scheme (Kull becomes king in the first few minutes) is unlikely to mask the awful dialogue straight out of comic books. Acting is uniformly bad; Tia Carrere should do much better. (But she’s redheaded here, so all things balance out!) An enjoyable Friday-night TV movie for a crowd of rowdy MST3Kers (“Brings new sense to the term frigid!”, etc…) but scarcely anything else.

(In theaters, August 1997) The first 10-20 minutes of this scary, stylish thriller include some of the best visuals ever seen in the SF genre. After oscillating between Alien, Solaris, The Shining and Hellraiser, the movie then goes firmly into the last’s territory, with all the nonsensical bloodbaths (literally) that presupposes. Definitely scary and unsettling, yes, but also very unsatisfying in it uneasy mix of Hard SF and shlocko horror: Who’s the bad guy? Satan himself! Effective direction by Mortal Kombat alumni Paul Anderson and superb techno-medieval set design make this a much more watchable movie than otherwise deserved. Good acting and impressive Special Effects are also notable. Writer Phil Eisner should take a crash course in Hard-SF, among other things. I predict a certain cult following.

(Second viewing, On DVD, July 2006) Curiously enough, I hadn’t revisited this film since its original theatre release: Event Horizon remains one of the few horror film to make me lose some sleep in contemplation. Fortunately, time caught up with me by offering a much-enhanced “Special Edition” version of the film, complete with almost a decade’s worth of hindsight. As DVD aficionados will tell you, the real story about a film takes a few years to emerge, and the “second generation” DVDs can usually afford to annoy people who have since moved on. And so director Paul Anderson takes some pleasure in talking about Event Horizon‘s rushed production, insane post-production deadlines and difficult testing process. He’s the first to acknowledge that the finished film isn’t as good as it could have been. Certainly, a second look at it can’t match the experience of seeing it on a really really big screen: at home, it simply comes across as a serviceable horror/SF hybrid, more thrilling than horrific and yet less flawed than I perceived it at the time. Blame it on more realistic impressions, maybe: these days, I’m more likely to be thankful for what does work than indignant at what doesn’t. While Event Horizon remains an imperfect film, it’s still a good treat for SF/horror fans, and it still plays well despite the pre-digital effects. Interestingly enough, I re-discovered that much of the soundtrack came from artists (Orbital and the Prodigy) that I would later embrace with enthusiasm.

(On VHS, August 1997) Good actors, suspicious plotting, bad ending and way too long. Difficult to be excited over the tale of a recluse thief who witness a scuffle ending in death involving the President, his mistress and two Secret Service agents. One or two good scenes, the remainder is an exercise in doing-something-else-while- the-movie-plays-out.

(In theaters, July 1997) This adaptation of the comic-book series is more or less faithful to the original, and is surprisingly entertaining provided you enter the theatre with the right frame of mind. A dark and stylish (if sucky) story combined with some great (and not-so-great) cartoonish CGI makes this a nice, un-ambitious matinee. Standout performance from John Leguizamo as “The Clown.” Spawn sometimes feels like an expensive pilot for a TV series… hopes are that the presumed sequel will be superior.

(On TV, July 1997) Just a hint: If you ever have to watch this movie, don’t do it half-heartedly, with an eye on the TV and another on the computer screen. If you do, you run the risk of thinking during most of the movie that the husband in this tale of (righteous) adultery is a decent, if uncommunicative, fellow, who’s absolutely right to be angry when his wife goes to sleep (among other things…) with another man. (The end of the movie permits no ambiguity, of course.) Furthermore, you risk being more than unimpressed by the “erotic sensuality” of the hole-in-stocking scene (didn’t do much for me, really) and generally bored by everything. One scene (you’ll know it) shook me, but the remainder… is to be watched with undivided attention, I guess.

(On TV, July 1997) This made-for-TV movie tells the tale of the events following Johnny Carson’s retirement as the anchor of “The Tonight Show.” In NBC’s wings: Jay Leno and David Letterman, both determined to get Carson’s job. We already know how it turned out, but this movie makes a fascinating 90 minutes of TV business drama. Both Leno and Letterman are likable, and the result is an even-handed show. Fans of either (or both) talk-show hosts will like this one.

(In theaters, July 1997) A better movie than the book. A smart summer flick. A motion picture where the science at least tries to be exact. A smart, beautiful, atheist heroine. The good news are that Contact is the purest, hardest science-fiction movie… ever. The bad news is that it’s very good, but not great. As much as I wanted to love the movie, at best I could only really like it. As expected, there was too much of a senseless debate on science versus religion. (With no clear winner according to the movie… but it had to cheat badly to do so: The senate hearing scene at the end is completely boffo. I was busy coming up with hard arguments against the “theory” while Ellie’s character simply followed the screenwriter’s direction to play dumb as not to ruin the movie’s point.) It’s no 2001: A Space Odyssey, but 2001 is the only motion picture it can be compared to. But never mind what the movie does wrong. What’s more important is what the movie does right. An exceptional female protagonist. A blind astronomer. Savvy movie-making. Stunning “invisible” digital effects. A solid grasp of science. Effortless scientific vulgarization. In short, smart (if misguided) SF. Zemeckis has managed the proverbial good science-fiction movie. For this only, I am in awe. Contact is a solid contender for the Oscars. While I would have rather have had seen The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, it is comforting to think that at least, Contact has been made.

(In theaters, July 1997) Harrison Ford is perfect as a butt-kicking president in this good -but not great- thriller. When terrorists take over Air Force One, it’s to the president himself to kill the bad guys and free his family. Will he survive automatic weapons, the White House switchboard, shoddy dialogue and three climaxes? (Cinematic climaxes, not the other kind.) Average performances from the rest of the actors, the directing is fine, the special effects are okay but the editing could have been better, and the film shorter. The script, however, needs an overhaul: One villain’s motivation (or absence thereof) is especially irritating and the president overtly betrays his own ideals in a scene quickly glossed over. Jingoistic flag-waving makes parts of this movie ridiculous to non-US audiences. A worthy video rental, but you might want to rent Executive Decision again for a (slightly) better big-plane thriller.

(In theaters, June 1997) The original Speed wasn’t expected to be very good but ended up making millions, so it’s no surprise that the sequel is so inferior. Bullock is as lovely as ever, and Patric is marginally likable, but even them can’t save Speed 2 from the mostly unexciting script. A cruise boat is hijacked, but the villain (William Defoe) is more pathetic than menacing. A squad of Islamic terrorists would have worked better. The traditional Stupid Action Movie Mistakes abound, but the greatest flaw of the movie is that it tries to be a tense thriller before switching in action-movie “boom-boom” format. The money shots are saved for the end, but they’re unfortunately spoiled by the promos. Still, director De Bont’s style is enjoyable (despite more than a few misfires) and the movie will make a splendid video rental. More bland than bad, but still not very good.