Elektra
Dir: Rob Bowman
Cast: Jennifer Garner, Goran Visnjic, Terence Stamp
Jen back from the dead
she's fit but film is plain dumb
stick to Alias
Why do so many major studios keep churning out these lazy comic-book adaptations? You know you're in trouble when even Jennifer Garner herself is reported as saying that Elektra is "awful". She's not wrong either. I was hoping for a vast improvement on Daredevil, where we were first introduced to her character, but believe it or not this manages to be even worse. It's a movie that showcases the very worst cliches of the genre - poor visual effects, over use of slow motion, far too many close ups during the action scenes, bad lighting and direction, and flimsy two-dimensional characters. Even after sitting through ninety minutes of this stuff I still had no idea who these people were or why they were fighting one another. Absolutely dreadful.
soulmining rating: *
Million Dollar Baby
Dir: Clint Eastwood
Cast: Clint Eastwood, Hilary Swank, Morgan Freeman
Clint trains Swank to box
German fighter causes grief
shut up noisy kids
It's easy to see how this film picked up so many Oscar nominations this week; it ticks all the necessary boxes. This redemption story is a little over-long, but is never less than engaging and is steered with considerable flair by Clint. The acting is top notch as you'd expect from those involved and my enjoyment was spoilt only by a number of spoilt brats sat on the back row who obviously thought they were still in their living room. Shame we couldn't put them in the ring with Hilary Swank for a couple of rounds, sigh.
soulmining rating: ****
A Very Long Engagement
Dir: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Cast: Audrey Tautou, Gaspard Ulliel, Dominique Pinon, Jodie Foster
Boy is deserter
girlfriend thinks he's still alive
goes looking for him
Don't see this movie if you're tired. I did, and I suffered for it... there's so many French names and changing identities in this labyrinthe tale that I was soon getting all muddled up as to who was who. Nonetheless, this is a strong piece of work shot with Jeunet's customary visual flair. It's a more serious film than his previous efforts, but there's still room for some whimsical scenes and a delightful central performance from Audrey Tautou.
soulmining rating: ****
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