Reviews Round Up: Skyline, Devil, Life As We Know It.

Skyline

There are many reasons why a few people who are more skilled in the visual effects area shouldn't make a whole movie themselves. Skyline is definitely one of them. The visual effects are great, I'll give it that, but the rest of the movie? Not so much. It's an alien invasion flick. Oops, I should have said *SPOILER ALERT*. This movie doesn't make any attempt to avoid all the clichés that you usually see in these types of movies. Instead, it takes everything you've ever seen before, gets some below average actors to act it out, and throws a whole lot of nice effects just to keep the audience mildly interested. The only thing is, the finale is so stupid it was as if the aliens had thought of it themselves. Which is a shame because, up until then, the movie wasn't 'so bad it's funny'. That ending made me laugh. I just wish I knew why the aliens were doing what they were doing, and I also wish we left the same stock characters we had to deal with the entire movie. They weren't exactly the heroes that could have made this movie a little bit better.

What I hoped for:

What I got:

Devil

'From the mind of M. Night Shyamalan'. Judging by his latest works, that's not something that you ought to be throwing out there as the main marketing tool for a movie. The great thing about that one sentence is the fact that Shyamalan had little to do with the movie, apart from the fact that he wrote the story that goes with it. Devil didn't exactly make me change my opinions on Monsieur Shyamalan, but it did show that he can still write a good story, with a lot of suspense and tension. Like similarly themed 127 Hours and Buried, this film makes good use of it's claustrophobic premise, but it doesn't really take off like the others do. It's kinda scary, yes, though it did feel a bit like Paranormal Activity, and it did drag in some places. The ending feels a little too 'Hollywood', as it tries to get all sentimental and emotional, but it's a satifying ending to what is essentially a 'whodunnit' tale. There were a lot of flaws within this film, but I felt the payoff was worth it. I'm actually looking forward to what the rest of the series will bring.

What I hoped for:

What I got:

Life As We Know It

As I said in last week's 'What's Happening Where I Am', I feel guilty (and somewhat ashamed) to say that I really enjoyed Life As We Know It. Okay, yeah, I admit it was quite predictable and pretty much the same as every other romantic comedy Katherine Heigl has ever been involved with. But I had a good time watching it, and I even cried a little bit as well. And with a baby that cute, how could I resist? Seriously, get over it, it's not that bad. I do admit I was in the mood for a romantic comedy (especially after watching the two other movies in this post). I wasn't in the mood to be challenged intellectually. Surprisingly, Katherine Heigl wasn't that annoying (like she was in Killers). And Josh Duhamel was...uh...Josh Duhamel. I actually think this is a movie that can be easily enjoyed by the most part of the female variety. But if you ain't going into this with an open mind, it will probably suck for you. Which is a shame, but that's the way the cookie crumbles.

What I hoped for:

What I got:

An Open Letter to M. Night Shyamalan Re: The Last Airbender

Dear Mr. Shyamalan,

In 1999, you made a fantastic movie starring Bruce Willis named The Sixth Sense. That was a perfect example of mind-messery. It was a real success. You had people believing that you were the next Hitchcock. And maybe you could have been.
Let's skip forward a few years, to when you made Lady in the Water. It failed, no? But that couldn't have been enough to quash the feeling that you wanted to make another fantasy sort of film. After that one, you made The Happening. No one seemed to like that movie. Which is a real shame, since it has Marky Mark and Zooey Deschanel in it. Now you had people believing that you were the next Uwe Boll.
In 2010, you released a movie called The Last Airbender. You had everyone looking forward to it because it had such beloved source material.
But you fucked it up, big time.
You see, when it comes to doing a film filled to the brim with special effects and CGI, you really have to be a master at that. You don't want to ever just throw effects around willy nilly. It distracts from the story, which is never really a good thing. Another thing that distracts from the story, which I'm sure is very simple and straight-forward, is the way that it's told. It's damn near impossible to have a clear idea of what is going on at some points.


The nice young boy in the lead role is totally miscast.

You've probably heard about the cast of your movie. If the original cartoon had Asians, then why didn't you cast Asains? In fact, why were all these different races thrown around when they all should have been one? Beats me. And I know that the cast were young, but you could have at least directed them to act better than they did. In conclusion, your live action version of The Last Airbender was a mess. I don't even want to imagine what it was like in 3D.
Mr. Shyamalan, I want you to know that I do not hold anything against you. You probably worked very hard on this film. But it just sucked. I'm sorry, but its true.

Yours sincerely,

Stevee

P.S. I'm sure you're aware that you have been nominated for the following Razzies: Worst Picture, Worst Supporting Actor and Actress, Worst Eye-Gouging Mis-Use of 3-D, Worst Ensemble, Worst Director, Worst Screenplay and Worst Remake. I wish you every success at these awards.