Fantastic Four and War of the Worlds...
Last week Paul and I got to see Fantastic Four (F4) and War of the Worlds (WW). Two seemingly similar movies, but very, very different.
Fantastic Four was pretty much your classic comic book movie, more like X-Men than Spiderman. Batman Begins, which we saw earlier this summer, is by far the best of the comic book movies as far as character development and acting ability goes, but I enjoyed F4. The special effects were pretty good, particularly the makeup for The Thing. I have no idea what was involved, particularly with the stuff on Michael Chiklis' face, but it was, well, fantastic. It completely transformed his appearance while retaining his facial expressions and mannerisms.
Several critics have commented on the lack of acting skills Jessica Alba has within her arsenal. I disagree. Sure, she's not going to win an Academy Award for this performance, and her, um, physical assets probably helped her get the role, but she actually did a pretty good job. I have liked her since her TV show "Dark Angel." I think she's grown a lot since then (I mean she's grown as an actor, people, geez, get your mind out of the gutter!), and she handled the role well. You could see how she was the responsible, level-headed, realistic one of the bunch while being pretty and enigmatic enough to have multiple guys in love with her.
The movie is a feel-good one, where the good guys struggle with their new identities only to embrace them and defeat the bad guy at the end. The ending left a great set-up for future sequels which are sure to come. If you like comic book movies, you'll probably enjoy F4.
Now, WW...hmmm, where do I start? Well, first the good. Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning are really amazing in this film. Cruise has definitely upped his own acting chops and does really well. This is one of the few movies where I believe he was actually acting and not just doing what Tom Cruise would do in (fill-in-the-blank) situation. Dakota Fanning is, of course, a phenomenal little actress and this movie gives her the chance to play the kid in every respect. She gets to scream, she gets to bond with a parent, she gets to miss her mommy, and she gets a lot of really great wide-eyed close-ups.
The special effects are also out of this world. I am one who prefers to never see the actual aliens (I'd rather just see their shadow, or one little piece of their hand, or something like that), but these are pretty good. Their creepy and weird and look like they're from another planet. Their ships are sleek and look fast and durable...two things you'd need for intergalactic travel.
Now, I don't want to give anything away, because I hate when reviews do that. I'll just say that the way the aliens interact with the humans was a bit more, well, a lot more, disturbing than I was expecting. The movie is extremely intense, and you're literally on the edge of your seat most of the time. I definitely recommend seeing it on the big screen to get the full effect. If you're a fan of big budget sci-fi, you'll probably enjoy WW.
Fantastic Four was pretty much your classic comic book movie, more like X-Men than Spiderman. Batman Begins, which we saw earlier this summer, is by far the best of the comic book movies as far as character development and acting ability goes, but I enjoyed F4. The special effects were pretty good, particularly the makeup for The Thing. I have no idea what was involved, particularly with the stuff on Michael Chiklis' face, but it was, well, fantastic. It completely transformed his appearance while retaining his facial expressions and mannerisms.
Several critics have commented on the lack of acting skills Jessica Alba has within her arsenal. I disagree. Sure, she's not going to win an Academy Award for this performance, and her, um, physical assets probably helped her get the role, but she actually did a pretty good job. I have liked her since her TV show "Dark Angel." I think she's grown a lot since then (I mean she's grown as an actor, people, geez, get your mind out of the gutter!), and she handled the role well. You could see how she was the responsible, level-headed, realistic one of the bunch while being pretty and enigmatic enough to have multiple guys in love with her.
The movie is a feel-good one, where the good guys struggle with their new identities only to embrace them and defeat the bad guy at the end. The ending left a great set-up for future sequels which are sure to come. If you like comic book movies, you'll probably enjoy F4.
Now, WW...hmmm, where do I start? Well, first the good. Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning are really amazing in this film. Cruise has definitely upped his own acting chops and does really well. This is one of the few movies where I believe he was actually acting and not just doing what Tom Cruise would do in (fill-in-the-blank) situation. Dakota Fanning is, of course, a phenomenal little actress and this movie gives her the chance to play the kid in every respect. She gets to scream, she gets to bond with a parent, she gets to miss her mommy, and she gets a lot of really great wide-eyed close-ups.
The special effects are also out of this world. I am one who prefers to never see the actual aliens (I'd rather just see their shadow, or one little piece of their hand, or something like that), but these are pretty good. Their creepy and weird and look like they're from another planet. Their ships are sleek and look fast and durable...two things you'd need for intergalactic travel.
Now, I don't want to give anything away, because I hate when reviews do that. I'll just say that the way the aliens interact with the humans was a bit more, well, a lot more, disturbing than I was expecting. The movie is extremely intense, and you're literally on the edge of your seat most of the time. I definitely recommend seeing it on the big screen to get the full effect. If you're a fan of big budget sci-fi, you'll probably enjoy WW.
posted by Michelle at 4:43 PM
1 Comments:
Thanks, Jon.
Bird, if you start acting like a "cook," I'll definitely try to talk some sense into you!!! :)
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