Its been a long time since I wrote anything here on the blog so I'm gonna give you guys three reviews of the four movies I have seen during my trip in the Philippines. These movies are Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, Curious Case of Benjamin Button and The Wrestler, all of them I watched, with my girlfriend, in my native country of the Philippines. A very special review for Benjamin Button will be posted later in the while.
UNDERWORLD: RISE OF THE LYCANS
I would admit I haven't seen the previous two entries of the Underworld series and with limited choices to watch in the cinemas, I would give a try at watching an Underworld movie. From what I knew before I went in, this entry is the prequel of the series in which explains the origins of the crazy war between the vampires and werewolves, so its not a big loss. All in all, this is a good action movie that drives on a fairly well-written story. The characters aren't well fleshed out, but their personalities and intentions are there. The interesting point of the movie is the forbidden romance story between vampire princess, Sonja (Rhona Mitra) and lycan slave, Lucian (Micheal Sheen). Though the love story is not really original, it is enough to drive the movie forward. Action were pretty kickass and gory, but some scenes were filmed very dark and watching the movie in a dark theater is not very beneficial. All in all, this is a good movie to watch with a group of friends and offers good action, fair story and even laughs intentionally and unintentionally. I mean I wasn't expecting to see a huge black man in Medieval Transylvania filled with werewolves and vampires. And this guys is freakin huge! And not only he's huge, he's got the deepest voice in the entire movie, one that can rival Michael Clarke Duncan's. Every time he open his mouth, I just laughed.
2 and a half out of 5 stars
BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA
Everybody knows about the notorious trailer of Beverly Hills Chihuahua. God, the first time I watched it, I just cringed at the terrible musical number and always explode every time those damn dogs yelp out "Chu-wow-wow!". And I never knew I would be actually seeing this film in theaters. Well it was date night again with me and my girlfriend only this time and our choices in the cinema were very limited. So I thought to myself that I won't go mad if I watch a lame dog movie with my girlfriend. And I was pleasantly surprised that the film didn't turn out like the terrible music number. Probably the best experience while watching any movie with your girlfriend is that at first you see something so dumb and when your girlfriend finds it cute, you can't help, but to find that dumb thing cute. If she wasn't there beside me in the cinema seatings, I would question myself why a grown man like me would be a lame kiddy dog movie. Characters are pretty simple and 2-dimensional and comedy is a mixture of cute, kiddy and mediocrity. Thus this is what you get from any Disney movie. I would say some good voice performances come from Andy Garcia as the German Shepard and George Lopez and Plácido Domingo as those little chihuahuas. A forgettable, but fun film to watch if you're bring along for the madness.
2 out of 5 stars
THE WRESTLER
This is getting huge critical acclaims and I'm not surprised because this is directed by Darren Aronofsky, whom I'm such a huge fan of. Aronofsky have directed movies such as Pi, The Fountain and the always heartbreaking Requiem for a Dream, which consists of his own style of visual and experimental camera works and editing. Thus I was looking forward to more of his stylish works in this film. But in this one, Aronofsky takes a different approach in direction, which is more in favor of the storytelling realm. Aronofsky utilizes subtle and slower techniques in telling the story of a once-famed all-star wrestler, Randy the Ram, played magnificently and masterfully by Mickey Rourke, trying to climb back to glory. And hey, I have been a huge fan of Rourke since he caught my attention when he played badass Marv from Sin City. This guy has somewhat of a colorful life as once you look at him, you don't expect much from him. But he really really surprise you.
Back to the film, I was really expecting to see Aronofsky's style of direction he displayed in his previous films. Not saying its a really bad idea, but I kinda miss them. However on the plus side, I have shown admiration for his newer and subtle sense in telling a simple story through the eyes of a washed-up has-been. The best element of this film is that you're right there with Randy The Ram in every situation and you actually feel for him in every emotion whether he's in a hospital, behind the deli counter or in the ring. Probably the problem is that the supporting characters are not as great as Randy. Granted some like Marisa Tomei did a great job and had some great moments in it, but some aren't well-played out especially Evan Rachel Wood's character who is like a two-face Russian doll switching back and forth. One scene she acts psycho at Randy, the next she's happy to see him and the next she's psycho again. I mean, can she calmed the f*ck down?! All in all, this is one amazing film and evidence that Darren Aronofsky is becoming a mature and masterful director.
4 out of 5 stars
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