Month: March 2013
The Hunter Review
“A hunter is tasked with hunting the thought to be extinct Tasmanian Tiger. Throughout his hunt he will learn that some hunts are not worth the price one is paid, or pays…”
Yes, i have finally gotten around to viewing the film i had been wanting to see all last year. And as i expected it didnt disappoint. This is a very moving & visually awe inspiring film about a hunter who is tasked with hunting and collecting samples of the thought to be extinct Tasmanian Tiger. His work is made complicated with the family he shares lodgings with as he slowly starts to befriend them. I personally think this is a very underrated film, which is a shame but i understand. The film is not an all guns blazing picture, rather a very scenic drama with a decent mystery to play it through. The shots they get of the Tasmanian outback are really quite beautiful. Even the film itself has alot of quiet scenes with only the sounds of nature to be heard, creating a good sense of atmosphere. William Dafoe does great as the hunter, as does Sam Neil as the helpful (a lil too helpful) shady guide. [fun tip, be on the lookout for the actor who played Mark Moran in Underbelly].
Oz: The Great And Powerful Review
“Before a girl and her dog wish to go no place but home, a confidence trickster will find himself in the magical world of Oz and maybe, just maybe, he might discover the true greatness about him and true wizardry at his hands. It’s just one small step down the yellow brick road…”
Hey-howdy-ho and salutations the merry moviegoers & people of Oz (no, not that Oz, the magical one). I am The Great, The Powerful, The Magical, the wizard reviewer Matt Gives You His Review (… ok, im not all them things, can you fault a man trying to talk himself up on the internet?) I am here today to bring the first of many revisited of reviews of 2013, that one being the prequel origin Oz’s king and wizard: “Oz: The Great And Powerful”. Does this movie recapture the wonder & the magic of the first movie yet present its new look at the ‘Oz’ mythos, or had this movie be better avoided like tornadoes and Kansas in general? Well come follow me down the yellow brick road, as we battle witches & flying baboons to find out ,,,
“In the year 1905 in the simple town of Kansas, con man & showman Oz (James Franco) makes his living performing shows of mystique & wonder with a travelling circus, wanting more than the simple life and hoping the be a ‘great’ man like his idol Thomas Edison. While commandeering his hot air balloon after a show he suddenly is sucked up into a tornado and awakens to find himself in a strange & fantastical land called Oz. He comes across Theodora, The “Good” Witch (Mila Kunis), who believes Oz to be THE wizard of a prophecy to restore peace to lands & people of Oz and stop the Wicked Witch that is terrorizing the land. Tasked by Theodora’s sister Evanora, The Royal Advisor (Rachel Weisz) and secretly the actual Wicked Witch, to find the Wicked Witch and slay her to fulfil the prophecy and in turn lay claim to the throne of Emerald City, accompanied by his oath sworn helper/servant flying monkey Finley (Zach Braff) and an orphaned china doll named China Girl (Joey King), Oz seeks out the Witch to only find that she is in fact Glinda, The Actual Good Witch (Michele Williams) who is in fact the one protecting the good folk of Oz from Evanora and her witchcraft. In need of a wizard to lead the people of Oz against Evanora and her turned wicked sister Theodora, Oz, while not actually ‘The’ wizard foretold, agrees to help the people of Oz to stand against the wicked witches and restore peace to Oz. Will Oz and the people of Oz reclaim their lands and stop the evil witch sisters? Will the wicked witches destroy the wizard and Glinda for good, once and for all? Will Oz pull through and show his greatness or will he pull one last swindle over the merry ol’ land of Oz?…”
After so many years have passed I do still vaguely remember wanting to see this movie but struggled to find anyone interested to see it. I eventually for lack of a better word conned someone into seeing this movie with me (my own mother in fact, love you mum) and after seeing the movie for meself, I think I fast realised why I struggled to get someone to see this with me, though personally liking the movie more than what others criticize it for. I at the time didn’t understand why this was looked on so poorly, but maybe it’s the year’s difference that has made me come around to seeing more of the failures in the movie than what I first saw initially. I still have a good time watching this movie and find parts in it I actually highly favour, though not all bodes well with this return to the merry ole Land of Oz, some of these things in fact can prove quite detrimental to the movie as a whole itself.
Some things I did enjoy about the movie was for one was the style and editing that played homage to the original movie (‘The Wizard Of Oz’, duh) and added a level of continuity to the movie (its starts in black and white and an old aspect ratio to eventually become colourful and widescreen. Clever things like that help sell the movie). The Land of Oz itself and its oddity of creatures & landmarks were colourful, visually pleasing and yet unique enough to be different compared to other fantasy worlds (It’s not all overly entirely necessary and completely obvious in its CGI, but its wondrous enough for you not care a bit while watching the movie). James Franco as the man Oz himself did well in the role, not only showcasing the wittiness & trickery of the character but also the human vulnerability his character faces in wanting to be a great man, yet only able to con people into thinking it. Michelle Williams does an actually nice portrayal as Glinda and does get some cool scenes using her powers. Other performances that were great was Zach Braff as the helpful monkey companion Finley and provides Oz with his moral challenges & humour and Joey King as China Girl, who not only was brilliantly designed & brought to life but just steals every scene she is in (her scenes bring a lot of the movie’s emotion and she kills it every time. She surprisingly has some funny lines here and there). The references and attention to detail to the first movie were clever, Tony Cox as the sourpuss named Knuck was hilarious, the music from the quirky Danny Elfman as always is impressive and the ending of the movie was actually a really well done climax, boasting impressive cinematography and tying things up together nicely at the end.
A shame it is however that the movie falters in every other aspect of itself. The major issue people have is Mila Kunis in the role playing not only Theodora but also (duh duh dum SPOILER ALERT) the Wicked Witch Of The West (yes, the green skinned one from the first movie). Truly I like to give benefit of the doubt to the actress actually trying to portray the iconic villain, but it doesn’t change the fact just how wrong in every way this choice of actress, design, voice etc was (and if that wasn’t bad enough her forced ‘high school’ like romance as her Theodora character really slows the movie down and proves uninteresting). Rachel Weisz is usually an actress I admire and like seeing in roles on screen, yet here she is really under played, does just ok in the role and gets completely over shadowed for the introduction of the Wicked Witch Of The West character. Theresa whole ‘liar revealed’ plot point which feels been done and there are a lot of scenes & choices that seem unneeded in the grand scheme of things. The movie introduces a prophecy into this fantasy world which I feel is the kiss of death to any simple fantasy stories where the focus was not on grand plots of foretold prophecies non-existent in previous works (‘Pan’ was such a movie that suffered from this, trying to introduce mythos that are unneeded in a story just to epicfy it). The movie also tonally feels off compared to the original, where ‘Wizard Of Oz’ was a musical adventure of wonder, here Oz is more a fantasy adventure where people can actually die? In this world (this is still all a dream right). On that note and really my only other pet peeve, to not try and spoil it but the movie does not end that it was all a dream like the other movie, sparking inconsistencies with the continuity of the 2 movies and fuelling more of the alarming tone change of the movie in comparison.
So there’s a fair bit wrong with the movie, but I’d be lying if I found no enjoyment in the movie. The things I do like with the movie I find enough to make the movie watchable to me, but I can still recognize the blaring issues as stated before. If for nothing else, the movie is at least a visually intriguing flick with 1 or more scenes showing brilliance (just riddled with problems throughout the rest of it) and is why I have no problem casting this movie what could be deemed witchcraft or magical, a 7 outta 10. But moviegoers and fellow ‘representatives of the lollipop guild’ (you know who you are), what did you think of this fantastical adventure? A trip down the yellow brick road well worth the adventure or more foul than any witch and her witchcraft could muster? Cast your opinions below and be sure to share this review to world and other fantastical one reachable (just don’t send this via tornado. They haven’t quite worked out how to make it work this way yet, as clearly obvious from the movie). This has been your wizard, your trickster, your Matt, bidding you my thanks and farewell … UNTIL THE NEXT REVIEWWWWWWWWWW ……………………………………….
… how do you drive this thing.HELPPP!!!!!!!!!
MattGivesYouHisReview.com 