The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Essentially a more light-hearted version of Lord of the Rings, with the same flaws. It's all about impressive visuals, and Peter Jackson's love of eye candy almost ruined The Lovely Bones, only saved by the heartbreak of Sebold's original novel and some decent acting. This time there's no sort of plot to save it, so Jackson wheels out endless mythical creatures (trolls, elves, orks) that are expected to drive the film. The end result is utterly hollow, and as Jackson insists on spreading the whole thing out over three films, you're left in pretty much the same place you started from. The only saving graces are Martin Freeman's mastery of the bewildered look and the amusing scenes with Gollem.
Rating: 4/10
Scream 3
After the slight disappointment of Scream 2 this felt like a nice way to round off the trilogy. Sidney (Neve Campbell) has just about reached breaking point, after facing four successive killers out for her blood. She's isolated herself from the world, but a final lunatic is out to finish her off. We're taken right back to the beginning of the trilogy, and it is finally revealed how the whole thing started and who killed Sidney's mother. The suspense is managed with virtuoso style, with the new development that the killer can mimic our heroes voices. Plus, the strange subplot of the Stab film series that confused the second film is finally taken advantage of in a humorous manner, and the running theme of the ethics of horror movies is brought to a close. The three leads give credible performances, and have succeeded in making us care about their characters. All in all, a satisfying conclusion. The only shadow hanging over it is that they made a fourth one, when this clearly should have been the final instalment.
Rating: 6/10
The Truman Show
Truman beats The Matrix hands down as a dramatisation of Plato's analogy of the cave because this movie also tackles the stranglehold consumerism has on the world (product placement occurs not so subtly throughout Truman's life); it focuses on the desire for people to explore the world rather than stay confined to a hometown saturated in painful memories (although not quite as well as in What's Eating Gilbert Grape) and it manages both pathos and humour. With important themes of the shortcomings of a seemingly perfect existence, this works as so much more than an extended metaphor, which is what caused The Matrix to fall short. Jim Carrey gives one of his best performances, as he teeters on the edge of sanity in his search for the truth. This is an intelligent and witty affair, and its delightfully odd sense of style is addictive.
Rating: 8/10
Pandorum
Little know director Christian Alvart directs little know sci-fi/horror Pandorum, which at first seems to be a remake of Alien. The acting is nothing special, but thankfully the plot (written by Alvart and Travis Milloy) is enough to save the film from being just enough space flick. The premise is actually truly terrifying, some astronauts are trapped on a spaceship stalked by humanoid killers, and there's no way out. The tone is just about as dark as the set, which lacks all form of lighting. Some of the action is a little confused, but the unveiling of how the strange humanoid killers came to be is immensely satisfying. Jumping between Bower's hazardous journey across the spaceship and Payton's slow descent into madness back in the control room means that the action is interrupted at crucial moments, keeping you on the edge of your seat. While you're unlikely to gain any deep insight into the human condition through this film, you can at least appreciate the clever plotting.
Rating: 5/10
Scary Movie
Some advice: do not watch this film. The laughs are designed to amuse a hormonal fourteen year old and the acting is truly terrible. Scream itself was a parody of horror movies, so spoofing a spoof seemed like an odd decision in the first place. While the odd laugh may come from the more surreal moments, toilet humour and bawdiness to the extreme make this film truly dreadful.
Rating: 1/10
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