I feel as though I've been watching rather a lot of movies lately. That is probably because I have been. I watched Episode III, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Madagascar, Cinderella Man (twice), and Batman Begins. I'm thinking about watched Mr. and Mrs. Smith later on this evening. How can I afford this? Simple; the theaters in the area sell student tickets for $6.75 and rush hour tickets for $5.75. :D And besides, that's what summer jobs are for.

The point of mentioning this is that I would like to post some reviews. Therefore, I shall.

---

Episode III: What can I say? Most of you have probably seen it by now, so I will critique anything I wish. From the first scene, as Anakin and Obi-Wan blithely romped through space in their too-cute spacecraft, totally uncaring about their shredded wingmates, I knew I would dislike the movie. The movie began too fast with no suspense, and it continued with the same clunky feel. Little details jarred, ruining the overall atmosphere. Why was Padme brushing at the ends of her extremely curly hair? I kept expecting her brush to stick or break, like in Princess Diaries. Why did she later just give up and die for no apparent reason, despite her two lovely twin children? I'll tell you why! She died at some point before Episode IV, and Lucas was too eager to tie up loose ends.

Just as a movie, completely separate from the Star Wars heritage of novels, Episode III would be OK. The last two-thirds at least were fairly convincing. It contained no subtleties, however, and for that reason it felt determined. There were no surprises. I felt deja vu, as though a story I already knew was playing itself out in front of me. Overall, I was disappointed again.

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants: Characters are in general true to life. You feel for them. But the philosophy is confused, and in the end unsatisfactory. This movie is sentiment without metaphysical backing.

Madagascar: Hilarious! I wouldn't mind watching it again sometime soon, though I can wait until it comes out on DVD. The dialogue is excellent, and the characters (especially the lemurs!) tickle my visual funny bone as well. Contains some good moral truths - whaddayou know! The world is fallen, and therefore big things with teeth eat the little cute things, especially in the pristine state of nature.

Cinderella Man: Not my favorite movie, which is still Gattaca, but it rates up there with the best. The first time I watched it, I felt the Great Depression. I understood the desperation, the cold, the hunger. And further, I learned something about people. The best quote is from the wife of Braddock's manager, about a quarter from the end of the movie: "I don't know who has it harder, them or us. We have to wait for them to fix everything - and they always think that they're failing us." That was a time of true men and true women, and they had to stick together - or else. Braddock became great simply because he had to. There was no other option, and he would have lost his life rather than fail his family.

Further, it is stylistically a masterpiece. The second time through, I caught many little visual clues I had missed the first time. This is the sort of movie that will last through multiple viewings.

Batman Begins: I was disappointed. The movie is well worth seeing, but it doesn't pull all the elements of excellence together. Most of the plot is good, but there are so many holes. I will try to sum up without giving spoilers... In the first bit, a character finds Bruce Wayne without any explanation as to how. Batman's training is cheesy, and not nearly as developed as in the comics. The tank chase doesn't make sense, except that the movie makers wanted to show off their toys. They could have killed people with that train! And the relationship with the girl just wasn't developed enough to explain the ending.

Besides, there were major stylistic flaws. First, they break up the fight scenes so that you cannot see what is happening, a technique I personally despise. Second, at various points the sound track is so loud that it covers up important pieces of dialogue. I spent the last twenty minutes trying to figure out what exactly was going on instead of enjoying the suspense.

But despite all this, there are some scenes I just loved. And Batman looked like Batman, which made me happy. They used that guy from Equilibrium; for once, a good Batman casting job!

The main reason I don't think that Batman Begins will become a classic the same way as the Spiderman movies is that its philosophy is too liberal, and it doesn't answer the questions that it itself poses. It recognizes serious troubles with our justice system, and then it doesn't provide a solution. The problem is, the general "feel" nowadays is that most people know our justice system does have difficulties. The viewer, then, is left with a darker, grittier, slightly despairing (because we don't have a Batman) feel. Of course, that may be what the movie makers desired...  ¶ 4:51 PM