Dir & Writ: Chris Weitz
Based on book by Philip Pullman
- Dakota Blue Richards … Lyra Belacqua
- Nicole Kidman … Marisa Coulter
- Daniel Craig … Lord Asriel
- Freddie Highmore … Pantalaimon (voice)
- Ian McKellen … Iorek Byrnison (voice)
- Eva Green … Serafina Pekkala
- Sam Elliott … Lee Scoresby
I read, and really enjoyed, Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials a while back, so I was really looking forward to this film, the first of three. Unfortunately it just isn’t very good. It should be. The story is a wonderful one, Kidman and Craig are fantastic, although Craig isn’t really on screen for all that long, and Dakota Blue Richards is wonderful as Lyra. Some of the other kids aren’t too great, but we’ll let them away. The special effects are, for the most part, superb. The polar bears in particular are fantastic.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags:
5 Stars,
action,
badly written,
based on book,
Chris Weitz,
Dakota Blue Richards,
Daniel Craig,
disappointing,
Eva Green,
Freddie Highmore,
His Dark Materials,
Ian McKellen,
Lyra,
Nicole Kidman,
polar bears,
R12A,
rushed,
Sam Elliott,
series,
sff,
show don't tell,
special effects,
The Golden Compass
Related posts
Dir: Matthew Vaughn
Writ: Jane Goldman & Matthew Vaughn based on book by Neil Gaiman
- Charlie Cox … Tristan
- Ian McKellen … Narrator (voice)
- David Kelly … Guard
- Kate Magowan … Slave Girl / Una
- Sienna Miller … Victoria
- Peter O’Toole … King
- Mark Strong … Septimus
- Jason Flemyng … Primus
- Rupert Everett … Secundus
- David Walliams … Sextus
- Michelle Pfeiffer … Lamia
- Claire Danes … Yvaine
- Robert De Niro … Captain Shakespeare
I read this book a while ago and really enjoyed it, so I wasn’t too sure if I’d enjoy the film. You know the way they always change stuff. But I try to pretend that it is a brand new story and not based on any book, course that doesn’t always work, but I do try.
Anyway, I’m happy to report that Stardust is just a lovely film. It is the story of a young man who goes on a quest into the faerie world to bring back a star in order to prove his love. Only across “the wall” he finds that the star is actually a woman, and that there are others looking to find her, and for slightly more nefarious reasons.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags:
8 Stars,
awww,
based on book,
Charlies Cox,
charming,
Claire Danes,
david Kelly,
David Williams,
enchanting,
faerie,
ghosts,
Ian McKellen,
Jane Goldman,
Kate magowan,
Mark Strong,
Matthew Vaughn,
Michelle Pfeiffer,
Neil Gaiman,
Peter O'Toole,
pirates,
Ricky Gervais,
Robert de Niro,
romance,
Rupert Everett,
sff,
Sienna Miller,
star,
Stardust
Related posts
Dir: Brett Ratner
Writ: Simon Kinberg & Zak Penn
- Hugh Jackman - Logan/Wolverine
- Halle Berry - Ororo Munroe/Storm
- Ian McKellen - Eric Lensherr/Magneto
- Famke Janssen - Dr. Jean Grey/Phoenix
- Anna Paquin - Marie/Rogue
In this, the third X-Men film, there are two main plotlines. One concerns Jean Grey and her return from death in the form of the ultra powerful Dark Phoenix. The other revolves around a cure for the mutant gene, and what this will mean for the X-Men, and for mutants everywhere.
Only trouble is, this film is such a mess that neither story gets the treatment it deserves. We get a cursory look at what such a cure might mean to the likes of Rogue, after all her gift is much more of a burden than many. And then it is straight back into the fight. In the other story line we get exposition dumps and sudden information that makes no real sense in connection with earlier films.
Add to that the desire to stick in as many other mutants from the comics as can be seen on the big screen and you end up with a rubbish film. And such a disapointment after the previous two films which I really enjoyed.
Of course, it isn’t all bad. There are some elements that work; that quick glance at Rogue’s problem being one. And it all looks great, costumes, explosions, stunts. All great. But this merely serves to highlight how lacking in any sort of depth this film really is, and so makes it even worse. And then there is all that clunky dialogue, which not even Ian McKellan can make believable. Plus, plotholes.
All in all this seems more like the writers wanted to stick everything up on the big screen, to show how great the X-Men universe is, but instead managed to throw a lot of elements together and create a disapointment
IMDb | Official Site | Pah! | Samizdisandat | Random Burblings | Stainless Steel Droppings
Tags:
5 Stars,
Anna Paquin,
based on comic,
Brett Ratner,
clunky dialogue,
disappointing,
Famke Janssen,
Hallie Berry,
Hugh Jackman,
Ian McKellen,
mutants,
plotholes,
sff,
Simon Kinberg,
X-Men,
X-Men: the Last Stand,
Zak Penn
Related posts
