Reviews by johanlefourbe

I already saw this movie but since it was a while back and since it was available on Disney+, I thought I might as well check it out again. Well, first of all, back in the 80’s, Disney was going through some rough times and even though most of their movies had done fairly well at the box-office, none of them had been very memorable.  In fact, even if during the 70’s, their animated movies didn't turn out to be really impressive either. Eventually, they managed to make a massive come-back with this movie which would be the start of the era known as the Disney Renaissance. In fact, I actually saw the damned thing in the movie theatre when it was released and I must have been 9 or 10 years old at the time. Eventually, to be honest, even though I thought it was well made and fairly entertaining, I can’t say I really loved this movie though. Basically, this movie would establish the template for the following Disney productions during the 90’s and one of the trademarks of this template would be some musical-comedy format with Broadway-styled songs but, to be honest, I have always been rather bored by these songs. Well, after 30 long years and many rewatches, I think I finally get this movie. Above all, what really impressed was Ariel as this character was pretty much pitch-perfect. Indeed, not only she was quite gorgeous but she also had the charisma of such classic princess like Snow White or Cinderella. However, what made her such a success was the fact that she was also a perfect representation of a modern teenager and this mix was just so well done. The story itself was also a solid old fashioned fairy tale, something they used to do so well in the past and it was a great idea to finally come-back to this genre, especially with such a tremendous end-result. The only down point would be when they turned Ariel into a mute. Obviously, they needed to find some obstacle to temporarily slow down this romance but this choice made Ariel, such a well-rounded character, terrible passive during the 3^rd act. Anyway, to conclude, even if it might not be flawless, it was still a massive classic fairy tale from Disney and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I already saw this movie, I even saw it in the movie theater when it was released, but since I have it on DVD and since I just bought an awesome brand new TV, I thought I might as well check it out again. I remember perfectly when I saw this flick the first time though. Indeed, back then, I just started to live in the Netherlands and I was coming back to France for the Christmas holidays. For the 1st installment, my best buddy had no idea what to expect but, this time, he was just dying to watch this follow-up. Therefore, we planned to watch this one and we went once again with a group of friends. Anyway, it was definitely really awesome, I was starting to feel the epicness of the whole thing even more and, in my opinion, it was an improvement on 'The Fellowship'. Indeed, this time, there was no need to introduce the characters and most of the movie was filled with some amazing battle scenes. On top of that, there was this one major character who was finally properly introduced and it was obviously Gollum. Even though 20 years later, he might not seem much, back then, it was such a milestone and the first time that such a 3 dimensional and compelling character was created through CGI and motion capture. Anyway, this character was just truly mind-blowing, it was totally revolutionary and we should definitely give some credit to both Jackson and Serkis for this amazing work. I have seen this movie many times by now and I have to admit that, the last time I watched it, for the first time ever, I actually preferred ‘The Fellowship…’ probably because this 2^nd installment felt more disjointed. Anyway, to conclude, as a stand alone movie, it is still really amazing but, as one third of a great epic tale, it is even more awesome and the damned thing is pretty much a must-see for any decent movie buff.

I already saw this movie (In fact, I’m pretty sure I saw it in the movie theater when it was released) but my wife was quite eager to check it out again. First of all, I have to confess that I have always had a weak spot for romantic-comedies. Unfortunately, there are in fact not so many great romantic-comedies out there and most of them are actually terribly underwhelming. Anyway, in this genre, this movie is pretty much a classic so you might assume that I really loved the damned thing. On top of that, it was written and directed by Richard Curtis, the guy who wrote ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’ which is easily one of the very best movies in this genre, at least, in my opinion. Well, eventually, even though I thought it was not bad, I can’t say I really loved the damned thing though. I mean, sure, there was an impressive cast involved, maybe the biggest one I have ever seen in a romantic-comedy (Bill Nighy, Colin Firth, Sienna Guillory, Liam Neeson, Emma Thompson, Martin Freeman, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Andrew Lincoln, Keira Knightley, Hugh Grant, Laura Linney, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Alan Rickman, Rodrigo Santoro, Billy Bob Thornton, Rowan Atkinson, January Jones, Elisha Cuthbert, Claudia Schiffer, Shannon Elizabeth, Denise Richards). However, even though the various stories involved were usually quite cute, I don't think that any of them was really amazing. That’s also the problem with having so many characters and so many sub-plots, as a result, you never spend enough time with one single story to really care about it. At least, not all these little stories did end up with a sappy happy-ending which was refreshing but they were still alll rather half-baked. Anyway, to conclude, even though I think it is actually rather overrated, I have to admit that it is still a decent watch though and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.