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, after this rewatch, to be honest, not only this movie turned out to be even more boring that I expected but I didn’t remember that the damned thing was also so ugly. Basically, for many decades, Disney had been pretty much untouchable in the animation genre. However, it has become a total different ball game nowadays. Indeed, the competition is huge and Disney was no longer at the top. They were lucky that they actually owned Pixar otherwise they would have been really in trouble. This movie is a good example about how dreadful the Disney features had become at some point. Seriously, how could you expect us to switch from such memorable characters like Snow White, Peter Pan, Dumbo, Pinocchio, Bambi, Cinderella, Cruella de Vil, Aladdin’s Genie to … Chicken Little?!? Even before the movie started, you already knew it would stink. What a pathetic character… The story was not much better as it was terribly generic, predictable and frankly quite tedious. In my opinion, their biggest mistake was to drop the hand-drawn animation and to do, just like everyone else, some CGI animation. That was a bad move since hand-drawn animation had been their specialty for decades and they should have stick to it. Eventually, since all their last efforts were flops (‘Home on the range’, ‘Brother Bear’, ‘Treasure Planet’, ‘Atlantis’), they decided to switch to CGI and this movie was their first attempt with this technique and, as I mentioned earlier, the end-result looked terrible, especially after so many years passed by. Anyway, to conclude, it is actually pretty weak and I don’t think it is really worth a look, except maybe if you have some very young children to entertain but, even in this case, there are so many better movies to watch with them.

Since I have been living in the Netherlands, I have always been interested in Dutch movies. However, even though some of them are really interesting, unfortunately, many of those are also truly boring to watch. This movie is a good example. It is based on a rather popular TV show called ‘Zoop’ which took place in a Dutch zoo. I have to admit, the fact that the makers moved the action from the Netherlands to Africa was pretty good and it gave a greater scale to their adventure. Eventually, this movie was a success and they eventually made 2 sequels (one in India and one in South-America). Still, even though the concept was not bad, I still think it was a really tedious watch. I mean, I never cared about the TV show which was obviously made for a (very) young audience and this movie was not much better. The characters were all some annoying stereotypes, the young actors gave some rather poor performance and above all, the whole thing was really boring to watch. To conclude, even though it was a very successful flick, I really didn’t like it and I don’t think it is worth a look, even if you are interested in Dutch movies.

Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Emma Thomspon, I still wanted to check it out. Honestly, it is quite sad that such a terrific actress like her nowadays would get the lead only for such a tedious family feature. Apparently, she even wrote the screenplay which is even sadder. Indeed, back in the 90’s, she won an Academy Award for the screenplay she wrote for ‘Sense and Sensibility’. To make it clear, I thought this movie was a huge step down for her. Maybe I shouldn’t be so harsh since it is a just a children feature and, indeed, kids might like it more than I did but I still think it was a really tedious flick to watch. I mean, the whole thing was rather well made, there was a decent cast (Emma Thompson, Colin Firth, Kelly Macdonald, Angela Lansbury, Imelda Staunton) but the plot was hardly original. Indeed, in my opinion, this character is just a rather ugly version of Mary Poppins, not much more than that I’m afraid. Above all, I thought the whole thing was just really generic, predictable and above all really boring to watch. Eventually, they still managed to make a sequel out of this, a sequel which I found just as boring, but my 6 years old daughter enjoyed it more than the original installment. Anyway, in my opinion, this movie is a waste of talent, it is just a boring family feature and there are tons of better movies you can watch with your kids.

I have to confess, even though I have a master degree in English, I have never read any books written by Jane Austen (I know, it is pretty bad…). I have seen a couple of movie adaptations, some good, some rather boring, and I came to the conclusion I’m not a really a fan of her stories. So, I might not be the right audience for this movie but I still wanted to give check it out. First of all, it was rather interesting that the makers wanted to tell her life story as if it would have taken place like in one of her novels. There is a good chance that it happened really differently in reality but accuracy was not the point with this movie. Anyway, I thought it was rather well made but it was still rather tedious to watch.  Basically, it took the characters one hour to finally realize that they loved each other, then, it took them 30 more minutes to finally decide that they should be together. So you think they will go against expectations and get married against the rules which was rather surprising but, no, really conveniently, just after leaving her house, seriously just 5 minutes later, she finds a letter saying that his parents won’t make it without his support and money… Of course, they drop the whole thing, get back home and they both live miserably until they die… Of course, since Austen never got married, they couldn’t have been together but this whole back and forth was just really annoying. Actually, this movie reminded me of ‘Bright Star’, a similar movie dealing with the life of John Keats before he became famous. The big difference is that ‘Bright Star’ was really brilliantly directed and it was just drenched with passion. Still, this Austen biopic was decent. I mean, the directing was solid and I thought that Anne Hathaway and James McAvoy were both really good (Actually, they both deserved a better movie than this). To conclude, in spite of its flaws, I still think it is a decent costume drama and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Personally, I always had a weak spot for those ‘Lethal Weapon’ flicks and, even if this sequel is not as highly regarded as its predecessor, I still think it is actually pretty good. Indeed, I just saw it again yesterday and I was amazed about how good Mel Gibson and Danny Glover were in this. Indeed, they were really badass, quite often really hilarious and they still had this great chemistry together. In my opinion, Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh must be the best cop duo. This time around, there was no need for any introduction and we could get on with the action right away. This time, they also added Joe Pesci in one of his most famous roles, Leo Getz. Pesci seems able to play only two types of characters, dramatic, usually a gangster (‘Raging Bull’, ‘Goodfellas’, ‘Casino’) or comedic (‘Home Alone’, ‘My Cousin Vinny’). That’s it, he doesn’t do anything else but thankfully, he is pretty good and he was a nice addition to this franchise. Ok, I have to admit it, the plot is kind of weak (the whole diplomatic immunity thingy is really a tired old gimmick) and the love story was really poorly developed. I mean, it is pretty obvious that the makers thought it was time for Riggs to have a new love interest but they were not sure how to handle it. Eventually, it will be covered with the next installment. To conclude, even though it is nothing amazing, it remains a solid sequel, an entertaining action flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Honestly, I don’t think it was that bad. Indeed, after hearing only bad things about this movie, I had some rather low expectations but, personally, I ended up enjoying most of it. In my opinion, I think most of the viewers missed the point concerning this movie. Indeed, the whole thing is really loud and dumb but it was actually supposed to be that way. Honestly, you are dealing here with a movie about Van Helsing chasing not only Dracula, but also Frankenstein’s Monster and Mr Hyde, I mean, what did you expect then?!? Of course, it was really preposterous, over-the-top and completely campy but I was fine with that. In my opinion, I thought it was rather entertaining and the special effects were pretty neat. I mean, there was definitely an overdose of CGI action stuff but, once again, it fit the tone of the movie itself. Still, don’t misunderstand me, it is not a masterpiece whatsoever, but for a dumb blockbuster, I have seen much worse lately (‘Battleship, ‘Transformers 2’, ‘Transformers 3’,…). I mean, it was one of the first time that I had the feeling that the makers were well aware about how ridiculous the whole thing looked and played nicely with this fact, at least, that’s how I felt while watching this. Anyway, I’m one of the very few who thought so, it was destroyed by the critics, it is quite often considered as one of the worst movies ever made so any plan for a potential sequel was scrapped (maybe it was better anyway to leave it to one movie). To conclude, in my opinion, it is actually a decent and fun blockbuster and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Honestly, I had never heard of this movie before but since Michelle Pfeiffer and Claire Danes were both starring, I was definitely eager to check it out. To give you a timeline, the same year, Claire Danes showed up in ‘Romeo + Juliet’ and reached stardom. Honestly, even though I think she has absolutely become a fine actress, she has never been really huge in my opinion but nowadays she seems to regain some momentum with ‘Homeland’ which seems to be a really successful TV show. Anyway, I thought she was pretty good in this but she didn’t have the main part, unfortunately. Concerning Michelle Pfeiffer, it was even worse. I mean, she was the title character, she was displayed prominently on all the promotional material and yet she was barely in the movie at all. Indeed, within the first minutes, you learn that her character has been dead for already 2 years (Bummer…). No, the main character was portrayed by Peter Gallagher. No idea who this is ? Exactly my point… Basically, he is one of those actors that you keep bumping into many movies but you can’t remember their names. Honestly, I’m glad for Gallagher that he managed to get the lead for this movie but he wasn’t really good, I’m afraid. Furthermore, the whole thing was pretty much your standard quirky indie drama filled with eccentric characters with a little dash of fantasy. Personally, I didn’t care much about the story or the characters involved and I was rather bored during the whole thing. To conclude, if you want to see something interesting starring Michelle Pfeiffer or Claire Danes, you should probably look somewhere because this movie is not really worth a look.

It might sound weird but I don’t think it was that bad at all. I don’t know, the whole thing looked and sounded like yet another boring and obnoxious flick starring Robin Williams and, as a result, I had some very low expectations and it might explains the fact I give this movie maybe a little more credit than it actually deserves. First of all, I have never seen the original version, I wasn’t acquainted with ‘Flubber’ whatsoever so I didn’t have any preconceived ideas beforehand and I guess it made it more enjoyable for me as well. Of course, the plot was really generic and pedestrian but it is inherent to this genre but, honestly, for once, it didn’t really bothered me. Personally, I thought that Robin Williams was pretty funny and the special effects were honestly quite impressive. All right, I have to admit, when I watch the trailer, it seems to be like a pretty stupid flick and, of course, it is a rather lame story (especially the love story between Robin Williams and Marcia Gay Harden was really poorly developped) but I thought the makers made the best of it and, at the end of the day, it is a pretty entertaining family feature even though it won’t be a game changer, that’s for sure. To conclude, I thought it was a fun family flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you want to watch something with your kids, I’m pretty sure they will have a good time watching this.

Before this movie was released, there was a huge buzz about it but, eventually, it was a flop at the box-office, pretty much like ‘Watchmen’. Personally, I can’t say I was really convinced by the whole concept but I still wanted to check it out though. Eventually, I thought it was a really misguided flick. Let’s start with the story which was way too much convoluted for its own good. Basically, you have this girl who ends up in a mental institution. Apparently, since she cannot cope with this place or because she is really mentally disturbed, she pretends/believes that this loony bin is … a brothel (Sorry, but I really fail to see how it should be an improvement…). But, it goes even further. In this brothel, she performs some dances (that you never to get to see) and during those dances, she ends up in yet another reality where she and her playmates has to fight various enemies such as giant samurais, WWI Germans, orks, dragons and they even have to stop a bomb as well. Seriously?!? Nolan did manage to get this multiple reality thing with ‘Inception’ but he did spend about 10 years writing the story to make sure it sounded more or less coherent. This movie was however just a mess mixed with some gig wet dream. Honestly, I felt pretty bad for all the young actresses involved (Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens, Jamie Chung). I mean, it is pretty obvious that they all thought they were getting involved in one kick-ass movie and they all gave their best shot but none of their character was really developed and they were reduced to some sexualized stereotypes. I understand that the whole thing was apparently supposed to be some kind of critic about our society but it didn’t change the fact that the whole thing was not really fun to watch and I really couldn’t care less about its pseudo-psychological shenanigans. Still, I must admit it, it was visually impressive, some of the action scenes were pretty badass and I give it some extra points for trying something different but I’m being really generous with my rating. To conclude, even though it started out as an interesting project, the end-result was really disappointing but I guess it is still worth a look, especially if you are interested in Zach Snyder’s work.

Honestly, I have never heard of this movie before but since it was directed by Walter Salles, I still wanted to check it out. Indeed, since his international breakthrough with 'Central do Brasil', I have tried to watch his other movies even though it has been many years since I have seen one of those. Anyway, I thought it was a very good drama, quite sad and depressing. Basically, it follows a pregnant woman who already has 4 boys, apparently all with a different father. To be honest, the whole thing was rather slow and seriously dreary but, this way, you got the opportunity to know those 5 characters and what they were going through and I thought that the juxtaposition of football, religion, poverty and wealth, was really interesting. The main issue would be that since the family was so big and since the movie didn't focus on one of them in particular, none of the sub-plots was really developed. Eventually, at the end, they pretty much stand at the same point where they started, not much worse but not much better either but it is how life works,I guess, and I thought it was a strong drama. To conclude, if you don't mind a grim and realistic drama, I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Brazilian movies.