Reviews by johanlefourbe

Since I was reall positively surprised by 'Rogue', I was really eager to see Greg Mclean's directing début. However, even though this movie seems to have a decent reputation, I thought the whole thing turned out to be rather disappointing. Basically, since there were only 3 characters, I knew pretty much from the beginning that it would take a while before anyone got killed but it didnt really bother me. In fact, I did like the beginning with some naturalistic directing and acting, including some improvisations by the actors. Indeed, it was an interesting and refreshing approach. However, the second half, when the sh*t really hits the fan, was nothing really mind-blowing.  I mean, sure, it was technically rather well done but it wasnt really scary and it was nothing I haven't seen 100 times before. Another detail that bothered me was that they made a big deal about the fact that it was a true story but, in fact, the only thing that really happened was that, on a regular basis, some people is disappearing in the outback. Indeed, the characters, the circumstances, even what they tell you at the end, everything was entirely fictional. Anyway, to conclude, even though it was nothing original or mind-blowing,  I have to admit that it was still a rather well made horror flick and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

First of all, Jerry has always been famous for producing some huge blockbusters like 'Pirates of the Carribean', 'Prince of Persia' or 'Bad Boys'. However, from time to time, the guy does try something really different and this comedy was a very good example. This time around, he was working with P.J. Hogan who had some success in the past with 'My Best Friend's Wedding'. Anyway, the whole thing turned out to be seriously average. I mean, there was an interesting cast involved (Isla Fisher, Hugh Dancy, Joan Cusack, John Goodman, John Lithgow, Kristin Scott Thomas) but the whole thing wasn't never actually funny and I was eventually rather bored during the whole duration. Eventually,  I felt really bad about Isla Fisher. Indeed, she always seemed to be a very funny and talented actress but I keep seeing her only in boring and average flicks like this one. Eventually, I do think that this premise actually really had some potential but the end-result was just way too generic and predictable for my taste. Anyway, to conclude, I have to admit that I have seen worse movies but the whole thing was still pretty damned average stuff and it is not really worth a look whatsoever.

The original 'Friday the 13th' and 'Nightmare on Elm Street' were both some really enjoyable horror flicks so even though I didn’t expect much from the damned thing, I had to watch this flick at some point just out of sheer curiosity. Unfortunately, even with such low expectations, the end-result still turned out to be terrible... Basically, they tried to combine more or less two storylines together but I didn’t work and I thought the whole thing was just a boring mess. Furthermore, the acting was just abysmal throughout the whole thing. I guess, for the fans of the two franchises, it must have been a blast to see those two legendary villains fighting against each other, at least, I hope so but, honestly, I thought it was rather underwhelming since there was nothing really at stake (since none of them was actually alive, how could they possibly kill each other?!?). I know, I shouldn't take the damned thing too seriously but it was never scary or funny whatsoever. Still, even though it was a box-office hit when it was released, the fact that they didn’t come up with another sequel with this concept shows that nobody really cared about the damned thing. Anyway, to conclude, I thought the whole thing was pretty bad and not really entertaining and I don‘t think it is really worth a look.

Since it was the last movie directed by Terry Gilliam and, of course, the last movie starring the late Heath Ledger, I was really eager to watch this flick. Well, it was basically one of those typical Gilliam features, it is definitely an acquired taste and you either love them or you don't. To be honest, the story was rather messy and confusing but it was visually  definitely one of the most ambitious movie directed by Gilliam so far. Indeed, this time, he went all CGI on us and, I must say, the end-result turned out to be quite impressive. Furthermore, you had a nice cast (Andrew Garfield, Christopher Plummer, Lily Cole, Tom Waits, Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, Colin Farrell) and they all delivered some solid performances. So, the plot was a little bit shabby but, considering they lost their main actor in the middle of the production, they did a pretty good job recovering the whole thing and it was, at least, not as depressing as 'Tideland', Gilliam's previous directing effort. To conclude, it is fortunate that we had the chance to see Heath Ledger's last feature film and it is really unfortunate that we won't see him again, it is a typical Gilliam feature, really gorgeous and imaginative to look at and it is definitely worth a look.

I already saw this movie in the movie theater when it was released but, since it was already 10 years ago, I was quite eager to check it out again. Well, to be honest, I thought it was still difficult to judge this movie. Indeed, in my opinion, it had 'The Departed' syndrome meaning that it was a completely unnecessary remake of a movie which was already perfectly fine in the first place. In this case, the situation was even worse as the first version had been released only 2 years before and this 'new' version was just way too similar. However, in spite of all this, I have to admit that it was still a damned fine and entertaining thriller. First of all, I have to congratulate Rooney Mara. Indeed, from the very beginning, I was really skeptical when I heard that she would portray Lisbeth Salander but her performance was more than convincing and even though she wasn't as great as Noomi Rapace was, she was still really good though. There was only one thing that really bothered me with this version though and it was the romantic angle they gave to the relationship between Blomkvist and Salander. However, after reading the books, I actually discovered that this version was actually more faithfull to the books than the Swedish movies where they really toned down the feelings that Salander might have had towards Blomkvist. Anyway, Lisbeth Salander remains one of the most fascinating characters I have ever seen and the story was still really spellbinding. On top of that, I have to admit that It enjoyed the damned thing much more than I expected when I rewatched it, probably because it had been a while since I saw the Swedish version and read the book. Anyway, to conclude, even though it is a completely unnecessary remake, even though it was not better than the first version, it is still definitely worth a look, especially if you haven't seen the Swedish movies.