Reviews by johanlefourbe

To be honest, it didn’t expect much from this flick but since there was a decent cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. I think it is quite obvious that they wanted here to go for a modern version of 'Top Gun' (which I already didn't really like in the first place). Well, their first mistake was to set the movie in the future and, as a result, they gave us this very cheap and cheesy looking introduction and those planes were far from being convincing. Furthermore, the 3 lead characters where just so shallow, it was just rather pathetic : the hot white guy who is of course a hotshot, the hot white girl who is secretly in love with the white guy and the black playboy smartass who of course gets killed in the proceedings. The story was actually even worse as it was just a boring mess. On the bright side, I have to admit that there were a few neat action scenes. The funny thing was that the whole thing actually had some potential if they developed more the implications of a robot-AI controlling an army jet but, of course, they were not interesting in this concept. Anyway, to conclude, it was a really average special-effects extravaganza and it is not really worth a look.

Since this movie had a really stellar reputation, I was really eager to check it out. Well, it is probably the most essential film noir ever made. Indeed, you basically had all the usual trademarks : the raincoats, the hats, the omnipresent cigarettes, the gansters, the detective, the femmes fatale and the double-crossing intrigues. Considering the directing, I saw as well a couple of other movies directed by Jacques Tourneur (‘Cat People’, ‘I Walked with a Zombie’) but, even though these movies were decent, this feature was definitely much more impressive. Seriously, when you watch the damned thing, it makes you wish that they still made such black and white movies. Robert Mitchum and Kirk Douglas were just awesome but Jane Greer and Rhonda Fleming were both very good as well. I have to admit that the story was actually rather convoluted but, for once, it didn’t really bother me. Indeed, it is inherent to the genre and the dialogues were such a treat, every 5 seconds, those characters were delivering some amazing one-liners. To conclude, it is a real classic which really deserves its reputation, I really enjoyed it and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this movie since I’m a huge fan of Marlon Brando, I was quite eager to check it out. Of course, towards the end of his career, Brando did show up in some really horrendous flicks but we shouldn't forget that, at the beginning of his career, he was involved in some real classics. First of all, I was actually really surprised when I discovered that this flick was only his 4th movie. Indeed, when he was on the screen, giving these awesome Shakesparian dialoges, it felt like as if he had been doing this for decades. It may seem that Marlon Brando was the big star but you  actullay  had here an impressive ensemble cast (James Mason, John Gielguld and more) and they all gave some very strong performances. Eventually, even though I did like the damned thing, it didn't completely blow me away since there was nothing much going on here except these very long and heavy dialogues written by the great Shakespeare. I must say that I really prefer those classics adaptions than the modern ones which more or less kept the original dialogues (‘Romeo+Juliet’, ‘O’, ‘Hamlet’, 'Macbeth',,...). Anyway, to conclude, it is a real classic and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I already saw this movie but since it was a while back and since I had it on DVD, I was quite eager to check it out again. In fact, the first time I saw it was in the theater when it was released more than 20 years ago. Well, to be honest, even though it has a rather stellar reputation, I always had some rather mix feelings about this flick. I mean, I have to admit it, it is in fact quite entertaining but I don't think it was such a masterpiece though. Above all, it could have been more interesting if they gave us a more balanced portrait of William Wallace and the English. Indeed, all the English characters were pretty mean and King Edward I was so evil that he pretty much became a cartoonish villain. Concerning William Wallace, they tried to convince the viewers that the guy was a simple average Scotsman but he had been abroad, spoke several languages, he was a great warrior and apparently an expert military strategist. Hardly what you could call an 'average' dude. Furthermore, the fact that Mel Gibson was maybe 20 years too old to play this character and the fact that the whole thing was seriously inaccurate historically didn't help much either. Finally, pretty much all the scenes involving his relationship with a French princess were just so far-fetched and ridiculous. Anyway, even if I’m not a huge fan, it is still worth a look though since there were some impressive battle scenes and, if you like Mel Gibson, you should definitely watch it but, in my humble opinion, it must be one of the most overrated movies ever made.

Nowadays, almost all the animated movies which come out are CGI animated. One of the few who's still holding strong is Hayao Miyazaki. Indeed, this guy is the living proof that hand-drawn animated features are still worth it and that they can be damned gorgeous to look at. Seriously, only just to 'see' this movie was already definitely worth a look. Indeed, you had here so many beautiful colors, awesome details and a marvelous combination of realism and fantasy. Considering the story itself, I thought it was quite enjoyable, even though it was not as strong as 'Spirited Away' which still remains by far my favorite movie from Miyazaki. Unfortunately, as usual with this director, the main character was in my opinion rather bland and uninsteresting but, on the other hand, the title character, Ponyo, was quite delightful. On a side note, I did watch this movie with my 5 year old daughter, thinking it would be a nice watch for her since it seemed to be targeted towards very young children. That was actually a mistake since it is actually more suitable for kids older than 10 years old. Anyway, to conclude, it was a gorgeous animated feature and, even though it didn’t completely blow me away, I still enjoyed it and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are looking for something else than the usual CGI animated flick.