Village Of The Damned

In terms of horror remakes, I don't think this deserves a lot of hate.

Now I will admit I've only seen the first 20 minutes of Children Of The Damned awhile ago, so I can't properly compare notes so we are discussing the merits of this movie alone. I quite liked it, even though I hear tale John was doing the movie out of obligation to the studio and not because of his own passion and creativity, and even the shooting was a disaster with residents of the town harassing the film crew throughout, so with all that negativity in mind the production is pretty solid. From the brief instances of knowledge considering the original the plot isn't much different, a mass blackout in a small town leads to the birth of several children with mind controlling abilities causing havoc and despair as the parents try to figure out a way to resolve the situation. It's a fascinating plot regardless of decade, and it didn't take long for me to get into it and to know how it was going to end. I will however state a supreme amount of enjoyability in this movie goes to the fact that Christopher Reeve and Mark Hamill are in this movie, though I will not detest anyone's acting in this movie. I know child actors get a lot of flak because they can't emote properly but here, it works entirely to the advantage of these kids and they all do brilliant work even though only two of them get any spotlight. It breaks my heart constantly seeing Christopher in this, being this was the last movie he made before his accident and I simply love that man more than I could say. Coincidentally enough the movie came out one day after I was born, to mixed reviews and a less than average box office. But like I said it genuinely isn't that bad! The cast does good work with passion, the production budget is lower but still does a lot with what it has to do, I really digged the effect on the eyes implementing some basic CGI to good effect, the story moves at a good pace and if anything it makes me want to finish the original to compare notes. Boy howdy though this was some 90s shit man, just little things that I noticed that really screamed the decade at me. Kirstie Alley is a damn chimney stack in this, smoking nonstop even in a hospital, yeah remember when that was okay? Seeing a classroom with a bulky TV in the back, that brought back some memories and a half. I'm not sure what the explanation is for the children in the first film but we flat out get X-Files up in here with an alien in a glass jar, I was almost expecting David Duchovny to make a surprise cameo. It's by no means a great film but you can have a good time with it, and really anybody could have directed it despite Carpenter having his name on it, but it's decent. 2.5 stars, 7/10, time to make the trip back to Haddonfield tomorrow.

Speechless

Or as I like to call it, The Unofficial Batman and Superman Movie.

No I'm serious. It stars Michael Keaton and Christopher Reeve. Excited yet? I know I am! So the story follows Michael Keaton and Geena Davis as speech writers for opposing political candidates. They meet and start spending time together before they find out the unfortunate truth, which causes them to start backstabbing each other until they decide, screw it why be enemies when you can be friends? So they start building a very nice, very funny relationship. They have terrific chemistry together, both when they are bickering and when they are together. The comedy really got me rolling in some scenes, and thankfully there wasn't much drama to bring me down. I do kinda hate that Christopher Reeve isn't much in the movie, because well it's Christopher Reeve. He's charming, he's awesome, you really wish you could see him more! And this film was made a little bit before his tragic accident so it can really tug at your heart strings. But still, it's a fun movie and not that very well known which is really a shame. You know those romantic comedy movies you dread to go see? This is definitely not one of them!

Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut

Yeah, this isn't actually the original Superman II, this is the Richard Donner cut, who was the director of the first movie, so this is how the movie should have been. I think it's the better version.



Almost every aspect of Superman The Movie has been upgraded significantly for the sequel. It seems like this movie is even bolder and more impactful than the first. The stakes are higher this time round, because now Superman has to fight three other Kryptonians with the same powers as he does and has to stop them from taking over the world. But there is a bit more than that going on in this movie, a lot of which I can't talk about because I don't want to spoil the movie. I honestly think all the actors are better in this movie than the first, Christopher Reeve gives us so much more depth and complexity as Superman, Margot Kidder is even better than she was in the first movie making Lois have sheer moments of genius in this movie, Gene Hackman still does great as Lex Luthor but he's mostly just in the background and used for comedy, but they make up for that with Terence Stamp as General Zod! This is seriously one of the greatest performances I have ever seen in a superhero movie, Terence Stamp's interpretation of Zod is the stuff of legend, and when people talk about General Zod they mean this guy. His performance is both very subdued and quiet and also over the top and absolutely insane, but the insane bits don't happen much but when they do, oh man is it great! He portrays Zod as this sort of bored aristocrat, who doesn't even question his superpowers, and is so full of himself it's beautiful. I could quote him all day. Best part of the movie hands down for me. I seriously recommend you buy this version of Superman II and not the original. There's not much wrong with the original, it's just that this version is superior and I think just better holds up because it's made by the same director as the first movie. If you can find this version of Superman II by all means buy it, I do not think you will be disappointed with it and you can judge for yourself if you consider this to be better than the first movie.



So that's it for this review, tomorrow we talk about the Superman reboot that divided the world.

Superman The Movie

You will believe that a man can fly...


Superman The Movie is one of the greatest superhero movies of all time. When you think of Superman, this is probably the Superman you think of. This movie is just fantastic, everything is done just right. The special effects are amazing and still quite groundbreaking even though the movie is almost 40 years old. Yeah this movie came out in 1978, and honestly you can't really tell. The movie is mostly timeless, and I say mostly because...the fashion just screams 1970's and there is a bit of 70's terminology used in it, but if you can look past that then, yeah this movie is timeless. Everyone is perfectly cast in this movie, Christopher Reeve IS Superman he's not even acting he is just really Superman, Margot Kidder is a fantastic Lois Lane in this movie and is very true to the comics of that time, Gene Hackman is brilliant as Lex Luthor to the point where the only other competition for best Lex Luthor is either Clancy Brown who does the voice of Lex Luthor in various cartoons and video games or Michael Rosenbaum who plays Lex in Smallville, then we got Marlon Brando as Superman's father Jor-El who is very memorable in this movie and gives a lot of wisdom to Superman to help him become better, and finally we have Terence Stamp...as General Zod. I am going to have a field day tomorrow when I review Superman 2 because General Zod is unbelievably awesome in that movie! But one movie at a time. This movie is surprisingly funny a lot, almost every major and minor character has a good laugh in this movie, which really just shows that superhero movies back then were not so dark and serious as they are today. I mean yes, there is some serious and heavy moments in this movie, so it's not really a comedy but it's just very funny at times. I'm being serious, it is because of this movie that I incorporated the word 'swell' into my vocabulary. But getting back on track, the music, what can I say? It's unbelievably great! Do I even have to mention the Superman theme? John Williams gives one of his best scores in this movie. Like, probably the most well remembered scene in the movie where Superman flies with Lois over New York City, the music is absolutely beautiful and I love it to death. Listen to this soundtrack! This film is amazing, if you have not seen the Superman movie go see it now. If you have seen it, it's time to see it again. You owe it to yourself to see one of the best superhero movies of all time! I am not lying, I had no respect for the Man Of Tomorrow until I heard about the new Superman movie and I played Lego Batman 2 because that had Superman in it and I gained so much love and respect for the character, I immediately went out and bought the first two Superman movies. I regret nothing.

So that is my review of the first Superman movie. Check in tomorrow for my review of the second film.