Ink of Blood

(This review may contain spoilers).

This was probably the Superman movie I remembered the best from the original four. I think because this one showed Superman as having very human desires. He actually chooses to be with Lois. I still don’t really like her incarnation in this movies… but I love Christopher Reeve’s portrayal of Superman.

There’s more action in this movie as opposed to the first, where Superman was dealing with entirely human threats. In this instance, the threats come from Krypton… and the three villains are nasty pieces of work; a bit of a disappointment, since my favourite villains are the ones who have some redeeming qualities.

I felt that Superman demonstrated quite a good tactical head, once he realised what was going on. There were some quite clever scenes in this, as well as some particularly sweet ones.

Lex Luthor is, of course, untrustworthy… if an amusing character because of the way he is. It was interesting to see him find Superman’s special place and discover more about him, though I was surprised he didn’t take the opportunity to learn even more about his enemy.

It was interesting to see how the people of Earth reacted to the threat, especially since they’d become so used to depending on Superman. It was nice to see how much he did care about humans in this movie… a complete contrast to Zod, to whom they were collateral damage.

It was interesting to see Superman dealing with being hurt for the first time and how much it shocked him. It was also good to see him react as a normal human to stimulus such as cold.

Although the special effects are fairly tame, I think they were pretty good for the time of the movie. It was a good opportunity to see more of Superman’s strength of character… though I could have done without the slightly irritating Lois Lane.

I think these films showcase Superman really well… even if they do demonstrate the normal ‘superhero doesn’t get the girl’ cliche that’s so prevalent in anything to do with superheroes. But this movie was entertaining, with clear-cut who the good guys were and who the bad guys were. I plan to watch 3 and 4 in the near future.

(This review may contain spoilers).

Another film I originally saw a long way back, this may have been the first live-action movie I saw Johnny Depp in. Although violent and very gory in places, I still found this as entertaining to watch as I did the first time I saw it.

I thought the atmosphere of this movie was really good. Ichabod Crane was a character who was easy to relate to and it was good to have the opportunity to learn more about his past. I liked the fact that there were flashbacks to him as a child, which meant that his history was revealed gradually during the movie… but it made sense to have him more concerned with science than any kind of supernatural/paranormal.

The Horseman was a particularly scary villain, especially in the flashback where he seemed more like an animal than a person. It was good that there was an air of mystery to this movie, though. It was dark and Gothic, but I felt that it also allowed me to get to know some of the characters particularly well.

I recognised Christina Ricci from various other things and I thought she made a good Katrina. I did, however, think that I didn’t get the opportunity to know her as well as Ichabod. It would have been good to learn more of her past and how she became interested in certain things.

There were a couple of amusing scenes in this movie, particularly in seeing Ichabod trying to apply logic to a supernatural case. He did seem to faint an awful lot, but I did also think he came across as a fairly capable Constable. It seemed to be quite hard for him to come into a small town where superstition was rampant.

There were other actors I recognised in this movie as well and it was good to see them in a more historical piece. There was a lot of tension in this movie and I did care about the plot and the characters. There was some attempt to give the villain a backstory and I liked that element, too.

If you like horror, I think this film is fairly good. Although it is kind of part of the slasher genre, I did find it entertaining and the characters easy to follow and root for. It’s an older film, but sometimes those can be better, particularly when it comes to portraying relationships between characters.

(This review may contain spoilers).

I remember watching this film quite a while ago. Watching it with a friend who can’t see was a bit challenging, though.

It was interesting to see an earlier ‘found footage’ movie. I thought it was a good way to have Alice connect with the people who lived in the house previously.

This film id seem to come across as quite low-key. The location didn’t really move, outside of Alice being in first one house and then the other. In a way, the more simple nature of the film worked, since it gave the opportunity to get to know Alice more as the film went on.

I liked the way that Alice’s history unfolded through the course of the movie. It was good that the viewer wasn’t hit with all of the information all at once. And I did feel a lot of sympathy for her.

There were a few creepy scenes in this, but I felt that it did rely too much on jump scares. There were a couple of nice moments with camera angles… and another scene where Alice (and myself as a viewer) was so caught up in watching Lucy and David, she had to check behind her at the same time Lucy did.

I would have liked the opportunity to see Alice interact with other people. She came across as quite ethereal… almost a ghost herself.

Although I know that atmosphere is important in a horror movie, the amount of darkness made it hard to see what was going on… harder still to audio describe. And the speaking was far too quiet. Even with the volume turned all the way up, most of it was too quiet to make out.

Brittany Murphy did do a good performance in this and I felt that Thora Birch was good as Lucy, too. It was interesting to see the way that David and Lucy’s relationship changed so much.

I was quite disappointed in the ending, I have to say. I think it could have been done a whole lot better. I did find the film entertaining to watch, though, and my friend did like it too.

(This review may contain spoilers).

I can’t remember if I saw this movie at the cinema or not… but it’s one that I’ve owned for a while and one that I have enjoyed watching quite a bit.

I did think that the film could have done with being a bit longer. The main characters were well-defined (although Snails’ constant screeching did grate), but the more minor characters were lacking quite a bit.

I really liked Ridley as a character and it was good to see his interactions with both Snails and Marina. It was disappointing that I didn’t get the chance to see more of his history… or how he and Snails had become friends. Or even why he had such a strong dislike for mages.

I felt that this movie followed the basic fantasy plot, where a group of heroes (from different races) have to go on a quest. I did enjoy seeing the banter between them and I did care about the characters… even Snails. It was sweet how he developed a crush on Norda, who I liked due to her being a strong female.

Despite this being a fantasy world, I was disappointed not to see too many fantasy creatures. There were a few, but not quite as many as I was expecting.

There were some good, humorous lines in this movie. And the fantasy elements themselves were pretty cool. The good characters did seem to be quite naive, though… and I also felt that, although the Empress’ goal was admirable, there wasn’t really enough about it or her to have it make much sense or be a believable element. Plus, there’s a scene where the Empress’ head looks massive and I found that hard to take seriously.

I did enjoy seeing Ridley and Marina together and there were some nice fighting scenes in this. There were also quite a few actors I recognised and I enjoyed seeing them in this movie.

This isn’t one of the best movies. There are some nice fantasy sequences and some pretty good music. But I felt too much was left unfinished and the world wasn’t expanded as much as it could have been. I think this would have worked better as a mini-series, or even just a television series.

(This review may contain spoilers).

I remember reading the book of this movie when I was really young. It was one I read so much, it was falling apart the last time I saw it. So when, of course, I realised there was a film that came first… I had to have it. And I’ve just now rewatched it.

Innerspace was a movie I really liked. I loved Jack and Tuck. Not only on their own, but also interacting with each other. Although this film is quite amusing in parts, I felt like the friendship that formed between Tuck and Jack was real.

I did feel quite sorry for Jack at the start of the movie. He seemed to be one of the nice guys who never catches a break. It was good that he grew up as the movie went on… though I didn’t like him making the moves on Lydia.

I also liked Tuck’s character. I’ve seen Dennis Quaid in quite a few things and I think he’s a really good actor. His portrayal of Tuck came across really well.

It was interesting to see the technology used in this movie and to see inside Jack’s body from Tuck’s perspective. The movie kind of operates on two types of danger, since there’s the danger that’s outside in Margaret and her cohorts who want to steal the technology. There’s also the danger from within, where Tuck faces the possibility of running out of oxygen.

I thought Lydia was quite a strong character and it was good to see she didn’t take any nonsense. There’s some violence in this movie, a little more expected than for a PG film, but there are some good amusing moments as well.

I felt this film took the time to develop the characters as well as the plot. At some point, though, I’ll dig out my book version… since there were some good extra scenes in that. But if you like science fiction movies without aliens or anything too heavy… I’d suggest this as one to watch.