All that you have is your soul (Tracy Chapman).

Friday 23 June 2006

Movie Reviews

I’ve just come back from seeing X3: The Last Stand…but more about that later on.

A few days ago, I went to see United 93. I thought it important to wait a few days to see how I really felt about the movie.

In short, it feels like nothing else I’ve seen before, movie-wise.

A number of factors inform my opinion:


  1. The intimate way in which it is shot which grabs you as soon as the credits start.


  2. The fact that the people in the control towers are actually playing themselves (I only found this out when I read the credits at the end) and thus recreating their reactions to the still indescribable tragedy of 9/11 which is chilling, to say the least.


  3. You root for the passengers. You so want them to succeed in foiling the hijackers but you know – and despite your best intentions, you just can’t forget - that no one is going to survive the flight, which in turn adds an added feeling of desperation in witnessing their very human reactions. My stomach was in knots throughout and in particular, towards the end, when the inevitable was about to happen.

I don’t think I need to add any more except that this is, of course, an important film, that not everyone will have the inclination to see – which is understandable.

Teacher’s Rating:

***** (full score)

Unforgettable.


Now, back to the other type of movie….entertainment!

X3 does what it says on the tin. It’s loud, furious, funny in parts and filled with superb set action pieces. I enjoyed both of the earlier movies and this certainly lives up to their high standard most of the time (although I think the best of the bunch is still X2). I won’t spoil the plot but the only criticism I can think of, is that there are some resolutions that are tacked onto the end, solely to string together ideas for the next instalment.

Teacher’s Rating

****

Fun.

No comments: