On Saturday I saw the The Wolfman with my mother and 16-year-old brother. As a big fan of the original 1941 film, I had pretty high hopes for this movie, and for the most part wasn't disappointed. The actors were all quite good, the settings were dark and spooky and the makeup/CGI effects for the monster were quite good. Knowing the story already there weren't too many surprises, the violence level was a little shocking (it was at about the same level as a zombie movie), and the fact that the main character spends some time in a horrible asylum was a nice twist. Overall it was fun, I don't think I'll buy the DVD, but I had a fun afternoon.
Earlier today I took my 12-year-old daughter and a friend of hers to see Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. The movie was a lot of fun, it was aimed at kids and kept a consistent tone throughout, I liked all of the nods to classic myth and the actors did their jobs well. The effects were spectacular - this was definitely a big-screen movie and it will get added to my DVD shelf when it becomes available. My only complaint was the fact that the movie skipped over a lot of the book - but to be fair the Harry Potter films are guilty of the same crime as well. As an Ancient Greece buff, I had a good time and hope that a sequel will follow someday.
Agh. I thought Percy Jackson was one of the most execrable movies I've ever had to sit through. They took everything that was good about the book, made it bland and "popular," and didn't add anything to replace it. There's nothing I hate more than blandness, except possibly the hero being entitled to whatever girl he wants, the girl having no purpose other than to be the girl, and the black best friend. That's more racist than just having him be white.
ReplyDeletePlus, the writers couldn't seem to remember what the heck was going on. (Percy, you were trying to go to the underworld to rescue your mother. So why are you convinced you have to get there before the 21st to stop the war?)
I haven't seen The Wolfman yet but I'm looking forward to it...
My biggest problem with the film was actually the fact that they said "Your father is Poseidon" entirely skipping over the fact that figuring this out was a major part of the book. I loved the bit with Medusa though, and it did wet my appetite for Clash of the Titans next month.
ReplyDelete