video review : Interstellar

video review : Interstellar

Interstellar would be better as just a space adventure. Christopher Nolan instead makes the mistake Steven Spielberg made with AI by encompassing the ambiguous theme of “love”. The protagonists intake on journeys to other worlds, but I’m stranded in schmaltz city as Nolan tries to make me care about the relationships between characters.

In a sense, the gist of the plot depends on it. If emotional attachment doesn’t pull you in; it didn’t me; there’s not much else to do the trick. The movie is daring and provocative in its declaration that the Apollo moon landings were faked and some of the action scenes are entertaining, but it’s bloated and pretentious in most other regards.

my rating : 3 of 5

2014

video review : The Dark Knight Rises

video review : The Dark Knight Rises

The title is a fancy way to say that Batman is back. Did the world need another Batman movie? No. But Wayne Enterprises; a multi-billion-dollar company owned by Bruce Wayne himself; is going bankrupt and popular superhero movies; this is the third in what is now a Christopher Nolan trilogy; make an insane amount of money. Two Face is dead and The Joker, a character who should’ve been mentioned if not given a cameo appearance, is in prison. Enter Bane, a strong vicious beast of a man with a gas mask stuck to his face. He wears it for a reason, but it muffles his voice sometimes to the point of being unintelligible.

Not that these characters, including Anne Hathaway as Catwoman, ever have anything poignant to say. Christopher Nolan is a lot better at directing fight scenes than composing dialogue. So the fast-cut plot, riddled with minor holes and unnecessary twists; Gotham City facing its demise in the form of a nuclear bomb is the gist; gets saved by its exciting and often violent action scenes. Most, if not all, of that action coincides with epic Hans Zimmer orchestral music, yes; and the new flying bat-toy is kind of cool; but this Dark Knight, while entertaining, is a sequel that doesn’t quite match the level of its predecessor.

my rating : 4 of 5

2012