Massive review pile-up...
Jul. 14th, 2013 09:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alobearI guess that's what you get if you go to the cinema five times in the space of four days!
But first, audiobooks:
The Time Paradox by Eoin Colfer
This is the next in the Artemis Fowl series, and was still a lot of fun, though not as good as the others. This was down to two factors. First of all, it was narrated by someone different to all the others I've listened to - so, even though some of the accent choices were a lot more appropriate, all the voices were just wrong, and the characters didn't sound like themselves to my ear. Now, of course, that's not remotely the fault of the writer, or in fact the narrator, who was perfectly fine - it just all sounded wrong. Secondly, time travel is problematical, rarely done well enough to make sense, and generally ends up being the diffuser of its own tension, so the plot didn't really do it for me, either.
Death Match by Lincoln Child
A while ago, I started listening to an audiobook, but the files were corrupted and I had to stop about half way through. I recently sourced a proper copy and listened to the rest and - SPOILER ALERT! - it was the evil computer wot done it, just like I suspected in about Chapter 2! Highly entertaining, complete nonsense, and really not the sort of thing I would read in hard copy - but it makes for a very enjoyable commute!
Now on to the films, which I will review in enjoyment order, rather than chronological order!
Now You See Me
I started out with high expectations of this from the trailer and the casting, but they were lowered considerably by the Empire review, which said the film had some fun moments but a very weak ending. Well, thank you to Empire, because the film had some fun moments, and a very weak ending. It made me laugh a couple of times, it had some shiny spectacle, and a smattering of good lines - but the camera-work was nausea-inducing, and the ending left rather a lot to be desired.
Despicable Me 2
More minions meant more fun moments than in the first one, but this was only mildly entertaining throughout. Certainly nothing objectionable, but not much in the way of memorable bits. I also got the impression that it was satirising other things a lot, most of which I didn't get, which may have detracted from the overall enjoyment to a certain extent.
Pacific Rim
All I really wanted out of this was giant robots fighting giant inter-dimensional sea monsters - and it delivered that in spades! Intermittently awesomely cool, it was just a shame about the rest of it. I quite liked the comedy scientists, but generally the characterisation was very thin, and the plot was obviously total bobbins. Despite the obviously required (and willingly given) suspension of disbelief, there were a couple of moments where my brain just stopped and said, "That doesn't make sense!" Plus, the portrayal of the (pretty much only) female character was just appalling. It would have been so much more fun if they'd just lightened the tone a bit and deepened the characters a bit.
Monsters University
I only went to see this to fill time before Now You See Me, but I'm glad I did, because it was actually pretty good. Considering anyone who's seen the original will know where the main characters end up, the plot twists were impressively unexpected, there was a great underdog arc, and some lovely character moments. It's certainly not a stand-out film, but it was consistently entertaining.
Much Ado About Nothing
I know this play very well, mostly from watching the Kenneth Branagh film many, many times. This was a small problem, because I kept hearing the lines from that instead of focusing properly on this version. However, that aside, this was an excellent adaptation. The casting was great (particularly Amy Acker as Beatrice and Reed Diamond as Don Pedro, though I did feel Alexis Denisof struggled a bit with the comedy as Benedick), the staging was excellent (particularly considering it was done all in modern dress at Joss Whedon's house), and it was just really good fun. Best moment provided by Sean Maher and a cupcake!
But first, audiobooks:
The Time Paradox by Eoin Colfer
This is the next in the Artemis Fowl series, and was still a lot of fun, though not as good as the others. This was down to two factors. First of all, it was narrated by someone different to all the others I've listened to - so, even though some of the accent choices were a lot more appropriate, all the voices were just wrong, and the characters didn't sound like themselves to my ear. Now, of course, that's not remotely the fault of the writer, or in fact the narrator, who was perfectly fine - it just all sounded wrong. Secondly, time travel is problematical, rarely done well enough to make sense, and generally ends up being the diffuser of its own tension, so the plot didn't really do it for me, either.
Death Match by Lincoln Child
A while ago, I started listening to an audiobook, but the files were corrupted and I had to stop about half way through. I recently sourced a proper copy and listened to the rest and - SPOILER ALERT! - it was the evil computer wot done it, just like I suspected in about Chapter 2! Highly entertaining, complete nonsense, and really not the sort of thing I would read in hard copy - but it makes for a very enjoyable commute!
Now on to the films, which I will review in enjoyment order, rather than chronological order!
Now You See Me
I started out with high expectations of this from the trailer and the casting, but they were lowered considerably by the Empire review, which said the film had some fun moments but a very weak ending. Well, thank you to Empire, because the film had some fun moments, and a very weak ending. It made me laugh a couple of times, it had some shiny spectacle, and a smattering of good lines - but the camera-work was nausea-inducing, and the ending left rather a lot to be desired.
Despicable Me 2
More minions meant more fun moments than in the first one, but this was only mildly entertaining throughout. Certainly nothing objectionable, but not much in the way of memorable bits. I also got the impression that it was satirising other things a lot, most of which I didn't get, which may have detracted from the overall enjoyment to a certain extent.
Pacific Rim
All I really wanted out of this was giant robots fighting giant inter-dimensional sea monsters - and it delivered that in spades! Intermittently awesomely cool, it was just a shame about the rest of it. I quite liked the comedy scientists, but generally the characterisation was very thin, and the plot was obviously total bobbins. Despite the obviously required (and willingly given) suspension of disbelief, there were a couple of moments where my brain just stopped and said, "That doesn't make sense!" Plus, the portrayal of the (pretty much only) female character was just appalling. It would have been so much more fun if they'd just lightened the tone a bit and deepened the characters a bit.
Monsters University
I only went to see this to fill time before Now You See Me, but I'm glad I did, because it was actually pretty good. Considering anyone who's seen the original will know where the main characters end up, the plot twists were impressively unexpected, there was a great underdog arc, and some lovely character moments. It's certainly not a stand-out film, but it was consistently entertaining.
Much Ado About Nothing
I know this play very well, mostly from watching the Kenneth Branagh film many, many times. This was a small problem, because I kept hearing the lines from that instead of focusing properly on this version. However, that aside, this was an excellent adaptation. The casting was great (particularly Amy Acker as Beatrice and Reed Diamond as Don Pedro, though I did feel Alexis Denisof struggled a bit with the comedy as Benedick), the staging was excellent (particularly considering it was done all in modern dress at Joss Whedon's house), and it was just really good fun. Best moment provided by Sean Maher and a cupcake!
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Date: 2013-07-17 12:10 pm (UTC)