Doctor Who 2011 Film Review

Initial Thoughts

            That's right all of you "whovians" out there, I don't know if you knew this or not, but in 2011, there was a television film that was shown on BBC and was released later the same year. this film was about the enormously popular television show, "Doctor Who" which has been running since the 1960's! So what were my Initial Thoughts about the Sires? I was not that excited about it to say the least.

            Yup, the entire time Doctor Who was running in the last few years, I was always wondering why everyone was so much in love with the T.V. show, and every time i asked a fan about Doctor Who they just went on some ramble about how amazing it was.

            so if you were like me, and have no idea what Doctor Who was all about, you have come to the right place! This is Doctor Who the T.V. Movie!

Story: 25 out of 25

            Another point about this film I should probably mention is that, I have never seen a full episode of the show. So I can not tell you if the movie follows the show closely, loosely or not at all. so if you are a Doctor Who fan and hated this movie for what ever reason, please cut all of us who haven't seen it, some slack.

            In short the story (and the movie in general) is gripping. everything that happens makes you want to sit there and keep watching, especially in the beginning. There are so many questions, plot elements, that just need to be answered, and they savor the answers to all of the burning questions, and never really answer them until the very end of the film. And that is what a story should do, it should create new and interesting ideas, that grip you and weren't your continued watching. Character traits, and just the overall function of "Time Lords" is actually quite interesting, as they slowly reveal more and more about them through physically of the two Time Lords and other personality traits. All of these aspects just helps emerge you in this fantasy world.

            Extremely interesting to say the least, there are only a few minor problems with the storyline, so small that I am sure that no one will notice.   

Characters: 20 out of 25

            Okay, the thing with the characters, is that some of them are just complete IDIOTS. I don't know if that was the point, but, holy crap, some of these main characters are just completely brain dead! Since The Doctor is the main role, and obviously the person we are supposed to pay the closest attention to, I am giving the characters more of an easy time. but if this was another movie, this section would suffer. To put the stupidity into one sentence, "The characters are always given many pieces of dialogue and situations that tell them the answer to their current question, however they never see the answer and just continue to follow their dark path.

In short, The Doctor and a few others are well done. But for the most part, they are just dumb.

Acting Quality: 20 out of 25

            For the most part, the acting is normal, you know, you believe the actors and for the most part, feel the emotions they are trying to portray. but sometimes, the actors will do something way to over the top (its rarely under acted). And you know what, that pretty much the only issue I have with the entire film. Just the fact that everything is supposed to be taken seriously (for the most part) yet they consistently keep doing things that take away that serious element. Making the Villain get hurt in a silly way, making a guard fall down comedicly. in my opinion, if you want to make it a comedy, make it a comedy.

            But as far as acting goes, as I said before, its good for the most part, just a clear atmosphere would be a lot better.

Charm: 25 out of 25

            This is what it really comes down to, was the charm there. And honestly, that's probably the best thing about the whole film. The Doctor is always trying to make people understand what he is, and is honestly not to afraid to share his secret with anyone. And he is always having people call him crazy. His relatively frantic personality gives many audience members something to relate to. most of the time, he is running around, trying to get something to work, always going always moving and having things always go wrong. And since that is what many of our lives are like in today's society, many members of the audience feels compassion for The Doctor, and really wants to know if his situation turns out okay.  

            In short, The Charm of Doctor Who is one of the main reasons, why it excises in the first place. 

So the final verdict for the 2011 TV Movie of the famous Doctor Who is

90/100

Spectacular

Before seeing this film, I could care less about Doctor Who, let alone seeing the show. But after seeing this film really makes me want to, the story is amazing, the characters are interesting, the acting is fair, and the charm is through the roof! and if the show is even better then that, then there are no reasons not to go out right now and see the show.

So if you have never seen Doctor Who before, Or were like me and didn't care for it, either see the show (resent or old) or go out to the store, and buy this movie, it is one purchase that you will not regret!

Despicable Me Film Review

Initial Thoughts

            When this film first came out, I didn't think anything of it to be honest, I thought that it was just another average family comedy. It looked harmless enough, the trailer made it look like it had some good humor and some funny and good characters. And it was right, the character development was half decent, and the humor was great for the most part, but what made it great was the charm. It had so much charm, its not even funny, but where does the charm come from? lets dive right in and find out!

Story: 18 out of 25

            This is again one of those films that the story relies heavily on the characters. in this case, it relies on Gru and Vector, the two main antagonist and protagonist. both of which are developed extremely well. these two pretty much bring every plot device into the film either in-directly or directly.

            The story in general is a pretty generic super villain, super hero flick. Some may say, are you kidding me! it is totally different, but if you think about it, the film follows roughly the same story elements as a super hero film would. a good guy and bad guy are rivals for some reason, and the bad guy is trying to do something horrible and the good guy is trying to stop him. the difference in this film is that its two bad guys going after the same thing, however one of them was clearly meant to play the "good guy" role.

            However overall, it does give a fresh change from your average super hero film, and breaths a little bit of fresh air into the whole genre.

Characters: 21 out of 25

            Okay, obviously one of the most important things in a comedy are the characters, and for the most part they do hold up pretty well. Sure a few of them are under-played, (not necessarily under-developed), but for the most part, they are well developed, have tons of charm, and provide great humor and laughs throughout the entire film.

            This is where all of that great charm comes from to me, just of how well the characters were; written, and voice acted. the different interactions, and plot devices that each character provides much of the humor. each character will interact with a different situations different, using his or her own unique recurring  plot device.

            Overall very well done characters, both in writing, and acting.

Comedy Aspects: 25 out of 25

            If there's one thing this movie gets right, its the comedy. It is clear they took lots of time writing the humor for Despicable Me. Most of the comedy is centered around over exaggeration, everything being bigger then it normally is, and with all of those great funny characters, what could be funnier?

            the dialogue is perfectly written to fit each character. and when the film wants you to hate a character, you hate the character. in addition this film gets the core element of comedy correct, and that is, "in comedy, someone has to suffer". and all throughout the film, someone (or sometimes multiple people) are suffering.

            This is one film, that will have you laughing hard, all throughout.

Villain (Villains?): 25 out of 25

            Again, one aspect that needs to be addressed. this is one part of the plot i love, the fact that Gru wants to be the worlds greatest villain, yet continually keeps doing good things. He never really seems to be all that bad of a guy, (SPOLIERS) and even if he did get away with stealing the moon, I don't think anyone would know what he would do with it. we all know what vector would do with it, he would probably just make it into a decoration like he did with the pyramid.

            This creates great tensions between Gru and himself, and Gru and Dr. Nefario. And in addition, makes him into a more three dimensional character.

And so finally, The final verdict for the smash hit: Despicable Me is

89/100

Fantastic

Great humor, interesting and hilarious plot devices, absolutely great characters, and tons of charm, this is a lot more then just an average family comedy, like I first thought it was going to be. The only thing holding it back is the somewhat disappointing storyline, but that does not stop it from being one fantastic film, that everyone must own, or at least see it once a month!

Alien Film Review

Initial Thoughts

            Okay the first thing that you need to know, is that I hate horror films. not that i just think that all horror films are bad, its just i personally don't enjoy being scared half to death. But because so many people asked me to review a horror film, I don't really have a choice.

 

            I had heard all about Alien, saying that it was one of the best Sci Fi horror films of all time, and by far the best film in the entire Alien franchise. but are the masses right? lets find out! this is the first Alien movie.

 

Story: 20 out of 25

            Honestly the story in Alien is a pretty generic Horror story, there's something out killing the members of a crew and they either can't find it, can't kill it, don't know what it is, or in some cases all three. The film doesn't leave many plot holes (which from what I hear is common in horror films) and does tie up all of the loose ends fairly well at the end of the film (except for a few minor ones that bother me but probably wont bother you).

 

            I think that the story is mostly driven by the Alien life forms, for almost every plot device and or plot element, is brought on by the creatures. which means that the Aliens play a big role in the story section, and they do a good job of keeping the audience guessing all throughout the film, about the Aliens, and while not telling everything about them, they did tell enough to help the audience feel satisfied.

 

            Overall a most enjoyable storyline, driven by mostly enjoyable characters.

 

Characters: 15 out of 25

            Okay, some of the actions made by the characters are totally RETARTED and since I am not a huge horror fan i am not sure if this is a recurring theme in the characters of the horror genre, but if it is, it is a very poor aspect of horror. If a character does a really dumb move and is basically asking to be eaten (and in this movie that's almost literal) then you feel very little emotion for the character and you just end up saying "you know what, let him die". And that does add up near the end of the movie.

 

            Some clichéd characters, however not enough to make a huge impact. Furthermore with some plot twists, and good emotional bond to some of the characters, they are overall okay, not great however not terrible. (and like I said before some are more enjoyable then others).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Atmosphere: 19 out of 25

            I felt that the atmosphere was rather shallow, for most of the film, the crew is contained just in the ship, and when most of the scenery looks very similar, and is in the dark, you can and will get a little lost at some points. because of the intriguing storyline this does not cause a major problem however. and the darkness does cause un-easiness as there is barley any music. so it is mostly just silence and darkness. these two aspects are what set the atmosphere for the majority of the film.

 

Horror Elements: 19 out of 25

            How does the entire horror backbone hold up? well you defiantly get an un-easy ora from the film, natural in the horror genre, But does it really separate itself from other horror films? I surely think that it has a huge advantage over other horror films, creating a supreme aspect of mystery and darkness to the villain. And I do think that space setting does give it a sense of helplessness', making them seem like their all alone with no one to help them. But I do not think that it is totally and utterly superior to other horror films. (I have not seen a lot of horror films however I plan on seeing a few more this month.)

 

And so the final verdict for the first Alien movie is a great

73/100

Really Good

 

It does have a convincing and good horror themed storyline, and the horror elements are done reasonably well. A strong atmosphere, filled with helplessness'' and un-easiness due to the setting and lack of sound. however it does lack strong characters, and while the horror elements are done well, they are not worthy of legendary status.

 

However don't get me wrong, it is still one great movie that will send shivers up your spines! and is defiantly worthy of including during your horror marathon this Halloween!

2001: A Space Odyssy Film Review

Initial Thoughts

            My initial thoughts about this film were really good, i had heard so many good things about the film. About how every critic thought it was a masterpiece, that it was a classic. I know that a lot of people still consider this to be one of the greatest films of all time. And I am here to tell you all that it is STUPID, the story is an un-focused mess and extremely hard to follow as it goes along, none of the plot devices are ever explained, and I don't just mean some of them, I mean 99% of them are never explained even plot devices that are essential to the "story".

there are other reasons, and I am sure you are curious as to what they are, so lets jump right into, 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Story: 9 out of 25

            While granted that the section with Dave is probably the best section of the story, before you get there it for some reason starts at the beginning of time where there are just apes wandering the world. it introduces a major plot device, but neglects to tell us what it is or where it came from, which is fine so far because it is still early on. But after it is introduced, it immediately cuts to the future.

            To make a long story short, it continually shows scenes that have nothing to do with anything and in no way further the story. In addition it also continually jumps forward in time, showing a completely new setting and rack of characters, never mentioning where the characters from the previous scenes went or what happened to them.

            Hard to follow, Many useless scenes, and just an overall mess of a "story", The story is boring because its confusing, and confusing because its boring.

Characters: 9 out of 25

            The issues with the characters sort of tie in with the story and plot. For the first hour of the movie, the movie shows many characters in this period of time, and every time the story moves forward through time, instead of having those previous characters continue on and evolve off screen, they are completely stripped away, and we never hear of them again. And the worst part about it is that no one will miss them because the character development is lacking greatly. I care about these characters as much as I care about the characters from Battleship.

            The only two characters in this entire film that have any personality, are Dave and H.A.L, and since HAL is a none living computer, so technically there's just Dave. and even though he is one of the main characters, that's no excuse to dis regard every other character, in the movie.

            For the most part, every character in the film are un interesting, and barley developed at all. In addition, very few characters get very much worth while screen time.

Atmosphere: 25 out of 25

            Okay this is one thing that the movie nails. The Atmosphere of the picture is something that I will not be forgetting for a long time. even though the story is hard to follow, every shot is drawn out longer then normal, making a very uncomfortable feel all throughout. furthermore in most of the sets, there is minimal setting props, making many (if not all) of the environments look empty, and unlike other films where this would hurt it, in this case it just builds on the creepy atmosphere.

            A suspense building soundtrack along with the empty ghostly looking sets. Sets up one really disturbing film.                       

Plot: 0 out of 25

            And this is the one thing that the movie completely fails at. I mean, I couldn't believe how weak the plot devices were in this film. None of them were ever explained, even major ones that were suppose to carry the "story". Without giving away any spoilers, the biggest plot device explanation is the biggest "screw you" moment I have ever scene, period.

            In addition to the plot devices being a total loss, the plot elements are to, quite weak, sure there are some good ideas, but as i said before, none of them are ever explained, and many of them are very complex, which are used to drive the very complex story. But if the majority of the audience has no idea what the plot elements are doing, and that's one of the major things holding up the story, then it is only common sense that the audience will have no clue what the story is doing either.

            Un clear, Un focused, and just an overall mess, this is one of the worst plots I have ever reviewed on this show ever.  

And so the Final Verdict of the classic film 2001:A Space Odyssey is...

43/100

Fail

I have no idea why so many people loved and still do love this movie, everything essential about it is confusing, from the story to plot. The story is an un focused mess, and the plot are un explained mess. In addition, the terrible characters and quickly changing timeline makes for one boring confusing overall mess. Even though the Atmosphere and Soundtrack were done extremely well, that doesn't make a good movie, you CANNOT base your entire movie on two good aspects.

I am sorry if you like the film and are offended by my option, but trust me, I'm right.