MovieComment

Torque

Posted by Player under Action

I was not sure what to expect from Torque, it definitely wanted to copy The Fast & Furious type of films, but instead of cars, it was motorcycles. Given that The Fast & Furious plot was stolen from Pointbreak, there really is not much about Torque that can be sighted as being original. The film features a lot of stunt driving and CGI to wow you with high speed action, so if you are into motorcycles, you will probably have some interest in this film.

As for the plot, well, wrongly accused bad boy comes back to change things and gets into a lot of trouble, while at the same time trying to romance the girl. Usually this would be a great plot for a Cinemax late night movie, but you will find no nudity or sex in this film, it’s all about riding motorcycles, and trying to avoid the bad guys.

Other reviews of the film have stated that Torque makes fun of itself, which can be totally true in some points, but overall I thought this was the worse film I’ve seen on DVD all year. Not even Jamie Pressley as the hot brunet bad girl, was enough to keep me interested.

Tomb Raider II

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Angelie Jolie is back again as the ever busty and hot video game character, Lara Croft. This time the plot surrounds a mysterious amber orb that looks much like a rusty disco ball, but in fact holds a secret map to the secret location of the legendary Pandora’s Box.

Fans of the video game will wonder where all the secret maps and cave trails are in this movie, cause Cradle of Life looks and feels more like a James Bond film than an Indiana Jones remake. Most of the action takes place outside or in city landscapes that remind you of the last three Bond films.

Some critics have stated that Paramount basically ripped off every other film and put together a movie that offers nothing new or exciting, but honestly I hated the first Tomb Raider film and I actually liked this one better. However, one thing that almost everyone can agree on, is that the Lara Croft character is pretty cold and that perhaps no Tomb Raider film will ever really work until a director changes this and makes a character that the audience can identify with on some level.

As for technical aspects, Cradle of Life looks great and sounds great. The film is colorful and most landscapes are rich in detail, but unlike the first film, this time around some of the indoor sets are not as complicated and elaborate as the first film, in fact they are pretty tame in comparison.

In conclusion, if you are looking for a decent action film, Cradle of Life is interesting, but due to the Lara Croft character flaw, you won’t really be that much into it.

Once Upon a Time in Mexico

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Almost every Chicano son has at one time or another had to sit and listen to the grand fables of Mexico and its men of legendary proportions. From tales of great romance, to gun fights in bars, to stories that date back to the Revolution’s beginnings… all of this is part of Mexican Culture, and it something which Robert Rodriguez manages to rekindle in this film, which marks an end to his El Mariachi films. Unlike Desperado, which took some inspiration from Chaki Chan action films, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, is a classic Mexican action film, along the lines of The Almada Brothers films of the early 80’s which I grew up watching. Audiences unfamiliar with Rodriguez’s influences, might see this film as a little too comedic compared to the current state of American action films, but just remember the plot really does not matter as much as the action and of course looking real cool while shooting guns!

The story sees Antonio Banderas return as The Mariachi gunslinger, with a fantastic performance from Johnny Depp as CIA agent Sands. But the cast also includes William Dafoe, Salma Hayek, Cheech Marin, Danny Trejo, Ruben Blades, and others. Sands is the CIA agent with a bead on all things, and as he tries to fix the game, the players move into position, and the stage is set for a power grab, but of course it all falls apart for Sands and all the characters as good prevails over evil and until the end you’re not sure which characters will prevail.

The film is mostly in Spanish, but since it is an action film don’t expect much dialoque, what great lines there are come from Depp, and he mostly speaks in English.

At the end of the film, I felt Rodriguez really made this film as an honor to all those stories my father tells late at night, and about the revolution which really is Mexico’s people.

That and of course some of the coolest ways to show a guy getting revenge.

Matrix Revolutions

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The last chapter of The Matrix Trilogy hit the big screen and I was there with my nachos, popcorn, and extra large coke, eagerly anticipating the coolest film of the year. I have not been this excited about a film since, …well never!

First let me start out by talking about the storyline and how it has evolved and in most places gone away. Matrix reminds me a lot of Morrison’s The Lizard King. At first I studied it and took it apart and then came back and found that this particular text was really a symbolist work, where there is plenty of images or signs thrown at you and there is no one meaning, the reader is suppose to interpret the work as they see fit. Many reviews I read, focused on this by misreading it as just lack of focus or the Matrix being nothing more than philosophical text thrown out as filler for action scenes. But I think they are wrong. Though I will not argue that Matrix is a bit careless with its references at times, overall the whole symbolist reading works on most levels. There is also a point I’ve tried to make about audiences, that in today’s pop culture there are two significant groups that film makers try to reach, the first group is the classic/traditional audience, people who like their stories to be told and detailed and properly dialogued. The second group is younger, and more prone to identify with violence and lack of dialogue in their films. Some critics proclaim that younger audiences, generation X’ers included, only crave violent and meaningless plot, and they point to films like Matrix and Kill Bill as being nothing more than violence glorified. But again these critics are wrong. What we are really talking about in modern film is drama, what is drama and how do you display, express it, bring it to the audience??? Drama is conflict, and to younger auidences, the drama which violence expresses is just as valid as a film that is filled with subtle dialogue, but more importantly it has a history as well.

Everyone of my age and younger have grown up on Star Wars, and the a scene in Matrix Revolutions, where the marine commander fires his guns, reminds us of other similar scenes in Star Wars and in war films like Platoon. The scene signifies both the fantasy of sci-fi films and the futile nature of war. The scene is not just random violence, but a powerful signifier of past films, of past scenes, of very real drama.

Now as to the actual story line of Matrix, Matrix Reloaded, Matrix Revolutions…. it is basically a story of two peoples, one humans, one machines and how they relate to eachother and the world they share. Neo’s character becomes a religious symbol of what is perhaps the essential commonality that binds all species, which is meaning of existance. But unlike other films, Matrix takes the approach of not preaching religion, but only recommending it. In other words, God is an idea, not a contructed idealogy, the only thing that matters is faith, and the only thing you can do in life is act in accordance to your faith. The machines want to end conflict and just exist, to them the war is not a matter of revenge or evil, but maintaining their existence. Neo understands that to end the war, he must sacrifice, he must do what needs to be done. Agent Smith is the Anti-Neo, his counterpart and some would even say the stronger of the two. As Neo’s power grows, so does Smith, they are tied to eachother. Only Neo’s faith separates them.

So is Revolutions better than Reloaded?

Technically both films are the same movie, there is no actual separation, but then again you already knew that, just like you already knew that you are going to see Revolutions anyway, since you already invested so much time in Matrix and Reloaded.

Action & Re-Action:

What started out in Matrix as cool martial arts, transcends into video game fight scenes in Reloaded and then in Revolutions, but then again is not the Matrix one big video game?

At the end Neo and Smith fight what can only be described as the biggest comic book style fight ever filmed. It is essentially what the X-Men films should be doing, but have not managed to imitate at all.

Revolutions reminded me a lot of Empire Strikes Back, there’s romance, there’s war, there’s sacrifices, and there’s some cool flying. The only thing lacking was a little bit more humor, Revolutions is really grim throughout.