2001 Movie Review
With 2001 now over and done with, I thought it might be fun to review the movies of 2001. However for the purpose of this review I will only use the movies I saw personally. Not much point in reviewing something I did not see. I would say that 2001 was a pretty good year for movie. I was surprise in certain cases and disappointed in others. Here is now the review of the movies.
1. The Lord Of The Rings : Fellowship Of The Ring - If there was a movie I was both waiting for and still was worried about it, well this was the one. Trough out the year, rumours were a plenty at how Peter Jackson was taking liberties with the story and how he was changing to much of what was in the book. Plus some of the scenes we could see in the teasers and trailers were enough to make the calmness person lose it's cool! Well I was expecting this movie to be on top of all other's I've seen and I'm happy to report that is the case. Sure things are different from what you can read in the book but the changes were made for the best. You have to remember that the book is filled with many pages of descriptions of what the fellowship is seeing. In a movie you must skip those part since the photography is filling this role for the written word. Visually the movie was stunning with a quality I would have expected in a Georges Lucas movie. Yes Peter Jackson did change the role of Arwen in the overall story but after seeing this movie I don't think it will be for the worst. The only thing I found a little confusing is the passage of time in the story line. It's not well explain but it's really a minor detail. Total : 9.5
2. Shrek - I wasn't expecting to find this movie boring, not after seeing the trailers but I never expected to love it the way I did. Shrek takes every fairy tale ever written and turns them on their head. Whatever the writers were smoking while writing this story, well it worked. It was funny, entertaining and also quite stunning to see visually. The computer graphic were surpassing the one seen in the Toy Story movies. The details in movement and colors were eye catching. When you add all of these things along with an incredible cast to supply to voices of those loveable characters, you can't miss. Of course Eddie Murphy really steals the show as the Donkey. You keep wondering just how long can he keep talking like that? Then the references to other movies like, The matrix or Charlie's Angels just make's this movie impossible to hate. The only reason it's not number one is because it had the bad luck of coming out the same year as The Lord Of The Ring. Total : 9.0
3. Planet Of The Apes - Have you ever gone to a movie expecting to be bored to death and then were so surprise that you could not even believed you never really wanted to see the movie in the first place? Well then you know exactly how I felt after seeing Planet Of The Apes. Looking back, I'm not sure why I was expecting bad thing from this movie? I've always loved the movies from Tim Burton in the past and was never disappointed by them. The movie was funny, interesting and was a mix of the original version with Pierre Boulle's book which made it fun to watch. The makeup for the apes was incredible and the action scenes were well planned. Just like past Tim Burton's movie things were not always serious, an aspect that is different from the original version. If one bad thing must be said about the movie, it's the ending. Anyway you try to explain it, it doesn't make any sense. How can he changed the history of earth if he was on a different planet? Still it's not enough to destroy the entire movie. I sure don't regret seeing it. Total : 8.0
4. The Mummy Returns - I had loved The Mummy and I wish that it would have been the same type of feelings for this year's version. But it wasn't the same. It was still a good movie and is still in my top 5 but something was missing. I found that it was a bit slower than the original. This would normally make no sense, since there was even more action in this one than in the original. The best way to explain it was that I kept expecting more, and for some reason it wasn't happening. It could also be my own fault for not letting go of the original so that I could accept the new changes and enjoy this one. Graphically it was stunning. The opening battle scene with the army of Scorpion king was incredible. And at the end the battle between the mummies and the Majhai was amazing. But with the other 3 movies that I mention before I could not place The Mummy Return any higher. Total : 7.5
5. Tomb Raider - Bring on Lara Croft! This wasn't a bad movie. It was entertaining and the action scenes were pretty well made. I also found that Angelina Jolie did a pretty good job in a role that wasn't easy to fill. Sorry! I could not really let that one past. But that being said, I could not really say that I liked this movie more than the previous 4 and that is why it sit in 5th place. The CGI were not as good as the other movies that I saw. In fact Shrek sometime looked more real then certain scene in Tomb Raider. Also at time the characters seem a little "blasé" with all that is going on. Some scene not part of the movie but that are included in the DVD make the story line move a little better and should have been included. It was a bit too short and you do feel a few things are missing at time to make things more real. Still not a bad movie. Total : 6.5
6. Jurassic Park 3 - Are you like me and have a feeling that they made one too many Jurassic Park movies? Well whatever you answer, I think they made one too many. Actually I was one of the few who thought they had made two too many Jurassic Park movies but that is past history. The problem with this one is that not even the dinosaurs seem to want to be there. Sure, you have to admit that the graphic are pretty good and the dinosaurs are still pretty amazing but the human actors look like they should have been computer animated, maybe that would have help this movie? Sam Neill seem to be spending the entire movie, wondering what's he doing back in this franchise? I know what you're doing there, the pay check!!! Overall this movie was weak and the story is so impossible to believe that I just never got into it. I did try but I could not find anything to help me out. The one thing that would have made me so happy did not happen. I so wanted that annoying mother to be eaten by a dinosaur but it never happened. Well maybe it's for the best, poor dinosaur would have ended up with stomach ache. In short I was expecting to be bored with this movie and believe me I was. Better luck next time! Total : 3.5
7. Final Fantasy : The Spirit Within - This movie is the total opposite of Planet Of The Apes. I was expecting so much from this one. The graphic looked so great, the trailer seem to show an entertaining movie. Boy! Did I ever came crashing down hard with this one. The computer graphic were great but what was missing was the story and the feelings on the characters. Think of Toys Story or Shrek. Both are computer animated but you can still feel the emotions of the characters. At time you almost forget they are not real. Not with Final Fantasy. They look like zombies during the entire movie. I'm not sure if this can be blame on the actors supplying the voices or the Japanese creators of the film. Whatever the reason, it made for a long boring film and I never really got into the story. I was really disappointed with this movie. Expecting so much and getting so little. This made Final Fantasy the worst movie for me in 2001. Total : 2.0
Looking back it was not a bad year for me movie. 2002 should be even more interesting with all the good movies coming out during the year. I'll see you next year for the 2002 Movie Review. Have a good year!