KubaU Reviews

Good (2008)

Normal

[8/10 · 5 June 2009]

Watching this movie has been a fascinating experience, and at the same time I understand why so many people seem to hate it. It has little to no action, an ensemble of seemingly boring characters, and after all, what haven't we seen several times before? Yet I believe that the movie's story is the important factor here. Yes, all the different elements have been here before, but never assembled like this.

What it gives is, in essence, one possible answer to the haunting question - how could it happen? How could normal, civilized, educated people allow and even support what culminated into a world war and the Holocaust? Here you have it - an ordinary, intelligent person, who considers himself to be a good man (and indeed actually might be), with normal problems that plague us all in life. Yet all it takes is a bit of ignorance, or perhaps rather denial, because seemingly everything is just going so well... Suddenly he looks around and discovers that he has become the very symbol of pure evil (very obvious to us today with the black uniform and scull and bones symbols, but oh so mystical, alluring and elite then), who has essentially through inaction allowed his best friend to be sent to death and actually even aided something that stands against everything he believes in.

One cannot help to wonder what would happen next...

Good script, very well filmed and excellent acting, in my opinion.

Vantage Point (2008)

Thrill, suspense, but failing logic

[4/10 · 25 October 2008]

"Vantage Point" is certainly good entertainment, but sadly on a TV-series level; it feels like a longer episode of 24.

The premise is good, the filming is creative, and the suspense created is very strong. Sadly it is not fast enough to mask that the logic fails all too often, making me feel that I'm being made a fool of - which to me kills any enjoyment of a movie.

No amount of action and (excellent) car chases can mask a script which relies on a pistol-toting gunman single-handedly defeating half of the Secret Service. Maybe in The Matrix, but this was not supposed to be sci-fi, I think.

So, good fun for Sunday afternoon, which sadly leaves a bitter taste...

On an Unnamed Hill (2004)

Not quite "The Band of Comrades"

[5/10 · 3 June 2008]

I'm all for anything about World War 2, especially from the unusual perspective of the Eastern front. Even with limited expectations, I ended up slightly disappointed. This desperately tries to be the Russian version of Band of Brothers, but fails on several levels...

There is pretty much only one interesting character, the sniper Olga, and that is because she's the only one who doesn't behave like a raving lunatic - though obviously the other actors had fun, perhaps too much at times. The fight scenes are grand for sure, but often quite cheesy, especially when the plot requires (and this happens several times) for one of the Russian heroes to single-handedly eliminate dozen or so Germans. It also borrows heavily here and there, from the sniper duel (here with a bizarre comical twist and even more bizarre ending) all the way to the "shooting pistol at a tank" scene.

One thing must be granted the Russian makers, though - for all the pathos, they obviously tried to do a somewhat objective look at the Red army, with all its weaknesses. Often you can really believe that these are Russian soldiers, at least for a short while, until they do something crazy again or fall into a dumb dialog (though this actually makes it more believable as far as the officers are concerned) and the magic is lost. You get to grasp the huge price the Russians paid for their victory, and many of the reasons why it was so.

It is epic, for sure, but inadvertently more funny than intended - and scary when it tries to be funny. The plot is confusing, reasons why characters act the way they do are unclear, and the whole thing would probably make more sense compressed into just one episode. Still, if you get an opportunity to watch it, do, if only to compare with the HBO series. And obviously, to experience a moment of happiness for not having had to serve in the Red Army.