effrenatus Reviews

Very Bad Things (1998)

Save your money: rent Heathers.

[1/10 · 2 January 1999]

Though it bills itself as a comedy/thriller, my viewing group failed to find any humor in the film. A chronicle of friends with no stress management skills, this attempt at dark comedy comes across as a string of appalling atrocities with no redeeming value. There is nothing truly comedic or thrilling about this film; the only time I laughed at the film was prior to the first murder, and the "thrills" are obvious, tedious, grim, plodding, inhuman acts. Grim and thrilling are not synonymous. Five of us attended the movie and all of us encouraged friends to avoid it.

Save your ticket money and rent Heathers; you get to see Christian Slater in a movie that does much better black comedy.

Mighty Joe Young (1998)

Average Disney fare for families, but nothing truly special.

[4/10 · 2 January 1999]

While there is nothing wrong with this remake of Mighty Joe Young, it's not exceptional either. I went in expecting to find a movie aimed at at children, short on plot but with lots of eye candy. I was satisfied with the level of story, but disappointed with the special effects. The scenes which seemed to use an animatronic Joe or a costumed human were fine, but the digital creatures (not just Joe, but a lot of incidental animals) were disappointing. Apparently the software wasn't up to projecting good shadows onto grass, especially long grass. Fortunately, the African scenery (apparently all filmed in Hawaii, by the way) makes up for the flawed animation. The wilderness scenes are beautiful.

On the acting side, Charlize Theron did fine as the female lead even though the part doesn't offer a lot of depth. On the other hand, Bill Paxton seemed to have a single emotion, stuck somewhere between curiosity and bemusement. He carries this emotion with his usual monotone delivery of lines. Whatever depth was provided by the script was lost on Paxton. Kids probably won't care, though - there's plenty of monkey to keep their attention.

This movie falls into my "see it as a matinee" category - while I wouldn't warn friends away, I wouldn't suggest they pay full price. It is appropriate (and actually well suited) for families with children, but it's certainly not one of Disney's finer offerings.