mcmonster78 Reviews

Freddy vs. Jason (2003)

how could you not love this movie?

[6 September 2003]

There aren't many great things about either of these two franchises, there are 18 movies between them (counting this one), so the seriousness of the plots went out the window years ago. When Paramount owned the Jason movies, I think they kept trying to bring it to a new level and make another Texas Chainsaw Massacre or any other classic horror film. By the time they got to Part 7 (Jason Takes Manhattan), they must've realized the formula didn't work and made it purposely made it campy. This isn't to say that parts 3-6 weren't but again, I think Paramount was searcing for a real horror film there.

New Line knew the formula years ago, and made the switch with Nightmare 3. The real way to grasp viewers was to come up with new and inventive deaths, quick Freddy one-liners, etc. Unfortunately, all of the middle movies were flawed by horrible acting and even worse scripts. Wes Craven came back in with New Nightmare, which is probably the only other movie in the series worth watching, save a few death scenes in the middle flicks.

So, Paramount sold New Line the rights to Jason, and for many years, did nothing with them. Jason Goes to Hell was New Line's first stab at the films, which again, wasn't well received because of the acting and absence of Jason. Freddy took a back seat for a while, too. For whatever reason, the film that's been talked about happening for years, finally happened.

What makes this movie so good? They finally have a script that is campy enough to suck, but not so badly it loses it's audience in minutes. I think it's great that these teenagers grab these outrageous concepts out of their hats to know how Jason and Freddy came back, and what Freddy's up to. The death scenes are new and inventive, Freddy is loaded with new dialogue and quips, and the girls are nice to look at. This movie has it all, death, Freddy, violence, girls, nudity, and one of the biggest battles since King Kong vs. Godzilla.

Batman: Dead End (2003)

Definite 'A' For Effort

[8/10 · 7 August 2003]

It's about time someone tried to do something with Batman, if Warner won't. It combines three movies I think fans would love to see, though because of this it suffers from lack of time. Very cool idea, it leaves a lot up to the imagination as to how it began or how it ends, or what happens to certain other villians. I thought the villians costumes looked amazing, I assume someone broke into the Fox props department for those. This was short, but darker than even Burton's first Batman movie, though this one relies a little heavy on his script, at least at first. The directing was great, too, there were several well composed shots, which says a lot about an 8 minute film. I loved the fact that Bats was in his classic black and grey costume, which was made of cloth and not rubber. If you have the disk space and the time to DL this, you won't be disappointed.

The Hunted (2003)

say, do you want to see 'The Fugitive 4' today?*spoilers*

[6/10 · 2 April 2003]

NOTE:THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPECIFIC PLOT DETAILS, BUT NOT THE ENDING. READER BEWARE. Of course, I'm talking about the original fugitive, US Marshalls, Double Jeopardy, and now, The Hunted. While the latter 2 may not have anything to do with the character Tommy Lee Jones played in the first 2, they're all movies that star TLJ playing almost exactly the same role in almost exactly the same fashion. This time, he's playing a Special Forces trainer whose never been in the army and whose never seen combat, and who doesn't really exist, but when there's a madman on the loose, they think he's the only one who can find him, and of course he is, because he trained him. Enlisted by the FBI, he goes on a hunt for the man who is committing grotesque murders throughout the country, and when they find him, he's taken by a special section of the government, though no one says why, and shazaam! there's an accident and the van carrying him flips, he escapes, and now TLJ is back on the hunt. Sound familiar? While Benicio del Toro may not be out on a mission to prove his innocence, he believes that the government faction is out to kill him and the people he loves, all the while TLJ is hot on his trail. I think this film is better than US Marshalls or Double Jeopardy, but there are some things that irked me beyond just the fact that TLJ is allowing himself to be typecast into this role. There are too many things left for assumption, which I blame on bad editing or a bad script. Theres some definite chemistry between TLJ and Connie Nielsen, but before they do very little about it, and it's dropped before it can be a part of the story. There are things I liked aobut the movie, usch as it was much darker than the other 3 I mentioned, more blood, and it plays a little like "First Blood," the first Rambo movie. Overall, this isn't a bad movie, but it's nothing that hasn't been done over and over (and over) again. 6/10*

Cradle 2 the Grave (2003)

not as bad as critics make you think

[6/10 · 5 March 2003]

I'd like to start out by saying that most critics put WAY to much stock in the story. Let an action movie be what it is: An action movie. This is no different than any other mindless violence with bad dialogue and really killer fight scenes action movie. I don't know if these critics (the two 'Thumbs Up' guys come to mind) expect Oscar nomination-worthy acting and scripts out of these movies or what, but I think that when they can put their expectations and reservations aside, we can all start enjoying action movies more. That being said, this is not one of the better action movies I've seen. It's entertaining, I've always like Jet Li's American films (I haven't seen any of his early work), this isn't one of the best, but it's all still choreographed well. Tom Arnold and Anthony Anderson team up well together as a brazen comedy act. DMX almost reprises his role in Exit Wounds here, which was another decent action movie from the same team who made this movie. Mark Dacascos is the only disappointment here, I was expecting something more from him after his performance in 'The Brotherhood of the Wolf,' though this is better than his performance as Eric Draven in 'The Crow' television series. Thankfully, these martial arts action films are replacing the action films of old, because I don't think the genre will survive on films like 'Collateral Damage.' Don't see this expecting 'Braveheart,' this movie is devoid of any seriousness in the script, and for once this may be a good thing. 6/10**

Daredevil (2003)

Much Better Than Expected

[9/10 · 15 February 2003]

I didn't hold out high hopes for this film, but being a fan of most any comic movie I checked it out yesterday. I was pleasantly surprised. The action was great, it followed the comic really well, it was dark, and yes, Ben Affleck plays a good Daredevil. There were two parts of the film I found a little flawed, the Matt Murdock/Elektra fight in the playground, and the fact that it took a long time to build up to where we started, and it resolved too soon. I think they could have done with another 15-20 minutes to make it better. As much as I liked Spider-Man it was a little campy, and I was afraid the same would happen for this movie, but thankfully daredevil stuck to his roots and made a movies that was more like the first Batman or the Crow in feel. A round of applause for Jan Favreau and Joey Pants is in order, too. Honorable mention goes to Kevin Smith in his cameo appearance. Finally, thankfully the studio chose a writer/director who actually read the comics for years, there is no one better have write comic book movies than comic book fans. If it were any other Hollywood name, it may have been a failure. 9 out of 10.

Donnie Darko (2001)

Haunting and Hard to Forget

[9/10 · 18 April 2002]

I saw a trailer for this movie back in December of 2001 and I didn't think much of it, passing it off as just another one of a slew of terrible "horror" movies that have come out in the past. Then last week my friend tells me that it's one of his top five favorite movies, so I decided to give Donnie Darko a fair shot. I watched it, and though I didn't understand a lot of it at first, I thought it was really well done and keeps you guessing all the way to the end.

I went to bed and all night into the next day I kept processing the movie over and over again, trying to figure out the stuff I didn't get at first. I decided to watch the audio commentary, which helps a ton if you watch the movie but don't get some of it. Richard Kelly wrote a great screenplay with a lot of the story coming straight from your interpretation of what happened, something few screenwriters have been able to do throughout a movie, not just the ending. I would put this screenplay on par with Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut, another movie you don't get at first but it just grabs you and makes you watch and think about it to create your own interpretation of it.

After watching it three times in two days, I don't put Donnie Darko in my top five, but I agree that it's a brilliant, beautifully haunting movie that didn't get enough respect. Backed by an equally haunting and emotional soundtrack, it is a movie that shouldn't be watched just once.

By the way, classifying it as horror isn't giving it any justice...Don't think you're gonna get scared if you watch this movie. It has it's moments, but it's not horror.

Jeepers Creepers (2001)

terrifyingly awful

[2/10 · 1 April 2002]

Aside from some creepy moments when the thing (and I only say that because they never explain what it is or what it really wants) is hunting people, this was one of the worst movies I've ever seen. There's no real plot, no explanation on what the song Jeepers Creepers has to do with the movie, why it's hunting these kids in particular. I felt like eating the rented DVD just so I could poop it out later and put the movie where it really belongs. Don't waste your time, even if it's on free previews or whatever.

Tenacious D (1997–2000)

the funniest, most original musical act I have ever heard

[20 July 2001]

I was lucky enough to record all three episodes that aired on HBO before they pulled the plug on the show, and I still watch them ritualistically and laugh my butt off. Jack Black is definitely one of comedy's funniest actors, and this is the highlight of his career (so far). Kyle Gass plays a mean guitar, and together these two will rock your socks off. They have caught the national attention of Tim Robbins, Ben Stiller (producing the Tenacious D movie!), the Foo Fighters (they have a cameo in a Foo Fighters video), and have a record deal with Epic Records (owned by Sony). There was talk of a Rhino video release of these episodes, and when it happens, buy it, because unfortunately, that is the only way you will ever be able to see this extremely funny show.