fitri_small Reviews

Make It Happen (2008)

Enjoyable Popcorn Flick

[6/10 · 13 September 2008]

It was no surprise that, throughout Make It Happen's 80-minutes duration, one would find this latest dance flick (helmed by occasional music director, Darren Grant) riddled with the most tiresome and obnoxious clichés that the genre could offer across its existence. Yes, to be fair, the film seems to be borrowing each scene from similarly plotted features. Yet, in one way or another, Make It Happen seems to present all of them just that better.

One of the flick's greatest and most undeniable asset would be lead Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who displays some of her best work here. It's hard not to swoon for Winstead, who switches from ferocious, limb-swinging urban dancer to ingénue, down-to-earth, corn-fed small town girl with impressive and flawless flair. She seems born for the role, radiating an unbelievable amount of charm, and drawing life into a well-written character. Despite having been supplied with a prosaic script, Winstead performs admirably well, both on and offstage.

Regardless of Winstead's poetic beauty, the film lacks a substantial screenplay, and every line feels tacky and uninspired. It's safe to say that the film is no more scripted than it is choreographed. Adler's libretto felt unremarkably familiar, and, with or without hindsight, you could almost tell how the film will unfold before the lights dim down. It was fortunate that the rest of the troops, though never coming close to stealing the show (leave that to Winstead), played their - stereotypical - parts adequately, with the provocative Julissa Bermudez standing out exiguously.

The film's lack of flesh on show is an affront to the cast's sensual, slinky sex appeal, and it is hard to find that the clubgoers are majorly made up of cheering females, rather than drooling guys. However, the dances are already enticing in nature, so more skin would not have been necessary, but simply more effective. Speaking of, the dance sequences are entertainingly beautiful, aided with a catchy soundtrack, and as a whole, undeniably a visual and aural delight - a testament to the eyes and ears.

Make It Happen is not much a film rather than a montage of energetic dance romps, connected solely by filler sequences enlaced with drama and romance. That said, they are good sequences of drama, as Winstead's verisimilar approach to her character enlivens each of the film's dramatic scenes. The same cannot be said for the sequences of romance though. Try as they might, the pairing of Winstead and Smith lacks chemistry, and as a result, the film is forced to present a dull romance that you couldn't care for. It doesn't help that Smith's character is near unlikable - as another critic put it - "a smarmy douche".

All the same, Grant's experience in the music video industry helped a lot here. Stunning cinematography entwine each scene, and the dance sequences are nothing short of being optically magnificent. Although there might not be much to entertain those with a passionate dislike of this variety, it is nevertheless a fine installment into the dance genre. Make It Happen passes as both a short, drama film entwined with great dance sequences, and an overtly long, energetic music video interweaved with filler drama scenes. However you put it, I believe Make It Happen is still a decent film.

Verdict: Darren Grant has crafted an enjoyable popcorn dance flick, an improvement over the recent additions to the genre. There's still much room for improvement, but Winstead's soulful performance atones for much of the flaws. Nevertheless, its feeble screenplay and extremely predictable fade-out could not go off easily unnoticed.

Final Destination 3 (2006)

Pushes the Right Buttons

[8/10 · 29 August 2008]

Now, if you're expecting more than blood, gore and death from this third installment in the Final Destination saga and hope for something resembling a plot line, then stay out. You will be disappointed.

In all fair and vague shortness, Final Destination 3 is more or less the same as its predecessors. It is an expanded montage of elaborately staged and immaculately bloody deaths strung together by a simple and undemanding story line.

Similar to its antecedents, Final Destination 3 is about high-schooler Wendy Christensen (portrayed adequately by Mary Elizabeth Winstead) receiving a premonition of the ill-fated roller-coaster ride in which she is on board. She panics and manages to save herself and a bunch of her friends (or more appropriately, entrées in Death's wish list), but soon after realizes that Death's in the market for tying up loose ends.

If you've decided to give this film a try, then come in with an open mind and just expect fun. Leave your brains at the door, and anticipate gallons of strawberry, juice and banana (creatively mixed up to produce a simulation of blood and bone marrows) to come shooting out of the screen.

To grade a film like this, you have to evaluate the artistry of its death sequences, review the mock build up of suspense preceding a death sequence and diagnose the level of bone-chilling each death sequence brings to the table. In short, Final Destination 3 is all about the death sequences. And, suffice it to say, the film succeeds in every level while doing so.

Look pass the plot holes gargantuan enough for a train to barrel through. Ignore the poor screen-writing abilities of James Wong, chock-full of dialogues to bury, witty one-liners that never succeeds to pass off as witty one-liners and one or two exchanges so tacky and clichéd until it makes you want to punch nails into your ears. Pay no attention to the strong lack of sturdy character development, or the lack of any kind of sturdy characters for that matter. Do all this, and you might just have a good time.

For what it's worth, James Wong tries, but still, the sub-plot about the Pictures which Tell the Future and the Search for the Two Unknown Ride Attendees does not add anything new to the table, and instead, turns out to be very predictable and foreseeable. Without wanting to reveal too much, I just have this to say: If you want your audience to be surprised by the plot twist, make sure you have a couple of red herrings ready. Introduce characters who have decent amount of screen time to pose as the possible potential victims, but not too much as to steal the limelight from any of the ten stars.

Nevertheless, as aforementioned, Final Destination 3 is a movie whose sole purpose is to entertain and delight twisted, sadistic fans by introducing new and improved ways to kill off characters who merits their deaths. And, for that, it passed.

Verdict: Those who just expect a good time will find this immaculately bloody film to be fulfilling, to say the least. Those who expect more will be dismayed. Regardless, the film hits the targets its supposed to, and that adds up to a good, enjoyable thriller perfect for movie night.

Black Christmas (2006)

Better Off Skipped

[4/10 · 28 August 2008]

Black Christmas, the latest entry in a long thread of horror remakes, is no different than any other. Pointless and unnecessary, Black Christmas follows the plot of the original, without maintaining any sense of spook or scare which the first one offered (the longest chase scene displayed here was somewhere along 20 seconds).

Initially, the film seemed like a decent slasher film without many deficiencies. But after multiple viewings, and watching Bob Clark's stunningly macabre original take on the film, the reverence wears off, and the flaws start surfacing all but too blatantly obvious.

For one, the backstory and insight offered to the audience regarding our killer, Billy, had gallingly sunk the level of enigma and mystique surrounding the character so low until the antagonist had become nothing but a one-dimensional killer whose inevitable fall you would be awaiting ever so restlessly as the minutes crawl by. Though certainly, he could not have been any worse than the boneheaded stick figures Morgan had standing around like dishes in an all-eyeballs-you-can-eat buffet whose actions scream, "Kill me now!".

The exasperatingly predictable ending was so used and recycled over and over again that you'd be daft not to see the killer's encore in one brutal mortuary scene. I mean, come on, Hollywood! Spring for a new climax every once in a while.

Moving on, performances by the band of ogle-able eye candies were stodgy at times, although a few of the leads did not do all that badly as relative newcomers standing so close to the spotlight. Katie Cassidy and Crystal Lowe did good jobs, seeing as how this is the first time they possess screen times greater than 15 minutes. Although we've seen better from Michelle Trachtenberg and Mary Elizabeth Winstead (whose Texan accent seems to be on an on-off button throughout the film), they're not to be blamed completely. On a second thought, all of them performed ably, considering the poorly-written screenplay they were forced to reenact.

However, not all is completely bad with the film. I, for one, remarkably found Black Christmas to be visually stunning and optically magnificent. It's a treat to the eyes, though not to the ears, as Shirley Walker's final score composition is not nearly as decent as could be, with the cues taking sharp turns up and down at supposedly "boo" moments (plus, one or two of them sounded like direct rip-offs from the musical cues in Mac's GarageBand). Nevertheless, the disorienting angles set up by Morgan is a job well down, as it gives the film a wonderful sense of eeriness and discomfort it would alternatively lack.

Black Christmas's entertaining use of over-the-top gory spectacle also ends up in favor with the film, as it provides a sort of "campy" style one might find difficult to see in slashers nowadays since most of them would prefer to obtain a PG-13 rating rather than give viewers their money's worth. Despite that, the film's just one more eyeball-pop away from being labeled "torture-porn". Therefore, Morgan has found just the right equilibrium that keeps the film's gore at hand. Additionally, there are quite a number of decent and memorable kills here. And on that note, I'd also like to direct my sincerest kudos to Morgan for an eerily horrifying flashback sequence, concerning a rolling pin, a cookie cutter and fresh milk.

The set and production designs were top-notch. They did a wonderful job in assuring that they get the feel and the look right. Although present sorority house may look comfy and cheerful, there's a hidden disquieting note, dubiously emphasized by excellent use of lightings. One more asset worthy to note is the film's short duration. Those not a fan of gore will only have to sustain 80 minutes of this film before the credits roll over. But then again, if you're not a gorehound, why even bother?

Verdict: Despite Morgan's well intentions to recreate a strong slasher film from the 1970s, his visage of this re-imagination never succeeds to strike the right note. Regardless of some high points, Black Christmas is better off skipped, especially if you're not exactly a fan of carnage.