dan_parkman Reviews

2012 (I) (2009)

Are you looking for action or story?

[10/10 · 30 December 2013]

Well, I was surprised at the low ratings and scathing reviews of others! I'm yet to see a high-budget disaster / apocalyptic movie with both effects and storyline! As a HUGE fan of this genre, I waited years for the release of this movie for it's effects alone - I wasn't disappointed! Yes, the storyline was flimsy and unbelievable (as was much of the acting) but what do you want from this kind of movie? In a real-life global disaster of this magnitude, we all know the odds of a family all surviving together, finding a plane, finding ANOTHER plane and flying halfway across the world to crash-land in the mountains and then be driven to salvation in the form of modern-day arks, is ridiculous. But without this stupid story-line, we wouldn't have been treated to the amazing CGI special effects as the film would have been over before it begun.

I suspect that, as with Roland Emmerich's 'Day After Tomorrow', this movie was all about the effects with a lot of artistic license on the story line.

If you want a believable storyline, try 'Pride and Prejudice'.

The Pact (II) (2012)

Entertaining but with the right expectations

[4/10 · 30 December 2013]

I saw this movie at the cinema and it wasn't at all what I expected. I was looking for a gritty 'The Entity' meets 'Amityville' type of story but was disappointed to find a good story build-up and an end-of-story let-down.

The characters were set well, with some unexpected surprises as to who sticks around for the duration. I didn't find the main one particularly likable - she came across as a bit of a b***h - but suspect others may see her as a strong independent woman. That said, I have to make allowances for what she had been through as a child and without her hard edge, she wouldn't have stuck around long enough for there to be a story! The plot-line was okay but as a serious advocate of the supernatural genre, although it is a factor in this, it's not what you might expect it to be. For me, it put in mind Harrison Ford's 'What Lies Beneath'.

An enjoyable film none-the-less, worth a try on a lazy afternoon.

Aftershock (2012)

Better than expected based on the overall rating

[8/10 · 30 December 2013]

I rarely write reviews but wanted to make the effort as I don't think the overall rating does the movie justice. As with all movies, your degree of enjoyment depends on your expectations, favored genres and mood at the time of watching. For me, the title caught my eye as I'm an avid fan of disaster / post-apocalyptic movies. I was a little skeptical seeing the Spanish names of many of the cast, assuming it would be subtitled throughout. I gave it a shot, and found there was good mix of English-spoken lines and subtitles for Spanish to English translation, which actually enhanced the film and made it more 'real-world' for me. A reasonable amount of time was allowed for main character-building, so I was able to form an opinion of each, understand their relationship with each other, and decide whether I liked them and could empathize with them. As with any good character plot-line, your judgment is over-ruled when the **** hits the proverbial fan and the ones you initially disliked become your heroes / heroines. Cutting to the plot-line itself, I found it refreshing that unlike many other lower-budget and less-known disaster movies, the viewer is given time to settle into the scene and characters before all hell breaks loose. That said, often the storyline gets silly after the special effects set in (usually because money is running out) but I didn't find this true with 'Aftershock'. Although the story is fast-moving (and some may say, far-fetched), it's entirely believable from first-hand accounts of real-life survivors of similar tragedies, where law and order can break down so fast that it becomes more of a threat than the disaster itself. In summary, after the main event, the action is non-stop and relentless, and there is sufficient blood-lust for those viewers who enjoy it. The ending was predictable (but most movie endings are these days!) but should be taken in the black-humored, tongue-in-cheek way it was intended. Worth a watch.