djuleez Reviews

Beyond the Black Rainbow (2010)

Great Visuals - Lost Identity - A Tale Of Two Halves

[4/10 · 7 October 2012]

I went into this with no expectation whatsoever, so the first 40-50 minutes were amazing and original with bags of style conjuring an eager anticipation for what lay ahead for what appeared to be a low budgeter Sci-Fi/thriller that could definitely compete. However, the style soon became monotonous and predictable, ultimately undoing everything that had come before with its lack of progression. Editing was also exceptionally poor, where long drawn out episodes that worked so well in, say, the original version of "Solaris" or "2001", overstepped its original boldness by becoming irritating in the tiresome second half. But what appeared to be original and innovative was to become it's worst enemy - with so many options made available in the first half - the second half was a miserable let down. Any notion of this being a cerebral thriller utterly forsaken for....well....not a lot at the end of the day....with a its only goal to meet its mildly intriguing final shot.

I so want to recommend this for its brave and fresh (if derivative) approach, but - as a movie in its complete format - it was a very poor.

Intruders (I) (2011)

An OK 12 year old suspense - an dull dumb "adult" thriller

[3/10 · 23 May 2012]

This should never have left the comfortable abode of children's scary time. The attempt to bridge beyond an hour and make any credible adult attempt by adding some pointless nudity and excessive inane dialogue was a huge mistake. The story itself was pretty decent and would definitely have made a creepy children's movie with a radical overall. But the director looked terribly out of their depth with inept choices, terrible editing and a basic loss of where they wanted to pitch such a poorly executed mess. Lacking in depth and any remnants of charisma, this could have been a decent little horror for a relatively demanding adult audience. As it stands, I feel utterly insulted by the waste of my time and the waste of money involved in a reasonably polished production that should have never got past first base. Another dire addition to the horror/suspense/thriller scramble to fill theatres before the next one hits the following week.

Drive (I) (2011)

"Pusher" for children

[4/10 · 18 December 2011]

Oh how the mighty have fallen and lost their edge. After the Bleeder and Pusher movies that were so gritty and real, it is hard to believe that this is the same director. Everything about this stinks of a lazy stroll through CSI and the US culture of gloss versus grit and bravado versus reality. The story itself is multilayered with acres of scope to flesh out a gripping, dirty, yet cool masterpiece - especially with the movie "The Driver" from the 70s to build on. And with one of my favourite actors in the lead role - this should have been a cult classic. Instead it is instantly forgettable with a series of events in the last third that must have come out of a comic book as the logic and credibility of all the characters suddenly fall into a category of childhood playfighting, not the adult battlefield of ganglords. And where were the car chases - I can only assume that the budget didn't stretch to wrecking too many cars, with way too much time (in comparison) played to a predictable love triangle storyline.

I think my main criticism has to fall on Refn himself. His vision seemed to have fallen woefully short. The cool distant reprise of Ryan O'Neil from "The Driver" is a good start - but it is played so clumsily and painfully in your face as to lose its cold pathos beneath a blundering series of panning moody shots and distasteful musical warmth. The music score, the lingering shots - a total afront to creating anything gritty or remotely powerful. The dialogue was pretty decent though, with some incisive prose, and the casting of Albert Brooks as a bad guy was genius. Yet even the set pieces lacked any zest or street cred - way way too much polish Refn - and another lesson unlearned from your early movies.

Everything about this screams 15 rating for armchair mid-evening viewing - atrocious music singing the praises of our hero only making it that more irritating and comical. Dear Refn, please regain your credibility at the cost of selling your soul for you will never again regain the longevity of those earlier movies with this thin waster that has already dissolved from my eager brain wanting something to challenge it rather than kill another two hours of life.