Ultraviolet

Directed in 2006 by Kurt Wimmer, this action movie tells the story of a beautiful hemophage infected with a virus that gives her superhuman powers who has to protect a boy, who's thought to be carrying antigens that would destroy akk heophages.

It stars Milla Jovovich as Violet, Cameron Bright as the boy called Six, and William Fichtner as a nerdy scientist called Garth.

So, let's begin with the review: 

Those of you who have been reading my blog so far surely know that I'm not all that picky with the movies I watch. I believe that there's a moment in which nearly every movie can be entertaining. I don't say good, I say entertaining. Because that's what movies are there for: to ease  you into a new world, troubles that have little to do with you, action and fantasy and whatever. There's a good moment to watch nearly everything if you're in the right mood. 

I can't think of a mood in which you would like to inflict this movie upon your brain. 

The acting is crap. Pure and total crap. The onlyone that can be saved - if barely - is William Fichtner, who's cute, nice and has about 2 minutes of screentime. I mean, come on! MIlla Jovovich did an amaizing job in The Fifth Element, kicked ass in the Resident Evil saga.. Hell, she did even do a good job in the Three Musketeers! What went wrong here? The child is also awfull. I usually don't like movies with child, but this one couldn't even act! 

So, if the acting sucks, maybe a movie can be saved by either the story or the looks. The story is... non-existent. Well, I'm lying here, it does exist, but it's just some thin and translucent excuse to make Violet run around showing her flat belly and wielding a sword. 

Good, usually people wielding swords can safe a movie. Take Thor as an example. The story sucks, but he runs around with a hammer and you have some fun watching him getting hit time and time again by Natalie Portman... After 0.3 seconds of Ultraviolet you grow to hate the swordwielding. The visual effects are computer generated. If you're going to say that there are a lot of good movies - a lot of really good series - with computer-generated graphics, and that those are really good, I agree. The trouble is not that they are computer generated. It's that you can see the computer doing it. It's really badly done, so that you can't believe one second of it. And the action scenes are so paste together that they loose all their flow and just seem fake. 

One of the most impressive sequences, in which Violet jumps from a building and throws the motorcycle she's driving into an helicopter, has far more effect in P!nk's videoclip "There you go", released in 2002.

There's one last thing that drives me mad in this movie and if somebody has read the comics, watched the series or just knows, I'd be really grateful: what's the matter with A) Violet's hair and B)Violet's clothing. Why does it change shape and collors? Where the writers so laizy they couldn't decide in one hair collor... or a motive for it's magically changing. 

And the hint towards the Clockworck Orange is ridiculous and out of place, that movie is good, this one shouldn't even try to remind you about it, it only manages to drag it further down. Sorry, but somebody had to say it.

ULTRAVIOLET TRAILER

So, if you where considering watching this. I don't think you want anymore. It's not even good as background noise. You see this on TV and change channels. It will spare you a an hour and a half you can use doing anything else. 

The Incredible Shrinking Man

Directed by Jack Arnold in 1957, this movie tells the story of Scott Carey, who starts to shrink due to an exposition to the combination of radiation and insecticide. The films main topic is the problems he has adapting to his new situation, which forces him to constantly change his point of view of the world. 

It stars Grant Williams as Scott and Randy Stuart as his wife Louise and it was written by Richard Matheson. 

The incredible Shrinking Man is considered a B science ficcion movie that appeared due to the horror that the atomic bombs from Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the cold war had awakened in the population. Personally I don't think it's a B movie. I think it manages in a magistral way isuses such as discrimination and the inherent fear of change that human beings have, these two isues being still characteristic for our society.

The main actor does a damn good work managing to capture the atention of the viewer through half of the movie in which he's completly alone. His adventures get more and more Robinson Crusoesque after he falls down a flight of stairs and is trapped in the cellar of his own home, facing giant monsters and curious threats. 

The ending of the movie is rather surprising and it invites the viewer to think, being very good for those same reasons. A lot of the greatness of this ending is due to the good work of Rochard Matheson, the writer of this movie. 

Matheson was an US writer who wrote a lot of science-fi, fantasy and horror books. He's also the writer of 'I'm a Legend' [1954], a book - please ignore the fact that Will Smith tryed and failed in doing a movie about the book - with an equally surprising ending and some impressive depth. 

For a low-budget 50s movie, the edition and visual effects are rather impressive. Obviously the inocence of some of them can be funny for now-a-days-viewers. 

Attentions aracnofobics: the main enemy of Scott in this movie is a huge tarantula. Maybe you would like to watch this with someone who can tell you when the thing is gone or you can use the music to guide you, so you may know when the spider is appearing and leaving the screen. 

THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN TRAILER

All in all this is a very recommendable movie, with an itneresting plot and a modern view of the world and the human condition. The developement of the characters is very interesting and the effects clean and very well done.

Minority Report

Starring Tom Cruise, Colin Farrel and Samantha Morton, this science-fiction movie directed by Steven Spielberg in 2002 is set in a near future where a special police unit is able to arrest murderers before they commit their crimes. Trouble arises when the chief officer of that unit, John Anderton, is himself accused from a future murder and forced into hiding. 

The background idea goes the lines of: up to which point is it morally correct to put someone in prison for a crime he hasn't committed? and Spielberg does an amazing job here, showing the various flaws - as well as the many positive points - of this  way of action. One cannot forget the political reality set behind this movie: the USA was looking for reasons for a preventive attack in Iraq. 

Back to the movie: one specially interesting point are the visual effects. It doesn't have a lot of explosions - which are always nice - but the whole car scene is very interesting and the moving plants are very nice. Plus all the little gadgets are original and beautiful. 

There's nothing much to say about the acting. It's an excellent work of professional actors, very enjoyable. 

The rhythm and music are very intense and it keeps your attention and interest through all 2 hours of the movie. 

All in all, this is one of my very favourite science-fiction movies and a must if you're interested in this subject. Or if you like Tom Cruise or Colin Farrel, both of which are very nice to see.