So I watched a couple new movies this past week, and I thought I'd let people know what I thought about them. So here it goes:
The Grudge: Hollywood has found another Japanese movie to remake for the American audience. I had some high hopes going into this movie because I loved
The Ring so much. The story was new; the story was unique from all the rest. The Japanese do have the talent to create pretty wacko stories, and Hollywood's version of The Ring was actually a little toned down compared to the insaneness in the Japanese version
Ringu. The remake was done much better in my opinion.
Anyway, onto The Grudge. The Grudge did its main purpose: It scared the pee out of me. In that area, it blasted The Ring out of the water! It had much better tense moments which actually did lead further into a jump scene or just something nasty. The Ring lacked the follow through. I felt tense throughout the movie, but left me hanging after each scene. It was nice to have The Grudge tempt me to close my eyes or look away at some parts. Very well done. However, the story was incredibly lacking. Character development was also lacking. I didn't feel attached or sympathetic for Sarah Michelle Gellar. Actually, I felt more attached to the Japanese detective than I did with Sarah, and his role is only minor. Though I did like Bill Pullman's character. Anyhow, whatever. The story and character development was more to be desired. The Ring had better structure.
I guess it's a bit silly to compare the two movies since they don't really have anything in common. If you're looking for a great scare, go watch The Grudge, but don't expect no loop holes or flawless explanations to the curse. The best thing I loved about this movie is that it took every spot you would go to feel secure, private, and safe and completely destroyed it. I didn't want to go in my bed, shower, or upstairs to my room for a couple nights after watching this movie. It sucked.
The Incredibles: Ray Edison said it best: "And they've done it again." Short and simple, Pixar has lived up to
Toy Story and
Monster's Inc. in its new box office hit The Incredibles. I didn't expect anything less from Pixar. The movie is fun, adventurous, and, of course, contains all those family values and important lessons in life that every kid movie must have. It's not a bad thing. In fact, it's better. Disney and Pixar always do a great job of creating movies enjoyable for all ages. Though there were a few scenes that were a bit tense for some small children, most of the time the kids were cheering and oooh-ing and ahhhh-ing at all the COOL SUPER POWERS! The older aged people just laughed at the silliness, subtle humor, and the reaction of the kids. Good stuff.
The story is well done. It's not terribly intricate since it is a kid's movie, but it wasn't anything lame. Pretty predictable, but like I said, it's a kid's movie. The characters in the movie were portrayed awesomely. The superheroes still acted like regular people even when they were out on a job. The parents argued which way to go and the kids complained about long car trips. It was all cleverly meshed together, and the audience loved it all.
Go see this movie. Pixar still has it in them. It's not until they break their groove by making a movie like Pocahontas was for Disney will they start to head down hill, but I don't think that will be anytime soon.
The end.
P.S. One more thing. I also caught
Spider-man 2 at the dollar theatre last night. It was interesting seeing the differences between that movie and The Grudge. I hadn't seen a horror movie done by Sam Raimi (I don't entirely count the Evil Dead series as horror, sorry guys) until The Grudge, so comparing the differences between the Spider-man movies and The Grudge was fun. I can see where the intense and scary moments of Spider-man 2 came from now. Anyway, I found it interesting at least.
Now ends my movie dorkiness.
