Mon Apr 22 12:00:00 2002
The hook: FBI agent Vince Vaughn seeks the assistance of a psychological department in order locate the last victim(alive) of a truly uninspired serial killer. Jennifer Lopez poorly plays a rather overdone(how? her voice never broke 30 db?) counselor who uses a special piece of neuro-net technology to "dive" into the minds of the people she treats. Hilarity ensues when both Vaughn and Lopez dive into the mind of a madman...
The hit: The visuals are truly inspired and the directing is strong in its visceral nature. The colors are lavish and the core idea is a curious one. What *would* we find in the heart of a madman?
Teh lose: The story is more anemic than Callista Flockheart. There truly *is* no sense of urgency and the viewer is left craving more of the mind's scenes and less of the bleeding-heart angst that Lopez oozes for a barbaric animal that kills women. Sentimentality is supposed to be felt for the evil protagonist...but isn't. Limited watchability. After all, how can you watch the same, slow graphics without falling asleep? You can't.
The word: A good movie to watch on video. Nothing more. Watch once and forget.
2. Akira: 3.5/5 *s
The hook: Hyper-legendary anime film that attempts to strike to root of metaphysics and religion while providing a future-punk storyline. The story consists of a biker gang run by Kaneda and Tetsuo. When Tetsuo is captured by the government, after stumbling upon an experimental psychic metahuman created by the military, he himself is captured and experimented upon heavily. The result is a extremely powerful madman that attempts to render his insecurities moot by locating the first occurence of such a human-psychic phenomenon: a subject called Akira. Kaneda attempts to stop him before the world is ravaged by his power. Romance is included along the way.
The hit: With Dolby sound and remastered visual effects, Akira stands as one of the best animated films Japan has to offer. Truly a marvel, even after almost 2 decades. The story is unique for its time and, the violence and complexity of the plot progression is enthralling at times.
Teh lose: The story is pathetically predictable, immature and nonsensical at times. What *truly was* Akira? Noone fully knows by the end of the film. Apparently, many of the otakus online enjoy debating this question. Why were the children affected in the manner they were by the chemicals and why did they have to be so annoying? Again, noone knows. Could Tetsuo's fate have been more anticlimactic?
The movie is cartoonish in its refusal to portray realism over the flash. Moreso, the total disregard for characters in the film and their one-dimensional paper-quality makes this film a nice aside, but the film doesn't really attempt to keep its crown, wrested by Ghost in the Shell or Twilight.
The word: A good movie to watch. Might be more impressive on the big screen. Worth watching a couple of times but you won't feel any better about the movie after the third time.
m.
(Edited by Madan at 5:03 am on April 22, 2002)