It Begins

So the summer movie season is starting. It's a time I enjoy because there is a glut of movies that I generally want to see. Whether those movies are any good is, sadly, not always the case. This past weekend, I saw Van Helsing and Troy.

What I do when I hear a movie is going to be stupid, is I remind myself that it's the summer, it's a popcorn movie and I don't expect brilliance. I expect in case like that to sit down, shut of my brain for a few hours and watch some 'splosions. Lowering my standards like that helps immensely. What it doesn't protect against are movies without a single shred of coherent thought in the entire plot. Van Helsing is rife with stupidity, no question, but it is one of those movies that even with your brain shut down, the plot is so bad you still go "What the fuck?"

Troy, on the other hand, isn't as braindead. It's still the usual hollywood take on classic literature, so this is one of the nine times out of ten they do it badly. The acting for the most part wavers between bland and bad. Bland enough I was yawning between big fight scenes and bad enough I was wondering whether they had fourth graders act it out after one rehearsal to take notes on acting. Wooden is putting it lightly. I was hoping for another Gladiator from what I gleaned from the trailers. But I did not frequently check my watch and ask myself "Isn't this over yet?" while watching Gladiator.

Both movies seem to be movies that critics split about. They either thought they were great, mindless fun, or bad enough to stay away from. Van Helsing I've seen and I still don't understand what the hell was going on. Troy I may watch again when it comes to video, but not if I had to pay for the rental.

Here's hoping the movies get better from here.

Business is picking up - asmyth82 11:14 AM -