GHOST RIDERS OF THE UNDERWORLD
Mar. 13th, 2012 12:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
defrogA weekend at the cinemas ....
Underworld: Awakening
The fourth film in the vampire vs werewolf series, which means that at this stage, either yr with the series or yr not, so non-fans of the previous films need not apply.
Subsequently, if you liked the series enough to make it through the first three, odds are you either buy into the mythology, or yr only really there to see Kate Beckinsale in skintight leather catsuits killing the hell out of werewolves and anyone else in her way.
Either way, the new background of humans discovering the existence of the vampire/werewolf war – and proceeding to exterminate both groups – and the story of Seline ending up in deep freeze for 12 years in a corporate pharmaceutical lab (where else?) and awakening to discover she’s got a hybrid vamp/wolf daughter, should work for you.
For myself, I like the Underworld films, even though I’m well outside the obvious Young Goth Cheese/Evanescence demographic they’re obviously shooting for. This one is good for what it is, but it does lack a decent supporting cast of vamp/wolf villains played by the likes of Michael Sheen and Bill Nighy from the previous films. All I can add is that if we have to have cheesy vampire vs werewolf films with bad CGI, I’ll take Underworld over Twilight any day.
Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance
The short review: now THAT’S how you make a Ghost Rider film.
The longer review: The first GR film was so bad I had no intention of watching the sequel – until I found out Neveldine/Taylor were directing it. N/T don’t make great films, but they do make very watchable and entertaining films (to me, anyway), and if anyone could have fun with the GR concept, it’s them.
And they do. And because it’s an N/T film, you get both the upside (OTT action scenes, Sin-Cityesque narration and an appropriately more rock’n’roll approach) and the downside (one-dimensional characters and spectacularly large plot holes). On the other hand, it’s a hell of a lot more fun than the first film (and even departs enough from the storyline – Mephistopholes is now called Roarke for no apparent reason – that it’s probably better to forget the first one even exists), and the style is a better match for Nicolas Cage’s hammy acting.
Also, it has gratuitous shots of Ghost Rider peeing fire. Bet you won’t be seeing THAT in the new Avengers film.
So naturally most critics hate it even more than they hated the first one. I say it's major improvement (albeit a flawed one). If yr going to make a film about a stunt motorcyclist possessed by a vengeance spirit after making a deal with the Devil, this is how it should be done.
I’m on fire,
This is dF
Underworld: Awakening
The fourth film in the vampire vs werewolf series, which means that at this stage, either yr with the series or yr not, so non-fans of the previous films need not apply.
Subsequently, if you liked the series enough to make it through the first three, odds are you either buy into the mythology, or yr only really there to see Kate Beckinsale in skintight leather catsuits killing the hell out of werewolves and anyone else in her way.
Either way, the new background of humans discovering the existence of the vampire/werewolf war – and proceeding to exterminate both groups – and the story of Seline ending up in deep freeze for 12 years in a corporate pharmaceutical lab (where else?) and awakening to discover she’s got a hybrid vamp/wolf daughter, should work for you.
For myself, I like the Underworld films, even though I’m well outside the obvious Young Goth Cheese/Evanescence demographic they’re obviously shooting for. This one is good for what it is, but it does lack a decent supporting cast of vamp/wolf villains played by the likes of Michael Sheen and Bill Nighy from the previous films. All I can add is that if we have to have cheesy vampire vs werewolf films with bad CGI, I’ll take Underworld over Twilight any day.
Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance
The short review: now THAT’S how you make a Ghost Rider film.
The longer review: The first GR film was so bad I had no intention of watching the sequel – until I found out Neveldine/Taylor were directing it. N/T don’t make great films, but they do make very watchable and entertaining films (to me, anyway), and if anyone could have fun with the GR concept, it’s them.
And they do. And because it’s an N/T film, you get both the upside (OTT action scenes, Sin-Cityesque narration and an appropriately more rock’n’roll approach) and the downside (one-dimensional characters and spectacularly large plot holes). On the other hand, it’s a hell of a lot more fun than the first film (and even departs enough from the storyline – Mephistopholes is now called Roarke for no apparent reason – that it’s probably better to forget the first one even exists), and the style is a better match for Nicolas Cage’s hammy acting.
Also, it has gratuitous shots of Ghost Rider peeing fire. Bet you won’t be seeing THAT in the new Avengers film.
So naturally most critics hate it even more than they hated the first one. I say it's major improvement (albeit a flawed one). If yr going to make a film about a stunt motorcyclist possessed by a vengeance spirit after making a deal with the Devil, this is how it should be done.
I’m on fire,
This is dF
