Altered Opinions: In Bruges.

This past summer, I bought and watched In Bruges on a whim after hearing so many good things and even thinking it looked good from the previews. What I saw, like many others, gave me mixed emotions. I went in expecting a straight-up comedy, and what I got was a very dark drama with some comedy thrown in, all of which discussing the meaning of life, the afterlife, and other moralistic themes. And then, of course, the ending… the whole movie caught me off guard. But I thought it was worth a second chance, so I waited for a second viewing before giving it a review it deserved. But unfortunately, I never got around to a second viewing until now.

Ray (Colin Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson) have just left a hit-gone-bad and are hiding out in Bruges until they get word from their boss, Harry (Ralph Fiennes). While they’re there, Ray flirts with Chloe (Clemence Poesy) and hangs out with a midget/dwarf actor named Jimmy (Jordan Prentice). But between Ray’s newfound depression and dislike for the fairy tale city of Bruges and Ken’s newest assignment, things aren’t going exactly as either of them ever thought they would.

This second time through, going in with the right frame of mind, I was able to appreciate the movie much more than before. From the beautiful cinematography that captures the splendor of Bruges to the haunting musical score always dancing in the background, every aspect of the film works together masterfully. And you know from the opening moments of the movie with its deep, resonating, melancholy theme that you aren’t in for a lighthearted romp.

The acting is high caliber all around, from the usually ‘hit-or-miss’ Colin Farrell to the Harry Potter alums, Brendan Gleeson, Clemence Poesy, and Ralph Fiennes. Farrell works the emotions of the film: he has all the jokes, making you laugh when he’s saying something politically incorrect or ranting on or when he’s making you cry with him on all his troubles. Brendan Gleeson is the big brother: wiser and watchful, and always trying to make sure Ray is getting the best out of his life. Clemence Poesy has probably the shallowest of the characters (in depth, that is), but that doesn’t stop her from making you like her even when she’s doing something not-so-likeable. But then Ralph Fiennes shows us his range once again by giving us the foul-mouthed, slightly dim but very dangerous Harry Waters (irony in the name there considering what most people these days will know him for).

But amidst all the drama and heaviness, there is a fair bit of comedy, though it is rather dark and usually insulting. But that didn’t stop me from laughing. But I just think it was a sign of great writing when the movie can go from joking about a karate-knowing lollipop man to a sad, touching moment in the span of seconds. And the way it can just keep bringing jokes back (“A bottle?! AH!” or any of the karate jokes), but never overusing it and knowing when to stop (unlike some movies) is good.

In the end, even the second time through, I was bouncing back and forth over how to score this movie. But I like when movies play with themes and have good character development, and this movie was really good on both, especially in the very last moments/words of the film. And even if the film leaves it open, it’s still in the closing words that it really got me. So with that, I’ll finally leave you with a rating.

Royale With Cheese

2 In 1 (Altered Opinions): Sunshine and Metropolis.

This 2 In 1 was originally going to be a separate review to introduce a new kind of article, but I found a second movie to help with a similar theme. The theme for this entry is altered opinions. What I mean by that is that my original opinion was either good or bad, and after rewatching the films, my opinion changed. In this case, for both movies, my original opinions were both negative and became more positive. The first review for this one is a short one, as I've already reviewed it once on the blog (Sunshine). The second review is of the Anime version of the movie Metropolis, made back in 2001. And as an afterthought, I just realized that both movies somehow have importance with the sun... So let's get to it.

Sunshine.

Previously, I reviewed this movie with a big rant about the awful ending.

Well, I finally got myself to give it another viewing. I have to say, it was much more enjoyable the second time. To take the focus off the ending for a moment, I must reiterate just how amazing the visual effects are. I even noticed things I missed the first time around and began to appreciate it even more on a visual level.

As for the ending, I guess because I knew what to expect and knew exactly what to look for, I understood everything a whole lot more. Everything I didn’t understand about the ending the first time through, I understood more this time. I appreciated the insanity of Captain Crispy, as I dubbed him, and the reason for why he was doing what he was doing. I still feel the movie could have gone a different route, but the route it did go is more appreciated by me now. I get it fully and even like it more.

However, I still don’t care for the super-speedy blurry cam every time Captain Crispy is in the vicinity. That was just as annoying the second time through as it was the first.

Overall, the first 2/3s are still far superior, but I enjoyed the third act quite a bit more this second time around. I’m still not going to rate the movie, though, because I don’t want the ending to bring down the score of the amazing majority.

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Metropolis.

When I first bought (impulsively) and watched Metropolis for the first time quite a few years ago, I remember disliking it quite a bit. All these years later, I finally decided to give it another shot. It’s based on a Manga that’s based on the original dystopian flick of the same name from the 1920s. It’s a futuristic tale where robots and humans live together, but not in harmony. The massive city of Metropolis has finally built their Ziggurat, a modern Tower of Babel. But there are many levels of the city: the surface level (the 'good part of town', so to speak), area 1 (basic working class and slums level), area 2 (factories), and area 3 (sewage). But now that this Ziggurat, which allows the user to distort sunspots on the surface of the sun to therefore cause radiation to cause all robots to malfunction, has been built, it needs somebody to constantly run it. Duke Red, head of a corrupt side of the government, has Dr. Loughton create the perfect robot (a human-looking android, basically) named Tima so that she can be said tool. Meanwhile, a Japanese detective and his nephew, Kenichi, come into town to arrest Dr. Loughton for illegal operations. But Duke Red’s apparently adopted son and right-hand assassin, Rock, strongly loathes robots and believes his ‘father’ should sit on the throne of the Ziggurat, so he attempts to destroy Tima. However, he fails, and Kenichi ends up travelling through the lower areas with Tima while trying to stay alive as Rock continually tries to kill them.

Now, while I still don’t think this movie is a masterpiece, I appreciated it a lot more than I remember doing the first time. The animation is done very well (though a bit too cartoonish, if that makes sense, with the overly large noses on some characters). Though the action of the movie looks great, especially with anything Rock does. The music, I thought, was very fitting. Most of it falls somewhere in the vicinity of the 1920-1950s, and at least half of it is jazzy. The song during the climax scene was done very well and works really nicely with all the destruction and such.

The problem with the movie rests with the characters and the plot. I’ll start with the characters: For being around each other so much, they barely interact. And when they do, it’s usually Tima repeating ‘Kenichi’ over and over again. There’s no character development or connection. I really don’t feel anything for any of the characters. It’s just kind of like… they’re there.

As for the plot, it really feels like there was a lot missing. The movie could have been longer than it was, really (which might have helped with character development). For instance, Kenichi and Tima start off together in area 3 with this cleaning robot. The next thing we know, they’re leaving area 3, and they’ve nicknamed the robot ‘fifi’ for no apparent reason. And they get this big attachment to the robot, yet there wasn’t shown enough interaction for it to really show us. Similarly, a little bit later, Kenichi and Tima come across a group of resistance fighters. But we aren’t shown them actually meeting or introducing each other. There’s about two or three minutes talking about how they want to overthrow the government… and the next thing we know, we’re seeing a full-out coup d’etat. There were no forms of transitions anywhere in there. Nothing. It felt like there was 30 minutes of the movie just missing, like there should be a whole section of the movie with Tima and Kenichi hanging out and talking with the resistance guys. And there are other scenes and moments just like those throughout the movie.

Not to mention that the case the detective dude is trying to solve isn’t a mystery to the viewers, as we saw everything that happened. Detective mysteries are only effective if both the detective and the audience are equally in the dark and have to figure it out simultaneously. Otherwise, it’s boring and silly.

So really, if you’re a fan of anime or sci-fi (such as Blade Runner), watch this one, if anything, for the animation style, the atmosphere, and the music. The story itself isn’t too bad, but there’s a lot lacking. A bit more length could have helped this issue, as well as character development and such. The good and the bad really kind of cancel each other out, for the most part. And although I’d like to give it one notch higher, I’m afraid the whole movie just doesn’t cut it enough to grant it that score.

Stop Saying Okay! Okay.