Update (or, don’t watch!)
X-Men: Wolverine
X-Men: Wolverine is a prequel to the X-Men series, of which I have only seen the first one. I only watched Wolverine because of Hugh Jackman and he turned out to be the only good thing about the film. The story, apart from the usual X-Men setting of having mutants with special powers living on earth, is fairly ordinary. Two brothers drift apart because of differences in opinion and realize later that blood is still thicker than water when it gets really bad. I just think they could have come up with more than that. They created this entire world which is actually really cool (who wouldn’t want to have special powers?) and then write a story that a hundred other movies have already used. Weak! The special effects are quite good and Jackman certainly brings a cool-factor into the film, but the story-line and dialogues ruin it completely. I do agree with Rachel on Rachel’s Reel Reviews though, seeing Wolverine naked makes it almost worth watching this film 
.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The basic story: Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt) is born old and ages backwards until he is a baby. He falls in love with a young girl named Daisy (Cate Blanchett). This movie was so hyped with all its Oscar nominations and awards and its star cast so that I was really looking forward to seeing it. But I have to say that I found it extremely boring. The introduction with the old Daisy and her daughter is too long, Benjamin’s old age (or childhood), after he is born is even longer, his middle age still longer and once he gets really young (at the end of his life) it is hurried as if the filmmakers needed to end the movie quickly. The idea of the story (adapted from a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald) is quite fun and quirky, but the script just didn’t milk it enough. The scriptwriters Eric Roth and Robin Swicord didn’t seem to realize that the special thing about this film is that Benjamin ages backwards. How could they have missed this little detail? The main story and the longest part of the film is about his middle age, when he is basically just doing what everyone else is doing. He gets work, goes to war, falls in love, gets his girlfriend pregnant, things don’t work out, and he leaves. Great, well done… What they should have focused on are his differences to regular people. Especially the beginning of his life and the end. To be fair, they did put quite a big focus on the beginning of his life, but there is nothing really special about it. Instead of being a normal child he is born old and grows up in an old people’s home. But nothing ever happens. And the end of his life when he gets younger is so hurried and mostly about Daisy that it seems irrelevant. Plus, Brad Pitt hardly had to act, why is everyone so dazzled by his performance?
Twilight
Alright, so I knew when I watched Twilight that I was in for a teen-movie. But I thought, great, Clueless, for example, is on my top 100 list, plus I adore vampires. But again, the art of scriptwriting seems to have faded into oblivion. So, the main vampire Edward (Robert Pattinson) is supposed to be extremely cool and to have lived for hundreds of years (I assume that this means he has accumulated some sort of wisdom), but the writers just make him say the most stupid things. After saving the lead girl Bella’s (Kristen Steward) life by pushing a big car away from her with his bare hands, she confronts him about it. His first reaction is “Oh, you don’t know what you saw, you were in shock and confused at the time.” She doesn’t buy it so he says “Well, nobody is gonna believe you anyway”. What?! What kind of vampire wouldn’t have a better excuse? And the dialogue just goes on like this throughout the entire movie. Do I really want to watch a film about a moron vampire? Well, that sounds like a fun comedy but not a wannabe serious teen movie. My advice to all screenwriters: Think, then write!
Tags: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Eric Roth, Hugh Jackman, Kristen Steward, Robert Pattinson, Robin Swicord, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Twilight, X-Men: Wolverine
June 19th, 2009 at 4:43 am
I’m on board with you this time.
However, I do think the special effects they developed for Benjamin Button are worth checking out if you’re patient enough to sit through that whole thing.
Twilight has always looked like a made for TV movie featured on The CW to me. I really don’t understand the craze, but then, I didn’t think Buffy was any good until I started watching, so I don’t know. I think I’ll check it out when it’s not such a trendy thing.
June 19th, 2009 at 10:02 am
Yes, the special effects or special effects make-up were good in Benjamin Button! This is true…I also thought the special effects were quite good in Wolverine…but I do need a good story to enjoy a film. Or at least really great characters!
June 21st, 2009 at 7:57 am
Benjamin B. I thought was a bit of a strange experience, it was boring, and pointless in a way (what was it about actually?), but I was not really angry about it, more constantly stunned why they made it in the first place. But Pitt and Swilton are always pleasant watches, so no hard feelings
June 30th, 2009 at 10:25 am
Benjamin Button was one of the biggest missed opportunities.