| Overall Grade: |
A- |
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| Story: |
A- |
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| Acting: |
B+ |
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| Direction: |
B- |
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| Visuals: |
A |
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THIS IS FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE READ THE BOOK
by roro (movies profile)
Nov 17, 2007
307
of
336 people found this review helpful
First and foremost, you must understand there is absolutely no way possible for anybody to fit all the details from a book into a movie. With that said, if you go to this movie very skeptical(as I did), you will probably leave very happy, and very amused. If you are expecting everything that was in the book, you will probably be dissapointed.
You know the story if you read the book, so I am not going into details about that. But very suprisingly, the movie followed the outline of the book pretty good. Of course, many were things were left out, but like I said, the movie would have have to been 5 hours long to capture the detail of Cussler's novel. And on that same note, there were several scenes added that were not in the book, which may be the only thing I was not thrilled about.
The characters is what most people were very skeptical about, espscially Giordino's actor. But in my mind, at the end of the movie you will have an expanded view of Cusslers characters in your mind!
Matt M. was brilliant as Dirk Pitt, being very cunning and sly as he is in the book. He is actually very close to the vision I had in my head of him! Steve Zahn as Al Giordino was good, but not great. I was just like everyone else in not being able to picture him in this role. But I think he pulled it off, and in a way made the movie better than it really was. He did not appear to be the "tough guy" we read about in the novels, but without a doubt his wisecraking reamrks were full tilt. He and Matt M. shared a good chemistry together, and I can see them together in another Cussler classic.
William H. Macy was fabulous as Sandecker. He was a perfect fit. He was not a huge part of the movie, but played a good role. Penelope Cruz was good as Eva Rojas. I think a lot of people could have done the role, but she did very good. Maybe the only character I just still cannot picture is Rudi Gunn. I always invisioned an older, balding guy with a lot of wit. I do not think he was a good fit, but was still good in his part. Kazim's character was OK, but could have been better. I just could not picture him as that bad of a guy. Massarde was a disaster though. He was looked upon as a pansy. I saw him as a very mean individual, who would not think twice to do harm. He had the impression of a pussycat here.
Most notably left out were Perlmutter(not enough time to get him in I suppose), and Max the computer and his owner.
The movie itself was good. Lots of action, lots of humour. I know a lot of people who are avid Cussler fans will absolutley hate this movie. But there is nothing you could do to make them happy anyway. Like I said before, if you go to the movie knowing there is no way the can get everything in, it might suprise you. But if you go looking for everything, well... GOOD LUCK.
Overall, I enjoyed the movie a lot. I realize it is not exactly the book, but it is an outline of the book, and it is very entertaining. I reccommend it to anyone who enjoyed the book, but realizes it cant be as good as the book. I was a skeptic at first too, but I left the theatre smiling, and was glad that they made this film. |
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