| Overall Grade: |
B |
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| Story: |
B- |
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| Acting: |
B |
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| Direction: |
B+ |
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| Visuals: |
A |
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Very enjoyable...anything but "typical"...
by DaRaze (movies profile)
Mar 25, 2008
530
of
738 people found this review helpful
Regardless of the "absurd pace" of the weather, the story held up well and, man...it is just a well done survival epic in my book. Reminiscent of "The Poseidon Adventure" or "The Towering Inferno". The subtle political message behind it all was a treat as well.
For a movie like this, the acting was much better than to be expected. Gyllenhal and Quaid were superb choices, and it showed throughout the movie. The rest of the cast also did a very convincing job, with the exceptions of the Pres and VP. But something in the back of my mind tells me that may have been intentional due to what was mentioned above.
Beautiful weather effects that put anything before this movie to shame. The tornadoes that rip L.A. apart make "Twister" look like a walk in the park. The tidal wave in New York was much better than the its fire counterpart in "Independence Day". And man...the "insta-freeze" effect...simply cutting edge stuff. This movie better be on the short list for SFX at next year's Oscars.
It won't win any awards, but the score was adequate enough. It's not bad by any means, but not quite mind blowing like David Arnold's score for "Independence Day". But that may just be due to the vast difference between this movie and that one. Harald Kloser definitely has a winner here, regardless. The opening sequence music was quite good, too.
I really loved that this movie lived up to my expectations, and didn't disappoint like so many of Emmerich's other projects. Regardless of what anyone thinks, this is NOT another "Independence Day". This movie is much less effects driven than ID4, and as a result comes off as much more intelligent. The personal stories/aspects are what set this apart from ID4, Godzilla, and the like. And when the SFX kicks into high gear, it's not laughable as nonsense because of the sense of reality infused within. This is a movie that wants to be taken seriously, and it shows. Of course I expect others out there to say "same old Roland". But, frankly, they either didn't bother to see the movie or didn't have an open mind when seeing it. It's great summer fare without the usual mindless aspect of the typical blockbuster. I highly recommend a viewing. |
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