| Overall Grade: |
B |
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| Story: |
B- |
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|
| Acting: |
B |
|
|
| Direction: |
B |
|
|
| Visuals: |
B+ |
|
|
Not Perfect, But Miles Better than Part 1
by N (movies profile)
May 3, 2008
230
of
249 people found this review helpful
If, like me, you found yourself disappointed in the first part, you might be surprised with this one. While the first one was bland in dialogue, thin on story, weak in action and terrible in ending, this one was tighter and had a proper beginning, middle and end which all fit in (sounds easy, but Spider-man 3 somehow couldn't do this).
Note: if you actually enjoyed part 1, stop here and just go watch the movie. Guaranteed you'll love it. If not, as more likely is the case, continue on.
Despite being a definite improvement, it's not close to perfect, and the movie is light. Jessica Alba does have some good scenes, but stumbles in other parts. At moments you believe you're looking at Sue Storm, but then later on her entire character acting falls apart and you know you're looking at someone who's trying to act. It doesn't happen too frequently to drive you crazy, but it's there. Ioan Gruffudd is solid, however, and does a good job of keeping his character 'real', however the script occasionally gives him little to work with. Easily the most talented acting in the movie.
Dr. Doom was a hit-and-miss. The voice sounded very strange coming from someone wearing a metal mask, and he didn't seem utilised enough, but at other times, Julian McMahon's ability to strut around, infuriating the super-hero team was quite interesting. More time should've been taken to flesh his part out, but still, it was more positive than negative.
Yes, I wish Johnny Storm and The Thing (Chris Evans and Michael Chiklis, respectively) had more to do than just be action and humour guys. I wish the Galactus-side of the story was explored deeper, and I wish that the movie was a little bit longer (2 hours) so the it could've been deeper. But it's clear from the beginning that this isn't what the movie's meant to be. It's a fun excursion, and it knows that it is. A younger viewer would enjoy it more, but it isn't brainless entertainment.
The visual effects were very well done, and a definite improvement. The river Thames part was quite impressive.
FF4 2 is what it seems, a popcorn movie to sit back and enjoy. If that's what you're looking for, you'll like this movie.
If someone told me that I'd enjoy FF4 2 over Spider-man 3 before the summer began (going by previous installments to each franchise) I'd say they were mad. Yet, it happened. |
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