Evidently five years was all the longer Hollywood had to wait until making a film about the tragic events of September 11, 2001 into movies. Many people wondered whether or not it was right to make money on such a painful event. Others wondered how Hollywood would fill in the unknown events taking place on those airplanes. I was more concerned with the latter. I knew Hollywood would go after 9/11 eventually, but how they did it was my biggest concern.
For those who may be confused, this review is NOT for United 93, the Hollywood film. Flight 93 was a made-for-TV movie that tells the exact same story. I have not yet seen United 93, which I will ultimately compare to this film.
I’ll be honest, Flight 93 isn’t that good. It’s not the story that I don’t like, because the story is the story. You can’t make a story about Flight 93 without covering the essential details. The problems lie mostly within the visual effects and the dialog that we can never be sure of. This is the real story of real people, but the words the passengers use with each other on the plane and their actions are being made up, no matter how you slice it. Oh, we know they eventually rushed the hijackers and forced the plane down, but everything else is artistic liberty, which the writers of Flight 93 just didn’t do well enough at for me.
There was always going to be a fine line between annoying, chest-pounding uber-patriotism and callously underplaying the passengers’ bravery. Flight 93 tries to walk the middle, but the result isn’t very satisfying. Maybe it’s because of budget restrictions on acting talent (TV movie, remember?), and maybe it’s something else entirely, but the dialog just doesn’t convey the sense of emergency that it should. It also does play into the uber-patriotism a little bit, but not too much. Still, it left a semi-sour taste in my mouth.
The other thing I wasn’t so crazy about was the interspersing of teary-eyed family members talking to their ill-fated loved ones, slowly and painfully coming to terms with their impending loss. The events were tragic and everyone was sad that day, but you can’t force me to care just by showing a few teary-eyed wives and moms. Also, 9/11 was such a jolt that I doubt anyone will really ever be able to fully relive the exact emotions they went through that day. Flight 93 seems to try and force it out of you. Personally, I’ve gotten over 9/11 and will never revisit the shock and sadness I felt that day. It’s not that I’m immune or desensitized to those feelings, I just don’t see the point in reliving them.
I had difficulty appreciating Flight 93 because of its attempt to invoke feelings in me that are long gone and I can’t bring back. And besides, it was made for TV, so its chances at being very good were reduced from the get go.
Dry, witty British humor from legendary playwright Oscar Wilde will either sink or swim in the minds of American viewers, who typically don’t dig (or simply don’t understand) Brit wit. While The Importance of Being Earnest is humorous, it seems to drag on at only 97 minutes long.
The story is genuinely funny, but the actors could have done better. Everything is just too subdued, even the zaniness of the two lead men. My only other complaint is with Reese Witherspoon. It should be a general rule of them that British people should play British people in British comedies. Granted, I portrayed a British man in a play once, but I think this rule of thumb should be applied stringently with film portrayals. Granted, Reese Witherspoon is quite likely the only selling point of this movie, as those who are very gung ho about their literature just won’t accept an American playing a Brit, and Witherspoon is popular with the ladies and very likely the only person in the film that American audiences will recognize.
A rather decent production, but it’s the kind of movie you can only watch if you’re in the right mood for something of its kind.
"Films that didn’t really need to exist" seems to be a recurring theme this time around and Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is no exception. Star Wars fans had long wondered just how Anakin Skywalker wandered down the path to the dark side and became the evil Darth Vader. What we got was something no one had expected.
George Lucas essentially retcons a good bit of what the expanded universe of Star Wars lore told us about Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader. (for those unfamiliar with the term, to retcon means to add new historical material that is now supposed to be accepted as fact, despite any incongruities or contradictions with information that has already been provided; anything you thought you know is now wrong, unless it agrees with the new history) So Lucas is presenting us with a history of one of the most legendary sagas of all time that is substantially different in places.
Perhaps the most significant problem with Phantom Menace can be summed up in three words: Jar Jar Binks. Jar Jar Binks is an alien creature who speaks and walks like a stereotypical Jamaican black man. It is offensive and insulting, but he’s popular with the kids! He provides the comic relief in the film, although his bumbling antics and sheer dumb luck are only humorous to 5-year-olds who can’t yet grasp the depth of the story.
I will admit, the acting wasn’t spectacular in the original Star Wars, but at least there was substance to it. Instead of a mysterious energy force, The Force is now scientifically explainable (science kills faith); instead of meeting a talented young pilot, Obi Wan Kenobi meets a little kid with Force-like reflexes that help him “pilot” a pod racer; instead of using the Force to get out of a jam, things happen by accident (Anakin flies straight into the mother ship’s hanger, stalls out and starts randomly pushing buttons and accidentally blows up the ship’s main reactor, which happens to be left exposed inside a hanger bay). Yeah, it’s that pathetic.
But if you ignore all the chance and dumb luck pervading most of the battle sequences, there’s still the hard-to-believe premise that Anakin had no father, but was conceived by these organisms that scientifically explain the Force. That’s right, I, a self-professed Star Wars geek, have a hard time believing something in Star Wars. Then there’s also spaceships and technology that are ages more advanced than anything in the original trilogy, some rather fake looking special effects, and the woefully inept script that forces the film’s otherwise decent cast to exude less personality than a box of Lincoln Logs.
So nnow you’re thinking this movie is doomed, right? Well, not quite. The story has a chance, just not in the hands of George Lucas. The pod racing scene really is pretty awesome (and a clever way to chew up ten or so minutes of film time) and Darth Maul and his double-sided lightsaber are badass. The music is also pretty good, featuring some choral work included in the main fight theme, which plays during one of the best lightsaber battles in all of Star Wars.
These pros help to at least lighten the disappointment brought on by all the cons, making The Phantom Menace an almost decent movie, but by no means up to par with the original trilogy.
Evidently five years was all the longer Hollywood had to wait until making a film about the tragic events of September 11, 2001 into movies. Many people wondered whether or not it was right to make money on such a painful event. Others wondered how Hollywood would fill in the unknown events taking place on those airplanes. I was more concerned with the latter. I knew Hollywood would go after 9/11 eventually, but how they did it was my biggest concern.
