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Issue 48 |
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Daylight / Independence Day /
Final Project The disaster films of the 70's returneth, in the near future valcano, flood, earthquake and other titanic-esque movies will be a dime a dozen: except in Japan of course, where they will cost of cool 1800yen (16 US dollars). So choose your apocolypse with care.. Twister was the first out of the gate last spring - a tornado it wasn't. A special effects heavy, brainless thriller, it plodded along in a predictably straight line and was forgotten before you left the theater. From the recent crop, Daylight has a few things going for it, Stallone for one, (in his supposed last "action" movie), a strong supporting cast and a simple plot. Terrorists cause an accident in the tunnel connecting New York and New Jersey, collapsing both ends and sealing a handful of survivors in the middle. Stallone, a limo driver and ex-medic is fortuitously outside one of the collapsed ends. Surprisingly, all this isn't as forced on screen as you might think. The supporting cast is typical disaster fodder: if you ever find yourself in the company of a clear hero, a whiner, a weakling, a teenage rebel a pretty girl and a dog get off that bus quick - something terrible is obviously going to happen. And yeah - some of them are VERY annoying - you may find yourself rooting for the tunnel. But it hangs together and even Stallone isn't as grating as he can be because he is kept busy trying to wrangle everybody to the surface. The action sequences are large, quick and entertaining - and so's most of Daylight. As for Independence Day.. Its supporting cast is eclectic, the special effects are good, but without the big screen it would fall flat. It is intended to be an "experience", a marketers wet dream with peoples' desire to see it to see it based on its reputation and 30 second clips. The sterotypes are all there - but somehow more so (see Randy Quaid, hero-rehabilitated-drunk-yawn). I can admire its grand scale - aliens come to earth and kick ass. I could even respect it for its rehash of countless sci-fi movie plots - if it weren't for the continuous pro-America vibe. But in the end it comes down to more minuses than pluses. More "experience" than movie entertainment and not that good in either category. Jackie Chan's latest, Final Project, is his biggest yet but it still feels smaller than Police Story III. It's not bad - but it won't change the minds of those despise him and think him talentless. It is noteworthy because it is his last film for which he will do all his own stunts. His movies are basically backdrops for him to risk life entertainingly and have it captured on celluloid. Final Projects stunts were uninsurable - Chan rendered himself immobile for 3 days one on of them. Recommended if you like Chan's previous work or are curious about the biggest movie star in Asia. Issue 48 |
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