Reviews:UNDERWORLD
& ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO
Sam
North at the movies -
Underworld
Starring Kate Beckinsale and Scott Speedman
Director: Len Wiseman
Screenplay: Danny McBride
Producers: Tom Rosenberg, Gary Lucchesi & Richard Wright |
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Theres
a link between two of the top movies out this month, Underworld and
Once Upon a Time in Mexico, but it may be just coincidence. Blood letting
is this months theme. Underworld a dark, surprisingly interesting
movie about the war between Vampires and Werewolves stars Kate Beckinsale.
Scotgt Speedman, Sophie Myles and lots of other people who contrive
to look like Evelyn Waughs Vile Bodies, only with bigger
teeth. The werewolves all have long dank unwashed hair, I know the plumbing
is bad in Prague but thats no excuse.
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Cleverly,
they shoot Kate from the ground up most of the time, so she looks tall
and imposing, when in reality she is petite and almost anorexic. Nevermind,
she is very sexy as a pale vampire in a rubber cat suit and it is satisfying
to see her take on a lead role and kiss ass. The mood is grim and strangely
authentic. Eastern Europe is a perfect setting for these kinds of Transylvanian
happenings and the battling is done well considering the budget was
a tenth of The Matrix. There's lots of inventive stuff from light emitting
bullets to ones that ooze silver. Buffy fans will know why this is necessary.
Just goes to show that you can keep this horror market happy
if you take the trouble to reinvent a style with some respect for the
genre. It is never actually terrifying, pretty complex, as well as 'bloody';
the accents are all over the place, but no matter, its entertaining
with a good soundtrack and thats bonus this duff year.
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Once
Upon A Time In Mexico
Starring: Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Willem Dafoe,
Johnny Depp, Ruben Blades
Directed by: Robert Rodriguez
Produced by: Robert Rodriguez,
Elizabeth Avellan, Carlos Gallardo
Once upon a Time in Mexico is better
than Desperado. I recall watching Desperado in Prague with Carine
and the most entertaining thing that happened was someone got up
and threw a noisy customer out of the place without waiting
to open the doors first. The film was just a retread of El Mariachi
and not as good either. Luckily, since then, Robert Rodriguez has
become very skilled and very profitable for the Dimension Studio
with his Spy Kids Trilogy. (Spy Kids 1 is very funny as it happens.)
Rodriguez sticks with Antonio Banderas who has become quite rich
from Spy Kids, despite not actually doing much in the movies, so
it is good to see him sweating a little in this new flick.
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But the film
is a Johnny Depp vehicle really; for a guy who almost disappeared
from our screens recently, it is testimony to his extraordinary
skill as an actor and his magnetic personality that he is in two
number one movies at the box office this year. He walked away with
Pirates of the Caribbean and he does so again with Once
Upon a Time... as well. The film was shot on digital but you would
not notice the difference (aside from some piss poor explosions.)
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Morally
it is highly suspect and the acting generally is at Marx Brothers
level only not funny when Johnny Depp is off screen. If there
was a plot it escaped me, but basically, there is a matter of revenge
for the killing of Selma Hyek Els wife. (She played the
girl he got in Desperado and here makes only cameos as the dead wife.)
Depp is a CIA agent hell bent on starting a revolution in Mexico to
restore the balance (but no explanation why exactly) and he also likes
to kill good chefs, because he doesnt like the idea of anyone
else getting a good meal across the border. I am sure theres other
things in there too. Battling drug lords, plastic surgery, William Defoe
being a very nasty baddie with an evil daughter who is a corrupt cop,
and Mickey Rourke, of all people, looking weird and somewhat lost as
a lackey. There is also the usual corrupt presidential aide
and an ex-FBI agent who never got his man. Its all in the mix,
with many guns going off, bloody wounds, false arms, more gunfights
and sometimes a little guitar playing. Enrique Inglesias is in there
too,playing a gunfighting Mariachi who comes to Els aide, and
the eternally handsome Marco Leonardi who was last seen in 'Like Water
for Chocolate' and 'Cinema Pardiso' many moons ago.
Its a mess, but enjoyable because Johnny Depp is skilled at making
us like him, even though he is being thoroughly despicable.
Now if we could just get Kate Beckinsale's snobby personality and Johnny
Depps half-crazy persona together in a movie, wed have something
interesting to watch, for sure.
Underworld and Once Upon a Time in Mexico are playing all over Europe
and the USA this October.
Next up: Kill Bill
© Sam North October 1st 2003
editor@hackwriters.com
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