Movie Reviews from Pan: Die Hard 4, and The Last Mimzy
Reviews on Die Hard 4 and The Last Mimzy
Somehow I have developed another criterion to categorize good movies and bad:
Not only do good movies hold me tight through the whole time, but they would push me to write something after watching. This urge to share the movie experience can be so strong that it may give me a bad time sleeping. Bad movies don’t;
they go in one eye and out the other, leaving nothing behind, let alone kindle a
trace of passion to write a review or something.
But I guess I have to say there’s always the in-between, the type that you just can’t simply put into the category labeled with “good”, or bad. You won’
t say you love the movie, yet you won’t throw it away like crap, either. I think I’ll have to have a “third” category.
I found myself caught in this dilemma after I watched the latest episode of Die Hard 4 (trust me, this time it’s real, Die Hard 4). It’s not too much to say that it’s this Die Hard series, whether you like it or not, that have brought
this not-that-tough-looking mid-aged man, Bruce Willis, to the super-stardom in
the world of Hollywood, despite the fact that he has neither Stallone’s beefy
muscles nor Jacket Chan’s stunning Kongfu. But what’s amazing is, after the former three hitting the theatre, who doesn’t know this bad-luck star that always rushes to show up at the wrong place the wrong time? Yet Hollywood filmmakers
seem quite determined to make this slouchy, cynical police the one to save the
world over and over again. Die Hard 4 isn’t much different. The same old Bruce Willis, though looking noticeably older and a bit more sluggish this time, struggles to save the world by fighting the bad guys, this time headed by a high-tech-savvy criminal. It’s not new either, that his rebellious daughter gets involved in the crisis. Yes, True Lies. The disastrous traffic disorder looks familiar too – Yes, The Italian Job. But that’s not what they just have -- they do come up with some highly eye-opening action scenes that are enough to convince
you of the value of the ticket (in my case the time). Car-chasing is unfailingly a big part to make an action thriller. They raise their sights and show the
audience a minutes-long truck versus helicopter fight. The audience can never
seem to tire of watching such fights with amounts of explosions and mayhem. The
0obvious downsize, to me, is that the movie seems to begin dramatically, with the terrorists taking over the city’s entire traffic system and electricity
facilities, but unfortunately ends in a way that seems so hastily. I am no
big fan of Die Hard series, but I have to agree this new installment has impressive action scenes and it’s … very Hollywood, and very American. :D
Another movie that I have watched recently and is worth a note here is The Last Mimzy. Having been immersed in Hollywood movies, I find this British sci-fi film very refreshing. I’ve always liked scientific fictions; they to a greater
or lesser degree foresee our life in the future. The Last Mimzy tells a story about how only an innocent girl’s tears of purity and sincerity can save the future human beings. There’re not many displays of computer-made special effects,
but then it’s not the point that the movie is trying to sell. One point I appreciate the best is that the movie tries to predict a day in the future when people, having physically and materially evolved for some generations, finally lose
what make humans an emotional creature, purity and innocence, and become soulless zombies. Isn’t this frenzy of ultimate materialism and commercialism pushing us right in this direction?
Panpanpan.
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