Quibbling on PoA Okay. So the cat didn’t eat the rat? Or did the rat run away? And if the rat was a rat, how was he in the castle again with human footprints? Yes, honey, that’s what your hair really looks like from the back. It just doesn’t look like that in the book. Apparently, Harry forgot how to brush his hair over the summer. What was WITH the shrunken heads? Okay, Script people—would it have killed you to explain Prongs? Just once? For all those fans out there who granted you leeway on everything else? All you Malfoy fans out there, take note: this movie gave us a bit of clever foreshadowing—Buckbeak the Hippogriff likes dead ferrets… And are you noticing, as I, that Malfoy between years 2 and 3 learned how to whine? And Hermione learned how to punch—you go girl! Did anyone catch the Scooby-Doo moment in the film (Help me, help me, I can’t find my glasses!) Rita’s Acid Award for the cheesiest line goes to…Harry!: “I think we’ll live in the country…somewhere he can see the sky…” The biggest “other blockbuster movie’s most famous scene rip-off” award also goes to Harry, for his “King of the World” inspired ride on Buckbeak (which was fun to watch nonetheless!) Okay…I’m all for randomness, but what about random people? Just who WAS that kid that kept giving the other Gryffindors the answers? And what about Malfoy’s third cronie? Cheers to the CGI people, for the Dementors who were truly frightening…as well as the hair and makeup people, for Emma Thompson’s wig, which was also truly frightening. And Kudos to the lot that came up with those credits! I’ve never had so much fun reading a whole bunch of names of people I could care less about. Not that I do that for fun anyway… The Chronicles of Riddick: Pitch Black 2 Starring Vin Diesel, Colm Feore, Karl Urban, Thandie Newton, Alexa Davalos Total running time: 115 minutes Rated: PG-13 for violence and language A fantastic fantasy that is much better than it looks. Rita’s Rating*: Wingardium Leviosa *: Rita’s Rating system is based on certain spells in the wizarding world: Excellent: Expecto Patronum! (pure happy thoughts) Good: Cheering Charms (just makes you laugh) Better than Average: Wingardium Leviosa (done properly, at time it lifts the spirits) Average: Lumos (bright in some parts, dark in others) Below Average: Impedimenta (some hindrances here and there) Poor: Cruciatus (causes some rather immense pain and suffering) Terrible: Avada Kedavra (just kill me, already!) The Chronicles of Riddick Amidst all your average, everyday, fantastical blockbuster sagas, there comes one movie that attempts to take on the other assured summer hits with a gusto and a flair that usually send it spiraling into the proverbial muggle critic trash heap. And it would seem, by story synopsis anyhow, that The Chronicles of Riddick was poised to take that plunge. I mean, enemies called Necromongers, a 700-degree Prison Planet, a hero with silver eyes… And Judi Dench as sand? Surprisingly, however, this movie is much better than it appears. And that is saying something, considering filmmakers decided to sandwich it between guaranteed muggle hits Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Spiderman II. Chronicles of Riddick takes place five years after the original Riddick movie, the low-budget horror flick Pitch Black. But Chronicles isn’t really a sequel. It is instead a follow up to Riddick’s story that will expand into a universe-wide saga, similar to the Matrix stories or The Lord of the Rings. Again we are confronted with Vin Diesel as Richard B. Riddick, the escaped ex-convict who tries to be bad but just…can’t. After being tracked to a remote planet (go figure) Riddick is drawn to the Helion solar system by an old acquaintance. Once there, he finds Helion is being attacked by a dangerous army of humans known as Necromongers, who wish to completely overtake all living beings in order to establish a new galaxy known as the Underverse. Riddick, who could care less about the Necromongers, learns of the fate of the young girl he rescued in Pitch Black, and ever the anti-heroic hero, vows to find and save her. He encounters her on the prison planet of Crematoria, where he and Jack (who now goes by the name of Kyra and has become quite the little assassin) must escape the burning hot 700-degree surface to find a way off the planet. Their escape is hindered by the pursuing Necromongers, who fear Riddick's prophecied potential. When they get a hold of Kyra, it is Riddick to the rescue, in a climactic showdown that blends Diesel action with a pseudo-Shakespearean assassination plot. The story is only a shade of what it could be; this must be due in part to creator Twohy’s vision of a three-part Riddick saga. The finale of movie is most certainly incomplete, although it presents an intriguing ending that not even Riddick fans would expect. The movie holds together because of Diesel, who’s acting prowess is still at beginner stage, but has a potential buried just below the surface. He’s not just an action hero…something about him compels you to like him despite his rough and tumble appearance, and there is a hidden depth that comes out in his face when he’s not trying too hard to be deep. The additions of Karl Urban, fresh off Lord of the Rings, Thandie Newton, and Judi Dench make the plight of the Necromongers and the Helions more compelling and intriguing. One of the beauties of Chronicles is that it does not have a clear good guy/bad guy distinction—as evidenced by Riddick’s “I could care less” outlook as much as by the doubt and insecurities that appear on the faces of the Necromonger generals. Their shadowed pasts can most certainly be tapped in sequels. The only downside of the film seems to be Kyra/Jack, who, for fans of Pitch Black, will be a disappointment. The original actress who played Jack made it all the way to final auditions, but instead of casting her, which would have tied together the story points, they cast newcomer Alexa Davalos. She gets the job done, but feels nothing like the sweet and clever Jack of the first movie—and certainly doesn’t exude the “scarred” persona she’s been written to be. Overall, however, the movie is a great, fluffy summer action flick. Special effects, as one might expect of this type of film, are brilliant, music is good, and the acting actually decent for a sci-fi story. A great sandwich movie as you get over Potter and look forward to Spiderman. |