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You beat me to it!
Waltz was exceptional and absolutely owned the screen. Watching that makes me even more disappointed with his underuse in Spectre. I thought the explosive climax was zany but brilliant - to actually let the kino plot succeed was a clever trick on the audience. I didn't even mind the frequent use of subtitles because the script and performances were so good.
I've only seen a few QT movies and find the man rather disagreeable, but I think I may need to catch up on what I've been missing.
Note: I haven't played any of the video games.
PART 1:
H I T M A N (2007)
For starters, in concept I have nothing against video game adaptations. I've played my fair share of games and if a filmmaker somehow finds a way to bring the better elements of the video game medium to film, I will laud him for it. I'm not looking for intelligent stories or even three-dimensional characters. I recognise the video game medium for what it is and am perfectly happy to sit down for 90 minutes of hyperadrenalized moving-up-the-levels action, like what we got in most if not all of the RESIDENT EVIL films, especially the animated ones. I merely demand - yes, demand - one thing: style. Seriously, the one contribution a film could possibly make to the video game itself, is an intriguing, daring, somewhat alternative audiovisual style. Knock me off my feet in the music, sound, design and cinematography departments, and I'm a happy person. As far as the story is concerned, I'm not expecting anything too arduous. It can be as simple as a straight line, as long as it doesn't run through your average Hollywood clichés.
HITMAN was sold to me as this übercool, hard-boiled actioner. Seeing the posters for the film, I imagined a stone-cold human terminator bestowing his ballistic rage on an army of thugs and goons while staying as far away as possible from the typical tropes. Sadly, HITMAN wasn't going to indulge me. I don't care what kind of stories the video games tell, a bald dude in a neat costume with two pistols, a serial number tattooed on his head and "H I T M A N" written above him, has to be like a robot on acid. Instead, I got THE TRANSPORTER all over again. A few moments of blood splashing cannot pardon the suffocating dullness and been-there-seen-it scenes this film is made of. It's a combination of things:
1) The visual style is barely above that of the average television movie, from ten years before in fact. The photography lacks something inspirational, intriguing, unique. Every shot in the film is boring as hell. Steven Seagal produced a ton of films like this.
2) The music is disgustingly bad. Throw a few keyboard strokes and some electronic percussion in the mix, and you basically have the type of music that pulls you through another episode of CSI or whatever. We need more people like Johan Johansson, Mica Levi or Ben Lovett to give a film an aura of mystery and an out-of-this-world quality. Worse, HITMAN's score at times seems to be working against the film. When a scene comes close to being exciting, the music softens the edges, rather than sharpen them, by going into "soap series" mode. Pasting some "Ave Maria" on the score, doesn't mute my point.
3) The story is a cheap knock-off of twenty or more action flics that had come out a few years before this one. Heroes and bad guys alike were often pussified by plots involving girls in danger who melt the heart of the "though" man in the most MTV type of way. At least MAX PAYNE - the video game, mind - went Bogard on the love story. HITMAN, by contrast, walks the usual route. Russian bad guys (of course, who else?) and prostitutes; but you're in no danger of ever being impressed because in the end, the bad guys are weak versions of cartoon villains, the prostitute is just a poor girl whored out by some rich guy but now she's the tough hero's love interest. Sounds a lot like, again, half of Steven Seagal's films and half of Jason Statham's films and half of ... you get the point. I mean, it's another XXX but then worse.
I don't care what people say about Zack Snyder; if he had given this project his usual colourful and musically interesting treatment, this would have been a cool video game adaptation. SUCKER PUNCH was, after all, the best video game adaptation ever to a video game that was never made. Or how about Michael Mann? Have him construct a cool, exciting, sexy HITMAN film! Let's see what QT could do with this. Now we get a clean, mainstream, compromised Saturday afternoon film which is never in any danger of stepping over any line.
HITMAN flirts with being a joke. Timothy Olyphant is never credible as a killing machine with gun powder instead of a heart. Olga Kurylenko is here only to flash her boobs. She gets several topless shots, so overtly meant to raise the "edginess" of the film, while coming off as a useless 2-second distraction from the film's ultimate problem: the sheer tediousness that constitutes this film. I'm not saying Uwe Boll should have gotten involved but at least he could have rendered the whole thing into a laughable mess. Now, it's just a mess. Making a truly tough, bleak, painfully violent film isn't dificult; it's merely less bankable than something a bunch of 14 year olds will want to see. Sadly, that makes this film so uninteresting, bland and predictable, it's more forgettable than yesterday's wake-up fart. One-dollar made-for-DVD action films can be found in nearly every toy store. HITMAN belongs there too.
1/5 (For Olga's boobs.)
And of course, galaxies and universes and dimensions better than the godawful and dreadful Max Payne movie that pissed upon the video game franchise that's utterly outstanding. I think Hitman (2007) fairly stands out as one of the few great film adaptations of a video game series.
Note: I haven't played any of the video games.
PART 2:
H I T M A N : A G E N T 4 7 (2015)
I get it, the HITMAN series is not for me. I'm not seeing the brilliance of selling me the toughest killer this side of hell, and delivering a well-mannered babysitter for a cute girl instead. He shoots, there's blood. And then we sit down and talk. And the piano tunes play. Clearly, MAD MAX: FURY ROAD hasn't yet taught too many people a valuable lesson yet: if the trailer says "ruthless and savage", don't intersperse the already contrived violence with my-life-is-terrible-but-I-still-have-a-heart pathetic cliché moments. Stick to your guns and don't try to humanise the titular anti-hero for the sake of pursuing warm feelings of love, friendship and everything else that doesn't feel right in this concept.
Another story about a daughter seeking her father, who did bad things but is making amends. Another story about a futuristic version of the FBI chasing the protagonists from behind a powerful computer with a Star Wars type of interface. Another story I could have written while half asleep. Another story that could have been pitched for a low-budget action film starring Jet Li and Deloy Lindo in 1999.
Come on, this is terrible. Granted, Beltrami's score is slightly - SLIGHTLY - better than the previous' film's score, and the unoriginal cinematography is redeemed a little bit - A LITTLE BIT - through professional editing. Rupert Friend is still not convincing, Zachery Quinto was clearly told to be Sylar all over again and Ciarán Hinds is perhaps the only one who does anything remotely useful.
Fine, I've had it with the HITMAN series. It doesn't work for me. The terrible thing is they rebooted the series by doing the exact same thing as the previous film, perhaps slightly better but not to the point where I'm willing to give it a pass.
2/5 (for Ciarán Hinds and one good shot)
I haven't seen the Max Payne films, but if we're bringing up poor movie adaptions of games we like, the first films that come to mind are the Bloodrayne films. I love the games, and replay them from time to time, but the films were a steaming pile of rectal discharge. I will say one good thing about the first film, I thought that Kristanna Loken was a good choice.
@ClarkDevlin
Having seen it now, I not only trust your judgement as someone who clearly has played the games, but I'm going to agree with you too even when I haven't played them myself.
The Max Payne film adaptation was an abomination. When I read that Mark Wahlberg hadn't even played the game or watched someone else play it, but that he wanted to interpret the character himself, I stayed away from the theatre. I picked it up on DVD later on, and wanted to vomit. The first two video games in the Max Payne series - I'm still furious about the third game: Max Payne The Cut Scenes Collection - are amazing achievements!
I'm afraid we are going to disagree here. The 1st person POV in the 3rd act of DOOM alone makes that film ten times better than HITMAN. I'm even more fond of WING COMMANDER, DOA: DEAD OR ALIVE and BATTLESHIP if you can believe it. ;-)
The only scene that I love in Dead Or Alive is Christie (Holly Valance, my first celebrity crush) when she kicks some @$$ in that hotel room. That's about it.
Haven't been fond of Doom at all, mainly because it doesn't resemble the video game franchise. Just my opinion, though. John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars is closer to Doom than the film adaptation of the eponymous game franchise is. Haven't seen or played the other two, so don't know.
And while I love the Resident Evil film series, they're very little in resemblance to the video games they're all based on. But, Jill and Ada are brilliant in their live action forms.
I watched both in theatres back in the day and must admit I had a better time with the second instalment than I had with the first. Now they're rebooting the series - fine - and with Alicia Vikander. Great actress but isn't she missing two key elements that Angelina brought? :D
Three of us. And the title scene is gorgeous as well, really Binderesque. Too bad the movie is not as good as that.
I was in the mood for something decidedly epic. Something visually magnificent. So I put in my 4K remastered copy of this David Lean directed legendary film, based on the real world exploits of T.E. Lawrence (played by the late Peter O'Toole in a breakout performance). I hadn't seen this one fully before, and wondered if I could get through the entire 3+ hrs in one sitting (I saw parts of it many years back and was decidely bored). Well, I needn't have worried. I did watch the whole thing and it was a great experience!
Lawrence was instrumental in the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire during WW1. Somewhat of a knowledgeable but insolent jack of all trades, he had an uncanny knack for strategy, which he employed to great effect during the revolt, encouraging successful guerrilla warfare by the Arabs against the Turks. His Arab co-conspirators included Prince Faisal (later known as King Faisal 1 of Iraq), played here by Alec Guinness, Sherif Ali (played in the film by Omar Sharif) & Auda abu Tayi (Anthony Quinn). His British Army superiors included General Allenby (Jack Hawkins), who initially sent Lawrence to support the Arabs on the advice of Mr. Dryden (Claude Rains). He was supported by Colonel Brighton (Anthony Quayle). While highly successful, Lawrence was also captured at some point and reportedly molested (by the Turkish Bey, played here by Jose Ferrer). That experience, along with both the grotesque nature of conflict and the sickening nature of political shenanigans caused Lawrence to withdraw from public life after the War. He became a prolific writer, and documented his feats in several books, most notably The Seven Pillars of Wisdom .
The performances are sincere and excellent across the board. O'Toole lights up every scene that he's in. He expertly crafts a character who is at once independent, masochistic, egotistical, imperious, withdrawn & honest. It's brilliant work, and well supported by everyone else, not least Omar Sharif as Ali.
Apart from giving us a high level education on the politics and history of that time, this film is incredibly majestic, both visually & aurally. The 4K restoration is superb, and the painstaking attention to detail is obvious in nearly every frame, all of which have fantastic visual situational context. It was first apparent to me when Lawrence's Bedouin companion is shot dead by Ali. The blood wells up slowly under his headscarf as the man lies dead on the floor, but it's in the corner of the frame and isn't even the focal point of the scene. If you're not looking, you'll miss it. The desert scenes are out of this world, and one truly feels like one is in the locale with the actors. Lean & cinematographer Fred Young take their time with each and every sequence. It's almost poetic. One can almost smell the heat. Feel the dust. It's really quite impressive. Maurice Jarre's soaring score is as monumental as the visuals which it seamlessly matches. There is one sequence when O'Toole is on a horse by the sea at dusk, and Jarre's sublime motif perfectly matches the waves smashing against the shore. Only Barry has done it this well imho, in TB. I can safely say that this is one of the most beautiful films I've seen. It defines the word 'epic'.
I can see its visual influence in so many films, including the original Star Wars.
The one I'm dreading is Gone With the Wind. Saw it with the folks as a kid and hated it. I recall the famous staircase and lots of shouting between Vivien Leigh and Gable but that's about it. I'll have to give it a shot one day because I don't remember anything else.
Game of Death the Bruce Lee sequences are excellent, just bought the BD Bruce Lee boxset the Chinese films taken from 4K masters look fantastic. The set includes Enter the Dragon also, pretty much every documentary made is also included.
Both amazing movies, but I personally prefer Lawrence. Seriously can't go wrong with either. My collection just wouldn't be the same without those two epics.
Me too.
A great film but the villain is well weak.. sorry he is barely in the film however Hunt and crew are fantastic and a pre spectre Lea Seadaux (which lead to a bit of riffing from me to be honest) But this is a really good film and best of the year so far :D
Ranking of non Bond films 2017
1. Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol
2. Mission Impossible 3
3. The Firm
4. My week with Marilyn
6. Mission Impossible
7. Ghostbusters
8. When Harry meet Sally
9. Batman Mystery of Batwoman
10. Limitless
11. Batman Year one
12. Mission Impossible 2
13. National Lampoon's Vacation
Mission Impossible franchise
1. Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol
2. Mission Impossible 3
3. Mission Impossible
4. Mission Impossible 2
Ranking of all films ( I did watch Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace this past weekend
1. Casino Royale
2. Quantum of Solace
3. Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol
4. Mission Impossible 3
5. The Firm
6. My week with Marilyn
7. Mission Impossible
8. Ghostbusters
9. When Harry meet Sally
10. Batman Mystery of Batwoman
11. Limitless
12. Batman Year one
13. Mission Impossible 2
14. National Lampoon's Vacation
Up next I have no idea but hopefully Snake eyes
Also Post Mission Impossible I am thinking another smaller franchise specifically the Beverly Hills cop films at least that is my thought right now.
I had mixed feelings about that film. Some of the humor worked, and a lot of it didn't IMO. One of the more hit-and-miss comedies I've seen.