lamps

Let's face it, Jaws 3 is a piece of crap without a shred of logic and a total lack of respect for the qualities of the original horror film. Apparently, director Joe Alves was convinced that a meeting with the good-old killer would make him a lot of money, so he didn't hesitate, procured a few litres of ketchup and concocted something resembling a big toothy fish, which he then set into frantic motion with the help of the ingenious effects of the time. I really don't understand how he managed to get actors of the quality of Quaid and Gossett. At least it was funny.

An indescribable drop in quality compared to the brilliant first part. The first one was frightening not only by the sight of the seemingly calm seabed accompanied by Williams' brilliant music, but the film as a whole had an unpleasant and tense atmosphere. That’s what I hoped for in the sequel, but in vain; the first half is downright weak and boring, the attacks are unimaginative, without suspense and without blood. The second half, however, seems to be a completely different film, with the voracious toothy beast finally taking the lead role, and the filmmakers supply it with plenty of tasty prey. Yes, towards the end the film has a really great pace, the atmosphere is at least a little reminiscent of its famous predecessor, and the entertaining action climax is something even master Spielberg would not be ashamed of. For me, 65%.

Precise direction and a really fast script with lots of ideas and flashy stunts that elevate this horror B-movie above many of its clichéd ghostly brethren. The atmosphere is not very chilling, but it’s enough to keep your attention, and the actors are decent and convincing to the extent of their possibilities. And the final twist, which I was increasingly curious about as time went on and I found out more and more, was delivered quite sensibly and did not disrupt the carefully constructed story based on one simple central idea, which, by the way, was so well delivered that it provided me with an (un)enjoyable and unrelenting spectacle.

A classic American gangster flick with lots of money, fast cars, sleazy thieves and one hot chick. And I like those films, I like them a lot!

Fans of the genre will surely be satisfied, the horror side of things is handled excellently, the atmosphere is perfectly tense for most of the film and the few funny lines and humorous situations can in no way disturb it. But don't look for a horror classic, it’s too much the B-movie, too predictable and clichéd for that. No, it's no shocking masterpiece, but as a suspenseful and brisk ghost story it works well.

This film has an excellent atmosphere, which basically doesn't let up at all throughout, but also a rather leaky and unclear script. I felt that the director was trying to impress the viewer with an awful lot of big ideas and lessons only to end up serving a slightly above-average effective stew without a meaningful point. It's a shame, because apart from an interesting idea, the film also has high quality actors, yet their skills are somewhat wasted when most of the dialogue is based on a very poorly delivered totalitarian theme. Still, I rate it positively because I've seen much worse three-star films.

The film gets off to a great start, the action scenes are witty and brisk, and Zimmer's great music works wonders. I found the main idea and especially its development rather weak and far from fulfilling my expectations, but the pace is quite high, the director successfully and originally gives us a taste of several different genres, and the main character himself wins your sympathy from the beginning and becomes incredibly entertaining with his immediacy and a reasonable amount of goofiness. My only real regret is the boring and clichéd ending, where the screenwriter either didn't know what to do anymore, or tried to make Rango into something more than just a throwaway kids' show. As an animated flick, it’s above average, but as an adventure comedy, it will soon fade from my memory. 3.5*

A weird film that perhaps it’s impossible to assign a key genre subtext to. In terms of comedy, it works quite well and the uncharacteristically wacky humour manages to amuse in places. On the adventure side, however, it's not that good, the story struggles to gain speed and I found the main storyline, with all due respect to the original premise, rather weak and uninteresting. But what's really brilliant about the film are the performances, in particular, the trio Murray, Anjelica Huston and Willem Dafoe are perfect. Overall, slightly above average, and next time I wish Wes Anderson would push the envelope a bit more in terms of humour and emotion.

Cop Out is a typical American comedy with one tough and cool cop and his goofy and garrulous partner, the kind that divides most of the audience into fans and detractors. And since I fall roughly somewhere in between, and with each successive similar film, mostly exactly the same in terms of the nature of its humour, I'm slowly beginning to shift to the side of the naysayers, and I rate Cop Out neutrally. It's not a parade of awkwardness, and the dogged pursuit of the joke at all costs often works, which is good, but for a comedy from "visionary" Kevin Smith and starring a still-iconic action star, it is to some extent a parade of creative awkwardness and extreme desperation... Basically, nobody needs to see films like this anymore. 55%

I appreciate the effort to parody this interesting and widely used theme and I’m therefore willing to forgive the ridiculous werewolf. What bothers me a lot, though, is that the film is not exactly bursting with hilarious jokes or crazy situations, and the attempt to make people laugh at any cost and in any way is rather awkward, uninteresting, with jokes that rarely work. There is also absolutely no tension and you might see more blood in a kindergarten when a child accidentally scrapes their elbow. Still, the story gradually picks up a bit of pace, and although the level of stupidity remains very high, you really won't encounter boredom. So 1* for the idea and 1* for the fact that I watched it till the end.