Parts of this are too uneventful and uninteresting for an action movie of this kind, and the action in the last half of the movie isn't great enough to redeem it. While not expecting much, the character development is poor, Arnie's dialogue at times sounds like it is being channelled by the T-800 and it isn't as comedic as I expected either. I also found parts of the fight scene at the movie's conclusion to be badly directed. Hopefully, Arnie's move back into film gets better from here. An average action movie overall.
Warren, like his close west coast friend Snoop Dogg, couldn't back up a memorable debut with a valuable follow up. There are alarm bells from the opening song 'Annie Mae'. Like on 'Regulate... G Funk Era', Warren teams up with Nate Dogg and it isn't terrible but it is absolutely nowhere near 'Regulate'. The next few songs come and go. On 'Young Fun', my mind that has been tarnished by society, always waits to hear "cum" instead of "fun" on the hook. It begins to improve a little bit with the following songs as more featuring artists appear, with 'We Brings Heat' being the first song to catch my attention with its vibey laidback beat. 'Transformers' uses the Transformers theme as the inspiration for its hook which is worth noting. I have the version with 'What's Love Got to Do With It' which was originally only on the 'Supercop' soundtrack. Like 'I Shot the Sheriff', thanks to the memorable chorus, both of these songs are standouts. Erick Sermon's remix is also dope, offering a very different feel. The second half is definitely stronger than the first and there are some good songs, but most of it comes and goes. Warren isn't the greatest rapper and more often than not needs something special in the production department for it to be an excellent track.
Best Tracks: We Brings Heat, Back Up, What's Love Got to Do With It, I Shot the Sheriff/Remix
All fans knew Michael Jackson could entertain and from seeing this film nothing had changed. What this documentary does give a bit more insight into though is his creative process and how well he knew his stuff. From his conversations with his musical directors and others there is now no doubt that he did have a lot of musical input with his albums/videos after seeing this film. I notice another reviewer mentions that he thought that when MJ was talking to his team that he thought he was treated like a delicate child, and maybe I did get that a bit. But more so I felt it was a professional who wanted everything to be perfect. If something wasn't right during a concert it would have reflected on him and as with everything MJ did with his music he wanted it to be as great as possible. Other than that and the direction and critiquing he does with the music, the clips that would have been played before and during a song during the concerts were great and looked pricey. We also see some brief interviews with the dancers that mention what MJ has meant to them and their careers. Lastly, some of the slight musical changes to songs like extra horns added to 'Jam' gave the song another dimension and were great as were all the songs with the cinema surround sound.
Other than those things there isn't a huge amount to take out of this film if you have seen any of his concerts. However, you do see him a bit more intimately than his old concert videos and there ain't a doubt that these FIFTY! concerts would have been great and no doubt reignited his career. Obviously, if you love his music and are interested in what the concerts would have been like then this is worth seeing.
I like both leads in this. Winslet is a female favourite and Carey a classic in some of his film ventures, but this never engaged me. I didn't get the connection between Clementine and Joel at all. Yeah, opposites attract and all that, but Clementine seemed like an annoying dill, Joel a depressing sad-sack and I couldn't see the relationship working. So when there are problems in the relationship from the jump I'm meant to care as the viewer? The plot about removing memories and such was interesting, and the subplot links nicely in with the main characters' issues but nothing is that special about it and some scenes felt somewhat disjointed. 3-2.5.
As an 11/12 year old I remember hearing 'Kyle's Mom's a Bitch' on the radio and finding it very humorous, and I feel like that is the demographic who would find this film funny as I watch it in my early 20s. Perhaps more than most episodes, the jokes almost purely revolve around swearing to the point of over-over-over kill and don't get me started on Terrance and Phillip... It surprises me that with the rating this was always going to receive in many countries that they were put in. Do young adults or late teens for that matter still find their fart jokes funny? The whole Saddam and Satan relationship is painfully unfunny also. This is kind of where I stand with the television series itself. When it's clever there are some good episodes, but too often I feel like it's for children who get kicks out of hearing three animated children swear at each other. That may come across as pretentious but that's just my thoughts.
The plot pretty much focuses on satirising censorship (it's okay to show extreme violence but not explicit language-hence all the swearing) and the whole Canadian/American relationship that has been done many times. The intense Mole character, the hospital scene, and Bill Gates getting shot when he's trying to explain how fast Windows 98 is was mildly amusing, but overall this comedy didn't do much for me as the rating suggests.