Archive for the ‘Videos’ Category

Is it possible to make a blockbuster out of almost a century-old sci-fi novel? Disney thought it is, and called it John Carter 3D. Two years in production along with hundreds of millions of dollars and I left the cinema having a ton of mixed feelings. Here’s why:

First of all, the movie was at least 30 minutes too long, with a slow, action-less gap in the middle, and yet they gave no explanation of what exactly happened on Mars and where did all the people and technology come from, leave alone the shiva-looking aliens. Even though the visuals were mostly stunning, I was constantly getting a feeling that I’m being fooled and it’s all a lie. Not sure if it’s a fault of Edgar Rice Burroughs living in 1917 or Disney’s visual artists being overly creative, or both, but it didn’t really work for me at the end (for example, what did all those huge numerous alien animals eat there? Red dust?) It all felt like a crazy mix of scenes from Avatar, StarWars and 300.

On the other side, the movie had a great sense of humor, classic Disney humor. Take, for example, a scene where Carter is trying to escape from the Union custody. It’s so nicely played that it almost feels cartoonish. Or the cute, super fast alien dog? Or the alien leader, Tars Tarkas? Yes, some of the jokes (“Vur-gih-nya” anyone?) are very cheesy, but the overall atmosphere was incredibly positive.

Not sure if anyone has noticed the sound, but I thought it was rather great, making some of the scenes really pop-up.

When it comes to the villains of the movie, they were pretty dull and boring, quite the opposite to the main characters. I’m very grateful that there were not so many scenes they appeared in.

To wrap up, I certainly think it was a time and money well spent and would recommend it to everyone looking for something entertaining.

I might be flattering myself a little bit, but it seems like this review is about to be among the slowest ones in SMEx history… First it was team building, then tons of work and, on top of that, is also my crappy memory. This is also going to be the first time in SMEx history, as Espen pointed out, when everyone has already seen the movie. And it wasn’t a pleasant recall, I hate to say…

Where do I start, really? That movie is a fail on so many levels, that even 3D wasn’t able to save it. Shall I complain once again about Jar Jar Binks, who now reminds me of one of our canteen staff members, except that he’s asian and is relatively shorter. Or shall it be the stupid, emotionless Queen Amidala, who was so retarded that even her maid could send her to clean dirt off R2D2. Or two Jedis, who wander around on some silly, but super urgent and potentially deadly mission with a whining maid, a little kido, a disastrous poo-squashing alien and a slow robot.

The list goes on and on, but I think this guy did it best: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxKtZmQgxrI

What makes me smile though, is our SMEx dedication: It is amazing what we are willingly spending our time, money and brain cells on. One could think it’s pointless and silly, but I say it’s a lot of fun sitting in a dark cinema with our little team, wearing stupid plastic glasses and watching Jar Jar Binks desperately trying to be funny. Would I go for Episode II? Absolutely!