Film Reviews
November 24, 2005
Jonah Love
Jarhead
JARHEAD
For all the flack it has been taking in the media recently, Jarhead is a stunning film depicting Marine sharp shooter Anthony Swafford (Gyllenhaal) and his Gulf War experience. Perhaps the contempt stems from the fact that Academy Award-winning director Sam Mendes (American Beauty) dares to probe deeper than the typical Hollywood blood-and-gore war flick. Using little violence, Jarhead touches upon the aspects of war that are rarely explored and exploited: the emotional and psychological implications of being caught up in the military process.
It is simply a story about Swafford and the men he works with, who are exhausted, bored, lonely, trained to the point of obsession, and given no opportunity to use their training. First comes months of their hellish Marine Corps boot camp, with deranged leader Staff Sergeant Sykes (Foxx). Then comes their drop in Saudi Arabia, as a part of Operation Desert Storm, to defend the oil fields which, in spite of their presence, are lit on fire anyways. The rest of the film is filled with their seemingly pointless limbo in the desert. They train, they sleep, they write letters home to unfaithful girlfriends, they hydrate, they masturbate, and they prowl the desert looking for an enemy they’ve never seen.
Jarhead is not a movie that can be taken at face value. It is crude and laced with many sexual innuendoes, but its profane nature is essential, as this is what lifts the film up to tell the men’s dirty truth. Unique and unconventional, Jarhead illustrates the personal war each Marine fights within himself, and the impossible task of holding onto his sanity and morality in the midst of an incredible, chaotic vastness. It also reveals the lifelong scars that war leaves on a person. As Swafford says at the end, no matter if he’s building a house, loving a woman, or changing his son’s diapers, he will never lose the feeling that his rifle is a part of his body; it will stay with him forever.
Zorro
THE LEGEND OF ZORRO
This sequel to the popcorn flick The Mask Of Zorro is unfortunately at best mediocre. First, it suffers from being made seven years after 1998’s Mask of Zorro. Had this film been made five years ago, it would undoubtedly have been better received from the public. In the seven years since its predecessor we’ve had multiple period flicks, dramas, epics, even light-hearted comedies. People now are not so accepting of run-of-the-mill films because they want something with more substance. Unfortunately, The Legend of Zorro does not deliver on the promise of a good time.
The story begins with California on the brink of joining the Union as a state. Zorro is using his fancy swordplay and wisecracking antics to ensure that California reaches that goal. Then (of course) you have the bad guys (played by Nick Chinlund and Rufus Sewell) plotting to ruin California’s chances. Oh yeah, there’s also an attempt at a love triangle, but it fails to reach the heights and humour of the first. Also, the special effects were some of the most laughable I’d seen for a big-budget film. They just looked terrible. I don’t mean to sound rude, but this film in comparison to the first is…not good. The Legend of Zorro is only a shell compared to the first.
This film did have some decent action scenes, Antonio Banderas makes Zorro a fun character, and Catherine Zeta-Jones plays the damsel-in-distress-who-can-really-kick-butt with passion and grace (if that’s what you call it). Both actors display a good amount of chemistry together that ultimately holds the film together. It’s seeing them together that makes the whole film entertaining.
Doom
DOOM
Film adaptations of video games don’t have the greatest reputation. Doom should be one of your rare exceptions to that rule of contempt. Granted, this isn’t a great film, nor will it win any Oscars; it will, however, entertain you and give you 85 minutes of pure mindless escapism, and that is definitely worth the time.
The plot is paper-thin, and only an excuse for the action and the untimely demise of the cast. An attempt is made at a back-story for the two main characters, but nothing is concluded or makes much sense. Why then would I enjoy such a movie? Because the last 20 minutes are pretty friggin’ amazing. There is a five to ten minute sequence where we enter into FPS mode (First Person Shooter in video game lingo) with the main character, John Grimm (Karl Urban). Taking on his physical point of view throughout the movie, we happily tramp around blowing things up and killing evil monsters.
As for the acting, there are no dripping accolades to give. Everyone serves their clichéd purpose, Karl Urban (Lord of the Rings Trilogy, The Bourne Supremacy) makes a decent turn as the main character, and of course there is The Rock; really, who wouldn’t want to see The Rock killing things? Rosamund Pike was pretty much just there so that people tired of the killing could look at something more attractive. As for the rest of the cast, no one really stands out, nor will you remember their names. This film is definitely a rental for those long, dark nights when you just need to become a vegetable and use as few brain cells as possible.
Now you go...
Got something to say?