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Selasa, 01 Juli 2008

Joan of Arc: The Messenger (1999) - War

Film Reviews. "Joan of Arc" is a startling film that certainly tries to be a little different. But it sadly fails in an attempt to blend fantasy with reality, becoming slightly ridiculous instead.

The finger of blame has been pointed by many at Milla Jovovich and her personal relationship with director Besson. Such sniping may happily fill the celebrity pages of film magazines, but it is hardly reasoned debate as to the structural failure of a movie.

In fact she copes rather well in her role as the teenage girl, chosen by God to lead an army against the evil English (so what's new!) to liberate France. Unfortunately Jovovich doesn't possess a strong enough voice to punch through the important war cries. Her acting suffers too, not necessarily from a lack of talent, but almost certainly from the herds of supposed thespians gathered around her with their former careers stuck up their asses.

You can't expect someone to deliver barnstorming, revolution-inciting performances when fellow actors are giving such feeble portrayals. But even though some of the assembled cast should know better, they're burdened with a ham-fisted script that's clumsy in its telling of what should be an inspiring, classic tale.

Luc Besson must take the blame for co-scripting a movie that is unable to deliver any solid foundation of credibility. He wisely throws in a couple of good battles but when you neither care who wins or loses, then the spectacular quickly loses its impact. But while this film might not have worked out for Besson, he has a raft of fine movies to counterbalance it against.

Pearl Harbor (2001) - War

Film Reviews. Is this the blockbuster to beat? With a budget of over $150 million - making it the most costly film ever financed by a single studio - Disney certainly hope so. Directed with zero subtlety by "Armageddon" 's Michael Bay, it's a great, bloated mess of a picture with a weak script and bland performances. But its saving grace is a recreation of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that, for sheer eye-popping spectacle, makes "Titanic" look like a kiddies' bath toy.

In place of "Titanic" 's "Romeo + Juliet"-style romance, "Pearl Harbor" substitutes a ménage à trois comprising ace pilot Rafe McCawley (Ben Affleck), his childhood buddy Danny Walker (Josh Hartnett) and Rafe's girlfriend Evelyn (Kate Beckinsale), a beautiful army nurse stationed in Hawaii. After Rafe goes missing in action during the Battle of Britain, Danny falls for Evelyn and has some explaining to do when Rafe re-appears. But all differences are forgotten once the Japanese turn up to bomb the US fleet.

This 40-minute orgy of explosions, carnage, and special effects will bombard audiences into submission with the same devastating efficiency the Japanese brought to their surprise assault. But once the bombs stop falling the film returns to its mawkish central romance, and our sense of disappointment is not alleviated by a protracted and unnecessary third act set in Tokyo. By then, though, you'll have had more than your money's worth.

U-571 (2000) - War

Film Reviews. Controversy surrounds this submarine action film because Hollywood has rewritten history again. Stay around for the credits and you will see an acknowledgement to the Royal Navy's 1941 feat in capturing an Enigma decoding machine from a Nazi U-boat, a coup that made the difference to the war in the North Atlantic and Britain's survival.

You can see the reasoning. Turning it into an American exploit makes for better box office. The fact that at the time in question American submarines weren't even on active duty in the Atlantic is glossed over. It's not the first time they have grabbed British glory, but then we are not so innocent either. Take Chuck Yeager. David Lean's 1952 film "The Sound Barrier" suggested that breaking it was not his achievement, but a British aviation triumph.

If "U-571" had been good this would have been forgivable. Alas, it's a noisy, cliche-ridden, incomprehensible mess. Matthew McConaughey, shaven-headed and sunken cheeked, plays a young officer denied command until he proves himself. He is given a mission to capture a U-boat by pretending to be a German supply crew.

It's one of those silly films where massive assaults from enemy torpedoes and depth charges always miss, but only one hasty American shot can produce a mini-nuclear explosion. Good actors like Bill Paxton and Harvey Keitel struggle with cardboard characters, and the action sequences are chaotic, with eardrum-bursting sound effects.

The best U-boat film was the German "Das Boot". This by comparison is a travesty.