4 posts tagged “christian bale”
One thing you can say about Terminator 4 is that it is better than Terminator 3. Barely.
Some people have complained about the scene where an enormous loud and rather slow machine sneaks up on a group of people but in my opinion that is like complaining that someone didn't make their bed when a tornado has torn down the entire house. There's a million ways that the giant machine could have snuck up on them. -- Christian Bale yelled all the time when attacking the machines but does that mean that he isn't able to sneak up on them?
Most of the main problems in the film all revolve around the fact that the people in the movie are dumb and inconsistently dumb at that. For example, we have a character Marcus who shows up knowing nothing about the Terminators and starts asking lots of questions. The guy he asks notes that although he is wearing the arm band of a rebel that Marcus isn't one and so should take it off. However, the guy never stops to ask Marcus, "Why don't you know what is going on?" or any questions about why Marcus is so behind on current events like the destruction of all the cities in the world.
OK, so the guy Marcus runs into just isn't very inquisitive. Next Marcus runs into someone who is a rebel. Still wearing the rebel arm band Marcus ask some more questions and the woman is just like, "come with me I'll take you to John Connor, the savior of humanity" and not wondering -- like the previous guy who doesn't have nearly as much experience as this woman presumably does -- why this guy in rebel clothes doesn't know anything about the war.
The film also just happens to rely on tons of coincidences. For example Marcus just happens to run into the one guy John Connor is looking for. They try to explain it by saying that it is part of some plan but the plan was for the very first person Marcus runs into to be the most important person in the world? That's a pretty impressive plan. Then the next person Marcus runs into takes him directly to Connor so that Connor can save the day. Then there's also the fact that this plan with Marcus also involves a way to kill the Terminators that just happens to happen at the same time when Marcus is running around.
Let's not even mention that Marcus takes the time to not only change clothes but also to find some different cloths to wear when there don't really seem to be any around before he goes to try to help Connor out. Or the fact that they felt like they needed to have a character explain exactly what was happening even though it was pretty clear what was happening anyway. I guess they realized that the Terminators and Skynet doesn't really talk in the movie so they added in a talking head.
Another problem is that some parts seem to have been edited and assembled by a blind person. It feels like the movie was 15 minutes too long so they just cut scenes out randomly. There are a couple spots when it just seems like maybe I ran to the bathroom and missed a short inconsequential scene that would, none-the-less explain why some people got to the someone place else and look very different as when Marcus is all beat up in one scene and then next thing he is in what basically looks like hospital scrubs, is lying on a table, and is entirely healed.
The final problem is that not only is everyone in the movie dumb but apparently so are the people that made it. In one scene a bunch of things about the size of hand grenades which we are told are nuclear-powered, explodes while a helicopter is flying overhead and the helicopter isn't hurt at all. Then there's the end. Without spoiling it, let's just say that apparently in the future you can not only perform major surgery single handed in a tent in the middle of nowhere but you don't need to worry about things like blood type or other things like that.
The original ending was leaked online and so allegedly they changed it. Hopefully they filmed it and it will be on the dvd because the way it sounds the original ending was so much better. The rumor was that John Connor was going to die and be replaced by a reprogrammed good Terminator because Connor was too important to the future of humanity to allow to die. The ending that is currently in the film is not only worse but it means that someone has to directly and methodically kill another heroic character without any discussion of the moral consequences.
Finally, the world that this film takes place in is hard to figure out. So Skynet went rogue and nuked humanity but humanity is still able to resist enough to have an organized military which includes A-10s -- which are sent to attack air targets for some reason even though they are primarily used to attack ground units like tanks and such. -- and lots of helicopters (but apparently not tanks or ground units...) which are complicated machines and require lots of maintenance to be usable. There's also some talk about how the Terminators haven't gone "this deep" before which indicates that perhaps Skynet doesn't have control over the entire USA? (Of course later on we find out that there are Terminator water snakes right outside of the military base so who knows...)
There are some good things. There are some nods to the earlier films including some lines and a gas station that looks a lot like one in T2. The Terminators look pretty cool even though the human-sized ones are often obviously guys in suits.
two thumbs up
Whyare they so dumb?
Fuck's sake, man, you're amatuer
Fucking distracting...
One of the things that I've hated about a lot of other superhero films and the pre-Bale Batman films was the multiple villains. Starting with Batman Returns it seemed like every superhero movie had to have multiple villains in it. Even Spider-Man 3 had Venom and Sandman for no real reason. While having Ra's al Ghul and the Scarecrow in Batman Begins worked fairly well I was worried when I saw pictures of Two-Face. I didn't think having the Joker and Two-Face in the same film was needed. I was really surprised when not only they but the Scarecrow appears and the film actually works. I liked it better than Batman Begins.
The reason why it works is that a) the Scarcrow is barely in it and b) the Joker is tied directly into Two-Face. The two of them just don't happen to show up. There is a reason why both Two-Face and the Joker are in this. In fact, there's a pretty good reason why all this stuff had to be in it. Now, as I said, some of it could have been done differently and more quickly, but it all had its reason to be there.
The storyline is the best part of the film. The direction, on the other hand, isn't all that great. I've seen Memento and Batman Begins and I've never been impressed with his actual direction. He is a good writer. he might get good performances from the actors. When it comes to cinematography and camera shots, however, he is wholly uninteresting. He has no visual flair. If a director with some real style and energy had been behind the camera this really would have been over the top. As it is the film is just better than average. The death of Heath Ledger casts a shadow over the film and he might be award worthy. It isn't worthy of any non-technical awards though.
three thumbs up
Better than Begins
It ain't no Iron Man, though
Nor is it The Hulk.
My dad (who is not skinny) is a machinist, so the parts of the film where Bale's character is at work were of particular interest to me. However, I've been to where he works and it isn't anywhere as tedious or grim as the machine shop in this film. In the film the place where Bale works seems to be some kind of manufacturing place with multiple shifts. While there is some parts manufacturing where my dad works he mainly seems to make machines for factories.
At any rate, the fact that the main character in the film is blue collar was something I liked about the film. There are way too many movies and tv shows about white collar and upper class people. I'm an academic, but I like to think that I'm like J-Lo and I remember where I came from (and I have ass for days).
I'm hesitant to say too much about the film because that might ruin it. So if you ain't seen it, skip this part....
In a lot of ways this film is like Fight Club. However, comparing the two is kind of hard because they are about different things. Fight Club is has a lot of white collar angst (boo hoo, life in a cubicle is hard...) The machinist is, as I've said, working class. However, I think one of the things that really sets them apart for me is that Fight Club is really about finding someone to love and The Machinist is about guilt.
One one hand I really hated the Fight Club ended up basically being a love story. On the other hand Fincher is a much better director than Brad Anderson. Fincher makes Fight Club so stylish it is good to watch just on that alone. As good as the Machinist is, I don't think it has the replay value that Fight Club has. If Fincher had directed the Machinist and Anderson had directed Fight Club, I think the Machinist would be the best hands down.
That lack of stylish direction is one of the biggest strikes against it. If the direction was more stylish, I can easily see this being a movie that would stick with you a lot longer than The Machinist does. I compared Bale's look to that of the Aphex Twin video. Can you imagine what it would be like if he had directed it? Wow. That would have been awesome. So as it is, The Machinist was a pretty good film.
Seven Thumbs up.
Mad props to Christian
Someone give him a sandwich
'Cause Bale gotta eat!
I'm just not sure what the point of it all is. OK, so people on Wall Street in the 80s were self absorbed, shallow, and empty inside. What are we supposed to get from a movie that came out in 2000? What does it have to say to us now? And that is the question. That is why I'm so confused. I don't understand what this movie is.
Christian Bale is freaking ripped though. It was also really interesting how his body is on display to such a degree here. It is obvious that a woman directed this by the way his body is so objectified especially in the initial phases of the film. Talk about your narcissistic scopophillia. I totally want to be him. Not the psycho character he portrays in the film. I don't like anything about him. I want to be Christian Bale.
Other that that, I got nothing.
no thumbs
Christian Bale is hot
He kills a lot of people
Not sure how I feel.
