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sageev
Reviews
Heroes (2006)
Interesting premise ruined by pandering to the masses
The first year of this series started out as a 10, but the series declined as the seasons went by. One of the biggest problems was the self-destructive need to maintain actors and actresses that were becoming popular outside of the series well beyond their relevance to the series. For me, this was greatly exemplified by the continued presence of the Petrilli brothers. Their sacrifice at the end of Season 1 crowned that season and, if they had died as it was thought they would, the two characters would have been remembered as glorious examples for future "Heroes" to emulate. Instead, Peter's character became an unwieldy plot point because his powers were truly as ultra- powerful as Superman's. Likewise, Nathan's character vacillated between corrupt and good. I had heard that the original plan was that many of each season's characters were supposed to die at the end of each season.. This would have greatly helped the series for me. I can only imagine that this idea was rejected by the producers of the series. No new characters were ever allowed to stay for long, and so the fun of each good character's journey to Hero was removed. The Villains were usually a mixed bag, and the one good Villain, Sylar, was bound to the same overly extended stay on the series that the popular Heroes were, to the point where his fans began to lose their taste for him. Let this be a lesson: let the writers rule. If necessary, have them write a series Bible that details all plot lines, but don't have them re-write to adjust to what the producers think that audiences want. Producers are usually to insulated to know that answer.
Hex (2004)
Series review: I miss Christina
I am a Buffy fan, so news of a British series that was similar without treading the same ground certainly piqued my interest. And, *initially*, this series certainly did deliver the goods, with Christina Cole presenting viewers with a serious, compelling portrayal of the series' main character, Cassie, who happened to be strikingly attractive (similar to Sarah Michelle Gellar's presentation of Buffy's titular character). Supporting characters were also done well, always in an orbit around Christina's luminous star, with Jemima Rooper being the stand-out supporting star (again similar to Buffy's Alyson Hannigan, who could lighten any scene or present emotional counterpoints in ways that complemented the main thrust of the show).
The chief problem for viewers such as myself was Christina Cole's departure from the series, essentially like the ripping of the main mast out of a ship: the show lost its momentum, and the original plot lines were left unexplored (Cassie's destiny, what mistakes her ancestor(s) might have made with Azazeal, Azazeal's true mission, and more). Retooling of the series followed Cole's decision to leave, with a new main character (Laura Pyper's Ella) that would be used to guide future plot lines.
Fans of the second season are quick to defend the remaining actors and actresses work, and deservedly so, but in my opinion, the retooling suffered from a couple issues. Ella was essentially a very competent witch, who excelled at her mission of demon-slaying: far too derivative of Buffy. Worse yet, this also removed the novelty of the series for me, because truly, the series seemed to be breaking ground with a non-comedic portrayal of a "good witch" at the beginning of her journey. I think the best solution would have been to start an entirely new series. The producers probably were hoping to keep the original Hex audience, but I think that plan backfired.
Regardless, I will look back on the initial episodes of the series with pleasure, and dream of what could have been.
Drive Me Crazy (1999)
Teen romance with intelligence
OK.. First, don't watch the movie if you hate teen romance type movies. If you don't have a problem with them, then this movie probably stands out as one of the best in this genre (due, in no small part, to the major acting skills of Adrian Grenier, the thankfully understated performances of Melissa Joan Hart and Ali Larter, and the amazing screenplay be Rob Thomas). It's not a highly intelligent movie, but it certainly is entertaining. Except for the characters that are intentionally written as shallow, every character is multi-dimensional, and actually changing as the movie progresses.
/* SPOILERS FOLLOW */ What made the movie special for me was that the "exs" that dump Adrian's and Melissa's characters are not the stereotypical evil characters that most teen romances feature. Ali Larter is just a wonder to watch. I loved the scene at the end of the movie when she and Adrian's character realize that they are not supposed to be together. And Melissa's ex in the movie: he was the lovable dumb jock that falls in love with someone but doesn't really mean any harm. Of course, it's always nice to see the average high schoolers coming out ahead (Adrian's friends, for the most part).
The Incredibles (2004)
Why it wasn't perfect
I wanted to throw out a couple of ideas as to why this movie wasn't completely perfect. The movie was slow in parts, and didn't always have the intelligence of other Pixar offerings.
1. The creator, Brad Bird, had a wonderful idea, but perhaps he refused to let other screenwriters fix up the problems with the script.
2. Or maybe Pixar's need to make a child-friendly movie resulted in the arch-villain being so lacking and the final scene being less than amazing, as compared to the action on Syndrome's island which blew my mind.
I realize that many fixes for the problems are probably to mature for such a movie. For example, Brad Bird mentioned that he originally had Syndrome taking the Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl's baby in the beginning of the movie. Keeping that would have made me happy because I would see more of the humanity in the superheroes at the dread of having a kidnapped baby. Way too much for young kids to digest, though. The final scene would have been helped by having the bots actually cause harm to people. However, even the best cartoons on TV will only allude to death indirectly (bomb goes off.. No one gets out of the building.. All adults watching know that means death.. Children might not realize, though). But, at least having some normal humans getting really injured would have given the threat some urgency.
However, I did enjoy the quiet desperation that the family was suffering in the beginning of the movie. And, Bird was able to sneak in actual evil into the villains of the movie. For example, Syndrome came across as very inhumane in his commands to his henchmen to kill the Incredibles, who also showed their evil by being so compliant. Shoot down an airplane with children on board? No problem! Terminate all superheroes on the island, regardless of age? Sure thing, boss!