Holiday season movie releases disappointing
Over break I excitedly returned to my hometown’s megaplex with the hopes of seeing a good movie. While walking into the theater I excitedly turned to a friend of mine and said, “I sure haven’t been to a movie in awhile!” After the first half hour of Frank Miller’s “The Spirit” I quickly understood why I am so hesitant to shell out a small fortune for the price of admission. The movie tried to combine comedic satyr with film noir inspired by the original comic strip, trying to combine both the hardboiled nature of film noir with satirical comedy resulted in a film that was neither funny nor intriguing.
The PG-13 rating also meant the hyperbolic violence and sexuality featured in the Frank Miller adaptations “300” and “Sin City” were absent. Perhaps this was because unlike those films, Miller directed this movie himself.
Like any responsible movie patrons, we walked out of this mediocre movie and went next door and watched some of the film “Cadillac Records.” This film features a star-studded cast including Adrien Brody, Cedric the Entertainer, Mos Def and Beyoncé Knowles. The story is about the rise and fall of the Chess Records label and the many artists, such as Etta James, Muddy Waters and Chuck Berry, who worked with them, This film, though much better than “The Spirit,” was still not much. It seemed to be trying to mimic films like “Ray” and “Walk the Line” though with much less substance. The film may have been a bit unoriginal, but how can you complain about seeing Beyoncé Knowles on the big screen? Perhaps this represents a more carnal desire and less of a critical view of the film.
All in all, I was disappointed about what Hollywood had to offer me this December, but it’s a new year and at least I didn’t see “Valkyrie,” right?
If you want more information on both “The Spirit” or “Cadillac Records” check out the links below:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/cadillac_records/
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_spirit/
The opinions expressed above are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the State News.