This movie wasn't what I was expecting, and it ended up being a pleasant surprise. I thought it was going to be a typical fun action film, along the line of Stallone's "Expendables" films. It ended up being a much darker film than I would have predicted, with quite a bit of blood and gore. The trailers I'd seen for the film are the primary reason for the gap between my expectations and reality. They played up the film's lighter aspects and engaged in some flat out deception--in the trailer it appears that Arnold Schwarzenegger's family is kidnapped by a drug cartel and he has to save them, while in the film this is all part of the character's tragic backstory.
Almost every time a trailer gets me to form a false opinion about what a movie is trying to be, it ends in disappointment. This was a rare exception. I admired the film for going places I didn't expect. I knew going in that a plot point involved someone trying to kill off Arnold's team members. I was surprised when they actually started dropping like flies. It was fun going into a film expecting something predictable, but finding myself truly unable to guess what was going to be happening next. Near the film's end a couple of the death scenes had become predictable, but there were a lot of genuinely surprising twists as well. The action, while still over the top, was somewhat grounded in reality by the level of violence it contained.
I'm not sure how well the film would hold up in a second viewing--a few turns in the plot might not make complete sense if I really gave them tons of thought--but the film surprised me by offering more than one typically finds in "team" action movies.
I'm currently helping out in an acting class by filling in for a student's scene partner who dropped the class. The other day I was watching the teacher work with another group on their scene. He was trying to get them to commit to the scene and try things--anything--even if they thought it might not be a good idea. He said that when he sees a piece of theater he would rather it be absolutely terrible than just so-so. At least there's something to respond to. Going to see so many movies over the past several months makes me agree. Some of the worst films I've seen were extremely entertaining because of how bad they were.
"Noah", regrettably, is not terrible. But it's not very good, either. It lies in the dreaded "so-so" range. For a film whose ultimate destination is never in doubt, it is often slow-paced, and none of the many embellishments to the story add much of anything interesting. There are some impressive visuals during the flood scene itself, but they're just that: impressive visuals. I was able to admire them while watching the film, but in a detached manner, as none of the characters were interesting enough for me to really care about what was happening. Some parts of the film are a little strange, but they feel artificial. There's nothing organic or Lynchian about them. For an "epic" film, this was awfully dull.
No comments:
Post a Comment