Jaws (1975) review

Jaws was the first major blockbuster to ever be released and hence it is a revolutionary piece of cinema. To think that by now, all Speilberg had to do was create a simplistic story about a killer shark and only show it very briefly in order to gain a masterpiece. Indeed one of his best films, I’d rank it his second finest next to Raiders of the Lost Ark.

During shooting of the film, there was much production problems especially with creating a larger than life shark and make it convincing. Eventually they settled into using the shark only at the most desperate moments and hence, created a film so extraordinarily brilliant that all it took was glimpses of the shark and one of the most simplistic premises. A police chief named Brody, a shark hunter named Quint and a scientist must work together to catch and kill this shark before further mayhem is ensued.

A very simplistic premise and incredibly effective, Jaws heavily relies on fantastic characters which it masterfully achieves. Quint is clearly shown, from the moment where he scrapes his fingers on a chalkboard, to be a troubled man. His hate for sharks is evident throughout the film in one of the best scenes, where he recounts a story about a killer shark wiping out the majority of passengers on an expedition. Hooper is the comedic relief character and whilst the least interesting of the trio, is provided with fantastic sequences. Brody is a guilt stricken man who feels heavily responsible for the death of a young boy and girl, thus convincing him that he must head out to kill the shark. His character is given fantastic depth, especially a fantastic scene at the dinner table with his young son as they imitate one another. This shows that whilst he is guilt stricken, he is still and he is only human. Quint is introduced in one of the greatest and most memorable ways as he scrapes his fingers on a chalkboard. The sound alone is irritating and attention grabbing and the scene, whilst definitely not annoying is most definitely memorable. He proves later to be the best character of the film.

Speilberg’s directing is absolutely brilliant perfectly allowing the story to unfold smoothly. His brilliant use of the shark and the effective characters and simplistic story gives extra layers to an otherwise fascinating story. Despite no shark present for the majority of the film, its presence is felt the entire way through as a result of fantastic directing. The script too, is extremely engaging and John Williams’ memorable score makes the film all the better. Speilberg has revealed that half of the success of Jaws is due to the score, which has become one of the most identifiable pieces of music ever put to film, right up there with various other John Williams classic tunes. The cinematography and the various tricks used to enlarge the shark is brilliant seeing as how much production problems rose with the film.

The pacing to the film is perfect. The first hour masterfully builds up mystery and suspense and the second half completely delivers, providing some incredible suspense and humor in the mix. The chemistry between Roy Schneider, Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss was amazing as the three resembled the ideal movie trio. Thankfully, the production problems were overlooked by the cast and crew and what we have now is one of the all time greatest films and one of the most unforgettable movie scores. 

Grade- 10/10

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) review

Many consider it the best of the Indiana Jones films, praising the addition of Sean Connery as one of the best casting choices. Many praise the story and action sequences as being superior to the great Raiders of the Lost Ark, but I for one, prefer the first two instalments over the conclusion to such a fantastic trilogy.

Indiana Jones’ father, Henry Jones Sr, goes missing whilst on his life long quest for the Holy Grail. Leaving to Indy, his diary which contains all his research of the Holy Grail, Indiana Jones realizes that the Nazis are once more after the Holy Grail and will stop at nothing to retrieve it. Realizing that immortality is a powerful and corruptive thing that the Nazis cannot get their hands on, Indy goes on a quest to retrieve his father and ensure the Nazis don’t get caught up with Henry’s diary, which has disappeared.

Once more, the story is very powerful and truly entertaining however I didn’t see it surpass the previous two instalments. The addition of Henry Jones is the wisest choice made in this entire franchise. The goofiness and fun he brings cannot truly be described in words. Sean Connery absolutely perfects that role and gives one of the most entertaining performances I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately, it does take a fair bit of time for his character to truly make an entrance in one of the greatest ways. His immediate reaction to smashing Indy with a bottle followed by proving that the bottle is a fake is timeless comedy. Not just funny, but it is simply able to define his character through his first few minutes. The relationship that builds throughout the film between Indy and Henry is one of the funniest yet most realistic ever in some ways.

Supporting characters include Ilsa, who I didn’t particularly care about in the film. She just wasn’t as memorable as Marion or Willie from the first two instalments and her character was someone that I wasn’t attached to. It is, however a pleasing sight to see Marcus Brody return for a bigger role in this film. He is surely one of the best aspects of this film. He is hilarious, lost and is basically one of us being on this great adventure. The best sequence of the film is one involving a lost Marcus Brody attempting to communicate with locals, but is incredibly lost! This scene was comedic perfection for the film, especially realizing that this followed Indiana Jones telling the Nazis about Brody’s whereabouts! Sallah too returns in the film, in possibly a shorter role than Raiders of the Lost Ark but he too is placed perfectly in the story.

Much like Ilsa, there is another forgettable character and he is the main antagonist, Donovan. Belloq is one of the most memorable villains put to film. He was perfect for Raiders of the Lost Ark, Mona Ram was perfect for Temple of Doom however Donovan doesn’t strike out any real threat or motivation with this film. Thankfully, this is laid aside by some fantastic entertainment thanks to Sean Connery and Harrison Ford, who shared such amazing chemistry. Just like the previous two films, the entertainment is sky high and makes this a fantastic conclusion to a great trilogy…until 2008 came!

Grade- 9/10

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) review

To this day, I cannot quite put together the criticisms laid to this film. Surely, it isn’t the best Indiana Jones film but it comes so mighty close. One of the best aspects of the film for me, is what is considered the biggest issue of the film which would be the drastic change in tone from a rather light hearted film with dark moments to an extremely dark film, containing light enough moments.

Indiana Jones, following an escape from Lao Che, finds himself crash landing a plane nearby an Indian village. Here, he is told that the children have all but being taken from them to work at Pankot Palace, where evil has once more being brewing. During the kidnapping of all the children, it is said that a sacred stone called the Shankara was taken from their village. Indiana vows to return the Sankara stone back to the village as well as all of their children as he ventures with his young friend, Short Round and the irritating singer, Willie.

Whenever people refer to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, they always list the complaints about the film which truly sickens me. It’s excessive dark content and the irritating Willie. I personally loved both. Willie is most definitely an irritating character and about as irritating as one could get but thankfully, Speilberg and Lucas were well aware of this before hand and as a result, to add some great comedic moments have her character constantly punished. As for the dark content, I can only praise Lucas and Speilberg from taking a completely different view for this film and their bravery to make a prequel to a beloved film be one with a completely different tone. Even with the incredibly dark content, this is most definitely still an Indiana Jones film. It has the same wit, same humour and the brilliant stunt work and action sequences that make this a very, very worthy prequel to the great, Raiders of the Lost Ark. In terms of action, Temple of Doom surpasses Raiders of the Lost Ark however, in terms of the plot and characters, Raiders is clearly superior.

John Williams created a truly memorable musical score with Raiders of the Lost Ark. His iconic soundtrack featured the fantastic score following Marion Ravenwood’s death, which was a very powerful piece of music. In Temple of Doom, he creates an even more powerful and epic musical score featuring the March of the Slave children. This score is such a brilliant piece of work by the legend John Williams, that I happen to prefer it over the score in Raiders.

The underground tunnel chase and the sequence on the bridge is the greatest climax put onto an Indiana Jones film and is one of the most memorable in my opinion. It features brilliant comedy, very gritty and dark stunt work and some incredible action sequences which are just a delight on screen. The parody of the swordsman in Raiders of the Lost Ark works perfectly as one of the film’s finest comedic moments. 

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is the most controversial of the franchise but is better than the original in some ways. Even if the film isn’t overall, nearly as perfect as Raiders of the Lost Ark, it is nevertheless a brilliant piece of entertainment and one of master director, Steven Speilberg’s finest films. 

Grade- 10/10

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) review

To put it in simple terms, Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of the greatest and most revolutionary films ever made and is quite possibly, legendary director Steven Speilberg’s masterpiece which says a lot. 1981 introduced us to who is quite possibly, the greatest movie character ever put to film. To that, I am ever so grateful

Indiana Jones is an archaeologist who goes after rare artefacts as a means to try and return them where they need to be. He finds himself having to go on an adventure to relocate the Lost Ark of the Covanent and take it away before the Nazis, who are looking for it in order to have complete dominion during the ongoing war.

There is the story and there is an unforgettable storyline that every man on the planet knows about. The opening scene in the film, involving Indy, his whip and the search for the Golden Buddha is definitely, one of the greatest introductions ever put to film. The moment you see a long shot of Indiana Jones, you are immediately felt a presence and his entrance into the film with the whip and emerging through the smoke, is to this day, one of the most iconic entrances made by a character. Up there with the one from The Third Man and possibly Darth Vader, in Star Wars. John Williams creates a fantastic opening theme, that is before the action starts taking place, that itself is full of purpose and tension. There is a certain mystery about the character that is felt through the brilliance of that score. The opening scene is so perfect but the most perfect aspect of it is how it added no development to the basic plot of the film but is simply used as a method to get to know various characters and their actions and motivations. We see Belloq through this opening scene and we are immediately given a hint as to who he may be. We are fully exposed to Indiana Jones and we already feel a certain charm about his character and we are already taken in by the atmosphere created by Speilberg and Lucas. 

Much like the original Star Wars trilogy, despite being amazing films, the performances aren’t the strength of those films like in other films such as The Godfather. It is purely in the story, characters and atmosphere created. Whilst the majority of the performances are undoubtedly fantastic, especially those by Harrison Ford, John Rhys Davies and Paul Freeman, the strength to Raiders of the Lost Ark lies solely in the story and character department. The action sequences in this film to this day, are breathtaking. Whilst even my favourite movie, The Lord of the Rings, has a few action sequences where I tend to take my eye off the screen, when watching Raiders of the Lost Ark I feel like Malcolmn McDowell’s character from ‘A Clockwork Orange’ when he is receiving his treatment to emerge a better man to society! They are some of the best put to film and is the pure definition of entertainment. The truck chase sequence towards the end of the film, to this day, is the greatest chase ever shown on film. The John Williams score, once more, adds it to another level and is one of the most iconic pieces of music made. Most iconic scores are made by this legend and all are unforgettable, taking the film to another extent. They dance around to the film, as if they are its own thing yet they fit perfectly with the context of the film and its overall tone.

Speilberg’s direction is absolutely flawless. This is indeed, one of the few ‘perfect’ films I’ve ever come across, a few others being Pulp Fiction, Empire Strikes Back and The Godfather. The story and dialogue is once more, flawless. I cannot praise enough how much I just love this film. Other cast members, especially Karen Allen does a great job as the lovely Marion Ravenwood, who is without a doubt, the best sidekick of a girl that has possibly being put to film. Just like Ford, she brings a real charm to the screen and her presence feels like an adventure of its own. That’s what a brilliant film does!

Raiders of the Lost Ark is quite possibly one of the top ten greatest films ever made. It is absolutely hilarious, action packed, full of tension, a sense of awe and wonder and displays the mythical element of the film flawlessly. To keep it short, Raiders of the Lost Ark can simply be described through the word ‘flawless’ 

Grade- 10/10 all the way!!!

Avatar (2009) review

I may have been the only person up until now to never have seen Avatar, not because I haven’t had time but simply because, I just didn’t feel it was necessary. I had loved James Cameron’s earlier films (Terminator, Aliens and T2) and whilst True Lies was a good fun film, it was overlong. The same can be said about Titanic and it was by this point that I came to realize that James Cameron was one of the most overrated directors in the business. I can now say that Avatar joins his list of overrated films giving us nothing but visuals to drool at.

A group of marines are sent down to a planet called Pandora in search for some precious material and paraplegic Jake Sully is one of them since he becomes a replacement for his dead brother. Here, Jake begins to bond with the native Na’vis as he learns about their lifestyle and falls in love with Neytiri whilst failing to obey orders given to him.

Here is a premise that has been done before but the issue to Avatar arises with James Cameron and his overuse of CGI to dazzle his audiences. Since 2009, it has become absurd to think how people have truly fallen in love with this film hailing it as one of the greatest ever! This has always annoyed me but having seen the movie, this is absurd. If the visual effects to Avatar weren’t as dazzling and there was no 3D to marvel at, then you have a movie that is absolutely nothing special. Whilst I am not criticizing the visuals, the story is so poorly told and the characters are stereotypical, with none of the characters coming off as interesting in the slightest. Even Neytiri, who we as an audience should be able to connect to, comes off as rather irritating. Whilst Cameron’s earlier films, mainly the first two Terminator films and Aliens were able to convey emotion effortlessly making it very subtle and natural, Avatar truly overdoes it making many of the sequences involving the natives mourning rather laughable.

Though audiences have drooled about the visuals and the 3D effects, I myself saw no true brilliance about each whether it was due to the fact that I knew the overuse of CGI or whether it was the fact that I was able to concentrate on the story and characters. The film itself is paced quite poorly and inconsistently. The first hour drags along as Jake attempts to get in with the natives and the last hour and a half suddenly becomes a much livelier and more action packed feast than it was before. The problem with this is that the first half of the film doesn’t provide much about Jake Sully to truly care for him and too much is given about Neytiri and her people that it comes to the point where it becomes rather difficult to take in anymore. This is overkill!

Even with the poor story and attempt to overly humanize the Na’vi by providing possibly too  much story, the action sequences towards the end of this film are truly engaging even if the characters in them aren’t. It is mindless eye candy thrown onto the screen simply because Cameron knew that there was no way that the film would be received the same without a huge ‘Helm’s Deep’ of his own. Whilst ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers’ had an engaging story, relatable characters, great character development, great performances, strong writing and directing that eventually deserves to be payed off with a huge action feast, Avatar rarely accomplishes any of the following I listed and so the huge action feast at the end is Cameron’s way of attempting to erase his audience’s mind of all the poor things about this film.

I am rather surprised to say this but most of the performances in the film come off as extremely poor when compared to Cameron’s other films such as Aliens which had some of his better performances by actors. Sam Worthington isn’t anything special as Jake Sully. I am still unsure on who to blame for not being able to like Jake. Sigourney Weaver, surprisingly, gives an extremely poor performance when compared with her performances in the Alien franchise. Most of the performances were extremely weird making the characters they played hard for me to take in seriously.

Those who simply praise the brilliant visuals and simply forget about the poor story and poor character development are those who do not truly think about this film and give it a simple pass for its revolutionary visuals. I just ask of them to view the film had the visuals not being at the standard that they were. As a young George Lucas once said, “Visual effects are used to tell a story. Special effects without a story is a pretty boring thing!” We all know what became of this man later in his life but this is a principle that James Cameron himself followed, until Avatar came along.  

Grade- 3/10