Every Sunday, Gill delves into his archive of over 800 movie reviews and randomly selects three for your enjoyment! Here are this week’s…
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Whoever thought that doing a classic film noir story with popular cartoon characters could work so well? Who Framed Roger Rabbit is not only a hilarious film, but also a perfect mystery, playing off all the tropes that we know and love from the detective film genre. Bob Hoskins gives what I consider to be his greatest performance ever as Eddie Valiant, private investigator to the stars, who becomes caught up in the middle of a conspiracy to frame wacky toon star Roger Rabbit in the killings of practical joke king Marvin Acme and sleazy cartoon producer R.K. Maroon. Featuring a cast of famous toons like Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny, but also a whole bunch of terrific original characters (Benny the Cab will always be a favourite of mine) and the most disproportioned femme fatale to ever grace the silver screen, I honestly can’t think of anything negative to say about this movie. From start to finish, Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a truly great time.
5 out of 5
Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen
The title of this Donnie Yen chop-socky movie might confuse some, since I don’t think there was ever a movie called Legend of the Fist: The Appearence of Chen Zhen. Title aside, this movie is everything you could want from a Donnie Yen martial arts movie. The story is nothing to write home about – a good guy surrounded by crime decides to fight it by donning the guise of a masked vigilante. Ultimately, Legend of the Fist is what you’d get if you made The Green Hornet all about Kato and set it in 1925. But none of that matters in the end, because any Donnie Yen movie is first and foremost about the fight scenes and, as per usual, they’re incredible. Yen moves at what seems like superhuman speed, and any time he’s kicking ass, it’s a mind-blowing thing to behold. I probably wouldn’t recommend this to anyone but martial arts fans, but for those fans of the genre, this should be a very enjoyable film.
3.5 out of 5
The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec
Luc Besson returns to the director’s chair after a long absence for The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec – a strange mashup of ideas masquerading as a movie. The film is about…well, it’s about a lot of strange things. There’s a psychic who manages to reawaken a pterodactyl embryo trapped in a fossilized egg, which then hatches and runs amok in Paris. There’s Adele, a writer whose sister is afflicted with a hatpin stabbed through his brain, who steals a mummy in the hopes of using it to cure her sister of her brain trauma. There’s the chief inspector of the police force with unusually large ears who is put in charge of killing the dinosaur with the help of a foppish big game hunter. It’s a strange film, to be sure, but thankfully it’s always entertaining. In essence, the movie is what you’d get if you combined the humour and energy of The Fifth Element with Rachel Weisz’s character from The Mummy and the narrator from Amelie. It presents a lot of weird and fun ideas, but doesn’t explain any of the mojo taking place, which can be a bit off-putting. But it’s still fun, and if you liked any of the three movies mentioned above (The Fifth Element, The Mummy, Amelie), then you’ll probably like this one too, for the most part.
3.5 out of 5
See you next Sunday for three more thrilling short reviews!