Movie Night

Last Friday my wife and I decided to watch a some movies. As every couple knows, agreeing on which movie to watch is rarely easy, but ultimately we decided on Lucy by Luc Besson.

My one big complaint about Lucy is the faulty premise it builds upon, namely that we only use 10% of our brains. We do in fact use a great deal more, just not all at once. Every part of our brains are necessary and we couldn't function if only 10% were in use.

Apart from this, Lucy is a really good film. I can't explain the plot without spoiling it, but it's beautifully shot, the acting is definitely there, particularly Scarlett Johansson who goes from convincingly terrified to absolutely dispassionate with style.

The effects were wonderful. There aren't as many action scenes as the trailer had led me to expect, but trailers usually lie, so no real surprise there. In fact, I was pleased that Mr. Besson didn't rely on explosions or gunfights to cover up slow parts. All in all Lucy is a very well crafted movie. Part action, part sci-fi - all good. But if the whole 10% thing is too much for you, maybe watch something else. I for one would warmly recommend Lucy.

The other film we watched I can't and won't recommend. Ever. DisasterWars: Earthquake vs. Tsunami... I know, I know you can't have any expectations with disaster movies, but they are a weakness of ours and sometimes one has to indulge. Films like The day after tomorrow and 2012 aren't good in any stretch of the imagination but they are technically well made and the disasters look awesome. But then there are the other sort of disaster movies like Super Cyclone and Into the storm that are extremely low budget and it shows.

The sad thing though is that a film doesn't have to be bad just because they don't have a lot of money, in fact there are hundreds of films that had tons of money and still reek to high heaven. But for some reason, people with barely any money and sometimes even less talent really want to make disaster movies, arguably one of the hardest genres to make if you have zero cash.

There are only two elements to a disaster flick. The people and the destruction. The people drama is necessary in order for the catastrophe to mean anything and the destruction is cool and we like to watch everything get torn to shreds. But with only two elements, at least one of them has to be good, and in Disaster Wars: Earthquake vs. Tsunami neither works. The FX is laughable at best and there are scenes where I'm convinced that the “actors” forgot their lines. To make it even worse, you have dumb mistakes like a Colonel with U.S. Army on his chest who has a Gunnery Sergeant as his second in command. The Gunnery Sergeant is a Marine Corps only rank. I'm not American and I know this. What excuse do the film makers have? I could go on, but that would be needlessly cruel to you. Just do yourself a favor and avoid this movie at all costs. Please.

That's it, so until next time have a great disaster wars free week!