Superman Returns is exactly what I was looking for in a summer blockbuster. It is well acted. It has a decent plot for a super hero movie and once it gets going its down right entertaining. I read a lot of reviews about this film before I saw it, sometimes a bad thing but all I can say is that I don't know what movie most of these people saw but I disagree with many of them. I do not think Brandon Routh was imitating Christopher Reeve, I think he was playing Clark Kent. I think Spacey's Lex Luthor is closer to the maniac he is than Gene Hackman's Luthor. I still like Hackman's role from the previous Superman films but I think Spacey's Luthor is done better. I'll save special mention for Kate Bosworth later.
Admittedly the film starts a little slow. The hero has been absent for five years and the world has moved on. Lois Lane has a kid and a steady live in boyfriend and has won a Pulitzer prize for an editorial on why the world doesn't need Superman. Superman returns and has a few unnecessary flashbacks to his early discovery of his power as well as a poignant scene with his mother played by Eva Marie Saint. I like Eva Marie Saint. She is underused here. If you want to be reminded of how good she is go back and watch On The Waterfront (1954) or more recently as the ever forgiving mother in the very pleasant Don't Come Knocking (2005). Having returned Superman dons his familiar glasses and also returns as Clark Kent.
Some people bitch and make mockery of the fact that Superman's disguise is so obvious but I think such complaints are trivial. It is part of the fantasy that should be accepted. Superman's return is advantageous as he rescues a plane full of people in a really well done action sequence. His return brings conflict to Lois' life as she struggles with her feelings for Superman. Meanwhile tried and true Superman villain Lex Luthor is hatching an evil plot. It is reminiscent of his plans in the original movie. It's devilishly wicked and yes non-sensical but delightful in the way only a comic book villain can be. The movie kicks into high gear and ends well (no turning the Earth backwards on its axis to reverse time, thank god).
Okay, Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane. Kate Bosworth is a better Lois Lane than Margot Kidder. I keep hearing about how Margot Kidder was better and I stare blankly at these statements and try to ponder on what earth that is true. Bosworth's Lois looks at Superman with pain and love in a way I never saw Kidder. Kidder's Lois looked at Superman like a piece of meat, it never felt like love almost always lust. Bosworth seems truly torn for her undeniable attraction and love of Superman with her feelings for Richard White (James Marsden). I thought the scene on the roof of the Daily Planet between Superman and Lois was one of the best moments of the film.
Could Bryan Singer work on the pacing a bit more? Yes. Still Superman is back and I hope there are more films because he is a great character. He isn't conflicted by balancing his life with superheroism like Spider-Man nor by a darkness inside him like Batman but he is instilled with the same sense of duty that those characters are, the duty to help those who need it. He's also almost entirely selfless which is sort of refreshing in today's age.
We went seeking greatness in movies, and were most often disappointed. We waited for a movie like the one we wanted to make, and secretly wanted to live. -Roger Ebert paraphrasing a quote from Masculin Feminin
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Monday, June 26, 2006
Shrimp on the Barbie Western?
In 1964 a film directed by the Italian Sergio Leone was released that reinvisioned the Hollywood genre of the Western. A Fistful Of Dollars was more violent and bloody than had previously been seen. I'm not going to say that The Proposition (2005) is going to revolutionize westerns, in fact it doesn't do anything groundbreaking. But it does fall into the Sergio Leone tradition of violence and it does offer a unique look at a frontier that I would like to see more of.
The film starts with the capture of two brothers, Charlie and Mike. Captain Stanley, the local peace officer offers Charlie a proposition. If he will kill his older brother, Arthur, a practically insane more dangerous man then Charlie and his younger brother will be pardoned for their crimes. From there the film moves on and actually pretty much loses sight of its premise rather quickly. Of course there are some wonderful performances by the likes of John Hurt and Danny Huston, but the film falls flat as it meanders back and forth between following Stanley and Charlie.
At first as Charlie set out I couldn't help but think of Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) in Apocalypse Now (1979). I thought that this would turn into a similar soul searching journey as he struggled with the idea of killing one truly wicked brother to save one innocent brother. But that isn't what happened, instead the film came to a climax in an orgy of violence and death.
In the end this movie failed to put forth something that is worth a trip to the theater, it might be worth renting though. But it did offer up potential for someone else to exploit. Australia and its history, in particular for Americans, could be fascinating areas to explore for the western.
The film starts with the capture of two brothers, Charlie and Mike. Captain Stanley, the local peace officer offers Charlie a proposition. If he will kill his older brother, Arthur, a practically insane more dangerous man then Charlie and his younger brother will be pardoned for their crimes. From there the film moves on and actually pretty much loses sight of its premise rather quickly. Of course there are some wonderful performances by the likes of John Hurt and Danny Huston, but the film falls flat as it meanders back and forth between following Stanley and Charlie.
At first as Charlie set out I couldn't help but think of Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) in Apocalypse Now (1979). I thought that this would turn into a similar soul searching journey as he struggled with the idea of killing one truly wicked brother to save one innocent brother. But that isn't what happened, instead the film came to a climax in an orgy of violence and death.
In the end this movie failed to put forth something that is worth a trip to the theater, it might be worth renting though. But it did offer up potential for someone else to exploit. Australia and its history, in particular for Americans, could be fascinating areas to explore for the western.
Click
I've never been a fan of Adam Sandler and I've never seen him in a movie that I liked. I mean that. At best I have tolerated Adam Sandler in movies such as The Wedding Singer (1998) or Punch Drunk Love (2002). So as I do from time to time, I went to Click fully expecting a movie I was not going to like. My expectations were met dead on...for the first act.
Click starts as a fairly predictable and rather unfunny little film. When he first gets the remote Sandler's character does use it for typically juvenile Sandler antics. But slowly he starts to use it to get ahead and to 'in his own view' stop hurting his family. In the process he starts missing things and eventually wakes up having missed most of his life.
Suddenly he has learned his lesson. His fastlane life has caused him to miss out on some of the most important things. Yes the message is a bit corny and yes at times Sandler can't help but drop in a crude joke but the film has evolved into something else. It is by no means perfect and had there been another choice of movie out this weekend I might not have seen Click but in the end the film grew on me.
Even if the message is corny the saddest truth is, that this is the way a lot of the world runs its life. I mean this is the same world where a person can't go to a movie for two hours without someone having to answer the phone in the middle of it. So as much as I'd like to think a sappy movie like this didn't need to be made, the truth is it probably did. It could have been made better, no doubt, but it wasn't. In the end this isn't a movie I recommend but I must admit it grew on me by the time the credits rolled.
p.s. - Christopher Walken is fantastic in this film, as always.
Click starts as a fairly predictable and rather unfunny little film. When he first gets the remote Sandler's character does use it for typically juvenile Sandler antics. But slowly he starts to use it to get ahead and to 'in his own view' stop hurting his family. In the process he starts missing things and eventually wakes up having missed most of his life.
Suddenly he has learned his lesson. His fastlane life has caused him to miss out on some of the most important things. Yes the message is a bit corny and yes at times Sandler can't help but drop in a crude joke but the film has evolved into something else. It is by no means perfect and had there been another choice of movie out this weekend I might not have seen Click but in the end the film grew on me.
Even if the message is corny the saddest truth is, that this is the way a lot of the world runs its life. I mean this is the same world where a person can't go to a movie for two hours without someone having to answer the phone in the middle of it. So as much as I'd like to think a sappy movie like this didn't need to be made, the truth is it probably did. It could have been made better, no doubt, but it wasn't. In the end this isn't a movie I recommend but I must admit it grew on me by the time the credits rolled.
p.s. - Christopher Walken is fantastic in this film, as always.
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Now I have a headache
There are comedies in the world that make one laugh in genuine humor. There are comedies that make you chuckle but not laugh. There are unintentional comedies that are other genre movies that are so bad they make you laugh. Then there are movies so painfully unfunny that no only do you not laugh but they in addition cause you physical pain. Nacho Libre falls into that last category. I had actually developed a headache by film end. I cannot stress how unfunny Jack Black truly is. I should have been tipped off that this film would be trailer (both its own trailer and the trailers attached to the film itself) and the fact that the producers were Nickelodeon. The film was directed by Jared Hess who had recent success with Napolean Dynamite (2004) a film I haven't seen and now have no interest in seeing.
Fast And The Furious 3?
Oh that is right, there was not one but two sequels to a mediocre action vehicle for one Vin Diesel. Of course Vin didn't show up for the sequels, a wise move on his part. Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift is simply put ludicrous. In the opening one sees the hero racing a rich kid played by Zachary Bryan (of Home Improvement fame, he's lost the Ty I guess) and causing lots of damage. So the hero's mom sends him to his dad, who conveniently lives in Japan. I'm not kidding, that is the setup of the movie.
There is little else to concern yourself with other than the hero gets involved in racing again called 'drifting', apparently a real style but no doubt made more impressive by special effects. This movie was so unintentionally funny that I was laughing most of the movie. Then having glimpsed a trailer for the film a few days before I could have sworn I saw Vin Diesel in the film. And with seconds to spare who should make a cameo? I'll admit I cheered loudly and to the annoyance of those around me. It was so ridiculously absurd at that point I couldn't help myself.
There is little else to concern yourself with other than the hero gets involved in racing again called 'drifting', apparently a real style but no doubt made more impressive by special effects. This movie was so unintentionally funny that I was laughing most of the movie. Then having glimpsed a trailer for the film a few days before I could have sworn I saw Vin Diesel in the film. And with seconds to spare who should make a cameo? I'll admit I cheered loudly and to the annoyance of those around me. It was so ridiculously absurd at that point I couldn't help myself.
Monday, June 12, 2006
R.S.V.P./Tart
R.S.V.P.
If you want to see a plodding uninteresting serial killer film loosely inspired by Alfred Hitchcock and proudly boasting a cast that includes Jason Mewes then R.S.V.P. (2002) is the movie for you. If the film I just described makes you physically sick or makes you laugh outloud in embarassment that it was ever made, then I recommend staying far, far away from this film. I watched it due to a new found delight in the actress Nora Zehetner, she is in the movie for about fifteen minutes and does what she can with what she is given. Jason Mewes plays his character Jay which is basically just Jason Mewes being himself.
Tart
Tart (2001) boasts a cast of the would be Hollywood future. Brad Renfro, Dominique Swain and Bijou Philips lead the cast. Unfortunatley the film is about self entitled rich kids, who act reckless. The problem being that who cares if self entitled rich kids act reckless. This is already the stereotype.
If you want to see a plodding uninteresting serial killer film loosely inspired by Alfred Hitchcock and proudly boasting a cast that includes Jason Mewes then R.S.V.P. (2002) is the movie for you. If the film I just described makes you physically sick or makes you laugh outloud in embarassment that it was ever made, then I recommend staying far, far away from this film. I watched it due to a new found delight in the actress Nora Zehetner, she is in the movie for about fifteen minutes and does what she can with what she is given. Jason Mewes plays his character Jay which is basically just Jason Mewes being himself.
Tart
Tart (2001) boasts a cast of the would be Hollywood future. Brad Renfro, Dominique Swain and Bijou Philips lead the cast. Unfortunatley the film is about self entitled rich kids, who act reckless. The problem being that who cares if self entitled rich kids act reckless. This is already the stereotype.
Prairie Home Companion
I find watching Robert Altman films to be tedious. They stereotypically focus on intimate moments between several characters all held together by a loosely constructed plot. A Prairie Home Companion is no different. There are lots of neat well done individual scenes, specifically Lily Tomlin and Meryl Streep who are amazing as emotional singing sisters.
The film follows the last broadcast of the radio show A Prairie Home Companion with intercut "behind the scenes" scenes. It is pretty close to actually listening to a broadcast of the show on public radio some Saturday. Well that with intercut spirituality and character driven scenes that add little to the plot.
I laughed at times but overall this movie didn't really go anywhere that was interesting. It just kind of soldiered along for close on two hours and then just ends. I'm sure many will enjoy this film and in the end I am forced to conclude that this movie will be like the joke that made me laugh hardest in this film. The movie even acknowledges the joke isn't really that funny.
"Two penguins come together on the ice. One says to the other, 'you look like you're wearing a tuxedo.' The second says 'what makes you think I'm not?'"
I knew it wasn't funny but I laughed. Still the movie didn't strike me in the same way. It just felt tedious.
The film follows the last broadcast of the radio show A Prairie Home Companion with intercut "behind the scenes" scenes. It is pretty close to actually listening to a broadcast of the show on public radio some Saturday. Well that with intercut spirituality and character driven scenes that add little to the plot.
I laughed at times but overall this movie didn't really go anywhere that was interesting. It just kind of soldiered along for close on two hours and then just ends. I'm sure many will enjoy this film and in the end I am forced to conclude that this movie will be like the joke that made me laugh hardest in this film. The movie even acknowledges the joke isn't really that funny.
"Two penguins come together on the ice. One says to the other, 'you look like you're wearing a tuxedo.' The second says 'what makes you think I'm not?'"
I knew it wasn't funny but I laughed. Still the movie didn't strike me in the same way. It just felt tedious.
The Omen
When watching a film like The Omen (2006), I can't help but wonder why anyone in their right mind would name their kid Damien. To me no name screams more "I am the antichrist" than the name Damien. If I were going to bring the child of the devil into the world I'd give him a name that nobody would ever think to doubt. I'd name the kid Jesus Satankiller. Who would ever think that Jesus Satankiller was a bad guy? His last name is Satankiller. His first name is Jesus. Now that would be a name to fool mankind.
This is probably the case because I know of and have seen the original The Omen (1976). Still beyond having seen it years ago, I don't recall much of the film. The film doesn't try very hard you know that Damien is the devil's son pretty much from the start and the film pretty much follows a silly formula. There are some truly ludicrous moments such as when a paparrazzi played by David Thewlis interprets a poem to mean Damien's rise from the sea means politics. I couldn't help myself from laughing at how absurd the interpretation was.
The acting in this film is entirely wooden, which is really a shame because there is some amazing talent in this film. Pete Postlehtwaite, David Thewlis and Liev Schreiber in their own right are all excellent actors here reduced to mere shells of characters. And then there is Michael Gambon, alas, never was there a more blatant waste of talent than him in this film.
For most of the film I thought how much better it would have been if someone had made the Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaimon book "Good Omens" into a movie. That was a very funny book about the son of the devil being misplaced in a mix up and the search for him by the demon responsible and the angel sent to prevent him. In the end that was what I was left with. The film would have been better if it had not been a remake but an adaptation of a recent book. Of course that would be totally opposite of Hollywood logic.
This is probably the case because I know of and have seen the original The Omen (1976). Still beyond having seen it years ago, I don't recall much of the film. The film doesn't try very hard you know that Damien is the devil's son pretty much from the start and the film pretty much follows a silly formula. There are some truly ludicrous moments such as when a paparrazzi played by David Thewlis interprets a poem to mean Damien's rise from the sea means politics. I couldn't help myself from laughing at how absurd the interpretation was.
The acting in this film is entirely wooden, which is really a shame because there is some amazing talent in this film. Pete Postlehtwaite, David Thewlis and Liev Schreiber in their own right are all excellent actors here reduced to mere shells of characters. And then there is Michael Gambon, alas, never was there a more blatant waste of talent than him in this film.
For most of the film I thought how much better it would have been if someone had made the Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaimon book "Good Omens" into a movie. That was a very funny book about the son of the devil being misplaced in a mix up and the search for him by the demon responsible and the angel sent to prevent him. In the end that was what I was left with. The film would have been better if it had not been a remake but an adaptation of a recent book. Of course that would be totally opposite of Hollywood logic.
Break-Up
I'm not entirely sure what kind of movie The Break Up was trying to be. If it is a romantic comedy it doesn't make me laugh or yearn for the couple to get back together. If it is a dark comedy about break ups, it just isn't vicious enough. Both the main characters still seem to care about one another, well as much as two can when the actors playing them have no on screen chemistry that I could discern.
Most of the movie had me thinking that Love Stinks (1999) was a better movie than this. At the very minimum it at least made me laugh. Actually even the fact that both movies star Jason Bateman in a supporting role made me wonder. Love Stinks wasn't really vicious either, the things the exes do to each other are ludicrous but you can feel the visceral hatred between the two as they act and that is why it works. This film could have been really good, if it had truly been about a break up and all the ugliness that can entail. It might not have been fun to watch, but it would have been honest.
Most of the movie had me thinking that Love Stinks (1999) was a better movie than this. At the very minimum it at least made me laugh. Actually even the fact that both movies star Jason Bateman in a supporting role made me wonder. Love Stinks wasn't really vicious either, the things the exes do to each other are ludicrous but you can feel the visceral hatred between the two as they act and that is why it works. This film could have been really good, if it had truly been about a break up and all the ugliness that can entail. It might not have been fun to watch, but it would have been honest.
Friday, June 02, 2006
Brick
When one sets a goal to see one hundred films in one calendar year, it is inevitable that a lot of horribly bad films are going to be seen. There will also be a fair share of mediocre or decent films. Overall, there will be very few great films. And since Hollywood follows a release date pattern most of the year can start to look pretty grim. The dumping grounds of the opening of the year are only spared by the limited release films that finally show up in the nowhereville that is my location (I mean that in the movie release sense, this is not New York or LA or even Chicago). The dumping grounds are followed by the summer blockbuster season.
Luckily for me a smaller independent film finally made it to my area and I was fortunate enough to view it. Brick was a bright shining beacon of hope among a myriad of big budget schlock. The film follows Brendan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) as he tries to discover what brought about the death of his ex Emily. He slugs down into a world of drugs and intrigue that is back-dropped against high school, which pretty much makes the movie pretty surreal. Soon he is surrounded by some very interesting characters with equally interesting names and professions, such as the Pin (Lukas Haas) a local drug kingpin and the Brain (Matt O'Leary).
In all of this there are fights and trickery and conversations that are truly well conceived. The dialogue is filled with some slang. I cannot be sure that it is real slang, since I confess I lost track of how teens talk basically the minute I graduated high school but it doesn't really matter if it is real slang. The characters say it with out a touch of irony. In fact everything in this film is said straight faced. This makes what is at times probably ludicrous dialogue work. As long as no one breaks the fantasy the film works. Only one particularly violent scene broke the fantasy and even that I could overlook.
The brightest part of the film for me was Nora Zehetner who plays Laura. Laura is the equivalent of the film noir femme fatale. She exudes allure with a hint of danger that lies somewhere in her skinny frame. When she was on screen I couldn't take my eyes off her and when she wasn't on screen I was secretly hoping she would return. I am eager to see her in more films in the future. But she is not the only great performance in this film. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is amazing. I had to remind myself that this is no longer the little kid from the TV show "Third Rock From The Sun".
The tone and the atmosphere of this film are fantastic. The humor off beat but definitely there. It almost never breaks the bounds of its own fantasy. I was really starting to lose hope and this film reminded me nicely that films could be more than just a handsome actor acting petulant and shooting guns. I cannot recommend it and Nora Zehetner (a new actress crush) enough.
Luckily for me a smaller independent film finally made it to my area and I was fortunate enough to view it. Brick was a bright shining beacon of hope among a myriad of big budget schlock. The film follows Brendan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) as he tries to discover what brought about the death of his ex Emily. He slugs down into a world of drugs and intrigue that is back-dropped against high school, which pretty much makes the movie pretty surreal. Soon he is surrounded by some very interesting characters with equally interesting names and professions, such as the Pin (Lukas Haas) a local drug kingpin and the Brain (Matt O'Leary).
In all of this there are fights and trickery and conversations that are truly well conceived. The dialogue is filled with some slang. I cannot be sure that it is real slang, since I confess I lost track of how teens talk basically the minute I graduated high school but it doesn't really matter if it is real slang. The characters say it with out a touch of irony. In fact everything in this film is said straight faced. This makes what is at times probably ludicrous dialogue work. As long as no one breaks the fantasy the film works. Only one particularly violent scene broke the fantasy and even that I could overlook.
The brightest part of the film for me was Nora Zehetner who plays Laura. Laura is the equivalent of the film noir femme fatale. She exudes allure with a hint of danger that lies somewhere in her skinny frame. When she was on screen I couldn't take my eyes off her and when she wasn't on screen I was secretly hoping she would return. I am eager to see her in more films in the future. But she is not the only great performance in this film. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is amazing. I had to remind myself that this is no longer the little kid from the TV show "Third Rock From The Sun".
The tone and the atmosphere of this film are fantastic. The humor off beat but definitely there. It almost never breaks the bounds of its own fantasy. I was really starting to lose hope and this film reminded me nicely that films could be more than just a handsome actor acting petulant and shooting guns. I cannot recommend it and Nora Zehetner (a new actress crush) enough.
Thursday, June 01, 2006
B For Boring
V For Vendetta based on the popular graphic novel can't ever get beyond the ludicrous. I can only presume that the graphic novel is not as bad as this film. The film starts in the "not to distant future" as all good dystopic films do. England has become quite totalitarian thanks to terrorism and things like the avian flu. One man wearing a Guy Fawkes mask stands up to the oppression using oddly enough terrorist tactics.
He saves a woman named Evey (Natalie Portman) and a game of cat and mouse starts as the government attempts to find the masked man. Eventually all the plans of this one man fall into place and by movie's end he has pretty much triumphed including succeeding in the plan that Guy Fawkes centuries ago failed to pull off. There are choreographed fight scenes that are certainly watchable, but overall this movie lacked anything interesting.
In fact, it had quite a bit of uninteresting, not to mention ludicrous. I pretty much checked out of this movie near its beginning when the hero expounds on a diatribe of pseudo alliterative gibberish. I won't bother sitting here and typing out all the truly asinine moments of this film. Suffice to say someone thought it appropriate that Ms. Portman "stand at a attention" if you follow me for most of the movie. Beyond that it is a movie that represents every single left wing conspiracy fantasy you can think of which I can stomach about as much as I can stomach the right wing conspiracy fantasies, which is to say not at all.
He saves a woman named Evey (Natalie Portman) and a game of cat and mouse starts as the government attempts to find the masked man. Eventually all the plans of this one man fall into place and by movie's end he has pretty much triumphed including succeeding in the plan that Guy Fawkes centuries ago failed to pull off. There are choreographed fight scenes that are certainly watchable, but overall this movie lacked anything interesting.
In fact, it had quite a bit of uninteresting, not to mention ludicrous. I pretty much checked out of this movie near its beginning when the hero expounds on a diatribe of pseudo alliterative gibberish. I won't bother sitting here and typing out all the truly asinine moments of this film. Suffice to say someone thought it appropriate that Ms. Portman "stand at a attention" if you follow me for most of the movie. Beyond that it is a movie that represents every single left wing conspiracy fantasy you can think of which I can stomach about as much as I can stomach the right wing conspiracy fantasies, which is to say not at all.
Making More Money For The WWE
See No Evil is a laughably bad vehicle for WWE wrestler Kane. The film starts with two cops going into a house and confronting a psychopath, who kills on of the two and maims the other. Fast forward and our one armed man is now a guard at a juvenile prison. He has gathered a motley crew of delinquents, whose crime we get to learn by a freeze frame and a scroll of text that identifies the name and crime. I assure you this has absolutely no purpose in the film. Then we get a similar roll call of women delinquents, who will be joining the men on this field trip.
The group arrives at an old abandoned hotel, which they will be cleaning up for three days as part of a deal to get reduced sentences. The doors of the hotel will be conveniently locked at night. How is that for a ridiculously idiotic set up? Don't worry we've got drug users and oversexed teenagers to boot. Once night falls, the teens go off and do some stupid stuff and the psychopath from the opening of the film (if you really thought he was dead, you really don't watch these kind of movies often or even once really) starts killing them one by one. Even for a slasher flick this film is uninspiring. The deaths are unoriginal and its little more than a slow plod to the inevitable conclusion.
We get sporadic flashbacks showing why the psycho is the way he is but I really didn't care and his disturbing fetish for women with religious tattoos was ridiculous. After a healthy body count and surprisingly only very mild nudity (let's face it, in a film like this you expect gratuitous nudity left and right) the film ends with a typical good guy triumph. I didn't think any film would make me think Saw (2004) was a good movie, but compared to this trash it was cinematic gold.
The group arrives at an old abandoned hotel, which they will be cleaning up for three days as part of a deal to get reduced sentences. The doors of the hotel will be conveniently locked at night. How is that for a ridiculously idiotic set up? Don't worry we've got drug users and oversexed teenagers to boot. Once night falls, the teens go off and do some stupid stuff and the psychopath from the opening of the film (if you really thought he was dead, you really don't watch these kind of movies often or even once really) starts killing them one by one. Even for a slasher flick this film is uninspiring. The deaths are unoriginal and its little more than a slow plod to the inevitable conclusion.
We get sporadic flashbacks showing why the psycho is the way he is but I really didn't care and his disturbing fetish for women with religious tattoos was ridiculous. After a healthy body count and surprisingly only very mild nudity (let's face it, in a film like this you expect gratuitous nudity left and right) the film ends with a typical good guy triumph. I didn't think any film would make me think Saw (2004) was a good movie, but compared to this trash it was cinematic gold.