RED JUNGLE ★
¨Directed by: Juan Jose Lozano
¨ Genre: Animation (Switzerland, Spain) ¨ Screening in Annecy International Animation Film Festival
There are two men called Raul Reyes. One of them was US Air Force colonel for 22 years, while the second was a prominent figure of the revolutionary FARC movement in Colombia. The first man (luckily) has nothing to do with this movie. The second one is the hero of the animation that mostly used rotoscope technique, which means photographing live actors and project them to a graphic system in order to produce an animated version. The technical result is not the single point of weakness. In fact, there was no need to transform the live action into animation, it would have been better if it wasn’t transformed. The movie shows the last weeks in the life of this leader and his companions before their location in a jungle was bombarded by the Colombian forces with the help of US intelligence. Given that the movie starts with the day he was killed and turns into a flashback, suspense is over just after the first three minutes.
¨Final Judgement: A Failure in all aspects.
THOR
◆ Directed by: Taika Waititi
◆ Genre: Action, Fantasy (United States) ◆International commercial screenings
In this installment of Thor’s story, the movie’s protagonist who came from the Viking era (Chris Hemsworth) cooperate with his old friend (Natalie Portman) to confront the most dangerous and mischievous evil. What’s new? There’s some love, more of thunder and very little value. The problem with the New Zealander director who is lucky in Hollywood is that he rushes into dumbing down events with jokes, funny anecdotes and scenes that has no value. Only Christian Bale (acting Gorr) somehow performed well.
◆ Final judgement: for people who enjoy movies based on superhero comics.
MINIONS
◆ Directed by: Brad Ableson
◆ Genre: Animation ◆ International commercial screenings
A possible question if you watched the movie: what is the actual story amid all the tangled threads throughout 88 minutes of sometimes funny and other times boring events? The events take place in the 1970s, with Gru at its center. He is trying to be an outstanding villain, but he fails when the gang he wants to lead rejects him. The movie revolves around the main character (comedian Steve Carell), so whenever he’s out of screen, the film becomes boring.
◆ Final Judgement: entertaining for kids, boring for adults.
THE FORGIVEN ★★★
◆ Directed by: John Michael MacDonagh
◆ Genre: Thriller (US) ◆ Commercial screenings
The movie is an insightful perspective of a dilemma lived by a man and his wife (Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain). One night, the husband runs down a Moroccan man in a rural area in Morocco. Traditionally, the men of the tribe would have to seek revenge, but the movie provides more than a story of revenge. The couple were drunk when the accident took place, and quickly the husband finds himself the sole person responsible while the wife is seduced by another young man. This is a movie about different cultures and environments, and a man who finds himself confronting everything on his own.
◆ Final judgement: Good in more than one aspect.
Bahibak ★
◆ Directed by Tamer Hosni
◆ Genre: Romance, Drama (Egypt) ◆ Screening in Arab countries
“One word said in a second can affect a whole life,” says Tamer Hosni who wrote, directed and starred this movie about a man who had to choose between two girls. When he did, tears burst out over a possible breakup, or perhaps because the actors realized the trouble they got in when they joined that movie.There’s a lot of singing, dancing, eating, and more definition of love and mankind’s need for it. There’s also sweet talk, and some funny jokes.
◆ Final judgement: Suitable for tissue advertising and nothing more.
THE REEF
◆ Directed by Andrew Taucki
◆ Genre: Thriller (US) ◆ Screening in the Gulf
Since Steven Spielberg released “Jaws” in 1975, the film industry has sought to revive the same horror. This movie is another successful trial as a thriller, although it doesn’t offer anything new. Four girls go in a coastal trip to an island in the Atlantic. All they want is to enjoy the sea, quietness and beauty of the place, but the problem is that a shark unleashed from other movies wants to catch them one after the other.
◆ Final judgement: entertaining for fans of this genre.
★ Weak or average | ★★: Mediocre with merits| ★★★: Good | ★★★★: Excellent | ★★★★★: A masterpiece
