I’m a fan of the “Hey Arnold!” television animated series. I grew up with it. It’s one of Nickelodeon’s banner television shows about growing up. Sadly, what we see in “the movie,” is just a glorified three part TV special that’s mashed in to a movie. And it’s a god awful closer for such a great show. What the animated series thrived on was the large cast of magnetic characters from the neighborhood, but this fails to bring anything truly magnetic to audiences to watch. “Hey Arnold! The Movie” is a half-assed effort that does no justice all around to a truly entertaining cartoon. What many of the executives at Nickelodeon do with their products when making them into feature films is completely take away what made the cartoon so likable to begin with.
Tag Archives: Action
Underworld (2003)
In this horror action film directed by Len Wiseman, Kate Beckinsale plays Selene, a warrior and assassin for a vampire clan who is on the hunt for a young doctor named Michael Corvin who bears an unknown gift, but now the vampire clan is at war with a rival clan of Lycans (werewolves) who are intent in crossing the young man over to their side; but soon Selene and Michael begin falling in love as the war intensifies and must choose between their family or love. I remember when I went to the theaters to check this out; I had ten dollar bill in my hand and I had to choose between “Cabin Fever” or this. I inevitably made a decision that I would soon live to regret for all my days as I chose “Cabin Fever” hoping I’d come across a horror gem, I really wish I would have chosen this instead.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
It’s been a turbulent and bittersweet three years with the good vs. evil “Lord of the Rings” trilogy making its way into theaters and creating a phenomenal and historic legacy. Director Peter Jackson has so skillfully created a trilogy that has been flawlessly taken from the pages of the legendary JRR Tolkien books and put it on the big screen for all to glimpse at the magic of Middle Earth. “The Return of the King” manages to come out of the first two with much individuality but fits into the first two films tightly coming together as an incredible whole. As individual movies, these are jaw-dropping stunners, and as a whole they’re truly an accomplishment only Peter Jackson could have constructed.
S.W.A.T. (2003)
Originally set in 1975, the iconic series “S.W.A.T.” is given a welcome modern spin with all the original characters back in tow. Director Clark Johnson does a good job selecting an all-star hip cast to portray the famous characters from the original series. What this movie manages to do that most modern action films don’t is successfully establish every character, their personality, and their background which is interesting and then pulls the audience into the action taking place with the story. It’s reported among the stars that they actually studied the real S.W.A.T. training sequences and also interacted in exercises which can be seen in the very realistic and steadfast depictions of the exercises used by the S.W.A.T. infantry.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)
Loosely based on the critically acclaimed comic book from critically acclaimed author Alan Moore, “LXG” tells the tale of Allan Quartmain, an aging adventurer in 1899 who is called upon by a mysterious man named M who enlists him and six other super-powered beings whose powers are parallel to legendry literary characters who must fight a warlord called “The Phantom” who plans to take over the world. Alan Moore presents an idea and concept so ingenious and brilliant, I was stunned upon hearing of it. Take some of the most famous heroes and villains in literary history and turn them into superheroes. What turns up as the end result is a guilty pleasure that kept me entertained all the way through.
The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
I thought “The Matrix” was great and very innovative in its own right. The basic element from the original “Matrix” film is present in this; there’s your pretty dazzling opener with Trinity doing what she does best and we enter into the great story that serves a heaping help full for any “Matrix” fan to feast on. The Wachowski brothers manage to surprise and amaze with some stunning machine special effects and great scenes that truly dazzle the mind. The opening where we’re introduced to Zion is truly magnificent as we’re first shown the exterior’s of the almost too lifelike Zion guard robots then shown the entire city. Zion is a basic hybrid of modern machinery and old age homes that live among each other in a community.
The Recruit (2003)
There are those films with big stars that you know are because the actors love the part, then there are the films that actors are in, and you know it’s for simply money. There can be no other explanation for actors such as Al Pacino and Colin Farrell to star in this other than that simple reason. There’s a mood director Roger Donaldson is going for desperately but fails with every leap trudging through the plot with a tried attempt. He attempts to go for the Tom Clancy mood and motif with the murky and sometimes sharp cinematography, but little does he know that the script is the ultimate down fall to this film. There’s nothing to like about this movie from its plot holes to immense lapses in logic; for instance, how is it that Clayton goes from a top computer programmer, to a moon lighting bartender right into the CIA without any training beforehand?