HANCOCK
One of the things I liked about this tale of a dysfunctional superhero is that we don’t get a traditional origin story. There’s not even much back-story until about halfway through the movie. Up to that point, the viewer just has to figure out what’s going on. Then there’s a big twist in the plot (you’ll probably see it coming). Overall I thought this movie was pretty entertaining. Funny, poignant, some nice action here and there. Not a great film but well worth watching.
PRINCE CASPIAN
If you liked the first Narnia movie (I did), you ought to enjoy this one, too (I did). You get weird creatures, swordplay, epic battles, stirring music . . . what’s not to like? I’ve never read the books these movies are based on, but I’m thinking maybe I ought to.
LEGIONNAIRE
I’ve always liked Jean-Claude van Damme’s movies, and I’m not sure how we missed this one when it came out ten years ago. It’s right up my alley, with a plot like a yarn by Robert Carse or G
eorges Surdez in ADVENTURE or ARGOSY. Van Damme’s a boxer who doesn’t take a dive when he’s supposed to (do the boxing heroes of books and movies ever take a dive when they’re supposed to?), who winds up joining the French Foreign Legion to get away from the gangsters who are after him. There’s nothing here you haven’t seen in scores of cavalry Westerns and war movies, but I enjoyed it anyway.
Talk about a vanished genre, it’s got to be French Foreign Legion stories. From P.C. Wren’s BEAU GESTE to scads of pulp tales, it was once very popular. Several years ago I wrote a proposal for a Foreign Legion novel, but I couldn’t ever interest any editors in it. I’d still write a book like that without hesitation if the opportunity ever came up.
One of the things I liked about this tale of a dysfunctional superhero is that we don’t get a traditional origin story. There’s not even much back-story until about halfway through the movie. Up to that point, the viewer just has to figure out what’s going on. Then there’s a big twist in the plot (you’ll probably see it coming). Overall I thought this movie was pretty entertaining. Funny, poignant, some nice action here and there. Not a great film but well worth watching.
PRINCE CASPIAN
If you liked the first Narnia movie (I did), you ought to enjoy this one, too (I did). You get weird creatures, swordplay, epic battles, stirring music . . . what’s not to like? I’ve never read the books these movies are based on, but I’m thinking maybe I ought to.
LEGIONNAIRE
I’ve always liked Jean-Claude van Damme’s movies, and I’m not sure how we missed this one when it came out ten years ago. It’s right up my alley, with a plot like a yarn by Robert Carse or G
eorges Surdez in ADVENTURE or ARGOSY. Van Damme’s a boxer who doesn’t take a dive when he’s supposed to (do the boxing heroes of books and movies ever take a dive when they’re supposed to?), who winds up joining the French Foreign Legion to get away from the gangsters who are after him. There’s nothing here you haven’t seen in scores of cavalry Westerns and war movies, but I enjoyed it anyway.Talk about a vanished genre, it’s got to be French Foreign Legion stories. From P.C. Wren’s BEAU GESTE to scads of pulp tales, it was once very popular. Several years ago I wrote a proposal for a Foreign Legion novel, but I couldn’t ever interest any editors in it. I’d still write a book like that without hesitation if the opportunity ever came up.
6 comments:
I've hemmed and hawed over Hancock, but your review convinced me to check it out. Also, I might check out that Van Damme one--I had totally forgotten about that one.
Van Damme's got to be a guilty secret - I've never really liked these type of movies. He always seemed like a poor man's action hero. Mind you I really liked the flawed Hancock. When I first heard it was being made I thought it was a Tony Hancock biopic
And I thought (well, I was secretly hoping) it would be a Herbie Hancock biopic.
Wait until you see Van Damme's latest, JCVD, in which he plays a washed-up Belgian action star named Jean Claude Van Damme who gets caught up in a Dog Day Afternoon situation. One of the most entertaining films of '08, and he's terrific in it.
Here's a good look at the current state of the Foreign Legion.
Thanks for the link, Vince. If I ever write a Foreign Legion novel, it'll probably be a historical one, but you never know.
I definitely want to see JCVD.
I'm a big fan of the Foreign Legion circa 1850-1890 and the Van Damme movie is a good actioner. Actioner? As you know, I like toy soldiers, and I'm always on the lookout for FFL figures, of which there aren't that many from the Captain Gallant-uniform era. Jonathan Winters, the comedian, is a big FFL figure collector, too.
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