drakon-2

I'll be honest. I don't enjoy SF/Fantasy films that spend time focusing on the real world before revealing the unreal scenario (probably why I don't like GB 2). Bearing this in mind, I'd have to say that Ghostbusters delivers well on this level. The film moves at a good pace, and isn't dull or lagging. The comedy is great, but unlike some other films, there are a few moments of genuine intensity that contribute to the frission in this film. In short, it doesn't overdo it when it comes to humor. The climax of the film exemplifies this; the marshmallow man was a scream when incongruously paired with the demonic threat of Gozer. It is concluded when the otherwordly threat is dispensed with; there is no last tie-ups. It ends when it should, in my humble opinion.

The FX are good, I suppose, though it's a disappointment more creatures weren't showcased. The characters are also well-developed, and each Ghostbuster makes a perfect foil for the other members of the team.

Suffice it to say, short but sweet. Get it if you can.

The only thing to bother with in this movie is the special effects. Stan Winston does a good job with animal-men, though he predictably gives the more intelligent ones more humanlike features. The film is cliched, both for its "playing god" theme and the "create the perfect human race" theme. Surely one of the oddball parts of the film is Moreau (Landau), who is ludicrously detached (not to mention attired :/) from what his actions have created, living in his lavishly furnished jungle estate and insisting that no one is to eat meat, even though characters based on carnivores are evident in the film.

The real crime of this film, however, is that everything seems to be in fast-forward mode. The movie is squeezed into is timeframe in such a way that it left me wondering if parts had been cut out. So many things occur in a quick fashion. A good example is Montgomery (Kilmer). He slips over the edge for no apparent reason, shortly after Moreau is killed (in another laughable scene which fully illustrates what little attention Moreau pays to his creations; he prattles on to a team of rebelling creatures intent on killing him and ends up being partially devoured in his hammock). Thewlis's character (his name escapes me at the moment) discovers the lab on his first night on the island, after picking a lock and sneaking into an unlocked laboratory (!)

Montgomery and other major figures, including Moreau's daughter and a hyena-man who led a revolt against Moreau, die pointless deaths near the movie's (anti-)climax. Thewlis's character escapes, albeit not with a powerful message, or much of anything.

War Planets has great voice work, characterization, and the animation is the best of all the three SF shows that Mainframe/Alliance has produced. Yet it is an ultimate letdown in writing. The seasons have what I call "mini-arcs" which is to say that after a series of one-shot episodes, we finally try to do something noteworthy. Most of the time, the mini-arcs are fairly good, but are a bit flat because there is no building tension. If focus could be shifted to court intrigues and smaller conflicts within the Alliance, perhaps we might have a better show, but these is a side of WP that has remained woefully untapped for the most part. The opening episodes of the series, for instance, could have been extended and more laid out, but instead Graveheart is exiled too easily. The standard cliches of action animation are glaring here, with plots that seem quick and sometimes banal.