TermlnatriX

Another over-hyped film that started off alright, but simply left me feeling bored, and I dig martial arts and action films. I think in 1 hour and 40 minutes of total runtime there was about 15 minutes of dialogue. While this may be an action fan's dream film, it gets old and boring pretty fast. Even the entire dialogue itself is so boring and unexciting that they may as well have made it an all out action and not even bother with telling a story that in the end didn't even make sense. All the time it's basically, rinse and repeat. There were some cool set ups (liked especially when the kids pass on the "police" message) and some decent choreography but all of it really is ruined by constant shaky cam. Yeah, I get it, you're trying to evoke a feeling of confusion and transcend the feeling of action but holy crap. All you saying it is better than what Dredd looks like. Pfft. Dredd looks better and more interesting than this entire film was.

I won't get into the politics the previous reviewer brought up about Cameron, since one man's opinions and ideas and thoughts are their own - though you can't deny that Cameron does have a point towards the last conclusion. Instead I'll just quickly talk about my impressions of the documentary. It is very well put together. You have, first and foremost a panel of various professionals and researchers and throughout it there are interviews with them which provide a more emotional side to the documentary aside from the analytical talk with the scenes of the "roundtable" of researchers. Cameron provides various animations from beginning to the end based on factual data they've all come up with throughout the years and it's really fascinating to watch all of it. I especially loved the bits when Cameron's pre-vis artist demonstrated an animation of real-time sinking of the ship post break-up. Quite a sight. You have various other animations based on data that was eye-opening as well. You also have bits and pieces where Cameron and the team discuss the new information and relate it to his film - what he got right and what he got wrong. The overall production quality is solid, even down to the set they're in, very good music plays throughout it as well, sort of above standard type of pieces you'd normally see in these made for TV documentaries. Filled with more emotion that fits the interviews or the scenes. If you're an avid Titanic fan like me, who's been fascinated with the ship and its fate since 10 years old - you are no doubt going to enjoy it. That isn't to say people who don't know much or don't care wouldn't - it would actually be more informative for them. However all in all, it's a solid piece regardless. Well put together.

So in essence, this is a film with true grit. Possibly the grittiest I've seen, literally. Come to think of it, it reminds me of Harlan County, USA documentary, it's dirty, grungy, and perfect for a film with a subject matter this film possesses. Truly, it's as if Nicolas Wending Refn assembled a small crew and started following a real pusher, who gave you an inside look into a week of his life, took you to the seedy, dirty, nasty, harsh (and whatever other synonyms you can throw its way) underworld of the street life so everyone could get an idea of what's it all about and why you probably shouldn't ever get involved. Certainly not a new concept an average man now understands, but it's the way it's all presented that really made me love this film. As I mentioned earlier, the documentary feel of this makes me think Refn had it in his mind when he set out to make this film. The vibe and mood of the film is top notch for the film of this caliber, but really it's the character of Frankie who was fleshed out the most and in the end made me really dig the guy despite essentially who he was, and his profession - though he makes a point later in the film which gives food for thought. What makes it memorable for me is that it isn't devoid of depth, and you get a quick look - which was enough - into each character's life by ways of genuine conversations they're having between each other, which felt like they were ad-libbed, but that's what made it genuine for me.