Movie Reviews

When I started this stupid blog, I really thought I would be filling a lot of it with movie reviews, and I've come to realize recently that I've hardly reviewed any movies. And so today I'll give you two to try to make up for it.

The first is The Flying Scotsman. This is based on the true story of Graeme Obree, who built his own bike and then raced it to set a new world record and win a world championship. I looked at this and thought it has a lot going for it. It's got a Scottish guy. It's got a true story. It's got the inspirational aspect of a man persevering against overwhelming odds. It's almost the bicycling version of The World's Fastest Indian which I really liked. This should be something I enjoy, but I just found the whole thing unsatisfying.

I guess my biggest problem with it is that the directing is kind of a mess. There is no real cohesive story, and it ends kind of abruptly with no real resolution to anything. Plot lines are introduced that never go anywhere. For example, a few times throughout the movie it is alluded to that Graeme suffers from depression, and yet we never find out if he ever gets any treatment or if he ends up killing himself.

Also, what seems to me like it should have gone into more depth about was his home made bike that he rode to beat guys on half million dollar custom built bikes. They mention that it is made from spare bicycle parts, washing machine parts, padlock parts, etc and even discuss some of the ideas behind why it's design was revolutionary, but really didn't go into enough detail for me.

Finally, Graeme is just annoying. Perhaps that is authentic, but it is difficult for me to have much sympathy or emotional investment in a character I don't like. Skip this one and rent The World's Fastest Indian instead.

Next up is Dynamite Warrior. I didn't go into this movie expecting much. I thought perhaps something similar to Ong Bak - some good action and stunts, but not much story. Well, this didn't even have much story. The acting was terrible, the music offensive, the story goofy as hell and fairly nonsensical. I could have tolerated most of this if it weren't for the fact that the action was just bad. Full of magical nonsense with characters punching nothing and hitting someone 20 feet away and sending him flying. Plus a lot of wire work which I don't like at all. There really isn't anything good to say about this movie. Avoid at all costs.

Looking over my Netflix queue, it looks like it could be a while before I write a positive review. Recommendations are always welcome though. Speaking of which, thanks are due Shelvis for recommending Idiocracy which turned out to be pretty funny.