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olle-utberg
Reviews
The Pagemaster (1994)
Good enough
The story is OK, considering its for the younger generation or meant as a family movie.
About the technical part, very well animated, pretty decent camera angles but a little poorly edited.
This movie could've been a little longer. After about 26 minutes in begins to jump between stories and does so way to much and way to fast. Going from the Raven (short reference), Dr. Jeckyl and Mr Hyde, Moby Dick to Long John Silver. in a matter of 10 minutes. Also there is a sequence where two of the characters are presumed dead but you don't get a pause or anything. Allow the audience to savor the narrative and feel something about whats just happened.
Also, some things makes no sense. Near the end of the story they get chased by a dragon. three characters hide in a cave and one keeps running. There is a short moment of romance between two characters, Adventure and Fantasy. First they kiss and everything is fine, then Adventure says something offending and gets kicked out of their shelter. Yes because we all know that remarks like that from someone you just kissed is punishable by death! How does that make sense? Also, Adventure gets INCINIRATED by the dragon but returns to the cave with a cartoonish "flamed" look. How does that make sense? Why run from something that can't harm you? Overall, its a OK movie. If you want a decent adventure movie aimed at children then you will enjoy the Pagemaster.
Jumanji (1995)
Decent adventure
Well where do I begin.
The Casting: I guess the casting was OK. Robin Williams does a decent job, same goes for Kirsten Dunst. I really love the Sara Whittle character, but I am unsure if its because of her written dialog, which I indeed love, or the acting of Bonnie Hunt. I don't know what role the policeman is supposed to play however. I mean he doesn't do anything really important and it seems like he is there just to tie up the loose ends. It is OK though, I would rather have this cop around than just having them loose the game some more, which I think would have been the other alternative. His supposed to be funny moments however is something the movie could've done without.
The Story: I really enjoy the story! Its simple, not to serious and perfect for adventure. My problem with it is how the story about the characters end which is a bit counter dramatic. The moral of the story, whatever you perceive it to be, feels meaningless. Since everything just ends up a-okay for everyone.
Some people have been complaining that you never get to know the origin of Jumanji or how it looks inside the game. I don't have that problem simply because it would take away all the mystery. The parts of the story I grow tired off is how they loose the game to often. I figure its to add suspense which works at times, but the movie overdoes it.
Another thing that I don't really like is how Van Pelt, the hunter, has to buy a new modern rifle. I kind of liked the retro feeling to him, but that disappears when he has an enormous automatic black rifle with night-vision aim rather than his own old rifle.
The effects: To be honest, what comes first in my book is acting and story. If you take the old batman movie the effects aren't at all impressive. But that don't stop them from being awesome. Same goes for this, sure the computer effects haven't aged well and the monkeys just look stupid. But it isn't that big a part of the movie. Maybe of the marketing but I've learned you have to take that part of the entertainment business with mountains of salt.
I figure I got to much to say about the movie, there is a lot of stuff I haven't talked about, so I'll just stop here and sum my thoughts up.
Its imaginative and adventurous with good acting and decent effects. The only part which stops me from giving it a 10 is the "comic relief" which is just stupid and unnecessary. A bit more adult sprinkled on this movie and it would be a lot better in my eyes. Still, a good movie!