Let's put things in order shall we?

Ang Lee, is definately, one of the greatest directors of our time.

Forget Spider-Man, and a sold-out-to-the-film-companies Sam Raimi.
Forget X-Men, and the covered-up-under-adamantium-claws, anti-racist statement.
Forget DareDevil, that desperately needed a Frank Miller.

This is a comic book (a graphic novel, if you like) that Jumped on the screen, in it's pure form, intact, lacking nowhere, with the rage of the green angry man, to finally(!!!), entertain us, and then show the way of how an "adaptation", should be.

I haven't seen this movie yet, but... doesn't it sound a little bit like a remake of "Death Wish"...

Hm... a "Death Wish" for the 2000s, and Insted of Charles Bronson, we get Vin Diesel. Can't be that bad.

OK, so!
Mr. Bartkowiak left an established career as a director of photography to become a director. On this new path he chose, he started making action movies. Good for him, because he knows what he is doing.

After John Woo migrated to the U.S., after Jackie Chan's "one film in the U.S. one film in H.K.", came Lethal Weapon 4, and a new genre was born.

AsianHollywood. And mr. Barkowiak was there from the beginning.
3rd movie of his. Better than the first, worst than the second. But still, a lot better than the maistream action from hollywood. The guy uses the same actors, feels comfortable with them (everybody does it... Burton/Depp, Spielberg/Hanks) and makes us feel comfortable with them.

The story is simple. Seen it before. BUT not through mr.Bartkowiak's eyes.

The best movie Jet Li has done yet(in Hollywood). DMX has seen better days. It's always a pleasure to see Mark Dacascos again in a movie that actually hit the theatres.

1st, on ROMEO MUST DIE, it was JET LI.
2nd, on EXIT WOONDS, was DMX and S. SEAGAL.
3rd, on CRADLE 2..., JET LI and DMX.

ok, so we wait for the next one. His best, right? Pairing up JET LI and S. SEAGAL, and a better writer.

It's been a while since their last album, and everybody talks about their return to the core, to their speed, to their anger.

the truth is, that this one IS faster, IS angrier, but... it is definatelly NOT metallica.

For years and years, the entire metal "stage" of the planet was expecting MetallicA's songs, their music and lyrics to guide them into their own songwriting and style. Metallica has been the major influence of every metal band to date.

They were, the Leader of the Pack...

When they released their "Black" album, everybody stood flabbergasted, trying to understand what it was they were listening to. Eventually, everybody, even the hard-core fans, agreed that it was, if not the best, the one that shares the position of the best Metallica album.

and it was downhill from there on.

in this one, trying maybe to regain lost fans, trying maybe to once again "metal up our *ss", took a giant step and stared playing faster. But... that doesn?t mean better, or even close to good.

instead of approaching a less progressive style of "...and justice for all", they decided to approach a "metallica mix" of Nu Metal.

the songs are a mix of, Nirvana, Rage, System of a Down, and bored Sepultura. Jamez sounds definatelly old, trying to keep up, Kirk isn?t there at all, and Larz... he said once that it was his fault that metallica started playing slower. What is he trying to prove? that he can actually play for 70 minutes non-stop as fast as he can?

Not one Metallica riff, not one Metallica rythm, not one Metallica solo and for crying out loud, not even one "Yeeeiieeeaahhh" from Jamez? Where is that Metallica trademark in vocals?

Anyway, even if i sound frustrated, it is a good cd, a Nu Metal cd, but not a Metallica one. Maybe they?re doing something i can't understand yet and i?ll have to listen to it for a couple of months 24/7 to get it...

...and by God was I right!
(See my review on the Philosopher's Stone)

What has happened in the time between the two Harry Potter movies? Hmmm.. Ah! yes of course! The Lord of the Rings has happened! And did they have this amazing, over-the-top achievement in CGI, called "the Gollum"? Yes sir, they did! And who was the first to shamelessly "borrow" the idea and bring it in their own movie? Chris Columbus and Co. for their next HP adventure of course.

I have to admit that this movie is a lot better than the first one. But that does not qualify for a good movie in general.
Borrowing a lot of elements from the horror genre, this one hopes to bring some chills to the children of the globe with the amazing MPAA looking completely the other way.

The story? ok, let's see....
Marty and Doc, oops sorry, Harry and Ron, climb on their flying car, to Hogwarts school, even after being advised not to, by a poorly executed Gollum impersonation. There, they stubmle upon a murdering beast that is set loose in the school, controlled by an evil entity which also controls an innocent student to... ... ...set loose and control the beast.(?)
The evil entity is using somebody else's body to do it's dirty deeds, much like (well the first that comes to mind) Freddy Krueger in Nightmare 2. This entity lives in a book and is risen when the book was read aloud.... Something of an Evil Dead kind of pilosophy.
It could actually be ok, if the "borrowing" stopped there.

But...
Let's not forget Star Wars, our main influence.
The Quiddich game, this time a little more elaborate, is an almost exact copy of the forrest chase in "Return of the Jedi", Leia on the Speeder-Bike and the Stormtroopers chasing her. And of course, the Hint of a love game, between NOT him that has the power, but the goofy sidekick, and the girl. At least in Star Wars they were siblings (Luke and Leia). What explanation is mrs. Rowling going to give for Ron and Hermione... who knows (I refuse to read the books.)
One of the major scenes in the movie includes a gigantic spider, much like "Shelob" of the LOTR, which did not make the final cut of the "Two Towers" and was reserved for the "Return of the King". The spider is almost named "Aragorn", ha ha!!
My 9 year old daughter remarked that the head of the giant snake, came right out of Jurassic Park's T-Rex. (She is 9 for christ's sake!)
And last but not least... the great climax scene...
I think it was the "Nightmare on Elm Sreet 3", where the school teacher went to the place they had buried Freddy's Skeleton, he had a fight with it, and then, when Nancy lay unconcious in front of the grave, he sprayed Holy Water on it, and the real Freddy burst in rays of pure light.

Hmmmm..... Jenny unconcious... the book.... the fang... bursts of light.... make the connection?

I give up. No more for this one...

To be continued.... (it always does...)