Reviews by members of the AWC Film Group of films slated to open in Hamburg in May 2003

X2 - X Men United 1/2

(Kirsten G) Opening May 1, 2003

Hitting theaters just two weeks before The Matrix Reloaded (in the U.S.), 20th Century Fox had to hope X2 would pack quite a punch to make enough business to weather the Matrix storm. Luckily for Fox and director Bryan Singer (X-Men, The Usual Suspects), it does. X2 is one of those rare sequels that is actually better than the original. Free of the constraints of explaining a concept and characters, X2 can focus on the story, which results in a much more exciting film. After an unknown mutant attacks the U.S. President, there is a public outcry resulting in renewed support for the Mutant Registration Act. With government approval, military leader William Stryker (Brian Cox) launches a covert mission to eliminate mutants, beginning by storming the X-Men mansion. As a result, all mutants must band together to fight Stryker.

X2 reunites most of the original cast, including Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, and Ian McKellen, plus adds some new mutants to the mix. Alan Cumming plays Nightcrawler, a mutant from Munich (whose German accent and dialogue prompted many chuckles at my press screening). The acting for the most part was better than in the original, and the number and quality of special effects was definitely better. The film was still a bit too long, and certainly isn’t going to change the world, but for two-plus hours of entertainment and escapism, X2 is an x-cellent choice.

Swimf@n

(Karen P) Opening May 15, 2003

This slow-moving thriller, motivated by lust and psychotic jealousy, interrupts the teenage innocence of Ben (Jesse Bradford), Amy (Shiri Appleby), Madison (Erika Christensen), Josh (Clayne Crawford) and Dante (James Debello). Ben, a small town swim jock, is a hopeful candidate for a full-ride swimming scholarship to attend Stanford University in California. The last swim-meet of his senior year in high school is fast approaching and the Stanford scouts will be intensely watching Ben’s performance. The whole town is also watching because due to Ben’s unfortunate past, he has had to make amends with his bad boy image far too many times. Ben has no desire to endanger his new life and second chance. He is finally ready to “follow his stars” with his talent, until a secret admirer begins to stalk him, day and night. Well, you can only imagine what that would do to your nerves, right? No less for Ben! The music is a fresh, new sound that will intensify the shock to Ben’s story.

The Quiet American

(Nancy T) Opening May 22, 2003

Written and directed by Phillip Noyce, screenplay by Chistopher Hampton and Robert Schenkann after novel of same name by Graham Greene

Saigon in 1952. The end of the French colonial rule is near as pressure mounts from the communist front in the north. London Times reporter Thomas Fowler (Michael Caine, who was nominated for an Oscar for best supporting actor for this role) is languishing, addicted to opium, with a Vietnamese live-in lover Phuong (Do Thi Hai Yen) 40 years his junior, and a wife back in London. He repeatedly states he just reports and does not take sides. Enter idealist American Alden Pyle (Brendan Fraser) who falls in love at the first sight of beautiful Phuong. What begins as a civilized approach to a love triangle deteriorates in the heat and danger that envelops them. Characters are not who they seem to be. Caine's voiceover narrates the film - and hints at what will happen at the start with "In war, the most powerful weapon is seduction..." The film stays true to the novel (according to Becky and Mary who read the book.) Personalities are many-sided, no one can be labelled "good" or "bad." Even the doltiest drunken serviceman later reveals his fears about his son recently stricken in the polio epidemic back in the US. And Fowler capitulates. "Sooner or later one has to take sides if one is to remain human."

The Matrix Reloaded for Matrix junkies,
for everyone else

(Kirsten G) Opening May 22, 2003

As a self-professed Matrix junkie, I could not resist writing a review of the latest brainchild of the Wachowski brothers, The Matrix Reloaded. Reloaded is the second film of the Matrix trilogy; the third film, Revolutions, is due out in November. The expectations riding on Reloaded were very high as the first film, The Matrix, was such a success in 1999 and changed the way we view films. The big question is, does Reloaded live up to the hype? In my opinion, the answer is yes and no, depending on your level of interest in Matrix lore.

Reloaded continues the Matrix story, picking up about six months after the ending of the first film. Zion, the last human city, is in danger now that the machines have found its whereabouts, and the freed humans only have about 72 hours to defeat the machines and save the city and themselves. Many humans believe the key to doing this is Neo (Keanu Reeves), a freed human who, in the first film, discovered he was “the One” and is destined to free all of humanity. Aided by his warrior-soul mate Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) and philosophical leader Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), Neo must reenter the Matrix, find the Oracle (the late Gloria Foster) who prophesized his triumph, and figure out how to beat the machines, all the while fighting upgraded Agents, assorted new foes, and his old nemesis Smith (Hugo Weaving), who is now a renegade as well.

If the above paragraph makes sense to you, you will probably at least like Reloaded, if not love it. Moviegoers who saw the first film and liked it will definitely enjoy the mind-blowing special effects and fight sequences in this film, but they may find the many philosophical discussions peppered throughout the film tedious. Matrix junkies, however, will find Reloaded fascinating. After seeing the film, I spent the next 48 hours thinking about it, reading reviews, and searching for any other information I could get my hands on. And while I certainly liked the special effects, I thought there were too many, detracting from the rest of the story. Your enjoyment of Reloaded probably depends on how much you care about the story and whether you want to mull over the ideas it presents after the fact. Either way, Reloaded is quite a ride and whets your appetite for Revolutions!

Karen P adds: Like all computer programs, we are aware of the many glitches that occur from human failure. A computer is programmed to perform upon the commands of the programmer because it can not think for itself. Even a virus performs on command. Episode 2 of the Matrix called Matrix Reloaded invites you to discover the depth of the Matrix computer world. OR, is it a computer world? The original cast has returned looking older and wiser as they pursue the prophecy of Zion and support, The One, Neo (Keanu Reeves), who can rightfully save the last living civilization from the Machines (alias, the computers and the likes of Mr. Smith, Hugo Weaving). The hackers are quickly advancing into the mainframe but seem to lack the one element or configuration that unlocks the Matrix. It is like what Curly says to the City Slickers, "…when you know that one thing, nothing else matters". The director's cap on this philosophy and the surprise to the Matrix story-line is the discovery of that "one thing"! Confused? Good, because you will need your thinking cap to untangle the Matrix concepts as they unfold. The action and the intrigue with the special effects will hold you in your seat for the duration of the 2½ hours. But keep in mind that in November 2003, Matrix Revolutions will appear on the big screen to complete the Matrix trilogy. Like all good film series, I am banking on the fact that the best is yet to come.

Rabbit Proof Fence (Long Walk Home)

(Becky T) Opening May 29, 2003

Imagine that one of the best films of the decade was showing in Hamburg and nobody knew it. This could be the case of Rabbit Proof Fence, hiding behind the title of Long Walk Home. The rabbit proof fence is central to 14-year-old Molly’s success at finding her way across one thousand miles of Australia’s bush country and desert to Jigalong and the arms of her mother. In the 1930s the unbounded arrogance of male Caucasians in power decided that US residents with a drop of black blood were “Negro” with all the educational, social, and professional limitations this entailed. At the same time in Australia, so-called half-castes, the children of white transient workers and aborigines, were plucked from their homes and sent to places like Moore River Native Settlement to become household help with the prospect of marrying “white” down the generations, until there would be “no trace of native origin apparent and the black color is stamped out.” Kenneth Branagh plays Australian A.O. Neuille, who “has got the papers” and who managed this system for 25 years, thus creating a “stolen generation” of children entirely estranged from their culture. The “Making of…” documentary is just as interesting as the film which was based on the book by Molly’s daughter Doris Pilkington Gerimara. Director Philip Noyce interviewed 1200 young girls to play Molly, Gracie, and Daisy and was extremely lucky to have found young Evelyn Sampi for the leading role. Peter Gabriel’s music surrounds the film like a glove.

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