Gasp, that’s one of my all-time favourite action movies! Michael Bay and Nicholas Cage’s best; it had everything: gunfights, vehicular pursuits (the San Fran sequence is probably in my Top Ten list of car chases for its sheer wanton destruction and visual jokes too), wry humour (courtesy of Sean Connery and Cage’s constant bickering), and breathtaking stunts. It’s one of the few movies I can watch over and over again from beginning to end and never get bored of. 
End fan gush
…
After a few days, I’ve kinda lost most of my memory of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I guess that’s the point of contention with most fans; that it’s full of dialogues and little action. I personally didn’t mind the slow-boiler plot, as it reads more like a detective story where Harry has to uncover a dark secret regarding Voldemort’s past.
In the meantime, there seems to be a lot of love triangles (and sometimes even rectangles? 
) goin’ on, as Harry’s two best friends Ron and Hermoine struggle to define their relationship as more than just pals. Personally I find Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood) and Helena Bonham Carter (Bellatrix Lestrange) more attractive than Harry’s love interest (fans know who it is), but well, I find the former cute and the latter minxy. Fan-crush aside, yeah, the whole film seems to be tinged in this overcast tone, making everything look dark and gloomy. It’s really quite a depressing film, like there’s a lingering sense of dread and impending peril about. I understand that they’re trying to prepare us for the final film and this is a natural progression, but they really need to lighten up. It’s like Hogwarts lost its magic and wonder and had been replaced by all doom and gloom.
There’s a Quidditch match or two hurriedly done, and… maybe a fiery showdown with Dumbledore, and pretty much nothing else action-wise. Oh, I forgot the opening sequence, that was cool too. The thing was, they changed a lot of scenes from the books, and depending on how much you want it to be true to the source, it could be a good or bad thing. I don’t mind it so much, and I liked how the ‘twist’ is revealed in more frequent and obvious portions than the previous films. [spoil]Dumbeldore’s death[/spoil] was handled very well, as was [spoil]Snape’s revelation of being the HBP[/spoil]. Yates has come back to form, and I’m sure the next two movies will be in good hands.
All in all, it’s a more daring and darker film (it always gets ‘darker’, how much more sad and depressing can it get?) than its predecessors, so kudos for that. It just needs a different colour palette and more action scenes (I’m especially annoyed with the deleted Hogwarts battle at the end), but otherwise you have to have patience and savour this more meditative and introspective adventure.
BTW, IMAX 3-D is a freakin’ scam. The opening sequence was great in 3-D, but once they get to Harry in the subway, the 3-D was not necessary. After Harry arrives at the Weasleys, there’s no more 3-D after that. And none of the sequences were shot in IMAX cameras, unlike Transformers or The Dark Knight. Go see it if you want the “biggest-screen-available” experience, but there’s not much advantages over a regular theatre screening. Thank god I got it for half price thanks to my student association. 
Rating: 3.5/5
…
I also watched Public Enemies for my bro’s birthday with him and his chums yesterday (my boy’s 18 now! ). It’s trademark Michael Mann; bladder-bursting film length (I had to go three-quarters way through after a large Coke), wince-inducing shootouts (you can hear the rounds ricocheting off the vehicles and thumping into the victims), lots of talkie-scenes in between where the characters muse about their life and Bale and Depp talk smack in a jail cell, and Mann’s shakey-cam digital camera capturing all the action in High-Definition. I sorta minded the last bit as I got distracted when he switched from film stock to handycam, but I guess it’s one of the auteur’s aesthetics, so I just went with it.
Great acting from the leads (Marion Cotillard delivers a great performance in a torture scene where she retaliates against her interrogator). Story is good but I wished they focused more on the mobster side characters. The usual Mann cop-vs-criminal battles are gripping stuff, Depp is cool charisma as the ruthless romantic with a mouth, while Bale plays the usual stern-jawed lawman who struggles with some form of internal conflict or other.
Overall, an above average gangster period epic, and a surprisingly exciting (for me, at least) biography of one of America’s most infamous fugitives. The end in particular was beautifully done and emotionally-devastating. Worth a watch if you’re a Mann fan or you’re into crime films, but otherwise, less-inclined viewers might get bored easily.
Rating: 4/5
