Quick Reviews (10/01/09)

Appaloosa (Impression: By The Book)

A somewhat safe effort by Ed Harris that translates into an okay (so-so, middling, etc.) western tale that's not worth watching unless you're a fan of the genre. Don't expect lots of gunfights; do expect lots of talking.

City of Ember (Impression: Fun)

A decently filmed adventure that is, in my opinion, too short. It's 90 minute runtime means that the story goes from beginning to climax too quickly. For the children that may be a good thing, but as for me I wouldn't mind sitting through more exposition just to enjoy the sights, story and Saoirse Ronan the actors.

Defiance

Who needs Schindler when we have James Bond and Sabertooth to protect the Jews?

In theory the stars seemed to be aligned for Defiance. We have Edward Zwick, the guy behind The Last Samurai and Blood Diamond along with Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber. The setting is woods of Belarussia where two brothers take on the duty of protecting a bunch of Jews. Cue the emotions, gunfights and beautiful scenery. Heck, they even have Joshua Bell to do the violin solos! What can possibly go wrong?

Well, nothing is quite wrong with Defiance, yet it somehow does not seem quite right. It dares not leap out of the invisible boundary set by oh, Schindler's List or Saving Private Ryan. Yes, the longstanding tradition of shellshock continues here too. A typical war movie, one might think.

But although it may be somewhat typical, it is by no means bad. We have outstanding performances, wonderful cinematography and pleasant music. All these make a good movie, but not necessarily a great one. Defiance is not great and comparing it to Zwick's last two films, it seems somewhat weaker. Still, with its impeccable production values, it stands tall as a war movie and is also one of 2008's outstanding films. Do watch it, do expect to feel those same things when you watched Schindler's List. But do wonder why they chose to tell a remarkable true story in an unremarkable way.