Saw this for the first time a few days ago. I'd never seen it before, and it was an interesting experience. I'd read that some other Chewers were big fans, so I figured I'd give it a shot
THIS IS A COOL POSTER, IMHO
All in all, I don't really like it. There were elements that I liked (The design of the film's world, and the make up), but this movie felt like the epitome of style over substance. Tracey was kind of a boring character. He was so much of a boy scout that I didn't really respect him. He spent all his time feeding orphans ETC, and I just never really understood why the gangsters would be afraid of this guy. The moment at the end where Beaty busted out the tommy gun and mowed people down while things exploded behind him was genuinely spectacular, and I think the movie needed more of that kind of rat-a-tat-tat action. It just lacked momentum, it felt like it went from one harmless encounter to the next, where Tracey would be placed into some vague nonthreatening peril only to be rescued by his side kicks before anything truly dangerous or deadly happened. The film was populated with fascinating make up, but in the end rather than enhance the characters that wore it, those characters added up to nothing more than empty suits. Gangsters would show up, walk around long enough to mug for the camera, and promptly disappear from the film. Tracey himself was so caught up in doing good that he never really seemed to be a legitimate threat in any given situation.
Anyway, I liked the look of this film. It reminded me of DARK CITY (which I recently saw) in that way. However, unlike Dark City, I didn't really care about the characters or the plot. I like Beatty too, which makes my lukewarm reception of his big comic book gangster opus all the harder to take. Beatty in a yellow trench coat sporting a tommy gun.. how can you screw that up?* It seemed to be trying to ape BATMAN ('89) at every turn, but couldn't quite capture the darkness that made that film thrilling
*I know some/many will disagree with me that the film was screwed up at all. That's fine, I'm just voicing my take. There was alot to admire in this movie, I'm just not sure I liked it.
THIS IS A COOL POSTER, IMHO
All in all, I don't really like it. There were elements that I liked (The design of the film's world, and the make up), but this movie felt like the epitome of style over substance. Tracey was kind of a boring character. He was so much of a boy scout that I didn't really respect him. He spent all his time feeding orphans ETC, and I just never really understood why the gangsters would be afraid of this guy. The moment at the end where Beaty busted out the tommy gun and mowed people down while things exploded behind him was genuinely spectacular, and I think the movie needed more of that kind of rat-a-tat-tat action. It just lacked momentum, it felt like it went from one harmless encounter to the next, where Tracey would be placed into some vague nonthreatening peril only to be rescued by his side kicks before anything truly dangerous or deadly happened. The film was populated with fascinating make up, but in the end rather than enhance the characters that wore it, those characters added up to nothing more than empty suits. Gangsters would show up, walk around long enough to mug for the camera, and promptly disappear from the film. Tracey himself was so caught up in doing good that he never really seemed to be a legitimate threat in any given situation.
Anyway, I liked the look of this film. It reminded me of DARK CITY (which I recently saw) in that way. However, unlike Dark City, I didn't really care about the characters or the plot. I like Beatty too, which makes my lukewarm reception of his big comic book gangster opus all the harder to take. Beatty in a yellow trench coat sporting a tommy gun.. how can you screw that up?* It seemed to be trying to ape BATMAN ('89) at every turn, but couldn't quite capture the darkness that made that film thrilling
*I know some/many will disagree with me that the film was screwed up at all. That's fine, I'm just voicing my take. There was alot to admire in this movie, I'm just not sure I liked it.
