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Elizabeth: The Golden Age, a review by goodguy

Elizabeth: The Golden Age (UK 2007) Written by: William Nicholson, Michael Hirst Directed by: Shekhar Kapur Starring: Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Clive Owen, Abbie Cornish, Samantha Morton DVD: R2-DE Universal (2008) My rating:

For the most part, the sequel has the same visual splendor as the first movie, but it is less balanced in both storytelling and direction. Too much melodrama, too Braveheart-y battlefield speeches, some superfluous action scenes. But even when Kapur missteps, he still manages to dazzle, as in the underwater shots of the burning Spanish Armada.

Cate Blanchett was a promising talent when the first movie was made and an established star at the time of the second one, which actually is befitting for her role. Clive Owen as Raleigh is solid as always and Abbie Cornish adorable. And kudos to Samantha Morton, who as Maria Stuart has only a few scenes, but what a powerful performance.

Bottom line: While not as great the first one, this is still a very enjoyable movie, well worth watching.


(From goodguy's Watch Log on July 3rd, 2010)

Kung Fu Panda 2, a review by Dragonfire

Even though I've had issues with other DreamWorks animated movies, especially the Shrek sequels, I did want to see Kung Fu Panda 2. 

The plot does stand alone fairly well, though certain things will make more sense if the first movie has been seen.  The plot is interesting and entertaining and there is a bit of a darker tone to the movie.  That may be because Guillermo del Torro - can't remember how to spell his name - is one of the producers.  In addition to dealing with a new enemy, a deadly and menacing peacock, Po is also dealing with a few personal issues.  He's doing well with his kung fu, though Shifu says he still has to learn inner peace.  The different story elements work well together.  The last scene does set up a third movie..I haven't heard if one is being made, but I figure it will be.

The animation is done well and looks better than it did in the first movie.  The fur on the different animal characters stands out more now, with the individual hairs being visible.  Even though it is better, it still isn't anywhere near what Pixar did with Sully in Monster's Inc.  The movie is also in 3D.  I saw the normal version, so I don't know how good the 3D was.  DreamWorks has done ok with the 3D in some of their other movies.  There is a lot of fighting, which adds some action and violence.

The biggest problem is that so many of the characters barely say anything, making much of the voice cast wasted.  Tigress seems to get a little more to say and do, but the other members of the Furious Five only have a handful of lines.  Since they barely speak, anyone could have done the voices.  Shifu is in the beginning of the movie and then gone until very late in the movie.  As Monkey, Jackie Chan has maybe 4 lines.  Lucy Lu's Viper ends up with even fewer lines I think.  The characters are there, but they just aren't talking.  It kind of defeats the purpose of having so many known people voice characters when they end up with only a couple of lines each.

Overall, I really enjoyed Kung Fu Panda 2 and think it is worth seeing for people who like animated movies or who liked the first movie.



I did get a review posted on Epinions.

Kung Fu Panda 2


(From Kung Fu Panda 2 on June 10th, 2011)

"Stargate SG-1" Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: SG-1 comes to a planet where the inhabitants declare that they have visted before. Back then they helped to defeat Heru-ur's troops. But now Cronus has come with a Ha'tak and claims the planet for himself. SG-1 gets caught and Daniel gets "killed". Now the Team needs help from themselves.

My Opinion: The funny thing about this episode is that one can guess very early where this is going. The android doppelganger are still wearing the HK MP5 as weapons instead of the FN P90 that is been handed out in recent episodes. Additionally Carter is wondering why she's refered to as "Major" and Jack mentions that there are "two" of them. When I first saw this episode I guessed that this is the real team and when Jack mentioned this I thought the androids had been the team that went there first.
I liked the episode even though it was sad that all the androids were destroyed. With the death of Cronus another Goa'uld got what he deserved.

Synopsis: With the Ha'tak SG-1 "aquired" from Cronus they fly to the planet of the Tok'ra. The latter want to relocate their Stargate to a planet unknown to the System Lords. But there Tanith - the Goa'uld who deceived Shan'auc - must not go. But then Apophis closes in with a fleet and the Tok'ra develop a very risky plan.

My Opinion: The idea to turn a sun into a supernova with the help of a Stargate is an "interesting" plan that is hard to top.
But what attrackted my attention in this episode, was something different: It's usual with series that at the beginning of the season some innovations are introduced that were invented by the writers during the break. In Stargate SG-1 this often happens within the last episodes although it wasn't really necessary. For example, the Zats have been introduced in the last episode of the first season, not at the begin of the second. But they didn't really need them back then. The Al'kesh - a Goa'uld bomber - was introduced in this episode although there could have been other ways to continue the plot.
The Ha'tak and the memory retrieval device have been introduced in a season finale but they were necessary for the plot, i.e. the plot was based upon them.

The Season - My Opinion: Surprisingly there were few direct confrontations with the Goa'uld in this season. Many episodes were playing on Earth or were related to it and the others were Planet-of-the-Week episodes. If one considers that Apophis has the control over Sokar's fleet and is supposedly very powerful, he kept quite still. On the other hand the writer can't find endless ways to let them both clash and SG-1 win. But I liked the Earth episodes and the PotW were mostly ok.

(From "Stargate SG-1" Marathon on March 29th, 2008)