William Goodall's Blog Occasional mutterings

Went to see John Carter 3D today. Two other people were in the less than 1% filled theatre. The retrofitted 3D didn’t add much. Having read A Princess of Mars nearly forty years ago I was able to follow the over-complicated story but I found it very rushed. Important story elements whizzed past without any weight. Lynn Collins did a great job as Dejah Thoris. Taylor Kitsch was a little bland as John Carter. I guess there won’t be a sequel.

Today I saw The Artist and it was good. Very entertaining. I don’t think there was any more to it than that despite some weird theories on the internet, but being entertaining is my number one criterion for a film so I have to rate it highly. And cute dog.

Saw Haywire today. Gina Carano is a credible action star and the rest of the stellar cast comported themselves skilfully. The plot and the script are a bit perfunctory, simply sketching in motivation for the bone-crunching and convincing action scenes. I was the only person in the screening, on the last day of the film at that complex. Underworld: Awakening (3D) is back for another week.

More action, less mythology. Kate Beckinsale still brings it. Better than the third one. 3D doesn’t add much. Clearly looking for another sequel if this one is successful.

Today I saw the David Fincher version of the film of the book. I think it is slightly better than the Swedish version although I still prefer Noomi Rapace’s take on Lisbeth Salandar to Rooney Mara’s.