Wednesday, August 04, 2004

Creatures in the Woods!

Except they're not really creatures, they're really a group of middle-aged people tired of living in a world where people die. So they create a myth of freakish creatures living in the woods that need meat sacrifices. That way all of their happy villagers can live their lives in FEAR. Wooo! Can I move in?

Yeah, so as you may have guessed, I just saw The Village. And, as you may have guessed, I am--in the words of Zorg--a little disappointed. So maybe not a "little", but maybe "quite a bit." The good? Joaquin Phoenix, Bryce Dallas Howard. Probably some other stuff. What else? Hmm, the LACK OF CREATURES. NO, Crazy Adrien Brody does NOT count as Creepy Wood Creature. And NO there weren't even any INDIANS. And NO there weren't even any CANNIBALS. And NO there wasn't enough Joaquin Phoenix.

*grumble grumble*

So to say that in a more orderly fashion: I was severely disappointed by the lack of creatures. Any and all fear (and there wasn't much) went right out the window, even when Crazy Adrien Brody showed up. No creatures. I want creatures. Creepy Woods Creatures. I want the movie the trailer got me wanting to see! OK, so I'll grudgingly give Shamaylandifna some respect for doing something different--the "time", the strong "romance" element, the lack of supernatural. I loved Signs because in the end the story wasn't about the crop circles or Creepy Corn Creatures--it as about Mel and his nervous breakdown. That was great. For Village I don't think the human element was all that strong. The Joaquin/Blind Girl romance didn't really build naturally for me. In a related note, I spent much of movie trying to decipher Shamaneytslf's statement that the story was taken from Wuthering Heights. I am still thinking about that one.

More ranting. Judy Greer was a miscast. One or two things I thought were interesting (in a good way). The dialogue. I spent the first 1/2 hour mentally complaining about it because their manner of speaking was so unnatural. It just didn't sound like the "time". But that made sense by the end because that kind of talk wasn't natural for the core Villagers. So that was cool. Also...I forgot... what was my other point... Oh, yes. I was starting to think Sigourney Weaver was a miscast because she just looked too modern. Hah, well, that made sense too.

In a related casting note I was suprised to see Horace from Dr. Quinn in this movie. He looked just as I remembered. And that's not good.

In short. I am disappointed first and foremost by a lack of Creepy Woods Creatures, but also with the overall story. Not as finely crafted as its predecessors. The trailer was scarier, which is funny since it was just parts of the movie.

No Creatures. Just Crazy Adrien Brody.

*grumble*

(Disclaimer: my opinions are known to change a second time around)

1 comment:

  1. Well you make a good point, but you also gave the story away to all the cats here who haven't seen the movie. I am a little surprised that you didn't anticipate the change in plot based on his other movies. Oh well, as Zorg said, "Look at all the little creatures, so busy now."

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