Save this for a rainy day

Rating: 7/10 (30 September 2003)

If you read reviews of films in various newspapers and magazines, you will eventually notice trends in writing styles and points that are made in the discourses of the reviewers. In short, when they find something they think sounds important, they all focus on the same topic, and in a manner which seems meant to show off their petty vernacular skills, they make sophemoric quips and plays on the title of said flick, and/or gobble up several pages of the calendar section with mindless tripe that doesn't really get the reader anywhere. Not that a film critic really serves much purpose in the world, and thus shouldn't be taken too seriously, however, it is the fact that they are given so much attention for their interchangeably identical opinions that they should be avoided at all costs. Their recurringly similar reviews quite literally ruin movies, for they build an impression of a film before an individual has even seen it. In some cases this can be a good thing, i.e. advice to avoid a surefire disaster, or something like that. Yet when said impression is not met by the actual viewing of the film, disappointment inevitably ensues. This really only concerns films that would have been a nice little surprise, where one walks out of the theater and says, "That was just a fun movie." People who read film reviews don't get that pleasure anymore, and so, when a reviewer says, "i wasn't expecting anything, and this turned out to be enjoyable, the audience then goes into the film expecting something that they otherwise would not have, and then, don't enjoy the film as much. This was the case with Pirates, where there was such a deluge of reviews claiming that this was a terrific, fun summer movie, with a bravura performance by Johnny Depp, that by the time one actually saw the movie, it seemed dull and pointless. Been there, done that sort of feeling. I say, damn the reviewers for taking what was a nice little movie, and blowing it into something that it wasn't, so that it seemed like an umpteenth viewing of Star Tours up on the screen. You new everything that was going to happen, every quirk and eccentricity, and so, it wasn't new, fresh, or really anything. In short, I advise people to ignore reviews, and see a film for themselves first, to determine what they want to think about a movie. This would probably have been a nice little diversion, so I would recommend it, if only on the grounds that one carries no expectations into it, so that they are not disappointed.