TASK DEFINITION: In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
PROBLEM: this is your definitive " hollywood " movie , extremely predictable , following the basic formula ( a horrible ending ) , overzealous writing ( meaning the writing was bad and seemed as if it were trying too hard to make it exciting , therefore making it look as if many things were merely tossed in there to fill space )
and if tommy lee jones and his lovable wise - ass character ( of which we 've seen before in the fugitive and quite frankly , was n't used enough here ) , i 'm afraid the film would have been completely unbearable .
in this film , ashley judd plays a women who is wrongfully convicted of killing her husband while out sailing for a weekend .
while in jail she finds out that her husband really is alive and that he framed the murder on her . over money ( how original ) .
while in jail she works out , exercises and basically does her best to get into near perfect condition .
now she has learned about a law titled " double jeopardy " stating that if she serves her full sentence and get out she could kill her husband and the law could not touch her ( although there has been talk that this is not the way the actual law works ) .
now her po ( parole officer ) , and a bunch of cops are chasing after her and are conflicted whether or not to believe her claims .
skipping over to the acting : the fact that judd is more of a looker than an actress ( no offense , she has been good [ simon birch ] and even very good to great [ kiss the girls ] at times , in the past
and i believe may have the potential to be better . . .
but she 's terribly unconvincing in this and her performance seems stale and unsatisfying )
does n't really add to the movie at all ; just takes away .
as i 'd said , jones was fine , although he did not have much to work with
.
he was much more of a supporting character .
which is fine , and he handled it well ; especially considering the material he had to work with .
i feel this film had alot going for it .
originality not being an issue .
the acting was the only thing ( as i said ) keeping it alive .
the plot seemed pretty intriguing and could have been as well if applied better .
the action scenes were well made ( however sometimes out of place ) .
i was just left unsatisfied in the long run .
so basically some of the action may have been exciting but genuinely over - thought , the plot has certainly been done before ( generally speaking ) , the movie moves way too fast for us to get involved in either the characters or the plot , and is basically a film that was almost saved by tommy lee jones , who if he had some more screentime , could perhaps have earned the film a higher rating ; in my book , anyway .
keep this in mind , if you 're in the mood for a good action film -- rent the fugitive .
d+

SOLUTION: N

PROBLEM: there was probably a good reason that the warner bros .
studio chose not to allow critics to view this steven seagal film when it first opened .
and , after seeing this piece of toxic waste , i now know why .
this movie is by far the worst offering that has hit the screen since possibly those ernest movies years ago .
fire down below centers its story on a little mining town in god 's country , somewhere in eastern kentucky .
it 's beauty and natural goodness is being slowly destroyed by an uncaring mining magnate ( kris kristopherson , who constantly looks like he wants to kill his agent for getting him this role ) .
it turns out that he 's filling the mines throughout kentucky with toxic waste for a tidy profit .
seagal plays jack taggert , an aikido - versed , fighting machine , who is an agent with the epa .
no . . . not the cia nor the fbi nor the nsa .
it 's the environmental protection agency .
i had no idea that epa agents were trained to be killers !
taggert is sent to find the perpetrators and to bring them to justice .
written by someone named jeb , i could already envision the stereotypes of incestuous relationships , banjo - picking preachers , and dumb - as - nails rednecks .
but the script puts seagal right smack dab in the middle of all of these scenarios as he tries to discreetly fit in .
seagal 's idea of a disguise is a long - length $ 1000 leather jacket .
but to get closer to the kinfolk , he will fix people 's porches for free .
that 's another great epa asset - teaching agents how to fix porches .
slow and plodding , this project is a total mess .
the sometimes allure of watching seagal is watching him outmaneuver enemies that outnumber and outgun him like in under seige .
here , his bravado basically turns into bullyness .
townsfolk who are foolish enough to challenge seagal are quickly subdued .
fight scenes are quick and senseless and offers no enjoyment value whatsoever
.
and his soap box message wears thin within the first 15 minutes .
the most annoying moment comes when he barges into the middle of a sunday church ceremony , gets behind the pulpit , and beseeches the townsfolk to take control of their lives and to help clean up the environment .
but the epitome of how moralistically mushy this film gets happens when the person responsible for the toxic dumping , kristopherson , meets up with seagal .
kristopherson asks seagal how much it will take for him to go away .
seagal gallantly replies : " i 'll leave when you take the poison from the streams and the earth .
"
i was expecting patriotic music to start blasting and a show of fireworks in the background .
this is truly nothing more than a pompous showcase for seagal 's righteousness and narcissistic arrogance .
seagal has been vanguard in trying to bring a new genre into the filmplace , that of the enviro - thriller ( on deadly ground ) .
however , the message will never come across through poorly developed vehicles like this .
still , i believe in preserving mother earth , so save your $ 5 and please donate it instead to some worthy environmentally conscious charity .

SOLUTION: N

PROBLEM: old soldiers never die , they just turn into cliches soldier
a film review by michael redman copyright 1998 by michael redman the warrior and the lover are two personality aspects that find it difficult to exist in the same body .
jungian archetypes , these two opposites need each other to create a whole , but it 's difficult to integrate both .
often we 'll encounter lovers who think everything is just wonderful and , with the help of jung 's magician , sit around imagining grand schemes .
without the drive to manifest their plans , much less the wisdom to recognize the darkness , all they have are dreams .
warriors on the other hand , are ready to go to war at the drop of a hat , and will do combat with every last bit of their energy .
they do n't care enough about anything to know what 's worth fighting for : gladiators who live only for the battle .
this dichotomy not only describes individuals that we all know , but can also illustrate societies .
america during the late sixties was a conflict between old style cold warriors and the new hippie lovers .
todd 3465 ( kurt russell ) is a living , breathing archetype . chosen from birth as a soldier , he is raised by the government to be a killing machine .
his childhood is cruelty and competition .
he is indoctrinated with the big rules .
never question authority .
winning is everything .
strength beats knowledge .
a veteran of numerous intergalactic wars , todd is 40 and he 's obsolete .
a new generation of genetically engineered soldiers are faster and stronger .
left for dead after a test battle with the best of the new killers , caine 607 ( jason scott lee ) , he 's unceremoniously dumped as trash on arcadia 234 , a garbage world .
obviously our hero is still alive .
he finds a group of shipwrecked settlers abandoned on the planet who nurse him back to health .
when the peace - loving colonists get a good look at who todd is , they are afraid of him and he is exiled to live by himself amid the junk on an environmentally hostile world .
they are the other good guys .
these lovers find that they need a warrior when the military coincidentally chooses this world to conduct exercises for their improved human weapons .
todd finds himself in the role of protector .
what could have been a fascinating look at the roles played in our culture and the fears of an ultra - right wing future is ruined by turning the film into a cartoon .
the effects are mostly second - rate explosions or jerky slow motion .
the plot is old hat .
we do n't get even a glimpse at the society that created the soldiers .
hardly anything makes sense .
the film 's science fares badly .
with all the remarkable advances we 've made in just 37 years ( the film takes place in 2036 ) , we 're still stupid .
after conquering the stars , for some reason we use vast amounts of energy to load up huge space ships with rubbish tote it to a landfill light years away .
even stranger , the garbage barges appear to double as time machines .
virtually all the trash is vintage 1960 .
there is nothing in the story that is not predictable .
the first thing that todd sees after coming back to life is sandra ( connie nielsen ) , the woman just a little too beautiful to be living in such harsh conditions who is taking care of him .
it does n't take a genius to foresee that her husband is n't going to be around much longer .
is it a shock to find out that the film 's climax is an unarmed battle between todd and caine ?
who would you guess wins ?
some of the scenes would work if this were a comedy .
todd 's first awakening of human emotion comes when he glimpses connie 's nipple poking through her thin blouse .
later as he sits by his lonely campfire , a tear rolls down his dramatically lighted cheek in slow motion .
supposedly this clich ? is n't meant to be humorous .
dastardly col .
mekum ( jason isaacs ) with a pencil - thin mustache is as real as snidley whiplash .
responsible for last year 's quirky and visually enticing but problematic " the fifth element " , director paul anderson sees the film as " shane " in outer space .
maybe , if shane were played by sylvester stallone in rambo mode .
the movie does n't even work as an action film .
there is never a question as to the outcome .
somehow the new superior soldiers do n't prove much of a match for todd .
the acting is n't anything to write home about .
nielsen almost comes across as a real person but is soon relegated to a background victim .
russell is buffed - up and does a credible job
but it 's not much of a challenge . uttering around 100 words during the film
, mostly what todd does is hit things and stare grimly into space .
gary busey as todd 's commanding officer is completely wasted in his low - key role .
everything blows up and occasionally it looks cool .
sometimes the sets are impressive .
unfortunately " occasionally " and " sometimes " do n't make a film .
most disappointing is that the screenplay is by david webb peoples who wrote " blade runner " , possibly the best science fiction movie ever made .
sharp - eyed viewers will notice a few obscure references to that film .
peoples says that this is not a " blade runner " sequel , but a " sidequel " that takes place in the same universe .
although that may have been the intent in his original script , the result is more like a bad television series that the " blade runner " replicants watch to pass time .
perhaps those artificial humans would find this entertaining .
( michael redman has written this column for over 23 years and wants to wish everyone an appropriate halloween . . .
whatever you 'd like it to be . )

SOLUTION:
N