TASK DEFINITION: In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
PROBLEM: susan granger 's review of " the musketeer " ( universal pictures ) hollywood launches another assault on classic literature with this $ 50 million adaptation of alexandre dumas 's novel
that 's strong on action
but weak on drama , fusing hong kong martial arts with 17th century swordplay .
the story chronicles the adventures of the dashing d'artagnan ( justin chambers ) as he leaves his village of gascogne , headed for paris , to join king louis xiii 's elite guard , the royal musketeers , and to search for the man who killed his parents 14 years earlier .
this puts him in conflict with the formidable febre ( tim roth ) , vicious henchman for conniving cardinal richelieu ( stephen rea ) .
the traditional musketeer trio - aramis ( nick moran ) , athos ( jan gregor kremp ) and porthos ( steve speirs ) - do n't offer much help
so he turns to the feisty francesca ( mena suvari ) , chambermaid to the queen of france ( catherine deneuve ) .
scripter gene quintano and director - cinematographer peter hyams are primarily interested in the derring - do , as evidenced by choreographer xin - xin xiong 's elaborate - but not original - stunts , including a fast - paced stagecoach chase , a tavern brawl on rolling barrels , high - wire acrobatics with the combatants dangling from ropes , and a ladder - fight sequence . filmed in southern france , the scenery , sets and costumes are spectacular , but the lighting is too dark and editing is filled with choppy , restless mtv'ish cuts .
as the swashbuckling d'artagnan , bland calvin klein model justin chambers buckles where he should be swashing , totally lacking on - screen charisma , not to mention acting skill .
mena suvari , so impressive in " american beauty , " seems like a contemporary interloper in the royal court .
on the granger movie gauge of 1 to 10 , " the musketeer " is a cinematic but shallow 3 .
" all for one and one for all " ?
not this time ' round .

SOLUTION: N

PROBLEM: in arguably the most anticipated movie this century , george lucas has achieved a very mixed reaction to a sure blockbuster .
despite the fact the script and plot is a bit of a let down , the entire movie on the whole can be considered a milestone in technical excellence , in the sound and special effects department .
in terms of characters , by far the most outstanding and interesting is queen amidala ( natalie portman ) , whose mature performance far exceeds
her tender 14 years of age .
she is one ?
hot ' babe who defines true ? woman leadership ' .
she not only has a presence , but knows how to take command of the situation and save her planet from ruination .
no thanks to the jedi knights who although led by the force , lack leadership qualities in terms of thinking up a plan to do anything .
the young obi - wan kenobi ( ewan mcgregor ) who has a bad hair day in every scene , gets to kill a bad guy in the end , but lacks a love interest to make him a desirable sort of hero .
in fact all the jedi knight are a bit asexual - there must be something about the force which makes them all hermits and loners .
i mean it would be interesting to see yoda 's girlfriend for a change , if he has one .
not much better is qui - gon jinn ( liam neeson ) who mostly broods , and
has a better hair do than obi - wan , but only to find the young anakin skywalker and make the biggest mistake of his life .
also fascinating is george lucas ?
metoclorian ' theory , which claims that micro - organisms live within our cells and tie us to the fabric of the universe .
and it is the high concentrations of these organisms in an individual which make them particularly powerful in the force .
more humerous are the claims to the immaculate conception of darth vader , no doubt a concept stolen from the christian faith , except there will be no christmas to celebrate the birth of this dark emissary of the force .
overall
an experience which is not to be missed because of the very fact that it 's predecessor almost command a viewing of this inferior successor .
by all means not the pinnacle of the star wars phenomena but an adequate addition to the clan . watch out for the next one , it should be one steamy encounter between queen amidala and anakin skywalker - who i believe should be portrayed by ?
leonardo di caprio .

SOLUTION: P

PROBLEM: the corruptor is a big silly mess of an action movie , complete with pointless plot turns and gratuitous violence .
it 's not abhorrent , or even blatantly unlikable , but
it does n't make a shred of sense .
and whose idea was it to have the director of glengarry glen ross direct an action film ?
james foley knows a lot about characters and acting , and those are the strengths of the corruptor .
but the quiet scenes clash with the ludicrous action nonsense , and the result is less like a movie and more like a derailed train .
at least we have chow yun - fat in the lead role .
chow plays nick chen , a chinatown cop .
he 's a good cop , as the first few scenes establish , and he 's very familiar with chinatown .
that 's probably why the powers - that - be decide to team him up with a rookie named danny wallace ( mark wahlberg ) .
nick and danny begin by stepping on each other 's toes , but finally end up liking each other once they both get a chance to save the other one 's life .
what happens after that is kind of a mystery to me .
i 'm fairly certain that the villains are all part of the fukienese dragons , led by a young chinese psycho named bobby vu ( byron mann ) .
i 'm also pretty sure that nick is on the payroll of henry lee ( ric young ) , a gangster dealing in prostitutes and other neat stuff .
i 'm not quite sure why henry lee decides to employ danny , although
this makes for some ridiculous ( albeit unpredictable ) plot twists along the way .
there 's also an interesting subplot revolving around danny 's father ( brian cox ) , but it does n't have much to do with the main story .
one of the problems , as i said , is that the movie does n't make any sense .
i do n't blame this entirely on foley , because he 's obviously a good director .
i 'm more inclined to point my finger at robert pucci 's script , which does n't seem to be in tune to the way normal people act .
one scene early on had me particularly annoyed :
nick confronts his boss because he 's angry about his new white partner .
he 's shouting and pointing his finger and stepping on the furniture , and i was thinking that i would have fired him if he had done that to me .
( in addition , the film takes a bite into race - related issues , and never develops them at all . )
there are a lot of scenes like this one , and none of them are very coherent
.
there 's also a considerable language barrier , given that chow and some of the other actors have thick chinese accents .
the plot itself never straightens out .
i 'm not sure who or what the fukienese dragons are , or why henry lee is associated with them , or what they do as a group .
the corruptor is an action movie , and so all these weird plot developments are decorated with loud and violent action sequences .
the sequences are n't bad , but they 're not new ; how many car chases through chinatown have you seen ?
on that note , how many chinatown cop movies have you seen ?
one too many , i 'd imagine .
foley 's strength is clearly in characterization , and he does a pretty good job here .
the scenes between nick and danny are very good , and i actually got a feel for their characters ; a bond forms between them that holds parts of the film together .
chow and wahlberg are both good actors ; chow is a pro , and can do this kind of stuff in his sleep .
wahlberg seems less at home in this atmosphere , but he 's still fun to watch .
i also liked the subplot involving danny 's father ; brian cox 's performance is powerful , and his character makes a compelling moral compass for danny .
but the film ultimately fails , mostly at the hands of insane incoherence and overly - familiar action scenes .
a complicated plot can be successful , but the story needs to make sense when it 's over .
the corruptor never manages to make any sense -- it just keeps spinning out of control
until , finally , there 's nothing left to hold on to .

SOLUTION:
N