In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.

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 .
N

"
the endurance : shackleton 's legendary antarctic expedition " in 1914 , as the great war descended upon europe , sir ernest shackleton began his third expedition to antarctica , this time to be the first to cross the ice - bound continent on foot .
28 men set sail on the brigantine endurance and they would not be heard from again for nearly two years .
director george butler , using film footage and photographs from the historic journey , tells their remarkable story in " the endurance : shackleton 's legendary antarctic expedition .
"
the expedition started out as a merely incredibly difficult quest to traverse , on foot , the vast wasteland of antarctica .
as the intrepid ship and crew entered the weddell sea , the entry to the cold , cruel continent , they did not plan on the dense pack ice bringing the voyage to an abrupt halt as the endurance became trapped within sight of land .
for months the ice thickened and compressed until the ship was crushed , stranding the men on the flow , propelling them away from their goal and , eventually , into their lifeboats for safety .
shackleton , faced with a desolate situation , made the decision to lead the three tiny boats to the relative safety of uninhabited elephant island .
once on this " safe " haven , shackleton next turned his sights to saving his crew and returning them to civilization .
he and five of his men leave the island in an open boat to make the 800 mile journey on the world 's roughest sea to get help from the nearest inhabited island of south georgia .
miraculously , the six land , after 17 days at sea , on the uninhabited side of the target island and are forced to trek across treacherous , snow covered mountains , covering 22 miles in just 36 hours .
this ordeal is followed by several attempts by shackleton to get back to elephant island to rescue the remaining crewmen .
in the end , he is successful and everyone made it back home alive , only to be swallowed up by the ravages of the war .
the title of this fascinating documentary , " the endurance , " is more than just the name of ship that carried the crew of brave men to the edge of the world .
it is also the description of the stamina and ability of every one of the men who survived 19-months of the toughest , most grueling conditions on the face of the earth .
the name of the film is a tribute to every member of the crew and to the ship that sheltered them for many month of frigid antarctic weather .
it also describes the focused mental state of shackleton who never gave up on himself or his men .
with astonishing foresight , shackleton brought australian cinematographer and photographer frank hurley along on the journey .
the filmed footage and photos are remarkable as they capture the ordeal of the men , day to day life , the affection all felt for their loyal sled dogs , the slow destruction of the endurance and the preparations to get off of the pack ice flow .
after the sinking of the ship , the remaining film stock , with the exception of a still camera and three rolls of film , had to be discarded so the continuing chronicle of the incredible journey gets less photo documentation as the ordeal plods on .
considering hurley was using relatively primitive photo technology in one of the world 's harshest environments and captured so much on film is a feat unto itself .
( hurley created his own account of the shackleton expedition in his 1919 documentary , " south , " an interesting companion piece for " the endurance .
"
if shackleton 's original idea , document his trek across the frigid southern continent , had been successful , it would have been considered a super human feat .
as you watch the story of " the endurance " unfold , you realize that the disastrous obstacles the sir ernest and his men faced and overcame were even greater accomplishments than the first intent .
( shackleton 's amazing 800-mile journey in an open boat is fodder for a rousing adventure story all by itself . )
there are a couple of minor nitpicks with this fine work , though .
actor liam neeson narrates the story , but his voice is too soft spoken and lilting for the dramatic tale .
the nature of the ordeal also concentrates most of the visual material , both film and photo , in the documentary 's first half .
as the crew 's adventure takes more drastic paths , hurley had less and less film stock available to chronicle the awesome events .
helmer butler and his team fill in the blanks , but the treasure of " the endurance , " its film footage , is mostly relegated to the early months of the expedition .
i ca n't think of a true - life adventure that shows , better , the triumph of man over seemingly insurmountable odds .
"
the endurance , " based on caroline alexander 's book , is an eye - opening documentary that goes where few men have gone before and , even more remarkably , all 28 survivors lived to tell about it .
i give it a b+ .
P

you always have to be careful with the first official studio release out of the gate each year .
they 're obviously films for which the studios have no great hopes ( having missed both the deadline for academy award eligibility and the big box - office holiday season ) .
combine that with howie long 's first starring action role , and
you 've got a doozy of a movie
that , while not as bad as it could have been , is n't a very good film .
howie stars as an ace smokejumper ( a firefighter who parachutes into forest fires unreachable from the ground ) .
in the slightly contrived opening scenes , we witness his heroism in action , as he , and his mentor ( played by scott glenn ) attempt to rescue a small girl and her dog from an oncoming forest fire .
william forsythe plays the bad guy , a mass murderer who has several million dollars tucked away to help fund his jailbreak .
he ( and five convict cohorts ) manages to get selected for firefighting duty when a woodland blaze just happens to ignite nearby .
his escape plan bets a lot on the laxity of the guards , but ( since there must be a movie )
luck is with him .
soon the now - escaped convicts are masquerading as canadian firefighters .
why canadian ? who knows , eh ? along the way they pick up a pretty birdwatcher ( suzy amis ) to be their hostage .
enter howie long .
he 's called in to help fight the blaze , and when he spots the group of " ground pounders " , apparently lost , he parachutes in to help .
when he discovers their true identity , he is the only thing standing between them and escape , and the only hope of help for the hostage .
long 's acting talents are above those of , say , steven seagal , but not by much .
although his delivery is mostly flat and wooden
, he 's a likeable hero , and there are some hints here and there that he may get better .
the script does n't help him out any , however .
all too often , it veers into the realm of the unintentionally funny .
the dialogue is strictly b - movie material , and the plotting relies too heavily on coincidences to be believable .
long 's co - stars are a mixed bag .
at least they 're all comfortable in their respective roles .
forsythe has the scenery - chewing villain down cold , down cold , and scott glenn is always enjoyable to watch , even when he does n't seem to be stretching his talents ( as is definitely the case here ) .
suzy amis plays peril pretty well , but is n't given much more to do .
some of the nature and wildfire shots are interesting , but many are rather bland .
you 'd think that the director , dean semler , a former cinematographer , would at least produce a film with interesting visuals .
that 's not the case .
there 's a lack of originality to nearly all the sequences .
. .
we 've seen this stuff before .
it 's not the most auspicious start to 1998 , but it could have been worse ( just think back to 1996 's debut , bio - dome ) .
however , after a month of oscar - caliber pictures , a movie like firestorm at least gives you some perspective on how good those movies really were .
in fact , there 's a good chance that some of them are still playing near you . . .

N