Movies releasing today: vampires and vigilante vengeance
This weekend in South Africa only one new movie has had the balls to open against the box office behemoth that is The Twilight Saga. Actually, the franchise's 4th entry The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 has been out since Wednesday locally, but this is still the film's first weekend of release... and I'm sure many keen cinemagoers will only get around to watching it once their work week schedules clear.
For those of you who don't know (or care), just like the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows film adaptation/s, this cinematic take on the final chapter in Stephenie Meyer's supernatural romance series has been split into 2 parts. Part 2 releases this time next year, but Part 1, now out, tackles the first half of Meyer's ponderous, frequently insane 800-page text.
In a nutshell, Breaking Dawn - Part 1 sees human teen Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) marry her vampire beau Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) and finally consummate their forbidden love. Freakishly though, Bella falls pregnant, and that threatens to ignite a war between the Cullen vampire clan and the local werewolf pack - including Bella's almost-bf Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) - which has sworn to stop the creation of new vampires. You can watch the trailer for Breaking Dawn - Part 1 and read my earlier thoughts on the film here.
Anyway, at the time of writing, the PG-13 Breaking Dawn - Part 1 was sitting with an aggregated review score of 13% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Then again, that's not exactly unexpected given the mockery the series receives as fantasy entertainment adored by female audiences young and old. For the record though, Breaking Dawn - Part 1 is the most poorly reviewed Twilight movie by far, and has been called tedious melodrama that suffers from a lack of action and resolution.
Of course, this critical response isn't going to impact on the film's box office performance at all. With so many fans looking forward to the series' big finale, I think it's a given that Breaking Dawn - Part 1 is going to be the weekend's big winner, raking in the ticket sales with record numbers, regardless of what reviewers have to say. The Twihards will not be deterred!
As I was saying, the only other film with the guts to release against Breaking Dawn is violent thriller Straw Dogs. This remake of the controversial 1971 classic sees James Marsden and Kate Bosworth reprising the roles originally played by Dustin Hoffman and Susan George. In the film a young married couple moves back to the wife's quiet hometown only to find themselves the target of unwanted attention from the locals - particularly the woman's ex (Alexander Skarsgård) and his friends. The harassment continues to escalate, with brutal consequences as the once pacifist husband attempts to defend his wife and home.
Straw Dogs 2011 has a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 42% Fresh. Some are calling the film a tense, disturbing and intriguing experience that sits comfortably alongside the original. Others have called the remake pointless, ham-fisted and as brutally unpleasant as any of today's torture porn releases.
For those of you who don't know (or care), just like the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows film adaptation/s, this cinematic take on the final chapter in Stephenie Meyer's supernatural romance series has been split into 2 parts. Part 2 releases this time next year, but Part 1, now out, tackles the first half of Meyer's ponderous, frequently insane 800-page text.
In a nutshell, Breaking Dawn - Part 1 sees human teen Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) marry her vampire beau Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) and finally consummate their forbidden love. Freakishly though, Bella falls pregnant, and that threatens to ignite a war between the Cullen vampire clan and the local werewolf pack - including Bella's almost-bf Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) - which has sworn to stop the creation of new vampires. You can watch the trailer for Breaking Dawn - Part 1 and read my earlier thoughts on the film here.
Anyway, at the time of writing, the PG-13 Breaking Dawn - Part 1 was sitting with an aggregated review score of 13% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Then again, that's not exactly unexpected given the mockery the series receives as fantasy entertainment adored by female audiences young and old. For the record though, Breaking Dawn - Part 1 is the most poorly reviewed Twilight movie by far, and has been called tedious melodrama that suffers from a lack of action and resolution.
Of course, this critical response isn't going to impact on the film's box office performance at all. With so many fans looking forward to the series' big finale, I think it's a given that Breaking Dawn - Part 1 is going to be the weekend's big winner, raking in the ticket sales with record numbers, regardless of what reviewers have to say. The Twihards will not be deterred!
As I was saying, the only other film with the guts to release against Breaking Dawn is violent thriller Straw Dogs. This remake of the controversial 1971 classic sees James Marsden and Kate Bosworth reprising the roles originally played by Dustin Hoffman and Susan George. In the film a young married couple moves back to the wife's quiet hometown only to find themselves the target of unwanted attention from the locals - particularly the woman's ex (Alexander Skarsgård) and his friends. The harassment continues to escalate, with brutal consequences as the once pacifist husband attempts to defend his wife and home.
Straw Dogs 2011 has a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 42% Fresh. Some are calling the film a tense, disturbing and intriguing experience that sits comfortably alongside the original. Others have called the remake pointless, ham-fisted and as brutally unpleasant as any of today's torture porn releases.
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