geniale_schildpad

I don't get it. I really don't get it. The theater I went to was packed with about 600 20-somethings, all laughing their butts off with this bad-paced and pretty dull film.

Off course, it all starts with little Scrat, hunting his acorn as he did in the first flick. This time around, he gets plenty of screen time, and he more or less saves the film. I'll be the first to admit his various 3-minute long adventures throughout the movie completely ruin the pace of the film, but it were the only moments I could bring myself to laughter.

The rest of the film brings us Sid, Manny and Diego, who now are one big happy family. Once they notice the ice is starting to melt, they run for cover, an ark-shaped log, about 3 days away. During their road trip they meet Ellie, Crash and Eddie, find out that the tiger is afraid of water, have encounters with some vile sea-creatures, lots of mini-sloths, singing vultures, and more nonsense. The story has no direction whatsoever, yet happens to be predictable as hell, the jokes were terrible, the voicing awful, there was music during about 90% of the film, ... At the end I found myself bored, cranky, ready to make a scene, and wishing I had stayed at home.

Spare yourself the 1h30, rent the DVD in a few months, watch the Scrat parts, and fast forward trough the actual film. You'll laugh and be happy.

First of all, I'm a huge SW fan... one might even call me a die soft-geek or something like that. And, my dear fellow geeks, this is the prequel you've been waiting for. Forget the horrors of Phantom (no Gungan lines whatsoever! No annoying little brat yelling Jippee 'cause he can be a Jedi, ...), take the SFX of Clone, add Galaxies of darkness, et voilà: the best prequel of the set. It's a guarantee; you'll probably be faking light saber battles for weeks and weeks, and even pop in a little Sith-toned 'Riiiiiiise!'.

However. Even though Hayden Christensen learned to act and looks way cooler, he can still be pretty annoying. And however the Star Wars magic is all over the theater thanks to the AMAZING special effects, some battles are way to chaotic and messy to look good on screen. And last but not least, Lucas' overdid it... with a fixed ending, writing can be a bitch I guess, 'cause the storyline is very sloppy from time to time, even a bit forced.

From a critics point of view, I would say 5/10. As a fan boy, I'll give it 9/10.

Okidokie.

When Shades was first released, they marketed it like hell, or at least, so I've heard. Final result: high expectations, few adorations.

Time zap. Six years later. 'Shades' is practically forgotten; it seems to have retreated into the shadows of director Van Looy's acclaimed third film 'Alzheimer Case', a major blockbuster.

Thank god for Canvas, more or less the cultural TV station of Flanders, and its great show 'FilmFactory'. Thank god I got the chance to watch 'Shades'. No media attention, no high expectations, just me and a television set.

I loved it. Great acting, good story, good cinematics... A superb film, that hopefully can step out of the Alzheimer-shadows. Until then, enjoy this bashed but excellent cult film. Van Looy is truly one of Flander's finest.