Coronado

Well I was at Blockbuster looking for something to fill part of my Saturday and ran across this one stating the effects were from the team of Independence Day. That was the draw, and I just finished watching it.

Kristin Dattilo is the redeeming factor in this and I would like to see more of her, so I logged in here to see what else has has done. But as mentioned, that film is not a great piece of work. It is a good Saturday afternoon movie and not a waste of time.

The story line is a bit weak, but I was not looking for an in depth film, and I did laugh a few times. It is nice to see a woman as the action hero, granted this is not a Laura Croft movie, but it was worth the $4.

A good action adventure yarn which pays homage to many predecessors including "Sorcerer", "Romancing the Stone", and the Indiana Jones trilogy.

What is even better though are the special features on the CD which explain and show how such a low budget film ($4.7 million) was able to be created using a number of camera and cg tricks. The best... the bridge scene. While this video uses a number of partially computer generated scenes, these are very seamless to the viewer, who is left to enjoy a predictable, but exciting story. What I really enjoyed was what they used in many shots instead of a regular jeep.

Claire Winslow (Kristin Dattilo) finds that her fiancé has just traveled to Switzerland, but forgot some important documents at home. She decides to take the documents, follow and spend Christmas with him. Once in Switzerland, she realizes that he has indeed traveled to Coronado, a country in Central America. She travels to Coronado and gets involved with a revolution.

I saw "Coronado" this weekend and this movie is so silly that becomes funny. The absurd story is supported by the unknown Kristin Dattilo, who has a great performance: she is very beautiful, athletic and funny. The special effects are great, and the surprising conclusion is hilarious. In the end, it was a worthwhile forgettable entertainment recommended for killing time .My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Coronado"

I feel compelled to write a review as I think that 'Coronado' represents everything that is wrong with cinema today: form over content. While viewers are forewarned that CGI will be omnipresent ('by the visual effects supervisors of Independence Day' proclaims the poster), I think that there should have been a warning at the beginning of the movie: "This is a movie to showcase our digital art, so please do not try to follow the plot, as we have made it mind numbingly dumb on purpose". With this warning, I would not have spent the entire 1.5 hour shaking my head in disbelief and trying to fathom how anybody in their right mind would agree to finance such a project.

The movie is an endless string of clichés, bad lines, and unbearable Hollywood-only situations. It is an insult to viewer's intelligence, and I can only hope that the 'creators' realized that they have failed to entertain us, if that was their goal. It is not worth watching, by any standard.

Coronado is a movie that has a very good balance of adventure, humor, and action. Actors I have not seen before were impressive in their roles, unlike the plastic Hollywood Shakespeareans demanding their closeups. The lead heroine, Kristin Dattilo, played an excellent role throughout the movie in both comedy barbs and more serious portrayals. I would like to see more of her work in the future as her talent in Coronado was the catalyst in making a fair script into an entertaining movie most arm-chair warriors relish. If you enjoy special effects as I do in adventure movies you are in for a treat. From a perilous bridge crossing to a remodeling of the Presidential Palace, special effects was formidable indeed. Watch the movie and enjoy the fun.