16 reviews
I am a sophisticated adult. I have seen thousands of movies. I can watch zombies, vampires, serial killers, sharks, alligators. Snakes, demons,live beheadings without batting an eye. But holy crap this movie scared the bejeesus out of me to the point of having to pause it, going for a walk and a drink to calm down, before resuming watching. This is serious blood curdling stuff. You have been warned.
This movie gives the impression that the director was trying to say something but didn't know how. He dances vaguely around the issue of Argentina's imminent takeover by a bloothirsty military dictatorship. It drops little hints, hints that are too remote and superficial to convey the message or, worse, make it appear to be banal. Perhaps the story itself was interesting? No, not even that.
This little jewel of a movie from an obscure director in an obscure film market, the Dominican Republic, has been compared to Pulp Fiction, mainly for the non-chronological order of the various vignettes and the astonishing violence and rawness of it. But a Pulp Fiction seeped in Caribbean parlance and customs. Viewing it is enough to form an idea of life in the slums of Santo Domingo. Interesting perspectives of race and prejudice, against blacks, Chinese, and even Dominicans by Puerto Ricans, enrich the sordid tale. And the premise, that a small .22 pistol once owned by Italian dictator Mussolini, would wind up in the Dominican Republic, becomes increasingly believable as the story unfolds. I have watched it over and over and seen new nuances in it every time. It is really more like Jackie Brown than Pulp Fiction. Admittedly it would lose a great deal in translation, but if you speak fluent Spanish, don't miss this movie.
All the good human wants to do is to restart the power plant. The good monkey is OK with that, but the bad monkey worries (probably with good reason) that once the power plant is up, humans will kill off all the monkeys. So when the bad human starts shooting off a gun, the monkeys attack. That's the whole movie. Most of the monkeys are computer-generated except the main characters, who are still people in monkey suits. The whole movie seems to happen at night or inside dark buildings. The 3-D adds very little and could have been left out. Overall, boring, dark, and predictable. It is designed to be a prequel to one or two more profitable entries in the franchise.
This was a bad movie on a very serious subject. The acting was awful (particularly Banderas, who is arguably the worst male actor ever) and the characters were cartoonish. Whoever directed this movie has obviously never been to Argentina and his mental image of the place is based on childhood memories of Speedy Gonzalez and Ricky Ricardo. Armed gauchos swooping down on Ford Falcon-driving oppressors and shooting them dead? Salsa music and plumed Carnaval carioca dancers in the streets? I thought any minute Zorro too would show up, bravely engaging the oppressors with his gay sword. This movie is offensive and an insult to the memory of those who died in the Dirty War. Shame on the directors and the cast.