I write this review both as a fan of James Cameron's Terminator series and as someone who will usually enjoy a loud, brainless action movie if it's fun enough. Sadly, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines fails both as a Terminator movie and as a fun, brainless action movie. It starts with the traditional entrances of hero (Arnie's iconic T-101) and villain (Kristanna Loken's steely Terminatrix), and moves on to John Connor (now played by Nick Stahl), now motherless and trying to keep anonymous. Although everything seems in place for a good sequel, the whole picture seems to be lacking that which made the first two films so good. Loken is adaquate, but she doesn't elevate her role to the true great villain status of Schwarzenegger and Patrick in the first two films. Arnie himself is no longer particularly indtimidating in the role and his comedy antics are far less amusing than before. In the roles of Connor and his future wife Katherine Brewster, Stahl and Claire Danes are fine, but don't make for interesting protaganists either. Thus the film doesn't really have any centre-stage performances, with the entire cast just hovering in the frame instead of dominating it. The action set-pieces are fine, but mostly not as thrilling as the first two films, and the visual effects lack the "new" appeal that made them so stunning in T2. I never thought I'd be saying this but you really do feel the absense of Cameron, whose bombastic style is really what a film like this needs. The film ends fairly well, although the message does basically invalidate that of the first two movies, but overall T3 is competent but fairly disappointing.
** 1/2

The great Peter Pan story is once again wasted on a sub-par film adaptation, this time with P.J. Hogan's Peter Pan. Staying faithful to J.M. Barrie's story & play, there are some enjoyable moments, and the great Jason Issacs is perfectly cast as Captain Hook, but overall this remains fairly uninvolving and at times irritatingly cheesy. Jeremy Sumpter makes for a sub-par Pan, Hogan playing up the teen idol aspect of the role and any kind of charisma Pan might have is lost. Rachel Hurd-Wood is slightly better as Wendy, but it's Issacs who steals the show as both Hook and Wendy's father--or rather he would if only he was used a little more. He's clearly so suited to both roles I was unhappy he didn't get a chance to really show off, especially as Hook, a truly great villain. Ludivine Sagnier is also perfectly wily and foxy as Tinkerbell, and also sadly underused. The Lost Boy/Pan and Wendy scenes are simply not interesting enough, and thus I kept drifting as the film cut back to them. A great movie is waiting to be made from this story, and if the Pan/Hook dynamic was truly explored it would make for an engaging, exciting film, but sadly Hogan just doesn't pull it off here. It's rather nicely designed, there's a moderately exciting finale and a slightly worrying subliminal 'sexual awakening' undertone, but overall I came out underwhelmed.
** 1/2

Both one of the best debut films of the year and one of the most disturbing, harshly realistic portrayals of the dark side of teenage years I've ever seen, Catherine Hardwicke's Thirteen is a stark, almost blankly blunt film. With its fairly rapid transformation of the innocent, childlike Tracy (Evan Rachel Wood) into an underdressed hellraiser indulging in sex, shoplifting, drugs and self-mutilation, the film is both unrelentingly bleak and at times difficult to watch. However, the approach of showing a fairly simple teenage horror story is also the film's greatest weakness. Thirteen could have sunk to the level of a merely educational and overall emotionally uninvolving film were it not for the performances. Wood brings incredible realism to her role, and also endears herself to the audience, often earning sympathy rather than disdain for her misled actions. In an even less appealing role, Nikki Reed (who also co-wrote the solid screenplay, basing it on her own experiences) is also excellent as the temptress who leads Tracy off of the rails. Perhaps most powerful is Holly Hunter's wonderful portrayal of Tracy's mother, quickly out of her depth as her daughter slips further and further away from her. Hunter brings real pathos to the role and adds a further dimension of humanity to the film--it's one of the best supporting performances of the year.
Overall, Thirteen suffers from its railroaded approach and the slightly episodic nature of the script. But it must be seen for the commanding performances and the commendable unflinching realism in Hardwicke's direction.
****

Peter Jackson's truly epic Lord of the Rings film finally draws to a close with the massive spectacle of part three, The Return of the King. The film has a big job to do, with plenty of story threads to tie up, but it does it magnificently. All attention will be on the enormous and hugely impressive battle scenes, but The Return of the King manages to be enormously affecting on an emotional level too. The strong ensemble turn in some of their best performances, with every character having a moment to shine. While in The Two Towers the traditional heroics of Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) et al were the standout, here they take somewhat of a backseat to Elijah Wood and Sean Astin, who deliver their best performances of the film here. Along with the still scarily impressive Andy Serkis as Gollum, they create some of the best non-action scenes of the film.
Although it is consistently engrossing the film does slightly drag in the middle. However this is all made up for in the final hour, which is truly magnificent. The final resolutions are so finely put together they are not at all jarring, instead generating the most wonderful, heart-rending scenes of the trilogy. Overall, a total triumph: everything I expected of it and more, truly displaying how awesome these films have been and the extent of Jackson's achievement in creating such a great film from such difficult and lengthly source material. The Return of the King completes The Lord of the Rings into a single film, which must be seen as one of the finest epics of our time, as well as one of the best films of recent years.
*****

The last time I went to see a film almost solely for the presence of Colin Farrell was The Recruit. Needless to say, I was very disappointed. However Clark Johnson's S.W.A.T., while pure formula, is very watchable and effortlessly entertaining. (Very) loosely based on the 70s TV show, S.W.A.T. tracks the formation of a new crack LAPD SWAT team. It moves as if it's on rails, following every stock cliche in the action thriller genre. The characters are all pretty two-dimensional: the grizzled, anti-authority maverick leader Hondo (Samuel L. Jackson), the rough ladies' man on his second chance Jim Street (Farrell), as well as Michelle Rodriguez and LL Cool J as the spicy ass-kicking woman on the team and the brawny but warm-hearted family man respectively. Although it's all very predictable, that doesn't detract from the fun: all of the leads are enjoyable enough, and Jackson and Farrell have some entertaining scenes together. Olivier Martinez also slimily hams it up as the nasty yet attractive European villain. Overall, S.W.A.T.'s a fun enough way to spend two hours, and you won't come out disappointed, as long as you don't expect much.
***