The Hills Have Eyes 2 (2007)

Have Eyes, No Plot

We know that the hills have eyes, but do you know that the hills have a mineshaft, and crates of dynamites? Sounds like the hills are pretty much equipped isn’t it? Well, like fishes need water to survive, movies are pretty much run by a plot. What the hills sorely lacked, in this case, is a storyline.

Of course, one cannot expect a Academy Award nominated script in movies of explicit and graphic violence, like in this case The Hills Have Eyes 2. But hey if you want to glorify gore, display severed limbs and pride yourself with the wonderful skill of decapitation, by all means show it to us. But you might do better if you add a little more story into your gore. I'm sure it will work wonders. Its predecessor, The Hills Have Eyes, has a good blend of gore and a credible plot.

Just like Murphy's law, whatever can go wrong in this movie, will go wrong. So much for the National Guard's weaponry and tactics., the mutants seem to be tactically more superior than the Guards. Well of course, the mutants are stronger and as this 'game' is based in their backyard, let us pray that the Guards die a quick death.

Turistas bombed and I'm afraid that The Hills are going down too. Let's just cross our fingers and hope Hostel 2 will have the cutting edge (pun fully intended).

2.5/5
txq

Turistas (2006)

Of booze, babes and body parts

First, there is The Hills Have Eyes. Then we have Hostel. What’s next for the hardcore sadistic moviegoers? Well they can wait for The Hills part 2, which is opening next week by the way, or they can satisfy their fetish of watching people get cut up in Turistas, touted as a better version of Hostel. Or so it seems.

Although there are a lot of eye candies, the first half of the show is a boring affair. It pretty much stretches the audiences’ patience to the max as we see how absurd (or coincidental, for you romantics) events unravel. A group of tourists arrived at a beautiful coast of Brazil via a roller coaster bus ride, which nearly ended in disaster. Overwhelmed by the openness and friendliness of their local hosts, they partied real hard and got wasted equally hard. Talking about hard, I find it hard to remind myself that this is a twisted horror movie (It is equally hard for me to shake off (no pun intended) those bouncing chests).

Back to the story. After they found out that they were being robbed, they began to wander about the local village, in search of a police station. A case of broken head, led to the villagers baying for their blood. Soon, a local they met at the beach managed to get them ‘out of trouble’ by leading them to a ridiculous 10-hour hike in the dense jungle! To cap it off, they were all bare footed! I know movies can ignite the imagination but I seem to misplace my spark plugs here. The arrival at a deserted mansion finally signaled the end of the holiday.

Cue Dr Robin Hood, the psychotic surgeon who carved up tourists for their organs to save the locals. Driven by the fact that foreigners kept invading their land and now their organs, he wanted eye for an eye (Or rather a kidney for a kidney). “ It is not personal,” he proclaimed. But it was every bit personal (Long live the Michael Corleone spirit!) as the tourists began their fight back.

Turistas isn’t a very gory and violent shows. It does have its own scary moments but it doesn’t have the impact of Hostel or Saw. Actually, it looks more like medical school training with all the analgesic and operating theatre. Perhaps, one can watch it as a prelude to a more violent show, just to prep the guts up.

Show us the saws not the scalpels!

2/5

txq

Freedom Writers (2007)

For peace

After a long lay off, Hilary Swank comes back strongly with, not one, but two offerings this month. First up is Freedom Writers and subsequently, The Reaping. Critics panned her choice of those movies and likened her to Halle Berry, who suffered the post-Oscars syndrome of picking movies worthy of winning the Razzies (remember Catwoman?).

But, I beg to differ.

All right, its true that Freedom Writer is nothing to be wowed at. You throw an idealistic teacher into an integrated school full of gangs that demand ‘respect’ and you… yeah you know the story. A simple diary writing activity uncovers the painful confessions of each student. Everybody has a heart-wrenching story to tell. Dreamer teacher turns the students’ lives around and things get chummy in the end. A simple movie but its never simple in its morality.

Yes, it is a bland performance from Hilary Swank. She stars as the idealistic Ms. G. People might expect more from her acting caliber, considering she is the recipient of 2 Academy Awards for Best Actress. To be fair to her, it is a safe performance from her and she doesn’t deserve the criticisms for her participation in this movie.

Freedom Writers showcases the trials and tribulations of the students and the racial tension in the States. Gangs from different minorities fight for territory in the school, all in the name of respect. Maybe this is something we, Singaporeans, can never understand. We are lucky to be in a tolerant society. I don’t want to be judging here because I’ve never been through what these students went through. But we need to see beyond the color of our skin pigmentation, for I know that the color of our hearts is definitely not black or white.

We have the same beating heart and let us beat as one.

3.5
txq