First Impressions Review Diary 11-Jan-2014

   Late this week, I got back into the swing of watching movies every day. I've long since lost the passion, the drive I used to have for writing reviews; it's just becoming a chore by now. I now have all the more respect for people who can keep it up long-term! :) Therefore, I'll be keeping with the style I adopted towards the end of last year: basically turning my reviews into a diary of what I saw each week, and keeping the reviews themselves short and sweet.
   They won't always be as short as they got last year, though. There aren't too many movies that give me much to say anymore, but whenever I do come across such a movie, I'll elaborate to something more closely resembling the 200–250 words I used to write.
   That actually ties into my next point. Like I said, I only started late on in the week, so this was a very quiet week indeed: only two movies I hadn't seen before. But those two movies happen to each be an example of one of the two cases I just mentioned: one of them gives me more to say than the other. :)
   The first was Face/Off – which I made sure to watch before the Nostalgia Critic's review because I'd heard good things about it and didn't want that review to be my first impression of it.

Face/Off (1997)

   I was intrigued by this movie's premise: a secret agent and a terrorist swap faces and pretend to be each other. But, sadly, it turned out to be the kind of action movie I don't typically enjoy.
   First of all, the overabundance of action scenes and all the panning shots… any movie that reminds me of Michael Bay is not on good terms!
   But more importantly, the first action scene, for me, sums up why this movie doesn't work. The characters are barely set up at all before they're thrust into a big action scene, so it's hard to get invested. And when the entire premise depends on playing another character, you really need to make sure the characters are fully developed and understood. We know absolutely nothing about them before they're transformed, so we don't have a clue what they're supposed to be like as each other aside from the basic disposition.
   Also, the film is so stylish that that actually works to its disadvantage. For example, in the Mexican standoff scene at the end, what does it do once the guns start firing? It goes into slow-motion, which completely ruins the impact.
   Now, what did I like? Well, John Travolta and Nicolas Cage are both excellent, especially at playing both personalities and demonstrating how they clash. I also really like the "let's kill each other" scene with the mirrors.
   But overall, this movie puts style so firmly before substance that it's distracting and disappointing.
   My rating: 50%.

Juno (2007)

   I'll be honest: when this film started, I thought I was going to hate it, what with all the made-up slang. But, as the film progressed, I began to gradually grow more fond of these characters, to the point where I was completely along for the ride. To me, that's the mark of a good drama (comedy or not): how much you get invested. The performances are all top-notch, and Jason Reitman's direction strikes the perfect tone. It's also been quite a while since I came across a movie that even inspired me to buy the soundtrack! :) The only slight disappointment is that it doesn't really go into how the pregnancy affects Juno's school life. But overall, this is a funny and increasingly charming movie.
   My rating: 75%.