WEDNESDAY, JULY 28, 2004
WHAT'S HAPPENING
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
19
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MOVIE REVIEWS
Thunderbirds' visually strong; plot, characters a no go
Transitioning a television show to a major motion picture has always been a favorite in Hollywood. A more recent trend has been to take animated shows and turn them into live-action flicks. A new movie takes that strategy a step further: It adapts a television show starring puppets. The new Thunderbirds movie is based on the classic television show made famous by its puppet characters who were modern day heroes and saved the world on a regular basis.
The movie has a similar idea: the Thunderbirds are an elite crime fighting and disaster-preventing team consisting only of the men in the Tracy family, led by patriarch Jeff, played by Bill Paxton. The Tracy family suffered a loss of their mother, but you only really find that out by guesswork and vague statements. The youngest Tracy, Alan, is still in school and much to his chagrin, Jeff doesn't think he is ready to go on missions. The typical angry child plot develops, as Alan sits frustrated at home while his family runs off to be superheroes.
Alan, of course, gets his chance to prove himself when disaster strikes in the form of The Hood, played strangely enough by Ben Kingsley. When the Thunderbirds are trapped in space trying to save the one Thunderbird who lives on a space station, the Tracy Island is taken over by The Hood and his
'THUNDERBIRDS'
Theater: South Wind 12
Rating: PG
Grade: C+
henchmen. The Hood's devious plan is to steal the Thunderbirds' transportation, rob banks and have all the blame placed on the Thunderbirds.
Casting-wise, the movie took some formerly big-time names to fill its roster. Kingisey portrays the appropriate amount of insanity and hatred, and no one is better than Bill Paxton to portray a character first played by a puppet. Alan is played by Brady Corbet and is unremarkable in his role. His two friends on the island are more interesting and have better character development than Alan. A surprising casting choice was Anthony Edwards as the stuttering scientist for the Tracy family. Edwards' fall from grace is apparent, as the man who once ruled must see TV is filling a very supporting role as a stuttering nerd.
The visuals of the film are fantastic, and the opening credits are possibly the best part of the movie. The Tracy family island looks like a retro tiki party, and it looks like they share the island with the Fantanas. The bright colors and cool weapons will be sure to keep children interested, but any adult who watches may be drawn more to mourn for the formerly great actors who are playing some pretty strange characters.
Meagan Kelleher
'Bourne Supremacy' leaves little to viewer's imagination
Matt Damon is even more reserved and brooding in Supremacy than the first Bourne movie. He spends time between action scenes trying to dig up
More than one car chase seems like a reasonable expectation for a chic spy movie like The Bourne Supremacy. It does not disappoint. Like the first Bourne movie, Supremacy borrows a good deal from other spy movies set in Europe, like Ronin and Mission: Impossible. The cars that race around after each other are impossibly flimsy-looking. Kung fu violence erupts unexpectedly.
When last seen, the amnesiac CIA super-assassin Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) was leaving all of his troubles behind and running off into the sunset with his girlfriend Marie (Franka Potente). Unfortunately, a CIA agent played by Joan Allen begins to suspect Bourne is responsible for disrupting an investigation of a CIA double agent. Bourne is moved to action when confronted by a grim-faced Russian killer played by Karl Urban at his South Asian hideaway. Soon, he is zipping across Europe, crawling across the outsides of buildings, and outsmarting his CIA hunters.
'THE BOURNE SUPREMACY'
Theater: South Wind 12
Rating: PG-13
Grade: B+
The best elements of the movie are Bourne's "gotcha" moments. He's almost always one step ahead of his enemies, but it's never contrived or mysterious. The audience is shown throughout exactly how he outwits or is going to outwit his targets.
repressed memories instead of talking. Damon has a cold, blank stare that says the little he wants to say. He is not a burly action hero, but his boyish everyman qualities suit Jason Bourne's reluctant assassin.
The movie moves briskly between the action scenes and dramatic escapes. The showdown/car chase at the end of the movie is particularly original. The director Paul Greengrass's camera shakes around to try to build tension, but it's usually just irritating. He does do a good job, however, of making Bourne's actions and strategy clear. The editing in bad action movies is usually so confusing it's difficult to understand what trickery or athletic feat the hero just pulled. That's not the case with The Bourne Supremacy.
Bob Ward
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