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thephantasm4
Reviews
American Psycho II: All American Girl (2002)
Not bad, not great
Better than you might expect due to an excellent performance by Mila Kunis. She nailed her character on the head. William Shatner is surprisingly good because his style of acting fits his character perfectly. The plot holes in this film are big enough to drive a truck through, but that did not stop me from enjoying it. The movie is cheesy, but it appears to be aware of this. There are several moments where I actually found myself laughing out loud, due in large part to Kunis' excellent delivery. A worthwhile rental, but not much more. See it for style, not substance.
Ripper (2001)
A film that wants to be original and smart, but fails miserably.
As much as the creators of this film want to be intelligent and creative, they fail on both accounts. Terrible dialog, annoying characters, and a pretty lame comparison to Jack the Ripper destroy this film. Not once did I care about any of the characters. In fact, I found myself awaiting their deaths so the film could finally end. The dialog was cliched and boring, and the delivery was rarely believable. Bruce Payne and AJ Cook do a decent job, but the rest of the characters come off as card board cut outs. One of the film's biggest problems is its desire to be intelligent through exposition. Unfortunately, the movie hits rock bottom whenever the characters try to explain something (which I again attribute to bland characters and dialog).
Also, there are no real ties to Jack the Ripper. Almost every Ripper element feels forced (thrown in last minute to cash in on the Ripper craze). A better description might be that they are unnecessary. This formulaic film seems to follow pretty much every slasher film that has come out since Scream. A connection to the Ripper seems to be thrown in for good measure.
To sum it up: If you have seen any slasher films over the past five years, you have already seen this movie.
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)
Great story and visuals...
An excellent movie in every aspect. Wonderful acting, great animation, and an engaging story. I have been waiting almost three years to see this movie, and it still managed to exceed my expectations. Like other users have said, the story manages to have emotion without being sappy. I loved the characters. Each one had a unique personality which was wonderfully expressed through some superb voice acting. Hands down the best videogame film ever (yeah, that is not saying much). Some great and imaginative plot twists as well.