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Bravado Says HANCOCK Doesn't Suck Ass??
Merrick here...
Earlier today we posted two reviews of HANCOCK that pretty much eviscerated the movie. You can find those reviews HERE.
Bravado just sent in a mini-review challenging the previous write-ups. You can see a trailer for the film HERE.
Here's Bravado with more...
Just read the two review of the Hancock screening. I went to the same screening and my reaction to the film was quite different. Personally, I never heard about Hancock or what it was about until that night. So unlike the other two reviewers I didn't have any expectations whatsoever. The end result? I was pleasantly surprised.
The storyline didn't suck ass. Different movies for different people. For me, it was an interesting twist on the whole superhero genre. It was funny, different, and the script wasn't nearly as bad as the reviewers make it out to be. The pacing was good and it kept my interest from beginning to end.
I don't get how the reviewers felt there was no chemistry in the characters. Sure, the chemistry between Bateman's character and Theron's character could have been a little better...but what was there was good enough. Now, Charlize did a great job with what she had. The chemistry she developed with Will Smith's character was much different than your stereotypical romance.
I actually came home and had to refrain from telling too much about it to my wife. I felt like this was the kind of movie she'd really like. I think if people went into this with zero expectations then they'll likely come out highly satisfied. This isn't Batman Begins or 300...but then again, it's not supposed to be. It's just a quirky superhero comedy, nothing more, nothing less. When it's finished, I think it's gonna be a good movie...good enough that I'll take both my wife and my mom to see it in the theaters. :)
L8R!
-Bravado
The storyline didn't suck ass. Different movies for different people. For me, it was an interesting twist on the whole superhero genre. It was funny, different, and the script wasn't nearly as bad as the reviewers make it out to be. The pacing was good and it kept my interest from beginning to end.
I don't get how the reviewers felt there was no chemistry in the characters. Sure, the chemistry between Bateman's character and Theron's character could have been a little better...but what was there was good enough. Now, Charlize did a great job with what she had. The chemistry she developed with Will Smith's character was much different than your stereotypical romance.
I actually came home and had to refrain from telling too much about it to my wife. I felt like this was the kind of movie she'd really like. I think if people went into this with zero expectations then they'll likely come out highly satisfied. This isn't Batman Begins or 300...but then again, it's not supposed to be. It's just a quirky superhero comedy, nothing more, nothing less. When it's finished, I think it's gonna be a good movie...good enough that I'll take both my wife and my mom to see it in the theaters. :)
L8R!
-Bravado
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+ Expand All
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NIIIIIIIICE!
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Sir, your favorite Wingnut Reporting for duty, Sir!
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Seems like a damage control post.
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Will Smith has never made one horrible movie in his career in my humble 27 year old opinion. From Independence Day, to Enemy of the State, to most recently I Am Legend, The Man knows how to pick scripts that are winners 100% of the time. I have no doubt Hancock will be a winner!
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Wassah. Dude you're no wingnut.
The wingnuts are USS Cygnus and Ashoko, who alternate between avid geekdom and genocidal fantasies. I'm sure Obama's speech yesterday got Ash into a head bobbing fury. -
Speaking on what Mel Gibsteinberg (who by the way, I love the name!) said...Do any of us really believe that Movie Companies have people who troll around the 'net and go onto sites lie AICN and who actually send in 'Planted' reveiws? I am not trying to start an arguement or anything, but isn't this just a geek site? Do we really think that this site will change the way people are going to see movies?
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That alone tells me everything I need to know about this reviewer and their opinion.
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Was that his way of saying it's not brilliant, but not godawful either?
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..as the gold standard of quirky superhero movies. Then again I am powerless against the comedic stylings of Damon Wayans, its like my kryptonite.
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Welcome to the Sit & Spin Zone...
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Wild Wild West? Bad Boys? Men In Black? Hitch? Shark Tale? I, Robot? These are "Winner" scripts?
C'mon, this guy has about as much script picking ability as Ben Affleck. The only reason why he's still popular is because he's spent more time on marketing the "Will Smith" brand name than he has actually working on his craft. For every 1 decent, well acted film he makes, he chooses 3 peices of shit. And the sheep love him for it. -
...The Return Of Captain Invincible, an enjoyable Australian movie from the early 80s. Alan Arkin plays a washed-up superhero called back into service to save the world.
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You've never seen I,Robot. And I don't care if you really have, from that statement you've never seen I, Robot. I'll agree with you on everything else, but not there.
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Mar 19, 2008 11:03:51 AM CDT
I actually came home and had to refrain from telling too much ab
by proman1984
Because... Wiat for it, Tonight he would come? Git it?
Wtf dude? Seriously, dude. Still, nice to know movie may not suck if you are not a plant. -
Two Captain Invincible refrences in one day? The mind reels. It's fuuny that nobody has mentioned that it's a musical. A low budget superhero musical starring Alan Arkin. Yes, it's as scary and awful as it sounds. The "Bullshit" song makes it almost worth a rental, if you can find it.
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Will Smith is good even in crap movies. Case in point: I am Legend. That should of been "End of days" bad. Who saved it? Mr Smith and Mr Smith alone. Looks like he saved it for Bravado too.
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I mean, really. What senario occurs so that you go to see a test screening, by yourself? I don't buy it. The review gives no specifics other than that the movie has a broad appeal, something that would be of concern only to a marketing division.
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UltimaRex is right.
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if it's a plant or not (but honestly I find those arguments completely hilarious so please continue). I'm still going to see it, because I like and trust Berg, Bateman, and Smith. If it turns out to be a bad movie, well, that's too bad.
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He's made crap movies and yet studios still dish out the paycheck for him to sell their movies at the box office. No matter how bad or "suck ass" you may think his past films are, regardless, his films sell at the theaters and always open in the top spot on the opening weekend. Some stay there for two-three weeks at a time. He always comes out on top. No Matter What.
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Name one that never makes a crappy film. You have to make shit in order to appreciate the good ones. Will Smith keeps on swinging, because he knows the more times you swing, the more chances you have of making another hit.
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I'm looking forward to this movie, and I'm not a huge Will Smith fan.
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...some guys keep swinging, and swinging, and swinging, and probably should just be the bat boy.
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every review or comment that has to do with will smith on this site,i have to take with a grain of salt,because i sometimes venture out into "non geek world" and alot of my friends have never read a comic book,and its odd..but almost all of them seem to like his movies,and his performances..but then i come to this site and its almost the exact opposite of the "non geek world" for me,i have liked some of his work,and not liked some,but i have no choice but to balance anything i read here about the man..its slanted and spun
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You ask a great question, I think that the idea of "studio plants coming to AICN to write positive or corrective reviews" has been a long held assumption on this site, but has it ever been confirmed? The cries of "PLANT" are made nearly every time there is a review (sometimes good OR bad) but usually when it seems the reveiw is too good to be true. We should write up our list of AICN Assumptions to ensure all new readers automatically understand the rules, these are assumptions such as: 1.) Studios pay internet trollers to comb movie sites and help stir up buzz about their portfolio of films. 2.) When Harry writes glowing reviews of clearly shite movies, it is almost always because his back pocket is being filled with coin, and his asshole is being slammed with buttah!3.) BSB is a liberal pinko nutjob, (but we love him) and USS Cygnus and Ashoko are NAZI right wing loonies (and we aren't sure how we feel about them) 4.) On the content side, Moriarty is consistantly the best writer on this site, though Capone is pretty good, Harry doesn't like spellcheck, Massa plays D&D with his wife so he can imagine he is a 6'8" 280 lb musclely ripped behemoth warrior, Herc is a bed-ridden cripple, and Quint is the biggest nerd of em all. I don't think that covered half the AICN assumptions, but I'll leave the rest of you to add more.
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I know that everybody makes bad movies. The statement I was arguing against was that Wiill smith has made "NOT ONE BAD MOVIE." I'm not sure if making shit movies so that the audience will appreciate it you make good ones is a valid argument. That's like banging your head with a hammer because it feels so good when you stop. More often than not, these days people make bad movies because they can get away with it. If there were any justice, all parties involved with making drek like "Wild Wild West" would never be allowed to work in Hollywood again. But they did, and while that's great for Smith, everytime somebody makes a piece of garbage like that and then brags about how they could put all of the money he made off of it on a 16 wheeler in his next family friendly rap song, it lets the studio just how much rancid shit they can get away with making. Now look where we are today in the movie industry. Prehaps one movie in 50 is any good at all, but that's okay because they're "trying". If I made as many fuckups in my job as they do in Hollywood, I'd be eating government cheese right now, but in the movie industry it's like "Nice try, here's 50 million dollars and a goodie bag."
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Every actor makes bad films once in a while, you can't always pick 'em. but Will Smith makes the same bad movie over and over again. Moreover you can tell that every one of these films is framed and written to make Smith look as good as possible every second. They should call every one of these shitty films "Will Smith: The Movie Part 2 or 3 or 5" etc. The guy has all the clout in the world and he still can't bother to use it to make a literary adaptation that isn't a complete bastardization of the source material. He's not swinging for quality film_is_dead, he's swinging for the lowest common denominator because he knows he can succeed by appealing to the simple. And Jase, anyone using box office receipts to prove a point obviously never had one to begin with. You can sucker the idiot American public into seeing and loving anything. Look at the success of Jumper and Cloverfield and any Adam Sandler movie. He's a big box office star, big fucking deal, it says more about the general public than it does about Will Smith as a talent. And at least Ben Affleck directed Gone Baby Gone, which is better than anything Will Smith has done since Six Degrees of Separation.
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"good enough that I'll take both my wife and my mom to see it in the theaters." didn't really sell it to me..
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Not for a second did I believe that this guy was on the verge of a mental breakdown. That scene int eh video store where he talks to the female dummy was as contrived and over emotive as it possibly could have been to throw in a cheap Hallmark moment. He never, even when he's supposed to be playing tortured, comes off as anything other than a capable suave guy in complete control of his situation. I love how the one guy that can save the world from this virus, this supposed lab rat guy, happens to be this really handsome bad ass who can rig a fortress completely on his own complete with a high tech lab. His Will Smithness just radiates out of him. I suppose it's not his fault. He's been a movie star for so long it's just part of who he is. He's just not believeable as a regular guy.
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than all of superman returns.
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This review actually made me want to see it *even less* than I did after reading the previous eviscerations. This read like either a plant, or someone with zero critical faculties.
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Mar 19, 2008 12:58:44 PM CDT
Instead of taking her to the movies give your mom a PLANT!
by diagnostic
I will watch this movie on TNT with my wife and Mother-in-law, though.
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Mar 19, 2008 1:03:27 PM CDT
That fucker needs to stick to makin awesome fuckin rap songs!
by donwillymo
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I'm not one to immediately cry plant, but this guy sending in a good review after two folks eviscerated the film is a a little leafy to me. Those negative reviews, particularly the first one, seem more honest than this one. Just my opinion.
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to see this movie...your low energy review pretty much ensured me that I never will!
Seriously. If you're a plant...you're wilting.
That was lame. -
immediately discredited this reviewer, which is a shame
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The tone of the review does sound suspect. Yet there's a peculiar negativity to all his compliments. Like someone trying to persuade you cancer is great cos it's somewhat treatable...;-p
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What would you call "Wild Wild West"?
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He said this movie was going to be PEANUTSHAKLES and that he was in the process of having bacteria infested wax candled out of his ears.
Also, he said this movie would be like having sex with a dead body. BRILLANT STUFF HARRY -
Seriously, y'all.
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then I can find favor in anything...well, at least its in focus..the effects are good..etc..The review does not inspire hope.
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had to hold himself back from telling the wife too much....thats a good one
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had to hold himself back from telling the wife too much....thats a good one
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People go see movies regardless of what some critic says.
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I've read a lot of reviews on this site. And I've heard a lot of them called plants. And unquestionably this is the worst one. He might as well have sent it on Sony stationary.
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I can't fucking believe it says L8R! at the bottom.
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Apparently people who are bashing Ben haven't yet seen Gone Baby Gone.
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... I don't really care if Hancock is better than it looks. I laugh at whale abuse twice as often as the average Joe, but still, I say this movie should have been The Tick, or Flaming Carrot, or Megaton Man, or any number of comics that did the jokes this movie will make, 20 years prior to this movie being made. Those comics will remain funnier than this movie, and will probably never get made. (and if they DO get made, they'll be compared to fucking Handcock!)
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p l a n t
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"Fucking Hancock" indeed.
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I recall at no point that this movie looked sucky. Yes, perhaps not the greatest upcoming flick, but certainly not ass-sucking.
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I was really excited for this movie one of my more anticipated movies of the year in fact. It seemed like the movie where Peter Berg would step up from decent to hot shit. It also seemed like the first great movie with Will Smith in it as opposed to a lame movie that Will Smith is the only thing worth watching in(almost his entire career). I had these same feelings about Smith and director Francis Lawrence with I Am Legend though.
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Of golden boy William being a drunk I just don't buy it. He should've been a alcoholic in I am William Smith, but wasn't. Why do I feel like this part should've gone to Billy Bob Thornton, and they should have pushed for a R? Then I think this movie may have something going for it. Pretty much have made this a Bad Santa 2, Santa Gets Super Powers.
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Look at most of the recent Robert Deniro and Al Pacino movies. And different movies appeal to different people.
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All her movies suck, yet she's somehow a movie star.
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And thats what we all wanted. We wants us some Bad Santa rehashed/remashed into a superhero movie. Does Hancock have Anal Sex Fat chicks in changing rooms... Nope! He just drinks and gets all vagrant like. Yeah this movie had a lot to live up to, and it didn't.
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are you kidding me "Sure, the chemistry between Bateman's character and Theron's character could have been a little better...but what was there was good enough." that's the posters biggest complaint. why would you even post this lie?
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You make very valid points, and I do agree with you. I have to say though, that determining whether a movie will be a hit or not based off the script alone is a crap shoot. Just because someone that has won oscars for his/her writing before, obviously doesn't mean every script they crank out will be a hit. Maybe Will really believes that the script he chooses to work on will be good, and will be a hit. (Granted the paycheck is a big part of that decision too). Have you ever read a script before the movie was made? It's almost impossible to determine if it's going to work. To say that Will always pick's crap, after the movie is already made is kinda harsh. You could say he's had some bad luck when it comes to the outcome of the film, but I can't imagine any actor choosing to do a shitty film.
You put together a talented pool of filmmakers...You get Peter Berg, who arguably, has had some success at directing...you gotta think, this might be good. But it might stink. -
Look, I can understand that Harry might get suckered by these plant reviews, but the rest of you guys? I thought you guys were writers. You mean to tell me you guys read this review and felt it was a sincere critique from a real audience member? If so, how can I trust your judgments on films if you can't even put 2 and 2 together to see this is a badly written piece of studio damage control?
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This isn't a plant. Just a longtime AICN reader who happened to see the preview. With two guys reviewing it and giving it a total shit review, I just felt like I should chime in and give my two-cents. You can laugh at my comments and say that it's a shit review but, honestly, I liked the movie. There are movies that I think are total dog shit that others absolutely love. "Kill Bill" comes to mind. I love all the movies Tarantino did before...just not "Kill Bill". Don't get it; never will. But "Hancock" I totally get. I'm a big comic book geek so "Hancock" came as somewhat as a surprise. Again, keep in mind that I didn't know shit about this movie prior to seeing it.
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Excellent base for 'AICN rules & assumptions!" I loved it! The D&D posts were awesome! Were you in on that one? I think nearly everyone here was...Masa must have worn a Preparation H dispensing pair of thong underwear after the ass-raping that he took over it! And the fucker kept on going, part I, Part II, Part III, etc, etc. Dude, I am still laughing about that one!
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Read between the lines.
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But Christopher Lee has a musical number in it and that's cool. Have you seen the ridiculous shit he does with that italian power metal band Rhapsody? So corny.
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Thats a ringing endorsement. Imagine the posters: "If you can't decide what to watch this weekend, critics say 'settle for hancock!'". "It's no masterpiece, but I've seen worse!"
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But there's a first time for everything.
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...Where The Day Takes You, I Robot, Hitch, Shark Tale, Bad Boys 1 and 2, Men In Black 2, The Legend Of Bagger Vance, Wild Wild West, Made In America. Phew, thats a fucking quality resume, that one. Never a bad movie, huh?
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Again, I'm the guy who wrote the review. It's not a plant! Geez!
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That DOESNT SUCK. Very hard.
The mask. That's about it.
Don't know if I will go to this. -
and I won't be finding out until it's on network TV. I used up my lifetime supply of giving Will Smith movies a chance with I AM LEGEND.
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Should been about a drunk guy named john Doe. He lives with a fat chick, has step children, jerks off at work during his lunch breaks, is always hung over or drunk. He doesn't know who he is. He woke up one day in the artic. Was found by a fishing ship. They brought him too America. figuring he was from there. After we know him, his backstory his pension for coke and hookers, and his miserable life.
Suddenly an Alien invasion occurs. John doe starts to experience the effects of all these strange powers. He remembers who he was and how the aliens defeated him and submersed in ice ages ago since he cant be killed. Somehow when they returned his need to be a superhero kicked in. Like superman and the son. Part of him doesn't give a fuck still. So we watch the change occur over time. Funny shit like watching him fly over a bunch of people walking on the sidewalks of New York city, and he pissing on them from above... -
This time, make it funny.
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Ever read Arthur Suydam's "Cholly & Flytrap"?
No? Good Luck. -
If the point of your review is to try to set things straight due to the other two, shouldn't you bother combating their points instead of using generalizations that ANYONE could have written based on the trailer and the aforementioned negative reviews?
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That movie was SHIT!!!! It totally fucking ruined Asimov's book, it was practically a spoof of a Hollywood interpretation of a science fiction novel--the exact kind of cliche shit that Harlan Ellison was trying to avoid with his own I, Robot screenplay. And people loved it!! Even Asimov's daughter loved it because Smith posed naked in the shower for her.
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So just because the movie was bad didn't mean Smith was to blame. That would go to the director and writers.
Also, adapting the book would have been pretty bad. You'd either have a mess of short film compilation or a single story stretched too thin. -
As I said, he could star in that I AM PIG thing from SimONE and it'd still be a hit. And Harlan Ellison's I, Robot screenplay kicks the shit out of what got made.
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Have you seen Gia? She's damn good in that. And while Girl, Interrupted is an overly sentimental piece of crap, I thought she was the best thing about it. That being said, in both of those movies, she's basically playing herself(crazy tattoed chick), so maybe she's not all that great an actress.
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I'm not sure who you are, but I'm definitely sure of what you're not: an industry insider. A good script is OBVIOUS. A great script is even more so. Of course there are many different variables that can make the final film better or worse than the original screenplay, but a great story is a great story whether you hear it, read it, or see it. Will Smith doesn't choose great scripts he chooses great vehicles for his persona. How it can be marketed, when it will be released, which demographics it will appeal to. He is as much movie mogul as movie star. I AM LEGEND is a decent enough christmas tentpole SFX release, but it completely bastardized the original book. If Will Smith was interested in being an actor instead of a brand, I AM LEGEND would have been filmed properly.
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If you're not a plant, why didn't you, y'know, actually review the movie, instead of just writing a bunch of vague marketing cliches? I suppose it's just a coincidence that this longtime "big comic book geek" AICN reader only shows up this one time to do damage control for a Will Smith movie with a review that may as well be a PR hack's Mad Libs? Give it up, anyone THAT gullible is already going to see this movie anyway.
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So this is yet another movie where the audience has to watch it without the expectation that it will be good. Then it doesn't seem so bad. Maybe it's just me, but I'm tired of having to lower my expectations just to avoid the desire to stab my thumbs into my eyes.
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Has anyone read that script review? It sounds like a completely different film from their description. But I never like there reviews anyway...
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Amen, brother.
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do you fucknuts not know that we can spot foilage at a hundred yards. Listen, cuntybaws, if you publish a reviw that (as someone else said) may as well be on SOny letterhead and then turn up with an asinine phrase like "I'm just a long time reader"- but with a new ID then you are an obvious FUCKING PLANT. Christ, studios- hire me. I'm cheap, have no scruples, an AICN pedigree and can write to a decent level.
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seem to forget that the movie studios are much smarter than you. If you fucking bloodhounds sniffed out every plant review, they would stop writing them or start writing them better. You aren't geniuses who are exposing the diabolical schemes of corporate masterminds. This Bravado guy is just some inarticulate geek who thought the film had been misrepresented and got it in his little head to badly write a rebuttal.
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This quote pretty much says it all: "This Bravado guy is just some inarticulate geek who thought the film had been misrepresented and got it in his little head to badly write a rebuttal." No, I'm not an inarticulate geek. I'm a 35 year-old web developer who happens to be a pretty big comic collector and took a few minutes out of my busy day to write a simple little review to say that I enjoyed the film. I simply didn't have time to sit down and write a masterpiece review that provides a rebuttal to every single point in the other reviews. Besides that, reviews are so subjective anyways. No movie is going to appeal to everyone. Variety is the spice of life. A few didn't enjoy it. I enjoyed it. Simple as that. Whether you think it's a plant or a simple-minded review, I don't give a shit. When and if I bother to write another review of something (like "Forgetting Sarah Marshall", which I'm seeing a screening of tonight) I'll be sure and point out every fucking little thing so that the so-called plantspotters won't have anything to bitch about. Fair enough?
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