I saw Conan.
It was a great movie with amazing action sequences that doesn't spend time pissing around trying to pretend that it is something it is not. For someone who goes to bat for Zack Snyder's hits and misses raving for their visual style and originality, to then turn around and dismiss a movie that mimics that exact same visual direction and intellectual honesty in its subject matter is quite frankly discrediting Bob.
But I'm not surprised. I knew before this even went pre-production that it could be filmed by Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg with Edgar Wright's help and a reincarnated soul of Stanley Kubrick and STILL people would poo poo it. Why? Because the nostalgia factor was too great. I've seen people today actually say that Conan wasn't BULKY enough, or that the ROCK should have played him... WHAT?! Really?! That's the criticism? That Conan could actually put his ARMS DOWN?! Conan wasn't a body builder, he was a grim, strong, product of his harsh, unforgiving environment with Iron thews and a stoic sense of truncated morality.
Anybody who doesn't think THIS movie is better than at the very LEAST, Conan the Destroyer (and quite frankly better than Conan the Barbarian) is living in "Nothing can be the Original"-ville and loses all credibility with me. If you haven't read any of Robert Howard (or at least L. Sprague's) original Conan works, go do yourself a favor and go do that. Or buy the Savage Sword graphic novel collection. READ that, THEN watch this version of Conan again. I CHALLENGE you to say it is not closer to the source material and FAR more entertaining than the previous two outings. This movie is unashamed of what it is... a cult classic in the making, with decent CGI married with REAL BODY work, a filming technique FEW people seem capable of appreciating these days after watching people interact with the air in other big CGI eye-candy festivals this summer. It's a nice touch you appreciate, and the movie doesn't weigh itself down trying to be a pretentious art-house piece. It knows its identity and swaggers in with all the self-awareness of a Cimmerian boy seeking his first female conquest. The pacing is such that there isn't more than 5 minutes between something action-y going on, and even that time is split between sexy hot boobs and dudes making preparations to die.
Look, I entreat everyone here to for once cast aside your beliefs and thoughts and hang-ups about films, grab some popcorn, and go see this movie. If you can get past the "It's cool to hate stuff" thing long enough, you'll walk out realizing that the movie was pretty damn fun and worth your time and money.
Or hey, just go see the SMURFS because apparently that's the stuff HOllywood thinks we need more of.
As for you, Bob, thank you for reminding me why we shouldn't put too much (or ANY) faith reviewers. It is all too easy to forget that we are taking the advice of people who revel in the belief that they are the imminent experts on all things fun in a subject. And more often than not, they are sodden with nostalgia or soused in their own arrogance, or just plain way too jaded, to enjoy something us regular folk would find outstanding.
That's probably the best thing you taught anyone today. Congratulations.
It was a great movie with amazing action sequences that doesn't spend time pissing around trying to pretend that it is something it is not. For someone who goes to bat for Zack Snyder's hits and misses raving for their visual style and originality, to then turn around and dismiss a movie that mimics that exact same visual direction and intellectual honesty in its subject matter is quite frankly discrediting Bob.
But I'm not surprised. I knew before this even went pre-production that it could be filmed by Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg with Edgar Wright's help and a reincarnated soul of Stanley Kubrick and STILL people would poo poo it. Why? Because the nostalgia factor was too great. I've seen people today actually say that Conan wasn't BULKY enough, or that the ROCK should have played him... WHAT?! Really?! That's the criticism? That Conan could actually put his ARMS DOWN?! Conan wasn't a body builder, he was a grim, strong, product of his harsh, unforgiving environment with Iron thews and a stoic sense of truncated morality.
Anybody who doesn't think THIS movie is better than at the very LEAST, Conan the Destroyer (and quite frankly better than Conan the Barbarian) is living in "Nothing can be the Original"-ville and loses all credibility with me. If you haven't read any of Robert Howard (or at least L. Sprague's) original Conan works, go do yourself a favor and go do that. Or buy the Savage Sword graphic novel collection. READ that, THEN watch this version of Conan again. I CHALLENGE you to say it is not closer to the source material and FAR more entertaining than the previous two outings. This movie is unashamed of what it is... a cult classic in the making, with decent CGI married with REAL BODY work, a filming technique FEW people seem capable of appreciating these days after watching people interact with the air in other big CGI eye-candy festivals this summer. It's a nice touch you appreciate, and the movie doesn't weigh itself down trying to be a pretentious art-house piece. It knows its identity and swaggers in with all the self-awareness of a Cimmerian boy seeking his first female conquest. The pacing is such that there isn't more than 5 minutes between something action-y going on, and even that time is split between sexy hot boobs and dudes making preparations to die.
Look, I entreat everyone here to for once cast aside your beliefs and thoughts and hang-ups about films, grab some popcorn, and go see this movie. If you can get past the "It's cool to hate stuff" thing long enough, you'll walk out realizing that the movie was pretty damn fun and worth your time and money.
Or hey, just go see the SMURFS because apparently that's the stuff HOllywood thinks we need more of.
As for you, Bob, thank you for reminding me why we shouldn't put too much (or ANY) faith reviewers. It is all too easy to forget that we are taking the advice of people who revel in the belief that they are the imminent experts on all things fun in a subject. And more often than not, they are sodden with nostalgia or soused in their own arrogance, or just plain way too jaded, to enjoy something us regular folk would find outstanding.
That's probably the best thing you taught anyone today. Congratulations.
