The penultimate film in the EYG 8 Days of Potter is the first part of the finale, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  J.K. Rowlings’ final book was split into two films which, of course, immediately made Part 1 darker, more hopeless than you might expect, because everything is setting up for the final movie.

Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) and his friends are in desperate hiding as the wizarding world is going crazy around them.  The evil Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) and his Death Eaters are searching out his enemies, killing them to prevent any revolt.  Harry, Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) are separated from their support and family and head out to search for the mysterious horcruxes introduced in the previous movie.

During their searched, they remember the story of the Deathly Hallows, three mystical artifacts that was rumored to have tremendous power.

The film focused again on the relationship between the three main characters and how this constant and seemingly endless struggle with evil took a toll on their psyches and their constitutions.  There were some times when I felt it was like the scenes from Goblet of Fire when Ron was jealous of Harry, but this time they were on steroids.  The struggle threatened to tear Harry, Ron and Hermione apart.  This felt more earned in this moment than it ever felt in The Goblet of Fire.

This is not the type of film that Radcliffe, Grint or Watson could have done a few years prior, but they have come a long way in their careers as Harry Potter characters.  Their acting carries this film more than most.  The action here is limited, taking a back seat to the development of the characters and the creation of tone.

Director David Yates had done a wonderful job with that dark tone and creating a world of sorrow and despair.  With such a place, the light of these characters shines through, presenting us with the opportunity for hope where none appeared to be.

There is a tragic event near the end that did not bother me much, considering that I was never a fan of the character that dies.  Harry’s response felt too over-the-top as I did not feel the connection between these two.  However, that might be my own prejudices sneaking into my opinions.

Yates has done an exceptional job moving toward the finale and now we are there.

In 2002, Joss Whedon had a TV show on FOX called Firefly, and it was glorious.

It was short-lived.  Fandom cried out in anger and frustration.  Heck, they still are mad about it.  Firefly is one of those series that still has a backing behind it.

Then, in 2005, Joss Whedon was able to bring his space Western to the big screen and it, too, was magnificent.

Unfortunately, the film did not find the sort of success that would have brought it back.  All that was a shame, since the film was really good.

Captain Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) commanded the ship Serenity on missions of “thievin'” and “misbehavin'” throughout the Verse.  During one of the trips, he and his crew ran into trouble from the Alliance, who were searching for the retrieval of River Tam (Summer Glau).  River’s messed up mind held a secret that the Alliance did not want revealed so they sent an assassin known as The Operative (Chiwetel Ejiofor) to recalim her.

Serenity is one of the better science fiction movies you will come across from the last 20 years.  The inclusion of the cannibalistic Reavers creates an amazing monstrous enemy that provide tension and fear much like the Xenomorphs or the Predators.  Diving into the history of these creatures was a nice touch for the series.

While the movie puts an excellent bow on the end of the TV series, anyone who may not have been a fan of the Firefly TV show might have some issues knowing what is going on.  Joss Whedon has said before that this is basically the story arc of what would have been a second season of the show, so anyone who was unfamiliar with the characters might not have been as richly rewarded as some of the others.  If you have not seen the 14 episodes of Firefly, I would recommend them before you watch Serenity.  They are excellent anyway.

This is very much like a Joss Whedon film.  The dialogue is crisp and witty. There is humor and drama, and, just when you start to love someone, he pulls the rug out from under you and kills them off.  It does happen here so be ready with the tissues.

Mal is a complex character, very much at war with himself.  His very nature was a struggle for him as he tried to cover everything.  He matched up brilliantly with the cold and calculating Chiwetel Ejiofor as the villainous Operative.  The counter balance made for a strong conflict between the two men.  Nathan Fillion is a treasure too.  You cannot find a better roguish captain than him.  The twinkle in his eye tells you everything you need to know about Mal Reynolds.

Serenity was a great finale to the series, even if it was unfortunately, not a rebirth for it.

The EYG 8 Days of Potter continued today with day number six, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.  The Harry Potter franchise is all juiced up and ready to head into the final book of the series.  Of course, the films will split it into two films as a conclusion.

The Half-Blood Prince had some very strong elements to it and had some major turning points.  Unfortunately, the story itself seemed much like filler.  It was a film that lacked its own cohesive plot and was simply here to move everyone into the proper place for the Deathly Hallows.

That does not make this a bad movie.  In fact, I enjoyed much of it, but there can be no doubting that the narrative of the film was a bit lacking.

The next year of Hogwarts arrives with a greater uncertainty, if not fear, from all of the students because of the dangers presented by Lord Voldemort.  Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) recruits Harry to befriend former and once again teacher Professor Horace Slughorn (Jim Broadbent) in order to discover the truth behind a meeting years before between Slughorn and Tom Riddle (Frank Dillane).

Meanwhile, Voldemort’s forces are preparing Draco (Tim Felton) to become a Death Eater by assassinating Dumbeldore.  Severus Snape (Alan Rickman) makes a blood oath to help Draco meet his destiny and to protect the boy.

As this was going on, there was a ton of relationship drama going on between Harry and Ginny (Bonnie Wright), Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) and a few other annoying students.  None of this romantic drama felt like it fit.  I do understand why it is included.  These are teenagers with raging hormones, after all, but it just did not carry the same weight as what else was going on around them.  I have seen other stories that have done a better job of making the characters seem as if they are teens where as these Potter characters seem more like wizards and warriors first and foremost.

Then there is the introduction of the concept of the horcruxes, which will become the driving MacGuffins in the Deathly Hallows.  This being introduced in this film felt like it was being tossed in at the end of the series as a way to help wrap it up.  I do not know if this was the intent from the beginning of the franchise, or if it were simply the answer when Voldemort arrived back, but these horcruxes appearing here worked as an add on.

The look of the film continues to be exceptional as the CGI and the special effects are outstanding.  There are some continually beautiful imagery contained in the whole Harry Potter series and these films directed by David Yates take that to another level.

One of the standout performances in the film belongs to Jim Broadbent as Professor Horace Slughorn.  Slughorn is a kindly person who has a memory of an event that he regrets terribly.  He has spent years denying this memory, leading him to nearly punish himself.  Broadbent provides a sad and very human performance of this many, broken by his own guilt and his weakness in being able to face it.

I have to say, when I first saw this movie, my memory was that there was more in the film focused on Draco Malfoy, but on this re-watch, I found him to be of less importance than I remembered.  I wish there was more to the character of Draco than what we have gotten over the years.  He has been written as nothing more than a sniveling, slimy jerk and I think the lack of human emotion from him makes him very non empathetic in these scenes where we are supposed to feel his inner struggle.   Why would I believe that Draco would ever struggle with doing what he was supposed to do?  He has never shown me any reason why it should bother him at all.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (by the way… what does the Half-Blood Prince have to do with anything? ) is a transitional film that has a lot of positives to it, but whose main purpose is to prepare for the finales.

This is another of the films that the Dan Murrell film club assigned its members to watch for the Month of May.  It was a pretty good assignment.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is highly considered the greatest Star Trek film in the franchise.

The crew of the Reliant is taken over by the return of the evil Khan (Ricardo Montalban) and he had plans for revenge.

Admiral James Kirk (William Shatner) was onboard with his own crew to inspect the training ship of the Enterprise, now captained by Spock (Leonard Nemoy).  On the flight, a confusing message came from an old flame of Kirk, Carol (Bibi Besch), about turning over Genesis, a top secret scientific project.  Kirk took over command and led the ship on its way to Genesis where they cross paths with Khan.

The film is fantastic.  It shows the relationships of the classic Star Trek characters perfectly and creates powerful emotions.  The third act scene between Kirk and Spock is a scene of legend.

The rivalry between Kirk and Khan play out exceedingly well, considering that neither actor actually appeared on screen with one another.  It shows how strong both men’s performances were as the characters tried to out smart the other.

There was the introduction of David (Merritt Butrick) was basically peripheral to the story as Kirk’s grown son that we never knew about.  However, as I mentioned, David and his mother Carol were not the important aspect of the film.  It was, at best, a secondary storyline.

This film was truly the connection between the original Star Trek characters, in particular Spock and Kirk, Bones (DeForest Kelly), Scotty (James Doohan).  We get more with new Vulcan crew member Saavik (Kirstie Alley) than we do with Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) or Sulu (George Takei).

And that scene still gets me.  Even after knowing the eventual outcome of what would happen, that scene ripped your heart out.  I think this is the moment when Star Trek became more than a cult favorite and became a massive franchise.

I still believe this is the best Star Trek movie yet to be made.

I do love Christopher Guest.

He has been involved in some of my all-time favorite movies.  From acting in the Princess Bride and This is Spinal Tap to his direction in A Mighty Wind , Christopher Guest brings a flare unlike any other movie out there.

This film is another “mockumentary” style film called Waiting for Guffman, a film that, much like most of Christopher Guest’s films, dialogue is improvisation and features a cast of Christopher Guest regulars, like a comedy troupe.

This film included Catherine O’Hara, the recently passed Fred Willard, Eugene Levy, Bob Balaban, Parker Posey, Larry Miller and others who have made appearances in other Guest films.  The experience of these talented improv actors is shown off in every scene.  It is amazing how skilled they are at what they do, not only to create a cohesive story, but to also make it consistently funny.

Waiting for Guffman tells the story of stage director Corky St. Clair (Christopher Guest) who comes to the small town of Blaine, Missouri to direct the local theater show that is celebrating the 150 anniversary of the town.  Corky invites Broadway critic Mr. Guffman to see the debut of the show.

Corky populates the show with local “talent” including the dentist Dr. Allan Pearl (Eugene Levy), a married couple who work as travel agents (Fred Willard and Catherine O’Hara) and a Dairy queen worker (Parker Posey).  None of them truly have any talent, but Corky pursues the show anyway.  In fact, Corky believes that they have what it takes to make it to Broadway.

There are so many wonderful scenes featuring these talented performers.  They also have some really sweet and engaging songs, written by Guest, Michael McKeon and Harry Shearer.  The ballad “A Penny for your Thoughts” showing the heart of the picture.

While this is a satire of these small town theater shows, there is also a great deal of love shown for them as well.  It is clear that Christopher Guest has a soft spot in his heart for this type of entertainment.  Waiting for Guffman is funny, smart and contains a cast of professionals and masters.

Today is day five of the EYG 8 Days of Potter re-watch.  In the series, we a re up to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, a film that, in my original memory, kind of blended together with most of the last few Harry Potter movies.  However, that is an unfair assessment from me, because this is a truly strong film that sets up the war that will be coming.

In the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) has been suffering from the results of the tragic circumstances at the end of the Goblet of Fire.  One could make an argument that Harry was going through PTSD from his confrontation with Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes).  So when the creepy Dementors attacked Harry and his cousin Dudley (Harry Melling), Harry had to respond with an illegal use of magic.

This was one of the few misfires I think the film had.  There was an opportunity for us to see Dudley in more of a light than the one-dimensional character that he has been since we first saw him dropping though the glass into the viper cage.  Unfortunately, the film decided to have the character stick with his typical ways and be the Dursley that he is.

Harry is prosecuted for his offense, which seems like a severe over-reaction.  This is the Ministry of Magic firing back at the idea that Voldemort had returned.  Showing Harry to be of low moral character appeared to be the strategy to allow the world to keep itself in denial.

Getting past the charges, Harry returned to Hogwarts under the cloud of suspicion and anger from his proclamation about Voldemort and the result of the death of Cedric (Robert Pattinson).  Harry tired to push everyone away but his friends stuck closely by his side (a much better result than in Goblet of Fire).

The franchise added what has to be one of the greatest villains in the series. I say “one of” because clearly Lord Voldemort is iconic and could be considered the Darth Vader of the Harry Potter universe.  The villain introduced here did not have any ties to Voldemort.  Instead, as a member of the Ministry of Magic, Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton) arrives as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.  She had her eye on more than just that though.

As a representative of the Ministry of Magic, Umbridge took her position in a way that molded the use of magic in a specific manner.  She would eventually come into conflict with Dumbledore (Michael Gambon).

There is the themes here that are being set up for the remainder of the franchise, mainly that Harry and Voldemort are two sides of the same coin.  There are definite Star Wars feel to the Order of the Phoenix as Harry and Voldemort struggle within.  You could almost hear Voldemort say that Harry did not know the power of the dark side.  The Order of the Phoenix does a great job of setting the sides.

That is probably the biggest issue with this film and the main reason why my memory of the film was so weak.  It truly is a transitional film, going from the tragic end of the Goblet of Fire to an eventual finale.  It is like a step on the path instead of its own unique chapter.  While I watched the movie, I was fully engaged by its narrative, but later on, will it still standout in my mind?

David Yates took over the director’s chair here and helmed the remaining films of the franchise.  That is an important fact as the singular voice helped mold the ending of the series of films into one complete epic.

The Order of the Phoenix gives strong character development for many of the characters that we knew and sets us on the dark path to the eventual war between Harry and Voldemort.

It is Day 4 of the EYG 8 Days of Potter, and we are up to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and the Potter franchise took a big step back with this installment.

Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) returns to Hogwarts, which was hosting the Tri-Wizard Cup.  Three representatives for each school are picked out of the Goblet of Fire and it was intended to be open to 17 year olds only.  However, Harry Potter’s name mysteriously popped out of the Goblet of Fire along with the other three competitors.  The four competitors are put through the dangers of the tournament.

I had a lot of issues with this film.  While the ending of the film is extremely dark and well done, very tragic and powerful, there are so many parts here that just do not work.

The first issue I had was how Harry and Ron were fighting with each other early.  They turned on one another really quickly and it was not realistic.  Why would Ron not believe Harry that he did not put his name in the Goblet when he told him?  He reacted with so much jealousy that it made the whole first act or so feel wrong.  As quickly as they broke apart, they came back together as quickly… or when the film needed them to.  The whole interconnection of the kids was messed up during this movie.

The dance scene was a waste of time as well.  I understand that it is meant to show the awkwardness of teenagers and their uncertainty with the opposite sex, but why would Harry Potter, one of the most famous wizards in the world, have difficulties finding a date for this dance?

The three other competitors in the Tri-Wizard cup were almost totally ignored.  I had no idea anything about any of them.  The only character who received even a little bit of development was Cedric Diggory (Robert Pattinson) and, honestly, there was not much there.  Imagine how much more emotional the ending of the film would have been if you gave a crap about Cedric in a meaningful way.

The characterization of Hermione (Emma Watson) was stalled in this movie as well as her part was reduced to simpering teen who was upset with Ron.  She is a much more deserving character that was she got here.

I had real problems with a lot of the motivations of the characters in this movie.  At least we did not have to waste time with Uncle Vernon in this movie.  I liked the new opening to the film.  It still made the way Ron and Harry approached one another make even less sense.

I did like the underwater sequence in the race as it really showed the heroic side of Harry Potter.  Other than that, the competitions are wastes of time.

The film continues to look great, but this one truly was not nearly as entertaining as the early films, nor anywhere close to Prisoner of Azkaban.

Day three of the EYG 8 Days of Potter brought me what I have considered, prior to this re-watch, the best Harry Potter movie of the bunch.  Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban takes the franchise on a different path.

Year three at Hogwarts brings the next threat to the boy wizard.  The deadly Sirius Black (Gary Oldman) escapes from the prison Azkaban and everyone believes he was after Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe).  Black was convicted of murder and was reputed to have told Voldemort where Harry’s parents were, selling them out.

This movie broke the Harry Potter formula that the first two films followed closely.  Chris Columbus, who directed the first two, stepped aside and gave way to Alfonso Cuarón.  Cuarón brought with him a dark tone, much darker than anything that we had seen from Harry Potter before.  The entire set up of the story and the execution of the plot are extremely clever and well done, completely different than the previous films.  Going in this direction truly transformed the Harry Potter series to more of an adult film as the young actors aged.

This is the first film where Dumbledore is now being played by Michael Gambon, after the death of original actor Richard Harris.  Gambon does step into the role well and becomes a great Dumbledore as the franchise progressed.

The Prisoner of Azkaban has some fantastic story twists that are difficult to see coming.  The way the third act is all weaved together is fun and works beautifully.

Gary Oldman packs a wallop into each scene, despite not having a lot of screen time.  This continued the ongoing mythology of the story without making it feel as if it were just a retread of what had come before.  David Thewlis was a great addition to the ensemble as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor Remus Lupin.

The introduction of the Dementors is creepy and, at times, frightening.  These creatures are clearly going to be an important creature moving forward in the franchise.  They provided a real threat to our protagonists and an amazing imagery with them.

Mentioning about the imagery, the visual style of this movie is just tremendous.  Everything from the Dementors to the cinematography to Buckbeak the hippogriff is just a visual masterpiece.

I enjoyed the cold open at the Dursley’s house.  I am not sure why Harry has to keep going back to these people.  He has a ton of money int he bank, couldn’t he rent a room from the Weasleys?  Or maybe stay at Hogwarts?  I just find this to be one of the weakest parts of the movie.  However, blowing Uncle Vernon’s (Richard Griffiths) sister Aunt Marge (Pam Ferris) up and having her float away was an early film highlight, as was the insane bus ride after.

The young actors have really grown into their roles.  At this point, the Harry Potter actors are capable of handling more adult and deeper themes and their performances now elevate the work around them.  Emma Watson, in particular, has become a strong actor and can handle more emotional worth.

Coming into The Prisoner of Azkaban, my memory was that this was the best Harry Potter movie.  Coming out of the re-watch, I still think it is the best Harry Potter movie of all.  I am interested to see if I still think it is the best after the EYG 8 Days of Potter end.

Day 2 of the EYG 8 Days of Potter has brought us the second film in the Harry Potter franchise with Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) returns to Hogwarts to another mystery.  This time, there are mysterious attacks on students as the mythical Chamber of Secrets had apparently been opened.  Harry, Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) are attempting to solve the mystery before the danger costs them everything.

Chamber of Secrets is a solid film and I enjoyed the third act very much with Harry in the Chamber.  You can see improvements among the young actors in their performances from Sorcerer’s Stone.  There are some points in the film that are quite cheesy and is a negative to the film.  There are several points (the spiders, Hermione as a cat, the anagram, pixies etc) that I would have eliminated because they dragged the story.

Chamber of Secrets is very similar to the concepts of Sorcerer’s Stone.  It is a mysterious location within the school.  Harry, Ron and Hermione think the culprit is one of the “bad” guys (Stone= Snape, Chamber=Malfoy).  Harry sneaks around under the invisibility cloak.  Harry winds up in danger in the woods.  They discover the secret pathway.  They go down under the school.  Harry gets separated from his friends and heads on alone.  The villain is someone we do not expect.  Voldemort is trying to get his body back.  I am sure there are more as I was noticing these repetitions more this time through than I had before.

There are areas that are better than the original. There is considerably less exposition here.  We don’t need to just have so many people explaining stuff to us, which helps with the narrative.  The film is funnier and has much more action.  They are able to get into the actual main story much quicker this time and that helped with the pace of the film.  It is a long movie, but you do not feel its length because the pace is so well laid out.

The mystery is compelling and the story is nicely weaved together.  While the conclusion of what is going on may be a tad underwhelming and repetitive, the final confrontation with Harry and the Basilisk is an utter joy.

The tone of the film does stray into a little darker of territory with the introduction of Lucius Malfoy (Jason Isaacs).  The Harry Potter franchise one that really goes darker the older these students get and as the story progresses.

I disliked Dobby (Toby Jones) a great deal for most of this movie.  The very end sequence with Dobby, Harry and Lucius is fire and shows you some amazing traits of the character of Harry Potter, but the early uses of Dobby were extremely dumb and felt like used simply for comedic effect.  I had terrible flashbacks to Jar Jar Binks watching Dobby.

Overall, I think the Chamber of Secrets takes the same basic formula as the Sorcerer’s Stone and improves upon it.  There are some really good moments in the film that overcome the weaknesses.  This is the final film in the franchise directed by Chris Columbus as Alfonso Cuarón takes over for the next installment.

I recently finished my James Bond re-watch and, to go along with the list of other movies to see this summer while at home, I have decided on the next franchise re-watch.  Beginning tonight, Doc’s Classic Movies Reviewed will feature the EYG 8 Days of Potter.

That means that the first film in the re-watch will be Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.  Based on the book by J.K. Rowling and directed by Chris Columbus, The Sorcerer’s Stone kicked off the franchise.

This is a good film, but, looking back on it, this film was short on story and long on world building and exposition.  It is understandable why there is so much explaining going on.  The film has to set up the mythology of Harry Potter, all of the students and teachers of Hogwarts, and artifacts, games and other details.  That is a tall order and certainly takes up plot time.

The Sorcerer’s Stone plot doesn’t really start taking place until well into the film and there were parts to the story that we not very important to this film.  Things that will play into future movies.  Again, it is a necessary evil.

Our young actors are another weakness in this film.  Don’t get me wrong, these children, in particular Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, grow into their parts and become considerably better actors.  This film, however, most of the child actors are, at best, average.  Emma Watson comes a long way as the franchise continues.

Daniel Radcliffe, however, was the best actor of the young ensemble and carries most of the film.  As the others grow in skill around him, he solidifies the film alongside the amazing cast assembled.  He was, perhaps, a perfect casting for Harry Potter.  Richard Harris as Dumbledore, Maggie Smith as McGonagall, the effervescent Alan Rickman as Severus Snape, and Robbie Coltrane as Hagrid anchor the young cast members with their skills and performances.

I remember the first time seeing this movie and thinking that this is like the new generation’s Wizard of Oz.  The magical nature of the film is wonderful and it clearly sets up for a great story moving forward.

This is probably the weakest of the Harry Potter films, but I can understand why.  It has to do a lot for the future of the franchise and it does that well, leading into the stronger stories ahead.

I have had a few instances recently of re-watching some films that, at first, I did not like, but upon the second watch, finding the film more enjoyable.  I wondered if that would continue by watching The Phantom.

Spoiler alert:  It did not.

The Phantom was horrendous.

It was actually way worse than I remembered it being.

The Phantom aka “The Ghost Who Walks,” secret identity of Kit Walker (Billy Zane), is the legendary, mythical hero of the jungle and he gets involved in a plot from businessman Xander Drax (Treat Williams) to uncover the magical Skulls of Touganda and claim the mystical power they control.  Kit’s old college flame Diana (Kristy Swanson) was involved too.  Oh and Catherine Zeta-Jones was a villainous sidekick for Drax, until she wasn’t.

The plot is an absolute mess.  There is no explanation of the plot.  Everybody just goes through the motions and people then drop some exposition moving along.

The dialogue is laughable.  Nobody talks like this.

It felt like a super hero version of an Indiana Jones movie, but really less intelligent or less fun or less well developed.  This makes the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull look like a considerably better movie of this genre.

This is way worse than I remembered.  It is truly a bad film.

A Goofy Movie was an animated Disney film based on the TV cartoon.  What happens when Goofy has a kid and has t be a parent?  Hijinks.

It is summer vacation and Max (Jason Marsden) has set up a date with his crush, Roxanne (Kellie Martin) to watch the broadcast of a concert together.  However, a phone call to his father Goofy (Bill Farmer) from the Principal (Wallace Shawn) puts Goofy into a panic.  Goofy decides to take his son fishing following the same path that his own father had done with him.

To cover the absence, Max tells Roxanne that he and his father were going to the live concert that they were going to watch on TV and that they were going to go on stage and dance with them at the end of the show.

There really isn’t much to the plot.  It honestly feels like an episode of any other TV show, just extended out to an hour and a half.  If you have ever watched a family comedy on TV, then you have seen the “twists” that happen here, just with that Goofy flair.

The music was catchy, but forgettable.  I just watched this not an hour ago, and I cannot recall any of the song titles or melodies.

The film does a good job of portraying adolescence and how the relationship can be between a father and his son.  It is not all sweetness.  Teens can be a nasty bunch and they are embarrassed at parents, no matter how much they may love them.  Goofy and Max have that relationship and we are exposed to the connection between them as the film moves on.

A Goofy Movie was fine.  The film would, most likely, be a big hit among the kids while the parents would not hate themselves for watching it.  It may not be a massive success, but it was far from a flop either.

I had heard about this movie on one of the movie talk shows that I listen to and I thought it was odd, but I had never known of this before.  It was referenced by the podcaster as one of his favorite movies ever and, again, I had never heard of it before.  So The Edge went on my list of films to see.

Billionaire Charles Morse (Anthony Hopkins) accompanied his model wife (Elle McPherson) on a shoot in Alaska.  Photographer Robert “Bob” Green (Alec Baldwin) and his assistant Stephen (Harold Perrineau) went in search of another local photographer.  The helicopter that carried them crashed and stranded the three men in the Alaskan wilderness.  Before long, they realize that they have been stalked by a man-killing Kodiak bear.

This action/survival tale had some definitive benefits to it.  First of all, Anthony Hopkins is a master actor and he can make nearly every silly or cheesy scene watchable, if not tense and exciting (Transformers: Last Knight notwithstanding).  Hopkins’ character is intelligent and observant, understanding the situation and finding ways in which to help them survive.

I wonder if this was on the resume for Harold Perrineau when he applied to be Michael on LOST (Waaaaaaaaalllllllt!) as he showed off his skills of running through the trees and navigating water and rivers.  There were a couple of scenes with Perrineau that were painful and extremely dramatic.

I do have to say that Charles Morse was probably too great of a person.  I truly respected his kindness and his heroic efforts, but I have to say there were a few moments that made me question what he does.  I am not sure I would have done the same thing making him the best among us.

However, I do love the fact that the movie highlights his intelligence as one of the key character traits of this man.  He is shown to be able to think on his feet and to plan out a strategy that will give him the best opportunity to survive, whether it be from the wilderness, the animals or the human component.

I did find it difficult to accept the film’s assertion that the bear was tracking them the whole time, but I have to say the confrontations with the bear made up for any issues I might have had with the narrative.

The Edge had some good action scenes, but they knew that the real elements of survival were not just built on the action.  The moments of character interaction were every bit as good as the action, if not better.  Except for the bear fights.  Those ruled.