Summer's End
As the summer closed out, I saw a handful of movies. Two sequels, and one very largely hyped thriller. The first one I saw was The Exorcist: The Beginning. The second was Resident Evil: Apocalypse. The third was The Forgotten.
Now, I had only seen the original Exorcist, and I was entertained both times I saw it. The other two in the series I have recently purchased, but haven't seen. I wanted to see Resident Evil opening weekend, but it was sold out. So, I saw Exorcist IV. It was directed by Renny Harlin, and starred one of the Skarsgaards and Isabella Scorupo. It followed the early life of Father Merrin, Max Von Sydow's character in the Exorcist. He has left the priesthood and is now a practicing archeologist. He is asked to go to Africa to investigate a church where one should not be.
It turns out that the church was made to protect the area from the Devil himself, and when they opened the church, he got out. The person who is possessed is presumed to be a small boy, but by the end, we find out that Scorupo is the possessed one. The final confrontation is great, and there are some hideously gross and effective moments in between. All in all, it was an enjoyable horror entry, and one worthy of the Exorcist name. Its getting a 7.
The second sequel I've seen lately was Resident Evil: Apocolypse. I loved the original Resident Evil. I thought it was a great adaptaion of a game which was great. It kept me entertained the entire way through. However, the sequel left me wanting more. The action was less, the characters were sub-standard, and the plot focussed less on the zombies and more on the conspiracy of the Umbrella Corporation. Granted, Milla Jovovich was flawless, and Odhed Fehr matched her in intensity. For the most part, it was a watchable movie, but no where near what the first one was. It gets a 6.
The final movie here, The Forgotten, promised to be an interesting one. The plot basically followed a woman, played by Julianne Moore, whose son was killed in a plane crash. However, one day, everyone except her forgets he even existed. She thinks she's going crazy, until she convinces the father of one of her son's friends that they existed, and someone is making them forget.
Together, the two parents try to figure out where their kids are, and why they can't remember. In the end, the twist ending is pretty obvious, and the ending is very placating. it was pretty manipulative, and had a few token shocks. It only gets a 6.
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