Alison Myers reviews Love the Beast, Watchmen
Love the Beast
The Beast in question is the Ford thingumy Eric Bana’s had since he was 15. Yes, I could have found out exactly what the car is but the best thing about Bana’s first film as director is it’s highly enjoyable, even for someone like me who sees cars as reasons to take the train instead of the bus. Bana’s doco is really about passion, and whether spending so much time, energy, money and emotion on a hunk of mobile metal is really justifiable. And while there’s plenty for the revheads to enjoy, the film is relevant to anyone with a passion, whether it be for sport, clothes, films or whatever. It doesn’t hurt that Bana comes across as such a nice bloke, who obviously enjoys hanging out with his family and childhood mates as much as he does the likes of Jeremy Clarkson, Jay Leno and Dr Phil. 4 stars
Watchmen
I can’t say I found this film’s trailer or its tagline “from the visionary director of ‘300’” particularly appealing, but as I am a sucker for films involving super-heroes and graphic novels, I went along hoping to enjoy. While I haven’t read any of the ‘Watchmen; comics, the film seems to have successfully brought many of the elements to the screen – it looks great, the parallel universe setting is well-established, and the motley gang of super-heroes are entertainingly unconventional. As a film, however, it is self-indulgent and sloppy. It is far too long, the story is disjointed, and it is full of gratuitous gore which eventually made me switch off – and I loved ‘Sin City’. Even though the film started to win me back, I found it hard to care about the dated Cold War doomsday scenario. A brisk re-edit could do wonders. 3 stars
