Fred Claus (2007)

Sometimes you can have a good idea and make a rather poor movie (Bruce Almighty), and other times you have a bad idea that still makes a very good movie (BASEketball). This film is what happens when you have a bad idea and even worse skills, so the result is just horrid.

But how can it be? This film stars Vince Vaughn, Kevin Spacey, Rachel Weisz, Paul Giamatti, Kathy Bates and the multi-talented Miranda Richardson? Surely some redeeming features must remain? Not really no. Vaughn is just an ass. And not a funny as like 2 scenes of Jim Carrey as The Grinch or 7 seasons of Hugh Laurie as Dr. House. Just a whining asshole that refuses to take responsibility for anything. As for the rest, they have either hugely uninteresting characters (Tim Allen had better dialogues as a Santa than Giamatti does here) or they're reduced to charicatures (Kevin Spacey, Kathy Bates). And most of the dialogue is either bickering or full-fledged quarreling. Exasperating. There is such a thing as balancing your cast, and here every single one is either a whining loser, or just a dick.

Oh! And if you're making a comedy: Some jokes would be nice. There aren't enough funny jokes here to feed a slug in an iron lung. The closest they come is a support group for people with famous brothers. Unfortunately, that also ends in a narcissistic rant, devoid of creativity and good jokes. I can't even remember having snickered during this flick and that is an exceptionally bad sign.

But there is still something that could save it! Does it have som Christmas spirit? Actually, yes. A very nice scene of about 45 seconds. Nicely set up, very fine acting by Giamatti and Richardson with just the right mood. What it lacks, though, is a believable and finely tuned transition as Christmas-hating protagonists need. Here, they just toss some morals together and hope nobody notices how poorly executed it is.

I hate Christmas myself, and I am still annoyed by how horrible this is. I can not for the life of me understand which audience they are trying to pass this off to. Surely not kids, as the tone is all wrong, and no grown man or woman would be stupid enough to accept this as quality. If there had been some good jokes, you could sell it to the crude and simple. As it is, this is perhaps the worst Christmas film ever made.


2/10

X-Men (2000)

Do you remember when there wasn't a superheromovie three times a year? When only true nerds knew who Green Lantern, Aquaman and the other loser-superheroes were? Back then, Bryan Singer actually had the audacity to make a flick about a bearded, cigar-puffing thug and his soon-to-be-friends. And since these films weren't a fad yet, he could do it well.

Singer immediately distances himself from the genre as a whole by making the first scene a historic one, from a Jewish concentration camp, heavy on tragedy and realism. To add to the reality, the scene as a whole is shot with very grey filters, in mud and rain. Practically bereft of colour. As an added bonus, the scene adds background to one of the characters. Now that is how you start a big-budget adventure (read this Michael Bay, you useless git).

It also plays to Singer's strength that he is able to create tension and thrills by many different methods, and on several different scales. It all feels genuine and exciting, and rarely boring. As the first of any instalment, there are many characters to introduce and that will wreak havoc with the flow of the film. At times, there is a bit little going on, and suddenly the story takes a leap.

It is immensely worth it though, as no superhero-flick has ever been cast as thoughtfully and fantastic as this. The pairing of McKellen (not a very known face before this) and Stewart is absolutely delectable and most of their scenes are a study in verbal sparring. There never were two more belivable leaders of a group than these two. Another great piece of casting is Anna Paquin. The perfect balance for a very unlikely mentor in Wolverine. And who could ever think of anyone but Jackman as Wolverine after this series? Marsden and Janssen are both good, as they have some relevance. Halle Berry is useless, though, and her character doesn't really fit into nor the story nor the other characters. Double kudos to Bruce Davison for playing a despicable politician with just the proper gusto, sneakiness, arrogance and megalomania to make it believable.

And since Singer is a good director, he actually has a plot here, and a story. Both good, and both developing nicely alongside the characters. Furthermore, the dialogue is refreshingly down to earth for this kind of film. It's also worth noting that the cinematography is very stylish and clean (apart from the aforementioned introduction), making it seem all the more futuristic.

This is the kind of film that has you dying to see the next, whereas standing firmly on its own two feet.

8/10