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Re: Random movie talky stuff.
So I went to see Conan today. I quite enjoyed it, very fun and entertaining. Wasn't a fan of the 3D but I never am (with the exception of some animated movies that I've seen in 3D) so I won't hold that against the movie itself.
Really though, for what they were going for, a fun action/adventure romp with swords and sorcery, they got it good. After the introductory narration with Morgan Freeman and a scene of Conan in the womb nearly getting impaled, the movie kicks off. Sure it sounds real violent with that one piece, but I'm actually somewhat surprised by how little true gore there was. Sure there were lots of decapitations, carrying around heads and severed limbs with blood spraying and splashing... but compared to some movies out there it wasn't so bad. Indeed I just found it a rather fitting level of violence that works well for the character.
As to Conan himself... Jason Mamoa played him well. I enjoyed him more than I did Arnold in the role. He really just seemed to embrace the barbarian aspect of the character while Arnold seemed to mostly be showing off muscle. Some of the dialogue can come across as corny, but it still fit the character and some of it was ripped directly from Howard's work. Overall, I do enjoy this new version of Conan more so than the old.
The movie is rather frequent with their fighting sequences, and they were all actually good to watch. Lots of fluid fighting. Nice special effects and makeup.
I think some of my only downsides to the movie was the ending. There were a couple of things I wish they could have changed. There were a few scenes of sexuality as well that I wish were a bit more emphasized. Sure there were some flashes of breasts and such, and Conan carrying a topless woman off the screen over his shoulder, but they were mostly there and gone. There was a single true sex scene in the movie, but it was supposed to be somewhat "loving" so you don't see too much. Frankly the setting is all about the sex and violence. The movie got the violence down so they should have amped up the sex a bit more. Still, small downside.
So, while the story isn't anything amazing, it still serves, and just smacks of classic swords and sorcery. The movie was quite fun, good eye candy, and just plain entertaining. I recommend it to anyone who's a fan of the character (unless you're one of those people who think Arnold is the original version, in which case you're going to remind me of the kid who said Alien's ripped off HALO. Well done.), violent films, swords and sorcery, fantasy in general, or just action/adventure movies.
Unfortunately, the movie is apparently a financial flop. Which pisses me off because a lot of what I've been seeing is people saying Arnold shouldn't be replaced despite the fact that Howard wrote the character long before Arnold came around. It also pisses me off because the producers said they'd bring the already made Solomon Kane here in North America (it's released in Europe), and bring more attention to a new Red Sonja movie. So much for those dreams.
So I went to see Conan today. I quite enjoyed it, very fun and entertaining. Wasn't a fan of the 3D but I never am (with the exception of some animated movies that I've seen in 3D) so I won't hold that against the movie itself.
Really though, for what they were going for, a fun action/adventure romp with swords and sorcery, they got it good. After the introductory narration with Morgan Freeman and a scene of Conan in the womb nearly getting impaled, the movie kicks off. Sure it sounds real violent with that one piece, but I'm actually somewhat surprised by how little true gore there was. Sure there were lots of decapitations, carrying around heads and severed limbs with blood spraying and splashing... but compared to some movies out there it wasn't so bad. Indeed I just found it a rather fitting level of violence that works well for the character.
As to Conan himself... Jason Mamoa played him well. I enjoyed him more than I did Arnold in the role. He really just seemed to embrace the barbarian aspect of the character while Arnold seemed to mostly be showing off muscle. Some of the dialogue can come across as corny, but it still fit the character and some of it was ripped directly from Howard's work. Overall, I do enjoy this new version of Conan more so than the old.
The movie is rather frequent with their fighting sequences, and they were all actually good to watch. Lots of fluid fighting. Nice special effects and makeup.
I think some of my only downsides to the movie was the ending. There were a couple of things I wish they could have changed. There were a few scenes of sexuality as well that I wish were a bit more emphasized. Sure there were some flashes of breasts and such, and Conan carrying a topless woman off the screen over his shoulder, but they were mostly there and gone. There was a single true sex scene in the movie, but it was supposed to be somewhat "loving" so you don't see too much. Frankly the setting is all about the sex and violence. The movie got the violence down so they should have amped up the sex a bit more. Still, small downside.
So, while the story isn't anything amazing, it still serves, and just smacks of classic swords and sorcery. The movie was quite fun, good eye candy, and just plain entertaining. I recommend it to anyone who's a fan of the character (unless you're one of those people who think Arnold is the original version, in which case you're going to remind me of the kid who said Alien's ripped off HALO. Well done.), violent films, swords and sorcery, fantasy in general, or just action/adventure movies.
Unfortunately, the movie is apparently a financial flop. Which pisses me off because a lot of what I've been seeing is people saying Arnold shouldn't be replaced despite the fact that Howard wrote the character long before Arnold came around. It also pisses me off because the producers said they'd bring the already made Solomon Kane here in North America (it's released in Europe), and bring more attention to a new Red Sonja movie. So much for those dreams.
