Professor S
06-09-2005, 02:07 PM
I have had it with movie reviewers. They constantly spoil the plot of the story in their reviews with no warning and think that by not giving you the last 10 minutes they have committed no foul. It has gotten to the point that I can't read movie reviews that aren't any more than a paragraph out of fear that the entire story will be ruined.
The reviews of Batman Begins are absolutely horrible in this aspect. Without thinking, I accidentally read a reviewers summary fo the first 30 minutes to an hour of the movie before I stopped myself. I don't know if he spoiled even more of the plot. Now I have the pleasure of knowing exactly what will happen when I see Batman Begins and feel like I'll have wasted 50% of my ticket purchase.
Are movie reviewers idiots? Do they not think that maybe someone would like to read a review of a movie without a damn plot summary? Or are they just too lazy and untalented to actually write a long review without reiterating the source material?
Here's a sample of what I mean:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/reviews/review_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000946415
Here is an excerpt from the review ***SPOILER WARNING***
After a black-and-white credit sequence, the movie immediately presents us with Bruce Wayne in two periods of his life: as a tike of 8 about to experience his first brush with fear and the life-altering trauma of witnessing his parents' murders, then as a lost soul in a hellish prison in the Far East. Tormented by the murders of his parents on the streets of Gotham, Bruce has traveled the world to educate himself on the criminal mind.
He is rescued from prison by a mysterious warrior named Ducard (Liam Neeson), who teaches Bruce to master his emotions and gives him the mental and physical discipline to fight his enemies. Eventually, Ducard reveals that he wants Bruce to join the League of Shadows, an underground vigilante movement headed by the stoic Ra's al Ghul (Ken Watanabe). When Bruce refuses to battle evil with evil, he becomes the League's mortal enemy.
Bruce returns home to take up residence in his parents' country manor, with the family's trusted butler Alfred (the always affable Michael Caine) assuming the role of manservant and mentor. Bruce finds his father's once philanthropic Wayne Enterprises now in the hands of a greedy CEO Richard Earle (Rutger Hauer), and Bruce's beautiful childhood friend Rachel (Katie Holmes) has become an assistant D.A.
Gotham is a city with futuristic elements yet bears more than a little resemblance to the Depression Era. (Remember that Batman first appeared in DC Comics in 1939.) The old town is overrun by a crime gang headed by Carmine Falcone (Tom Wilkinson). Seemingly, half the city is on the take. The only apparent honest cop, Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman once more disappearing chameleonlike into a role), complains that there is nobody to whom he can rat out the bad guys.
Gradually, Batman, a one-man force for good, comes together. Bruce discovers that Wayne Enterprises' Applied Sciences division, headed by resourceful Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), has developed all the tools he'll need to fight crime. These range from a survival suit of nearly impervious body armor to an indestructible car that becomes the Batmobile. His Batcave turns out to be a literal one, a damp and dark area underneath the southeast wing of his manor where bats roost.
***END SPOILER***
I HATE MOVIE REVIEWERS
The reviews of Batman Begins are absolutely horrible in this aspect. Without thinking, I accidentally read a reviewers summary fo the first 30 minutes to an hour of the movie before I stopped myself. I don't know if he spoiled even more of the plot. Now I have the pleasure of knowing exactly what will happen when I see Batman Begins and feel like I'll have wasted 50% of my ticket purchase.
Are movie reviewers idiots? Do they not think that maybe someone would like to read a review of a movie without a damn plot summary? Or are they just too lazy and untalented to actually write a long review without reiterating the source material?
Here's a sample of what I mean:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/reviews/review_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000946415
Here is an excerpt from the review ***SPOILER WARNING***
After a black-and-white credit sequence, the movie immediately presents us with Bruce Wayne in two periods of his life: as a tike of 8 about to experience his first brush with fear and the life-altering trauma of witnessing his parents' murders, then as a lost soul in a hellish prison in the Far East. Tormented by the murders of his parents on the streets of Gotham, Bruce has traveled the world to educate himself on the criminal mind.
He is rescued from prison by a mysterious warrior named Ducard (Liam Neeson), who teaches Bruce to master his emotions and gives him the mental and physical discipline to fight his enemies. Eventually, Ducard reveals that he wants Bruce to join the League of Shadows, an underground vigilante movement headed by the stoic Ra's al Ghul (Ken Watanabe). When Bruce refuses to battle evil with evil, he becomes the League's mortal enemy.
Bruce returns home to take up residence in his parents' country manor, with the family's trusted butler Alfred (the always affable Michael Caine) assuming the role of manservant and mentor. Bruce finds his father's once philanthropic Wayne Enterprises now in the hands of a greedy CEO Richard Earle (Rutger Hauer), and Bruce's beautiful childhood friend Rachel (Katie Holmes) has become an assistant D.A.
Gotham is a city with futuristic elements yet bears more than a little resemblance to the Depression Era. (Remember that Batman first appeared in DC Comics in 1939.) The old town is overrun by a crime gang headed by Carmine Falcone (Tom Wilkinson). Seemingly, half the city is on the take. The only apparent honest cop, Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman once more disappearing chameleonlike into a role), complains that there is nobody to whom he can rat out the bad guys.
Gradually, Batman, a one-man force for good, comes together. Bruce discovers that Wayne Enterprises' Applied Sciences division, headed by resourceful Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), has developed all the tools he'll need to fight crime. These range from a survival suit of nearly impervious body armor to an indestructible car that becomes the Batmobile. His Batcave turns out to be a literal one, a damp and dark area underneath the southeast wing of his manor where bats roost.
***END SPOILER***
I HATE MOVIE REVIEWERS