History Of Violence (Spoilers)

[Nick_Ardill]

Man I wanted to love this movie. I really did. I thought how can I go wrong? Cronenberg, Mortensen, Shore, in a movie based on a comic book. But it fell so terribley short. The buzz that surrounded it seemed completely unjustified. I so wanted to love this movie.
Now it wasn't completely terrible. Not COMPLETELY. Viggo gave one of his best performances I've ever seen him give. He worked as the nice friendly guy, you really believed he said who he was, and were terrified when he changed to the murderer he truly is. And there are some truly great gory shots that you'd expect from a Cronenberg movie.
Then theres the downside. The dialogue came across as comedic when it really wasn't supposed to. Some lines just didn't quite fit. "What dad? If I go to Sam, are you gonna have me whacked?" Which is supposed to be serious, garnered a laugh from the audience.
Howard Shore's score seemed out of place with the movie. Don't get me wrong. I loved Shore's score in LOTR, The Aviator, Panic Room, Existenz. But the score in this movie didn't have much range and evoke much emotion. It in fact didn't seem too different from the LOTR score. There were some parts that made me think I was in the shire.
The pace of the movie was slow, which isn't exactly surprising for a Cronenberg movie, but for the subject of the movie, a change in pacing, even in the more action oriented scenes IMO would have helped the movie along.
And last there was a very unusual sex scene that made me scratch my head. My fiancee tried explaining it to me, but I still didn't understand. My fiancee said from a female perspective that it was about the feeling of being dominated and being someone so powerful, but I still thought it didn't fit.

I really wanted to like this movie...

[Nick_Ardill]

So I'm the only one who saw this?

[Brad Gullickson]

The only thing I agree with you on is the score. A very disapointing turnout by Shore.

I loved the rest of the movie. But the crowd I saw it with hated it.

[batmanbooyah]

this movie sucked. first 1/2 of it was freaking awesome, loved it. second half was a big pile of shit. it was pretty much slapsticky the last 1/4 of the movie. so fucking stupid. UGH!

[Ray G.]

Damn. I might skip this now.

[batmanbooyah]

Damn. I might skip this now.


if you can see a matinee, the first 1/2 is really good. this isn't a spoiler, but...if you see him get in his truck...LEAVE THE THEATRE. it gets shitty after that. not a spoiler, you won't know anything, just, if you see him get in his truck, get up and leave.

[Bandit Chimera]

if you can see a matinee, the first 1/2 is really good. this isn't a spoiler, but...if you see him get in his truck...LEAVE THE THEATRE. it gets shitty after that. not a spoiler, you won't know anything, just, if you see him get in his truck, get up and leave.

this reminds me of my advice to everyone i talk to about watching the new planet of the Apes remake. Stop the movie before he gets back into his ship. It saves you a load of unkind groaning and bitching :)

if its goofy at the end then its gonna be a renter. i'd rather pay to see Serenity again if its truely that bad at the end.

[Kenneth I. Wolfe]

I wasn't looking forward to this until I read the comic. Now I'm no longer interested.

[Hood]

actually the "whacked" line was kind of meant for a laugh cause the kid was being a smart ass. i'm pretty sure cronenberg knows whats going to get a laugh. i'm also pretty sure that the william hurt scene has ridiculous action movie type violence for a reason. the only thing i didn't really like was the teenage son cause he was goofy. and you shouldn't of been surprised by the pacing, almost all of cronenberg's movies are slow

[Big Jim]

I thought this movie was amazing. The violence was over-the-top in a good way, and the ending was great. Sorry to be the sole dissident.

[Kefky]

and you shouldn't of been surprised by the pacing, almost all of cronenberg's movies are slow

Yea, that's like complaining Bendis is slow.

[MrClown]

I enjoyed it, but there were some places where it fell down for me. I'm fine with slow pacing, but a lot of scenes seemed dragged out for no discernable reason. For instance, the opening scene: Why the fuck did we spend so much time with those guys? That entire scene could have been cut, and the point would still have come through loud and clear. I didn't mind the over-the-topness of the third act very much. The violence was beautifully choreographed all the way through.

[johnny whiplash]

Saw both this and 2046 last night. Really dug both of them. I understand some of the criticisms, but felt like there were some really raw character beats that were disturbing and poignant that lifted the film a step above. Good to great performances from everyone. While very over-the-top, it's the best thing I can remember from William Hurt in a long time. I'm not familiar with the graphic novel, so had no idea what to expect going in, but thought it was really well done.

[MrClown]

Saw both this and 2046 last night. Really dug both of them. I understand some of the criticisms, but felt like there were some really raw character beats that were disturbing and poignant that lifted the film a step above. Good to great performances from everyone. While very over-the-top, it's the best thing I can remember from William Hurt in a long time. I'm not familiar with the graphic novel, so had no idea what to expect going in, but thought it was really well done.

The character beats were pretty much all good, and it sure was nice seeing William Hurt play a gangster.

[sonnylarue]

sorry for the extra thread, I thought it was outstanding.

it was a little slow, but I heard the smae complaints about Road To perdition, and I loved that film too.

I thought the acting was top notch, and Croneneberg did a good job, though not a crzy as some of his other films .

still the right amount of gore, and maria Bello naked.

me likey!

[Doug]

I thought the movie was very good, but the end with Richie was a little too "Bruckheimer" as compaired to the rest of the movie. I'm sure Cronenberg did that on purpose, but I don't understand it myself.

The rest of the movie was fantastic. Viggo and Bello both did great jobs. I really liked them as a married couple.

Some of the voilence was over the top, but then Cronenberg lingered on the after affects and showed that violence is not pretty. It might be fun to watch while it is happening, but afterwards when the adrenaline surge goes away you are left with the aftermath.

It was very different from the source material, but a very good movie none the less.

I'd recommend it.

[PoWerSurge]

My wife and I thought it was really good. I think the dialogue at the end mixes well for audience reaction to the violence.

A lot of people clapped at the end of our showing (something I never understood since the actors aren't there to appreciate the applause).

[SteveZegers]

I liked it, didn't love it. (Other than the cheerleader thing! You need a Deena for a Powers movie? Hire Maria Bello!)

I was really expecting to be blown away by it after reading the reviews, and it just didn't happen.

And way too short.