Yeah, but Ebert really liked Robocop. I don’t think he or most mainstream reviewers dislike movie violence per se, but they want to see a new or clever use of it. Maybe the violence in BBII has nothing to add to the genre. It certainly doesn’t seem new. As mentioned above, it seems like a direct rip-off of Police Story.
. <-- grain of salt (I haven’t seen BBII)
It’s not just repeat business that gives a movie “legs”, but also good word of mouth. I don’t think I’ve seen a movie more than once in the theater in the past decade, but I have recommended movies to friends and attended movies based upon recommendations. All my friends who saw Pirates of the Caribbean and Finding Nemo said they were great, and in the latter case this encouraged me to see the movie despite a rather uninspiring ad campaign. But I’ve heard little but bad about The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, so there’s no way I’m shelling out $8 to see it.
If they know a movie’s lousy, they’ve got to sucker in as many people as possible the opening weekend before word spreads about just how lousy it really is. I think Godzilla (the American one) perfected this strategy.
There is one thing i dont understand-this hatred for Michael Bay. Well, maybe you think he is a hack but saying ‘I wish he would die soon’ seems kind of extreme. I like him a lot-probably the best action director out there, but even if i didnt like his films, i wouldnt wish for his death for Christ’s sake. Take it easy. I also dont get the hatred for Martin Lawrence. He is actually quite a funny guy who simply cant resist horrible movies.
And Ebert did not give ‘Full throttle’ a thumbs down if i remember correctly. He said it was OK for a mindless piece of cinema and even said he should have given the first one a better rating.
As for Bad Boys 2, a $46 million opening is dammn good. Let’s wait and see where that goes. Frankly the first one is one of my all-time favorite guilty pleasures.
I haven’t seen this movie yet, but just reading this part made me chuckle.
Okay, now that I’ve actually seen the movie, I think I can be more fair.
Basically, my thought is this. There was no reason to expect anything but outrageous, gratuitous car chases, gunplay, and explosions from this movie, and it delivered. The movie very easily could have ended about half an hour earlier than it did, but somehow it was decided to take the film an extra few yards to throw in even MORE explosions and shootouts.
I wanted to laugh and laugh, and I did. The chase scene on the freeway was awesome, reminding both my friend and me of Vice City. It was supposed to be dumb fun, and it was.