Post by Vits on May 1, 2020 9:28:17 GMT
There are fantasy movies where a person from the real world goes to another land. There are fantasy movies that only take place in another land. THE NEVERENDING STORY tries and fails to mix both. It starts by introducing a normal kid named Bastian Balthazar Bux and his everyday life. When he starts reading the title book, the movie shows us a warrior named Atreyu from the world of Fantasia without really introducing him. It's a problem because we have to follow the adventures of the least interesting character among these two. Now, all of this was a set-up for a plot twist:
4/10
THE NEVERENDING STORY PART II: THE NEXT CHAPTER
3/10
THE NEVERENDING STORY PART III replaces its predecessors' epic scope and sense of wonder with pandering humour. However, everything is so cheesy (especially the very last thing Bastian does on screen) and ridiculous that it was hard for me to stop watching, which was sort of a relief after the previous installments bored me. Jason James Richter and Melody Kay's performances are good. Jack Black is funny and threatening enough to make his character the most memorable villain of this franchise, despite being just a human. The songs are played at very random moments. The only time where it seems like a song is being played on purpose is when a creature called The Rock Biter sings Steppenwolf's BORN TO BE WILD. Since it's the only musical number in the entire trilogy, it feels out of place. Even if it had been used in a stand-alone movie, it would still be stupid. Why would someone happy to be a family man sing about rebellion and freedom?! Especially while his kid is with him?! Is it the kind of musical number that you can enjoy if you close your eyes and just listen? No, because Gary Martin has to sing bad on purpose in order to achieve the character's voice. Apparently, the makers believed that this scene would become so iconic that they re-play it during the end credits... as if it represented the rest of the movie.
Best bad movie
-------------------------------------
You can read comments of other movies on my blog.
The events of the book are real and are happening at the same time as they're being read. It was a good surprise, but it wasn't worth the 75 minutes of boredom. Also, the climax feels over-dramatic. Well, not from Fantasia's side, but our world's side. Bastian can save Fantasia from destruction simply by saying a name. He knows that he's against the clock, but he wastes time doubting if it's all real (even though seconds before he seemed sure about it) and, when he finally decides to do it, he shouts out the window during a storm. It would've been faster if he had remained sit and had simply said it (or even whispered it). I know it wouldn't have been epic, but logic is more important than theatricality.
Noah Hathaway and Barret Oliver's performances and good, while Tami Stronach's is great. Klaus Doldinger and Giorgio Moroder's music score is good only whenever an orchestra is used (which is luckily most of the time). The electronic instruments don't fit with the atmosphere. This is more obvious with the boring theme song. The animatronics used for the creatures look very real, but the way in which their mouth movements don't match the dialogue is as distracting as those books where written text accompanies the pictures. What's that? The pictures are actually accompanying the text? But reading is boring, yo!4/10
THE NEVERENDING STORY PART II: THE NEXT CHAPTER
3/10
THE NEVERENDING STORY PART III replaces its predecessors' epic scope and sense of wonder with pandering humour. However, everything is so cheesy (especially the very last thing Bastian does on screen) and ridiculous that it was hard for me to stop watching, which was sort of a relief after the previous installments bored me. Jason James Richter and Melody Kay's performances are good. Jack Black is funny and threatening enough to make his character the most memorable villain of this franchise, despite being just a human. The songs are played at very random moments. The only time where it seems like a song is being played on purpose is when a creature called The Rock Biter sings Steppenwolf's BORN TO BE WILD. Since it's the only musical number in the entire trilogy, it feels out of place. Even if it had been used in a stand-alone movie, it would still be stupid. Why would someone happy to be a family man sing about rebellion and freedom?! Especially while his kid is with him?! Is it the kind of musical number that you can enjoy if you close your eyes and just listen? No, because Gary Martin has to sing bad on purpose in order to achieve the character's voice. Apparently, the makers believed that this scene would become so iconic that they re-play it during the end credits... as if it represented the rest of the movie.
Best bad movie
-------------------------------------
You can read comments of other movies on my blog.
