Escape to the Movies: Public Enemies

[Kikosemmek]

So it seems several are complaining about the hand held versus this or that and other things. The thing that I think some people don't get with this movie is that they go into it with this what I call after being in a film class a modernized Hollywood technique. People go into the movie thinking "Oh yes, this movie is going to be like tons of high quality shots, graphics,etc". WRONG my friend.

While I am one of those people who complained about the hand-held technique, I think you misunderstood my position.

My criticism is that the hand-held camera did not allow me to see the faces of the characters engaging in dialogue for the first half of the movie, nor let me appreciate the action sequences. On top of all of that, my eyes eventually started hurting as I tried to keep up with the constantly shifting vantage point. It's one thing to put style and originality in your shots. It's another thing to make your movie literally unwatchable. Half-way through the movie, I still couldn't recognize the main characters when I saw them, because I was denied the formative early period of associating actor with character, and face with voice.

To give you a point of contrast, I adored Cloverfield. Unlike most people who, like I do now, complained about the hand-held shots, I thought they made the movie. The cinematographer kept the unpolished and amateur feel of a home documentary while still letting me see what was going on and who was saying what. I didn't miss one detail, and I thought it was fantastic.

What I'm criticizing isn't the technique, namely, it's the execution thereof. Public Enemies simply didn't pull it off.

 

[Bookmen777]

This is a much better review then the last one. He is calm, controlled, and *gasp* intelligent in this one.
As has been said before the sound quality still needs work and some images and text go by so quick that you have to rewind, but otherwise it is good and if I hadn't already seen the movie I would go see it.

This review is good and the movie itself is great. I loved it.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Uh...on that alone it's a good movie. If there's anything else it already beats half of this year's turkeys.

That it is better than other movies doesn't make it good to watch, in my opinion. If there simply aren't that many good films around right now, a better thing to do would be to not go to the movies.

The situation isn't that dire, though. Up, Drag Me to Hell and The Hangover are great movies to watch, and coming out soon are District 9, Funny People, 9, and Inglorious Basterds, all of which are exciting prospects to me.

Well, I'd agree with you about 9 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.83680]

 

[Yoda isOnline]

no personal opinions on the movie but it's good to see that moviebob has been reading his comments, and cutting down on the fanrage accordingly

 

[blankgabriel]

I saw the premier. 2 days before it came out brotha!

 

[Adremmalech]

This movie sucked. I can't wait for the Rifftrax version.
And it's all because of an unprofessional level of cinematography so very beneath the bar that the average movie-goer sees in the theater.

Let me tell you what I mean.

Okay, the big issue with this film was the switching between film and video. I noticed this the first time I saw the trailer, as some shots were in 24 Frames Per Second while others were in 29,97fps. This distracted me throughout the entire film.

Now, I want to blame the post-production crew or most of the problems, like the sound levels dropping in and out. It sounds like they never did ADR (Additional Dialogue Recording), and it needed it.
Although the bullet sound effects were very well done and the soundtrack was pretty good too.

Editing-wise, there are a lot of bad cuts in this thing. I didn't catch the editor's name, but I don't like his job. Then again, there might not have been much to work with. I noticed a severe lack of establishing shots, shots where we go wide and establish the geography of the scene. In some scenes I didn't know where the characters were in relationship to each other.

Plus I saw the camera's shadow against an elevator door. Come on, guys.
Speaking of camera work. Everyone's mentioned the shaky cam, but what about the horrible rack focusing? Some scenes were just too soft, which shows there was no motivation behind it. I even saw a shot where the camera man tried to rack from one character to another, but the second character left the frame so the focus kinda stopped and then went back to the first character. Who was checking for that? You want to maybe do another take?

(SPOILERS)
Then there was a lack of character development. This really only became a problem at the very end with that caption before the credits about Christian Bale's character committing suicide. That came out of nowhere because there was no establishment in his character that would lead to that. We never saw a slow descent into depression. In fact, there wasn't much there at all for him. His character was really just the pretty-boy gunslinger chasing after Dillinger.
But that's a small gripe
(SPOILERS)


And the acting was very great.

 

[pirateninj4]

This movie sucked. I can't wait for the Rifftrax version.
And it's all because of an unprofessional level of cinematography so very beneath the bar that the average movie-goer sees in the theater.

Let me tell you what I mean.

Okay, the big issue with this film was the switching between film and video. I noticed this the first time I saw the trailer, as some shots were in 24 Frames Per Second while others were in 29,97fps. This distracted me throughout the entire film.

Now, I want to blame the post-production crew or most of the problems, like the sound levels dropping in and out. It sounds like they never did ADR (Additional Dialogue Recording), and it needed it.
Although the bullet sound effects were very well done and the soundtrack was pretty good too.

Editing-wise, there are a lot of bad cuts in this thing. I didn't catch the editor's name, but I don't like his job. Then again, there might not have been much to work with. I noticed a severe lack of establishing shots, shots where we go wide and establish the geography of the scene. In some scenes I didn't know where the characters were in relationship to each other.

Plus I saw the camera's shadow against an elevator door. Come on, guys.
Speaking of camera work. Everyone's mentioned the shaky cam, but what about the horrible rack focusing? Some scenes were just too soft, which shows there was no motivation behind it. I even saw a shot where the camera man tried to rack from one character to another, but the second character left the frame so the focus kinda stopped and then went back to the first character. Who was checking for that? You want to maybe do another take?

(SPOILERS)
Then there was a lack of character development. This really only became a problem at the very end with that caption before the credits about Christian Bale's character committing suicide. That came out of nowhere because there was no establishment in his character that would lead to that. We never saw a slow descent into depression. In fact, there wasn't much there at all for him. His character was really just the pretty-boy gunslinger chasing after Dillinger.
But that's a small gripe
(SPOILERS)


And the acting was very great.

Are you reviewing the movie in a comment thread about a movie that was just reviewed?

Not for the win.

Also, Moviebob you rule, keep up the swearing and being passionate about what you believe.

 

[Artemis923]

I really enjoyed this movie. It was more than just guns and curses, and I actually felt myself caring about Dillenger's fate throughout the movie.

Well done, and I will definately see it again.

 

[Squiggers]

Improved upon the Transformers review - less Yahtzisms, but theres still needing to get the timing right upon using images, and words. Having to pause, and rewind, brakes the flow in watching your review, and i gave up after the second time.

Still, was there need for TROTF to be mentioned at the start? We get you don't like it. We know. Does it need to be carried over to your next review? No. No, it does not. Do other reviewers do it? Nope. Reason being, it looks, and sounds, extremely stupid.

Still, overall, a better review, but... You didn't really well... review it? You just said it was good, but not what parts were good. If that makes sense?

 

[Kuchinawa212]

Look I'm not going to lie to ya. I saw this movie during the midnight release with me and my cousins (and even my cousin's friends) and we all thought of walking out half way through. The camera action was just dreadful. Making thing confusing and juxtaposed.
We only stayed because we payed our 10 dollar tickets and we're watching a movie!

So I'll say this. If you like a movie I'll stay clear of it. If you hate it maybe I'll watch it. I guess we just have exact opposite tastes.

 

[jonnosferatu]

I've gotta say, I really didn't enjoy this film. The gunfights were overwrought, there were a huge number of shots that could have been omitted, and we're never given much of a real feeling that Dillinger is any way worthy of this degree of FBI attention or that he has even the slightest bit of feeling for his girlfriend. Oh, and it drags. It drags. A lot.

What's in here could easily have been compressed into an hour or less to make room for more plot and character development to make us care about the characters and what happens to them. What budget remained after that could have been invested into hiring a film crew who could make it look more like a movie and less like an episode of a decently-budgeted TV show (honestly, how hard is it to avoid ****ing things up with focusing techniques?).

So yeah, uh. If I'd seen this with my Freshman girlfriend, it's one of those films that I would have been very pleased to snog the full way through.

 

[Lowbreed]

Haven't seen the movie yet so I can't really comment,

but what about my birthyear... 1994?! Pulp Fiction, Forrest Gump! What more can ya want huh ? (Dumb and Dumber, Flintstones and Lion King as well but you know...)

 

[A random person]

Good review Moviebob, but I didn't like the film. The plot just seemed messy and jumpy to me, and the characterization is basically nonexistent, being pretty much Johny Depp and some other dudes you don't care about.

 

[blacklab]

I like his reviews but he needs to get a new mic, or maybe he's in a real hard room. Either way it sounds like he's in a barrel.

 

[RTR]

I agree. This summer has been disappointing.

 

[Disthron]

I have to say, I quite liked this movie. Johny Dep man, what can't that guy play? I actually know a bit about Dilenger before hand but all it took for me to wont to see this film was Johny with a Tommy gun. He really stole the show in my opinion.

 

[JWAN]

Im sorry, its just not that good. For all the work they put into it, it should have been better.

 

[Biek]

I saw this movie last weekend. It started off good with fast paced action. But it kinda loses its momentum half way. And its one long movie. I had to force myself through it around the last 30 minutes.

Oh and Christian Bale accent is just... eh. its like when your listening to a band and you hear the singer inhale before every line. You cant unhear it!

 

[Deacon Cole]

I recently watched Public Enemies and I have a pithy one sentence review you can repeat to your friends: If they had spend as much time on character and plot development as they did on shooting Johnny Depp in close-up, they might have had a decent movie on their hands.

This is probably one of the blandest movies I have ever seen. If it did not have a star like Depp in it, it would have been forgotten already. Even so, it will be forgotten within five years. Remember Finding Neverland? Yeah. Exactly what I mean.

Nothing was really spectacular about this movie. Nothing stood out. And nothing was said. We had two hours of Johnny Depp as John Dillinger and we learned nothing about Dillinger nor the wider human condition. As a consequence, nothing resonates. This movie is the poster boy for forgettable movies.

If you don't believe me, go see it. In a few years, you see it on the movie channel or something and think "Public Enemies?... Did I see that?" Then you will know I was right.