Mike’s Reviews

When I watched the first National Treasure movie starred by Nicolas Cage, all I could say was that’s a lot of treasure. The first movie was focused on “building” a name for the Gates family but the second movie – National Treasure: The Book of Secrets – is geared towards saving that name. I won’t go into much detail as I don’t want to spoil the surprise.

Ben Gates starred by Nicolas Cage gave a rather good performance and his sidekick Justin Bartha as Riley Poole was a perfect fit to the funny atmosphere that caught my attention and hooked me throughout the movie. Then there was Abigail Chase starred by Diane Kruger who added the ‘lovelife’ twist to the movie. This time, Ben’s father and mother are more involved in the treasure hunt as they do their best to save their family’s name.

The story line I believe is better than the first movie probably because it’s not just a mere treasure hunt and more of a family concern.

I give this movie a rating of 5 out of 5. Watch it. Bring the kids – it’s clean for them to watch.

Just watched “The Golden Compass” today and I find the movie pretty much interesting especially with the “chain letter preludes” that I got warning against watching it. The story is primarily a fantasy set in a parallel world very much like to our own. The main character – Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards) is a child entrusted by her uncle Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig) to Jordan College.

I won’t give out much of the story as it may spoil the surprise and I’d rather just tell you my thoughts about the film.

The Golden Compass Merchandise

Controversies… an email has been circulating well before the movie was shown warning us that this movie is Atheism for kids. While it does look like it’s quite a bit anti-religion with the Magisterium quite reminiscent of the church, there is no mention of God or religion though similarities can be seen. Read more about the controversies here and here.

The characters did act quite well and the special effects were great though I would love to have seen Daniel Craig (Lord Asriel) and Nicole Kidman (Marisa Coulter) act more. Well of course I can’t blame them for focusing more on Lyra since the story revolves around her and her daemon.

Another thing of interest in the film is the Alethiometer, also known as The Golden Compass. Unlike other compasses, the Alethiometer doesn’t point to true north but seeks Truth itself. The idea of such a device is pretty much captivated me as I am somehow seeking for truth. I’d definitely love to have such a thing.

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Lessons taught… the movie kind of teaches the viewers not to just “obey” the authorities but also learn to question them. The main characters in the movie are often those who want to do things their way while the “bad guys” are doing everything in their power to force the people to obey. While obedience is not a bad thing, I think “blind obedience” can be fatal – especially when we teach our children to just “obey without questioning”.

Then there also what they call daemons in the movie. A daemon is – according to the official website – a cross between a bestfriend and a soul. Every person in in the movie has a daemon but the Magisterium doesn’t want that so they do some nasty stuff – things unimaginable in Lyra’s world. I checked their website for info and found out that I can “know my daemon” by answering a series of questions and here she is…

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A daemon basically reflects the true personality of its partner and losing one is like losing one’s soul.

So how did the movie go? All in all it was great and deserves to be watched. Take the entire family with you and watch. I’ll give it a 4 out of 5 for a good story, nice acting and amazing effects. Why 4 instead of 5? Well I was actually hoping it to be as brave as how Philip Pullman wrote it.

It’s been years since I first watched Schindler’s List and now, having the opportunity to watch it again, I gave it another go and one can never make a mistake in saying that this film is great and life-changing.  I was only 16 when I originally saw this movie and I have to say that it changed my perception of what a good movie is.

Schindler’s List is a film about heroism with an unlikely hero at its center – Catholic war profiteer Oskar Schindler starred by Liam Neeson, who risked his life and went bankrupt to save more than 1,000 Jews from certain death in concentration camps back in World War II Germany.  Mr. Schindler or “Head Direktor” as his Jewish employees call him started out with very little money and a great idea in mind.  He wanted to make money but ended up making more than what he first envisioned.  He wasn’t a model person but ended up being declared as a righteous man by the Jews.  He thought of only himself at start but eventually learned to think about others – hundreds of them.

More than the good film and the perfect story, I would say that the best part in Schindler’s List is that it touched my life.  It may made start thinking more than just myself.  It shows a world where “others” exist and gave me a sense of responsibility in every action that I do.

Schindler’s List is the perfect drama I’ve watched so far.  If you don’t have a copy of this film, I would strongly recommend that you get one.