The "Freeola Customer Forum" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
Every year, there’s a few films released that stand above the rest, resting on their upper crust mantle, confidently wowing audiences with their excellence. Yes, the Summer blockbusters were fun (Superman Returns, Pirates of the Caribbean 2, Miami Vice, Snakes on a Plane etc), but they didn’t hit the mark as films such as Brick and Children of Men did, at least in my opinion.
The third film to truly wow me this year is The Departed. Film buffs will no doubt be familiar with the Japanese “Infernal Affairs” film, which was a cult smash. Virtually as soon as I finished watching IA, I was informed that Martin Scorsese was remaking it under the moniker “The Departed”, and after reading the cast list (Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin, and of all people, Jack BLEEPING Nicholson), I was pretty damn excited. There were the typical comments from fans of the original about how this remake would be dire, but the fact Scorsese was at the helm, and the talent on hand otherwise intrigued me.
It would perhaps be wrong to say that The Departed surpasses the original film, but it more than matches it in terms of acting, script and direction.
Basically, the plot of the film is that DiCaprio is a good guy, working undercover with Nicholson’s Irish mob, whilst Damon is a bad guy, working in the special investigations unit as a mole. Both men soon realise there is a mole within their outfit, and attempt to root out the other without exposing themselves. Throw in a love triangle, and you’ve got the plot for one of the best films of the year.
Does the film get confusing at times? Perhaps, especially to someone who hasn’t seen Infernal Affairs, but if you pay attention throughout the 150-minute run, you should understand everything by the film’s climax. Through layers and layers of deception and shady phone calls, you have a well-crafted plot, which whilst obviously ripped from the original, has a nice Americanised, Scorsesian spin to it.
The film is quintessentially Scorsesian in many instances. The plot is long and winding, and I expect impatient viewers may carelessly label it as boring (although a good deal of action is interspersed throughout the film). Also, there’s a fair share of gore throughout the film, and in his true fashion, Scorsese spares no details from his viewers, showing headshots and blood spraying in all directions. It’s masterfully done, and it’s also nice to see what Scorsese could do with modern technology – i.e. the use of mobile phones as an integral part of the plot, which, let’s face it, most of the films seldom use.
The use of music in the film is also sublime. A number of times, Irish rock music blasts on, and it just sounds utterly superb. It really adds to the feel of the film and hearing it as Jack Nicholson drives into a confrontation is beyond awesome. Also, use of Pink Floyd's classic "Comfortably Numb" (albeit a cover is used here) was a masterful choice, and one that actually made a pretty weak scene into one I could enjoy. Heck, I could've closed my eyes and loved that scene.
I’d heard concern over whether the two leads, particularly DiCaprio, could pull it off, but I felt he had the look right, he just had to nail the lines with the viscosity that they required. I feel that he definitely did this, and Damon did equally well in his role. Where the real treat comes, though, is with Jack Nicholson. After fluffy yarns like Anger Management, it’s nice to see Jack back as a baddass. I recall reading that Nicholson felt his character of Frank Costello in this film was “the true incarnation of evil”, and I don’t think he’s far wrong. Nicholson delivers his lines with true gusto, and it almost makes his character likable in a disturbing way.
One mustn’t forget Mark Wahlberg, either. Here’s someone who I expected to just be a minor character with a few scenes, but he has quite a few scenes, and each is brilliantly-scripted, and massively entertaining. I’m not usually a fan of scriptwriters interjecting serious dialogue with humour, but it really works here, and Wahlberg’s often dead-pan delivery is a joy to behold.
There’s one area where this remake improves upon the original, and that’s the editing style, in my opinion. The original had a moderate amount of “MTV-style” cutting, which I find disorientating and so more often than not hate. Luckily, there’s virtually none of that here.
The only area I can really see people largely criticising the film is the closing scenes. To give away what happens would to do you a huge disservice, but changes are made from the original, and some have argued that the new ending defeats the moral message the original film was trying to convey. I would agree to an extent, and whilst I probably would have preferred the ending to be kept the same, I still enjoyed the final scene, as it was unexpected and rather well done.
Is the film perfect? No. It takes a little while to engage the viewer (or at least me), but once it gets going, it doesn’t stop for another near two hours. I’m still mulling over whether I prefer this or Infernal Affairs, but needless to say, both of them are excellently-crafted works of cinema, and are likely better than 90% of the films that are released in cinemas.
I’m just ecstatic that Scorsese is back on form after some films that divided opinion (Gangs of New York, The Aviator). Hopefully The Departed will provide filmgoers with the evidence they need that Martin Scorsese can still go. A must see if you have the time, and if this film isn't recognised by the Academy next year, it will be a monumental shame.
Thanks for reading,
Reefer.
The third film to truly wow me this year is The Departed. Film buffs will no doubt be familiar with the Japanese “Infernal Affairs” film, which was a cult smash. Virtually as soon as I finished watching IA, I was informed that Martin Scorsese was remaking it under the moniker “The Departed”, and after reading the cast list (Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin, and of all people, Jack BLEEPING Nicholson), I was pretty damn excited. There were the typical comments from fans of the original about how this remake would be dire, but the fact Scorsese was at the helm, and the talent on hand otherwise intrigued me.
It would perhaps be wrong to say that The Departed surpasses the original film, but it more than matches it in terms of acting, script and direction.
Basically, the plot of the film is that DiCaprio is a good guy, working undercover with Nicholson’s Irish mob, whilst Damon is a bad guy, working in the special investigations unit as a mole. Both men soon realise there is a mole within their outfit, and attempt to root out the other without exposing themselves. Throw in a love triangle, and you’ve got the plot for one of the best films of the year.
Does the film get confusing at times? Perhaps, especially to someone who hasn’t seen Infernal Affairs, but if you pay attention throughout the 150-minute run, you should understand everything by the film’s climax. Through layers and layers of deception and shady phone calls, you have a well-crafted plot, which whilst obviously ripped from the original, has a nice Americanised, Scorsesian spin to it.
The film is quintessentially Scorsesian in many instances. The plot is long and winding, and I expect impatient viewers may carelessly label it as boring (although a good deal of action is interspersed throughout the film). Also, there’s a fair share of gore throughout the film, and in his true fashion, Scorsese spares no details from his viewers, showing headshots and blood spraying in all directions. It’s masterfully done, and it’s also nice to see what Scorsese could do with modern technology – i.e. the use of mobile phones as an integral part of the plot, which, let’s face it, most of the films seldom use.
The use of music in the film is also sublime. A number of times, Irish rock music blasts on, and it just sounds utterly superb. It really adds to the feel of the film and hearing it as Jack Nicholson drives into a confrontation is beyond awesome. Also, use of Pink Floyd's classic "Comfortably Numb" (albeit a cover is used here) was a masterful choice, and one that actually made a pretty weak scene into one I could enjoy. Heck, I could've closed my eyes and loved that scene.
I’d heard concern over whether the two leads, particularly DiCaprio, could pull it off, but I felt he had the look right, he just had to nail the lines with the viscosity that they required. I feel that he definitely did this, and Damon did equally well in his role. Where the real treat comes, though, is with Jack Nicholson. After fluffy yarns like Anger Management, it’s nice to see Jack back as a baddass. I recall reading that Nicholson felt his character of Frank Costello in this film was “the true incarnation of evil”, and I don’t think he’s far wrong. Nicholson delivers his lines with true gusto, and it almost makes his character likable in a disturbing way.
One mustn’t forget Mark Wahlberg, either. Here’s someone who I expected to just be a minor character with a few scenes, but he has quite a few scenes, and each is brilliantly-scripted, and massively entertaining. I’m not usually a fan of scriptwriters interjecting serious dialogue with humour, but it really works here, and Wahlberg’s often dead-pan delivery is a joy to behold.
There’s one area where this remake improves upon the original, and that’s the editing style, in my opinion. The original had a moderate amount of “MTV-style” cutting, which I find disorientating and so more often than not hate. Luckily, there’s virtually none of that here.
The only area I can really see people largely criticising the film is the closing scenes. To give away what happens would to do you a huge disservice, but changes are made from the original, and some have argued that the new ending defeats the moral message the original film was trying to convey. I would agree to an extent, and whilst I probably would have preferred the ending to be kept the same, I still enjoyed the final scene, as it was unexpected and rather well done.
Is the film perfect? No. It takes a little while to engage the viewer (or at least me), but once it gets going, it doesn’t stop for another near two hours. I’m still mulling over whether I prefer this or Infernal Affairs, but needless to say, both of them are excellently-crafted works of cinema, and are likely better than 90% of the films that are released in cinemas.
I’m just ecstatic that Scorsese is back on form after some films that divided opinion (Gangs of New York, The Aviator). Hopefully The Departed will provide filmgoers with the evidence they need that Martin Scorsese can still go. A must see if you have the time, and if this film isn't recognised by the Academy next year, it will be a monumental shame.
Thanks for reading,
Reefer.
Little Miss Sunshine is awesome. Saw it with no expectations at all, and I laughed so much I thought I was going to die of oxygen deprivation.
Just back from watching it, truly a masterpiece. Loved the scene where Damon and Di Caprio were on the fone to each other, created an intensity which you could feel, wonderfully written.
I thought POTC2 was alright, but the first one was a lot better.
asher wrote:
> Interested post, I enjoyed reading it. Has slightly enhanced my
> opinion of the film actually.
>
> Two things:
> 1) There was nothing fun about Pirates of the Caribbean 2..
> 2) Little Miss Sunshine should have been up there with Brick and
> Children of Men, it was a truly wonderful film.
Pirates of The Caribbean 2 was just a 3 hour long trailer for POTC3. Ive never been so angry in my life.
> Interested post, I enjoyed reading it. Has slightly enhanced my
> opinion of the film actually.
>
> Two things:
> 1) There was nothing fun about Pirates of the Caribbean 2..
> 2) Little Miss Sunshine should have been up there with Brick and
> Children of Men, it was a truly wonderful film.
Pirates of The Caribbean 2 was just a 3 hour long trailer for POTC3. Ive never been so angry in my life.
I still need to see Little Miss Sunshine. I've heard awesome things, though. My local cinema chose not to show it, annoyingly.
Interested post, I enjoyed reading it. Has slightly enhanced my opinion of the film actually.
Two things:
1) There was nothing fun about Pirates of the Caribbean 2..
2) Little Miss Sunshine should have been up there with Brick and Children of Men, it was a truly wonderful film.
Two things:
1) There was nothing fun about Pirates of the Caribbean 2..
2) Little Miss Sunshine should have been up there with Brick and Children of Men, it was a truly wonderful film.
Every year, there’s a few films released that stand above the rest, resting on their upper crust mantle, confidently wowing audiences with their excellence. Yes, the Summer blockbusters were fun (Superman Returns, Pirates of the Caribbean 2, Miami Vice, Snakes on a Plane etc), but they didn’t hit the mark as films such as Brick and Children of Men did, at least in my opinion.
The third film to truly wow me this year is The Departed. Film buffs will no doubt be familiar with the Japanese “Infernal Affairs” film, which was a cult smash. Virtually as soon as I finished watching IA, I was informed that Martin Scorsese was remaking it under the moniker “The Departed”, and after reading the cast list (Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin, and of all people, Jack BLEEPING Nicholson), I was pretty damn excited. There were the typical comments from fans of the original about how this remake would be dire, but the fact Scorsese was at the helm, and the talent on hand otherwise intrigued me.
It would perhaps be wrong to say that The Departed surpasses the original film, but it more than matches it in terms of acting, script and direction.
Basically, the plot of the film is that DiCaprio is a good guy, working undercover with Nicholson’s Irish mob, whilst Damon is a bad guy, working in the special investigations unit as a mole. Both men soon realise there is a mole within their outfit, and attempt to root out the other without exposing themselves. Throw in a love triangle, and you’ve got the plot for one of the best films of the year.
Does the film get confusing at times? Perhaps, especially to someone who hasn’t seen Infernal Affairs, but if you pay attention throughout the 150-minute run, you should understand everything by the film’s climax. Through layers and layers of deception and shady phone calls, you have a well-crafted plot, which whilst obviously ripped from the original, has a nice Americanised, Scorsesian spin to it.
The film is quintessentially Scorsesian in many instances. The plot is long and winding, and I expect impatient viewers may carelessly label it as boring (although a good deal of action is interspersed throughout the film). Also, there’s a fair share of gore throughout the film, and in his true fashion, Scorsese spares no details from his viewers, showing headshots and blood spraying in all directions. It’s masterfully done, and it’s also nice to see what Scorsese could do with modern technology – i.e. the use of mobile phones as an integral part of the plot, which, let’s face it, most of the films seldom use.
The use of music in the film is also sublime. A number of times, Irish rock music blasts on, and it just sounds utterly superb. It really adds to the feel of the film and hearing it as Jack Nicholson drives into a confrontation is beyond awesome. Also, use of Pink Floyd's classic "Comfortably Numb" (albeit a cover is used here) was a masterful choice, and one that actually made a pretty weak scene into one I could enjoy. Heck, I could've closed my eyes and loved that scene.
I’d heard concern over whether the two leads, particularly DiCaprio, could pull it off, but I felt he had the look right, he just had to nail the lines with the viscosity that they required. I feel that he definitely did this, and Damon did equally well in his role. Where the real treat comes, though, is with Jack Nicholson. After fluffy yarns like Anger Management, it’s nice to see Jack back as a baddass. I recall reading that Nicholson felt his character of Frank Costello in this film was “the true incarnation of evil”, and I don’t think he’s far wrong. Nicholson delivers his lines with true gusto, and it almost makes his character likable in a disturbing way.
One mustn’t forget Mark Wahlberg, either. Here’s someone who I expected to just be a minor character with a few scenes, but he has quite a few scenes, and each is brilliantly-scripted, and massively entertaining. I’m not usually a fan of scriptwriters interjecting serious dialogue with humour, but it really works here, and Wahlberg’s often dead-pan delivery is a joy to behold.
There’s one area where this remake improves upon the original, and that’s the editing style, in my opinion. The original had a moderate amount of “MTV-style” cutting, which I find disorientating and so more often than not hate. Luckily, there’s virtually none of that here.
The only area I can really see people largely criticising the film is the closing scenes. To give away what happens would to do you a huge disservice, but changes are made from the original, and some have argued that the new ending defeats the moral message the original film was trying to convey. I would agree to an extent, and whilst I probably would have preferred the ending to be kept the same, I still enjoyed the final scene, as it was unexpected and rather well done.
Is the film perfect? No. It takes a little while to engage the viewer (or at least me), but once it gets going, it doesn’t stop for another near two hours. I’m still mulling over whether I prefer this or Infernal Affairs, but needless to say, both of them are excellently-crafted works of cinema, and are likely better than 90% of the films that are released in cinemas.
I’m just ecstatic that Scorsese is back on form after some films that divided opinion (Gangs of New York, The Aviator). Hopefully The Departed will provide filmgoers with the evidence they need that Martin Scorsese can still go. A must see if you have the time, and if this film isn't recognised by the Academy next year, it will be a monumental shame.
Thanks for reading,
Reefer.
The third film to truly wow me this year is The Departed. Film buffs will no doubt be familiar with the Japanese “Infernal Affairs” film, which was a cult smash. Virtually as soon as I finished watching IA, I was informed that Martin Scorsese was remaking it under the moniker “The Departed”, and after reading the cast list (Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin, and of all people, Jack BLEEPING Nicholson), I was pretty damn excited. There were the typical comments from fans of the original about how this remake would be dire, but the fact Scorsese was at the helm, and the talent on hand otherwise intrigued me.
It would perhaps be wrong to say that The Departed surpasses the original film, but it more than matches it in terms of acting, script and direction.
Basically, the plot of the film is that DiCaprio is a good guy, working undercover with Nicholson’s Irish mob, whilst Damon is a bad guy, working in the special investigations unit as a mole. Both men soon realise there is a mole within their outfit, and attempt to root out the other without exposing themselves. Throw in a love triangle, and you’ve got the plot for one of the best films of the year.
Does the film get confusing at times? Perhaps, especially to someone who hasn’t seen Infernal Affairs, but if you pay attention throughout the 150-minute run, you should understand everything by the film’s climax. Through layers and layers of deception and shady phone calls, you have a well-crafted plot, which whilst obviously ripped from the original, has a nice Americanised, Scorsesian spin to it.
The film is quintessentially Scorsesian in many instances. The plot is long and winding, and I expect impatient viewers may carelessly label it as boring (although a good deal of action is interspersed throughout the film). Also, there’s a fair share of gore throughout the film, and in his true fashion, Scorsese spares no details from his viewers, showing headshots and blood spraying in all directions. It’s masterfully done, and it’s also nice to see what Scorsese could do with modern technology – i.e. the use of mobile phones as an integral part of the plot, which, let’s face it, most of the films seldom use.
The use of music in the film is also sublime. A number of times, Irish rock music blasts on, and it just sounds utterly superb. It really adds to the feel of the film and hearing it as Jack Nicholson drives into a confrontation is beyond awesome. Also, use of Pink Floyd's classic "Comfortably Numb" (albeit a cover is used here) was a masterful choice, and one that actually made a pretty weak scene into one I could enjoy. Heck, I could've closed my eyes and loved that scene.
I’d heard concern over whether the two leads, particularly DiCaprio, could pull it off, but I felt he had the look right, he just had to nail the lines with the viscosity that they required. I feel that he definitely did this, and Damon did equally well in his role. Where the real treat comes, though, is with Jack Nicholson. After fluffy yarns like Anger Management, it’s nice to see Jack back as a baddass. I recall reading that Nicholson felt his character of Frank Costello in this film was “the true incarnation of evil”, and I don’t think he’s far wrong. Nicholson delivers his lines with true gusto, and it almost makes his character likable in a disturbing way.
One mustn’t forget Mark Wahlberg, either. Here’s someone who I expected to just be a minor character with a few scenes, but he has quite a few scenes, and each is brilliantly-scripted, and massively entertaining. I’m not usually a fan of scriptwriters interjecting serious dialogue with humour, but it really works here, and Wahlberg’s often dead-pan delivery is a joy to behold.
There’s one area where this remake improves upon the original, and that’s the editing style, in my opinion. The original had a moderate amount of “MTV-style” cutting, which I find disorientating and so more often than not hate. Luckily, there’s virtually none of that here.
The only area I can really see people largely criticising the film is the closing scenes. To give away what happens would to do you a huge disservice, but changes are made from the original, and some have argued that the new ending defeats the moral message the original film was trying to convey. I would agree to an extent, and whilst I probably would have preferred the ending to be kept the same, I still enjoyed the final scene, as it was unexpected and rather well done.
Is the film perfect? No. It takes a little while to engage the viewer (or at least me), but once it gets going, it doesn’t stop for another near two hours. I’m still mulling over whether I prefer this or Infernal Affairs, but needless to say, both of them are excellently-crafted works of cinema, and are likely better than 90% of the films that are released in cinemas.
I’m just ecstatic that Scorsese is back on form after some films that divided opinion (Gangs of New York, The Aviator). Hopefully The Departed will provide filmgoers with the evidence they need that Martin Scorsese can still go. A must see if you have the time, and if this film isn't recognised by the Academy next year, it will be a monumental shame.
Thanks for reading,
Reefer.