Princess and the Warrior (2000)

Buy it!

Positive Experience/Entertaining? Geh... kind of. I guess. But annoying as hell, too.


Technically any good? ARG! NO! It meanders all over the place and is frustrating at every turn. The characters in the movie do everything against logic yet somehow (duh, because the writer wants it) they are able to get away with their rock-stupid choices.

Seriously, at almost every point of this movie, there is a character that is doing something ill-advised, illogical, or downright STUPID and yet, fate (the writer) allows things to generally work out for the characters in the end.

I think the film was trying to be some sort of fable, but ends up being very uneven and contrived.

The acting was perfectly reasonable, but no amount of good acting could undo the rest of the flaws of this film.


How did it leave me feeling? FRUSTRATED. I had to have one of my venting sessions afterwards because it was just a mess. I really like Tom Tykwer as a director--I loved Run Lola Run and enjoyed Winter Sleepers quite a lot. However, The Princess and the Warrior was just annoying as hell to sit through.

INTERNATIONAL (2009) (Preemptive Strike)

Watch the trailer

Positive Experience/Entertaining? Well, the trailer was fun to watch, but it seems to suggest a great premise gone terribly Hollywood.


Technically any good? The premise is interesting enough--lone intel expert discovers a global bank has been funding bad, bad things and decides to take them on. However, the absurd locations of action sequences (check out the trailer if you want to see what I mean) suggests a huge level of unreality. Add that to cliche lines like "Who ever said anything about arresting you?" and you get a recipe for corn. Which is a shame, since banks are funding some pretty nasty stuff around the world for real.


How did it leave me feeling? Meh. Sick of Hollywood's idea of an action/thriller movie. If 3 Days of the Condor were remade today, they'd likely have a machine gun battle inside the Statue of Liberty--just for "irony's" sake. It's a shame because both Owen and Watts can carry a movie, but with these stupid action scenes stapled in, I'm not sure how I'm supposed to buy the movie as a whole.


Final Rating? NFI - I'll wait and NetFlix It.

*UPDATE: I just noticed that this film was directed by Tom Tykwer who made the incredible Run Lola Run and the uber-never-heard-of-but-totally-worth-seeing Winter Sleepers. So, I may end up not waiting for Netflix on this one if I hear good things. We'll see, though.