Anotherealm Forum - Print Page

Anotherealm Forum
http://anotherealm.net/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl
General Category >> General Board >> TWO MINUTE REVIEWS: Odd Thomas -- the Movie
http://anotherealm.net/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1420639870

Message started by Gary A. Markette on Jan 7^th, 2015, 9:11am

Title: TWO MINUTE REVIEWS: Odd Thomas -- the Movie
Post by Gary A. Markette on Jan 7^th, 2015, 9:11am

I just don't understand the critical reaction to this film. Most of the "professionals" out there trashed it. A few gave it luke warm praise, but no one piled on kudos. This makes me hesitate to continue lest I seem naive, uninformed, or ignorant.

Nuts to that.

I liked this movie. A lot. Oh, it has its faults, plenty of them, including a bit too much narration. On the whole, though, this adaptation of the Dean Koontz novel captured me from its inception. Solid performances by Anton Yelchin (Odd Thomas), Addison Timlin (Stormy Llewellyn) set the tone. Willem Dafoe (Chief Wyatt Porter) chews the scenery as befits the most accomplished cast member. Good (if not well-known) supporting characters romp through Koontz's quirky action/adventure/horror tale with a careless enthusiasm. Indeed, they are so enthusiastic that, at times, they might grate on a critic's nerves. I like enthusiasm, though, and the energy of the baddies and goodies suits me to the bone.

Commendations to Stephen Sommers for recognizing a good thing when he sees one and sticking close to the book. Special effects exceed expectations for cutting edge CGI (especially the Bodags; creepy and very well rendered). Deviations from Koontz's work are few (Odd Thomas has somehow become a skilled fighter; the Bodags apparently know that Odd can see them and use that knowledge to deceive him) but Sommers does not yield to the temptation to preserve Stormy. She dies -- just as she does in the book--and the poignancy of this works well. (I have a minor quibble about the cliche-ish butterfly dissolve heralding Stormy's departure, but meh!)

Evidently this was never released to theatres and I don't remember seeing ads or a trailer. Why not, Hollywood guys? Worse films than this dreck up major movie houses every week. I can only guess that somebody somewhere decided the minute extra expense of the film's release was too much to risk. Too bad. This quirky, talky movie wouldn't have won any awards but I think that Odd Thomas fans (and there are plenty of them) would have enjoyed it on the big screen. As it is, it's well worth a viewing on your home system.

Rating: 3 smiles :-) :-) :-).

Title: Re: TWO MINUTE REVIEWS: Odd Thomas -- the Movie
Post by Webbie on Jan 16^th, 2015, 12:58am

I found it an interesting film a well