Pathfinder = poor man's Apocalypto
‘PATHFINDER’ is a poor man’s APOCALYPTO that is dark, dreary, and lacking in thrills.Very rarely has an action/adventure film bored me as senselessly as PATHFINDER did. I am not sure what is the film’s most negligible flaw: The fact that it has monotonous and ridiculously repetitive action sequences that would not be held captive by most mindless 1980’s action films or that it has absolutely nothing interesting or remarkable to say about the first visitors to the Native tribes of America, predating Columbus by 600 years. Let’s just say that the film is very appropriately titled; it inspired in me a yearning to search for the closest route to ensure my exit from the theatre in the most expeditious manner possible.
This film’s sensibilities (and aesthetic choices, for that matter) are all over the map. PATHFINDER is a mess. I am not sure what it really wants to be. At certain face value, its appears that it wants to appropriate some of the elements of such historically realistic films like--for example--Mel Gibson’s APOCALYPTO crossed with the adrenaline-charged, sword-swinging, teeth-grinding bloodbaths of CONAN THE BARBARIAN. Then there are elements of more generic and contemporary action films thrown in for good measure, and by those I mean ham-infested and groan inducing dialogue (like, “I’m not gonna leave you” and “Go on without me”), silly and annoying clichés, and chaotic and convoluted action set pieces.
3 comments:
Writerfella here --
Oh, pooh, if someone really was that disappointed and judgmental about such a motion picture, they would have left the theater as they said they wished AND THEN ASKED FOR THEIR MONEY BACK! Believe it or don't, members of NATO (the Nat'l Ass'n of Theater Owners) genuinely have a policy of refunding the admission price to dissatisfied attendees. Among the many jobs that writerfella has held is that of being a head-counter at various theaters for various films in various locales and in various years. And he himself has witnessed that such patrons who so asked received a refund forthwith. That much said, then what the 'reviewer' wrote in the rest of the article only is so much rhetoric. The only thing true in those words is that PATHFINDER is a box office loser, having made $9,490,730 domestic and $11,211,965 overseas in the 18 days since its release, or roughly half of its reported budget of $45 millions. That difference will be made up and more when the film comes out on DVD later this year. Once again, the reason films are made in the first place is to make money, NOT as vehicles to express one point of view or another. And anyone who believes otherwise likely is not smart enough to realize that they could ask for their money back...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
Oh, pooh, indeed. Whether someone could ask for his money back doesn't tell us whether he will. For one thing, many people don't know about this policy. For another, many people would be loath to use it, feeling it unfair to take back the money they gave freely.
And people like this reviewer and me feel obligated to sit through movies to the end, no matter how bad they are. That's the job of a critic, which is something you clearly don't understand.
About the only true thing here is that Craig Koban seems to have about 10 times the critical faculties that you have. Whereas he's an astute student of cinematic techniques, you're a naive fanboy who gushes over everything uncritically.
In fact, it's not clear to me that you'd know a good script if you saw one. Or if you wrote one. Which may explain why we've never seen any of the movies you've allegedly written.
If you have any critical faculties whatsoever, prove it by analyzing the artistic merits of Pathfinder. Don't waste our time with box-office numbers, which are irrelevant to the movie's aesthetic qualities. Justify your praise of the movie or admit you can't.
Writerfella here --
Ah, so movie critics now can be called 'aesthetes'. Problem is, most of them don't know what the word means and likely could not spell it in less than five tries...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
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