Reviews of Appaloosa

Appaloser

Posted : 8 months, 4 weeks ago on 7 April 2009 09:26 (A review of Appaloosa)

I was absolutely salivating at the prospect of seeing this film. All it took was one look at the cast-list, followed by a glimpse of the promotional posters to make me realise that it had all the right ingredients to be a really great film. Just check out THIS poster of Ed Harris - oh yeah, he looks grizzled and bad ass. And then look at THIS poster of Viggo Mortensen - oh yeah, he looks grizzled and bad ass too! All they need now is a ruthlessly grizzled and bad ass villain to pit their wits against. Look no further than Jeremy 'GODDAMN' Irons. This cast-list is the stuff of dreams.

The film starts off on a high, showing what a merciless threat Jeremy Irons' corrupt landowner poses to the nearby town of Appaloosa. Just when things are looking bleak for the settlement, salvation appears in the form of crime fighting renegades Harris and Mortensen. The stage is set for some intense encounters with the lawmen staking their authority at the expense of the anarchic gang and their drunken antics. There are several tense encounters which see the lawmen hugely outnumbered, but never out of control as order slowly creeps back into Appaloosa. But you know, you just know... it's not going to remain peaceful for very long.

Then - the unthinkable happens. After a fantastic scene-setting introduction to the film, any enjoyment or anticipation you have is completely and utterly dissipated. How? Well in the interests of science, I've summed up the entirety of the film with this irrefutable graph.



That's right. The introduction of one lousy woman - a woman I had completely missed from all the promo posters I'd seen of the film - manages to completely drain the machismo and entertainment from the movie. She also makes Ed Harris' cool, collected and efficient character look like a complete moron. That's just not going to fly. What's so bad about her? I still can't place her character, I think the gist of it is that she's a sex-crazed slapper who just waltzes from man to man, no matter how heinous their reputation.

This film could've been a lot better than it was. The combination of a poor female part twinned with a poor female actress really dished out a deathblow to a film with an abundance of potential. I have given it a 5/10 purely because Ed Harris directed, and I love the man. If the cast-list fills you with high hopes for this Western adventure, then prepare to be disappointed.

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A pretty good western

Posted : 1 year, 2 months ago on 25 October 2008 01:33 (A review of Appaloosa)

I admit it, I am a sucker for a good western. Even though most westerns follow a similar story line, a good guy comes to the rescue to try to stop a bad guy. This movie follows that formula except that this time it is two guys (Ed Harris and Viggo Mortenson) that come to a town's rescue for a very bad guy (Jeremy Irons). You throw in a damsel in distress and you have the makings of a good movie. This movie didn't rely on special effects or lots of blood and guts, it had a good cast and strong performances. It wasn't the best western I've seen, but it was very entertaining and worth a couple hours of my time.

Flash

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