Film Reviews by JD

I know this has had a lot of average reviews but I was glued to the screen for the entire running time. I loved the conceit of attempting to make a Roman epic set in New York. Sure, elements are a mess, like Dustin Hoffman's character who seems to have wandered in from Goodfellas. There is also a sub-plot concerning an errant Soyuz about to crash into Earth that doesn't go anywhere. Anyway, sit back and enjoy the confusing but optimistic images.

Yes, the film looks good but it all seems like a Disney-esque rewriting of history. In truth, Dahomey was one of the African nations that supported and helped the slave trade by enslaving other nations. To say they helped bring about the end of slavery is arrant nonsense. They only stopped slavery when the French forced them to .

As to Disney-esque, it alludes to throat-cutting and so on, but the camera carefully pulls away so it's all out of shot. It also seems to take place in a strange reality where the bad guys (the Portugese) just stand and let themselves get attacked, never mind their inability to shoot straight.

Don't waste your time, watch The Lion King instead.

A UN delegation is kidnapped and one of them is taken to the place she was going to anyway. In many ways this is a typical Herzog film with odd philosophising, random aphorisms and fabulous landscape shots. It's worth watching for those alone and the steam engine graveyard, amazing. What doesn't redeem it is the woeful acting and deliberate ignorance of practical matters such as the Samsung tablet that never needs charged, I want one of those!

It is a vague science fiction morality tale but the science is lazy and makes no sense. Another Werner Herzog film ticked off. Pity he didn't put himself in it.