The Empire Strikes Back Is a Perfectly Symmetrical Film

Posted on May 20, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Anakin Skywalker was prophesied to bring balance to the Force, and it looks like he did in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. This film, which many hail as the best of the original trilogy, is an example of a cinematic chiasmus. All of the events of the first half of the film are repeated in the second half in the opposite order, creating a beautifully symmetrical film.

The first example of cinematic chiasmus that I shared was the original RoboCop. That film had a single flaw that kept it from being a perfect chiasmus. The Empire Strikes Back has no such flaws. It is perfectly symmetrical, just like the two halves of the Force. Perhaps this is meant to highlight the Light and Dark Sides of the Force, especially when you see the turning point.

Let’s dive in and see the breathtaking symmetry of The Empire Strikes Back. To quote Yoda, if you’re not already in awe of this film, “You will be. You will be.” Continue reading →

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1990: The Year of Failed Film Franchises

Posted on May 13, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

As far as I can tell, 1990 had more series-destroying sequels than any year before or since. And most of these sequels to popular films didn’t exactly go out on a high note, like, say, Return of the King. Most of them deserved their fate.

Of course, not every sequel was poorly received in 1990. Die Hard 2: Die Harder made more than its predecessor and led to other successful sequels. Child’s Play 2 still made a decent amount compared to the original Child’s Play, and it even had a few popular sequels of its own. And, while Back to the Future Part III made significantly less than the first two films in its series, it’s still a fantastic film.

With that said, here are 16 sequels that either outright killed or significantly hobbled their popular film series in 1990. I separated them into six categories. Continue reading →

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In Defense of Joel Schumacher’s Batman Movies

Posted on May 6, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

No one can mistake Joel Schumacher’s two Batman films for masterpieces. Nor can they call me a Schumacher fan, especially after I lambasted his atrocious St. Elmo’s Fire, which he took sole credit for both writing and directing. But I have to admit I have soft spot in my heart for Batman Forever and Batman & Robin.

In truth, Batman Forever came the closest of the four original films in the series to accomplishing what Christopher Nolan did in his Dark Knight Trilogy. And Batman & Robin might be one of the worst movies of all time, but it inadvertently led to a lot of positive results.

So here’s my defense of Joel Schumacher’s Batman movies. Continue reading →

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RoboCop (1987) Is an Almost Perfectly Symmetrical Film

Posted on April 29, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

The Old Testament is full of examples of chiasmus, which is a figure of speech used in ancient times to emphasize balance. It lists a bunch of ideas or things and then repeats each of them in reverse order. It’s often not an identical repetition. It frequently uses the opposite of what came before or something similar to it.

Here’s a simple chiasmus I came up with to show you what it looks like:

A. The cat was heavy

 B. She ate too much food

  C. Something had to change

 B. I gave her less food to eat

A. Now she’s less heavy

The first and last lines are similar, the second and fourth lines are opposite but related, and the third line is the turning point that links the ideas contained in the chiasmus.

Why am I giving a grammar lesson? Because I’ve noticed this same pattern used in films – a Cinematic Chiasmus, if you will. That shouldn’t be too surprising. Good storytelling involves setting up ideas and then paying them off over the course of the story. But some films have second halves that so closely mirror their first halves that it makes them truly breathtaking to behold once you notice their chiasmus at work.

RoboCop (1987) is the first film I reviewed on this website, so it’s fitting that it should be the first that I talk about here. Get ready to see how RoboCop is an almost perfectly symmetrical film. Continue reading →

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10 Ridiculously Lopsided Hero-Villain Fights

Posted on April 22, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

This is the first time I’ve done something like this. I’m participating in the Great Villain Blogathon with dozens of other bloggers. We all staked out some famous villains to talk about in our own unique ways. Since I’m such an eclectic kind of guy, I picked all sorts of villains, from the famous to the obscure and everything in-between.

The Great Villain Blogathon

In this list, we’re going to see what happens when a powerful hero goes toe to toe with a wimpy villain. Sometimes it’s satisfying to watch a hero win by a mile instead of by the skin of his teeth.

I apologize in advance for the violence and language contained in some of the following videos. I can’t help loving them despite their flaws. With that caveat, on with the list! Continue reading →

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10 Movie Poster Mashups

Posted on April 15, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

I usually compare movies’ plots to show how similar they are, but today I’m going to do something different. Here are 10 movies with titles that could work for completely different films.

Let’s dive right in and start having fun. Continue reading →

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Movie Matchups: Dr. No vs. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)

Posted on April 8, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Dr. No was the first true attempt to bring an Ian Fleming novel to the silver screen back in 1962. Eight years earlier, Buena Vista Distribution had debuted its first feature film – an adaptation of the classic Jules Verne book, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

On the surface, these two movies don’t seem to have anything in common except for the fact that they’re based on famous novels. I mean, Dr. No is a spy thriller with plenty of romance, action, and intrigue while 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is an adventure tale that is also an intriguing character study.

In spite of this, I noticed several interesting similarities between them. I’m not going to argue that they’re the same film like I have in some of my other Movie Matchups, but there are some definite parallels worth noting upon closer inspection.

So let’s go below the surface and investigate how Dr. No compares with 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Continue reading →

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Predator Is Surprisingly Deep for an Action Movie

Posted on April 1, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Happy April Fools’ Day.

There are two predators in the movie Predator.I’m only half-joking when I say that the 1987 classic Predator is surprisingly deep for an action movie. It’s not exactly the kind of movie you watch hoping for a lot of subtext to analyze. Predator is just trying to tell an interesting story in as efficient a manner as possible, and along the way the filmmakers managed to throw in several cool bits that hint at something deeper going on in the story.

Between its epic one-liners and wall-to-wall action, Predator has some depth that most action films lack. Stick around and let’s see if we can spot the hidden meanings of Predator.

Continue reading →

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‘Lego’ – A Parody of ‘Let It Go’ from Frozen

Posted on March 25, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

I wrote a funny version of “Let It Go,” from the wonderful Disney movie Frozen, and I’d like to share it with you, my kind readers. My sister and her children turned my words into a pretty cool music video.

Sit back and enjoy “Lego.”

Continue reading →

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Forgotten Film Gems: Space Cowboys

Posted on March 18, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Ten years before The Expendables came out, Space Cowboys made the idea of an old-geezers team-up movie cool.

Grab a nice bottle of Ensure.Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland, and James Garner came together to turn what could have been a predictable fish-out-of-water story into a very good movie that is still a lot of fun to watch.

So grab a nice bottle of Ensure and try not to pass out from the G’s as we dive in to what makes Space Cowboys a forgotten film gem. Continue reading →

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