Movie Reviews

Scary Movie 2 Director: Keenan Ivory Wayans Rating: R Cinemas: Farragut Towne Square 10, West Town Mall 9 When the wretched original Scary Movie made well over $150 million worldwide, it was clear that the promise of "No Sequels" made in its advertising would be shamelessly broken. And so, we are subjected to Scary Movie 2, a gut-wrenching, unfocused parody of itself, in which the Wayans brothers continue to use the same sixth-grade level humor to make an attempt at extracting laughs from the too-bored-to-be-shocked audience. The plot is basically inconsequential, as the film shabbily leaps from one excruciating farce to another, mocking such movies as The Exorcist, The Haunting, Charlie's Angels and even a shoe commercial. Most of this happens while the main characters are locked inside a haunted mansion for one night to get credit for a college class they're in. Many predictable, uninteresting things happen to the crew during the night and, opposite of the first movie, thi s time they all live. No, that's not a spoiler. It doesn't matter. Going to this movie for the plot is like going to church for the bread and wine. You're just missing the point. However, this is far from a religious experience. If you saw the first one, bodily fluids make a strong comeback in this feature, despite the Wayans brothers' insistence that they toned their shtick down this time. What's also not toned down in this type of movie is the comedy. Scary Movie 2 doesn't know the meaning of the word "subtlety," as it beats the audience over the head with sick humor time and time again. The only scenes worth watching occur in the first few minutes, during the spoof of The Exorcist. After that, this movie is simply boring. It's hard to believe the sequel could actually be worse in this case, but it is. Those of you who pay to see this mov ie have to live with a third installment on their conscience. Rating: D- - Jeff Haws Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within Director: Hironobu Sakaguchi Rating: PG-13 Cinemas: Knoxville Center 10, Wynnsong 16 The ever-popular Final Fantasy video game series comes to life this summer in a blockbuster feature film that showcases a new style of animation and captures the adventurous spirit of the games. Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within begins with the earth in ruins after a meteor inhabited by a band of phantoms crashed and aliens started taking over the planet. All attempts to kill the aliens have been futile. The movie follows the young and beautiful Dr. Aki Ross as she tries to locate the eight spirit waves to kill the aliens and save the planet. She is helped in her quest by Capt. Gray Edwards, her love interest, and Dr. Sid, her mentor. The only problem is that Ross herself is infected by a phantom, so their time is limited. They are also under time pressures from the military and Gen. Hein, who is trying to build a Zeus Cannon to kill the aliens, but it could also destroy the earth in the process. As Ross and her team work toward a solution, Hein takes matters into his own h ands and puts the entire population in peril. The film is action-packed, which makes it a little hard to follow. If you are not a fan of the Final Fantasy game series, the opening scenes could be completely confusing. The plot follows the same lines as almost every other science-fiction film where al iens invade - an unlikely hero takes the lead and a love story ensues. The most redeeming quality of this film is the incredible animation. Everything is extremely life-like. It is the first movie to attempt to construct realistic computer-generated human characters, and it succeeds. It is easy to forget the film is a cartoo n. If you're into science fiction or the game series then the film is probably worth seeing. The film on its own merit is not really worth the ticket cost. Rating: C- - Laura Beth Ingle