Not as Ordinary as Reviews lead us to believe...
I bought this dvd because I enjoy the occasional "flight of fancy" movie and I've always been a fan of several of the literary characters portrayed in this film. (WARNING: big Nemo fan, a childhood literary favorite, so expect a lot about him) What I liked best about the movie are how well the actors played their roles. It was a good enough plot to keep the movie going, but without these wonderful actors it could very well have been s**t. My faves are Naseeruddin Shah (Monsoon Wedding) as Nemo (and yes, I knew Nemo was Indian), Sir Sean, of course, (played Quatermain as a true man of his times), the guy who played Jekyll/Hyde, the woman who played Mina Harker, Townsend (made for a truly despicable Dorian) and Mr. Curran (remember him from 13th Warrior?). Now, no offense to the guy who played Sawyer (he did do it well), but to me he was an unnecessary character. I would have liked more dialogue between everyone to establish how these mismatched characters manage to bond, but it was still good. Honestly, though, more Nemo would have been great! (and no, despite my handle, I am not of Indian ancestry.)
What I didn't like were the people who ran this movie down. They complained about a muddled plot line. I understood the plot line, what's wrong with them? They had a problem with streets in Venice. They DO exist, quite a few in fact...been there, seen them, walked on them! They also had a problem with the Nautilus in the canals of Venice (water displacement). But Venice is surrounded by the sea, so most of that water is probably displaced into it, and the Venetians are used to the sea flooding their front steps, anyway (again, been there, seen it). Yeah, the Nautilus is huge, but hey! Its fantasy, people! Also, what was their problem with Nemo's car? It is already established he was a genius way ahead of his time, so why couldn't it be cool, too? I will say it was weird that Sawyer could drive it so well. Maybe they should have shown him ogling it during the voyage. Might have made a little better sense. Some people also complained about Nemo knowing martial arts. Everyone always assumes martial arts means kung fu. Not true. In fact, there are martial arts originating from India and all over the world (come on people, read!)! If you watch this movie (or re-watch it) notice that Nemo's character does not do any wire work (no Matrix-style flying). And the only one doing "high-wire martial arts" was the Vampire! (Dorian/Mina fight) No one complained about that one! Is kung fu a characteristic of vampirism? And speaking of incongruous complaints by reviewers...the Nautilus and Nemomobile are unbelievable, but a Vampire in the movie isn't? Duh! Still, here is one complaint I do have, but no reviewers thought anything of it...a vampire the guys still think is sexy even after watching her rip out throats and drink blood! Does anyone else think "eeew"? And that outfit she wore!? You really think any seamstress of that era is going to make that outfit? I betting Mina didn't sow it!
People were wanting to compare this movie with other "Matrix/Blade" movies, but that isn't what this movie was about. It also wasn't likely they were going to stay true to the story in the comics (oops..."graphic novels") as they are way to violent and manga. (Those movies are dumb, anyway). So come on, people. Don't let the reviewers ruin a fun flick for you. It wasn't a blockbuster by any means, but I guarantee it is doing quite well on dvd for very good reason.Read full review
