Yancy
was an incredible find for the part of the tough skinned New Yorker. She
fits the physical parameters of the character to near perfection. Her acting
can most accurately be described as interesting, and highly irregular.
She balanced certain poorly-played action and dialogue scenes with glimpses
of appealing, authentic characterization that make passing a judgement
on the part extremely difficult, along with the rest of the film. But I
can tell you this- there were many who felt that Yancy carried the movie
on her own.
Despite
my initial proclivity, I genuinely ended up liking this movie. And not
only did I enjoy it as a good adaptation of a comic, I liked it as a film.
The film was an all around, verily good piece of art. It was (for the most
part:) well shot, well written, well acted, had good effects and well placed
and effective special effects.
The
movie ended up being quite surreal, utilizing frequent flashbacks to the
past, allegedly brought on by the Witchblade. These flashbacks offered
clarity into mysterious or unobservable situations and also provided brief
glimpses into the past of the gauntlet. Multiple times, the screen flashed
into brief shots of an egyptian pharoahess (presumably Cleopatra) with
the blade on her wrist as well as an extended, incredibly well-shot sequences
of Joan of Arc, another legendary figure in possession of the weapon. I
found, surprisingly, that these added to the film's overall inflection,
making it as entrancingly mysterious as the comic book.
The
writing, for the most part, was quite good. Most characterization was complete
and characters well scripted and played out. The dialogue, however, suffered
greatly. The actors merely went through the movements in some scenes and
their half-hearted , boorish banter could've put my neighbor's crazed dog
to sleep.
What
had to have been the most disappointing aspect, however, was the Witchblade's
apparent impotence in the film. The extent of its involvement in most battles
was to somehow deflect each at every rapidly fired bullet and once it sprouted
a blade with which to clonk people over the head. It also opened and closed
it's little red eye and the opportune moments. The idiocy of the legendary
weapon's role dwarfed the gauntlet's simplistic aesthetics. The film's
production team converted the tendril sprouting, mystical object into more
of a glorified medieval glove (I challenge you to a deul! Smack!). The
reason behind the alteration is readily apparent, however, and very much
like the X-Men production team switching to black leather garb: having
such an extravagantly cool entity is infeasible for such a low-profile
film. The time and the money that would have had to be invested would have
been tremendous and probably would not have drawn that many more viewers
or readers.
The
addition of Gallo to the script as the lead antagonist was certainly a
controversial decision which was most likely originally intended to promote
the now doomed ongoing live action series. The character was a shallow,
feeble attempt at saving the truly appealing storyline for later in the
series and offered no betterment of the film individually but rather detracted
from it.
The
special effects in the film, while not coming close to echoing the spectacular
scenes in the printed serial, are appealing nonetheless. In the showdown
in the Rialto, Sara feebly uses the Witchblade as a bullet shield while
firing off rounds with her handgun. There is one shot in particular where
she dives off the stage and the action is slowed to the point where Matrix-like
bullet trails are visible. This effect was utilized more than once in the
course of the film, each time with more appeal.
In
conclusion, I quite enjoyed the movie, despite initial reports and despite
my earlier misgivings.
