Remember Me-Film review

Remember Me is an underrated gem. It was released in 2010 with Alan Coulter the person directing it. Robert Pattinson plays the protagonist character-Tyler Hawkins. The second biggest character in the movie-Ally Craig is played by Australian actress, Emilie de Ravin. Remember Me is a very well made movie and it made me care about the characters and be invested in what I'm watching. What more can you ask for from a movie?

Robert Pattinson faces a lot of criticism for his performance as 'Edward Cullen' in Twilight. People called the movie 'cringe', 'cheesy'...and just generally 'bad'. However, I was pleasantly surprised that Pattinson's performance was a huge step up from what he did in Twilight. I feel that in Twilight, he wasn't given enough creative freedom to use his full skillset of acting skills because of the character that he played. Of course, this commonly happens with movies that are based off of books. In Remember Me, Pattinson plays a hopeless, indecisive student who is absolutely relatable. He looks careless about his appearance, he doesn't really care about things and he lives in a poor apartment with his friend. I believe that Pattinson's performance was the key factor in making us care about the character and the fact that he had a strangely likeable personality. Alongside Pattinson was his storyline girlfriend, Emilie de Ravin. She played a character named Ally who lives with her father(who is a single parent). Her mother was shot and killed during a robbery at a train station when she was younger and this plays a key part in defining who Ally is as a person. De Ravin made Ally seem sweet and funny, but I think that her character seemed more like a sub-plot for Tyler. Her character played a vital one for him, but I would have liked to have seen more of a backstory for her. In some parts of the movie, she even seemed rather melotone and basic.

There isn't a wide range of special effects or usage of CGI in the movie, which makes it feel even more relatable and real. There isn't really any scenario where the use of any special editing would be needed anyway. A couple of mistakes were spotted. For example, in one scene when Tyler is walking down the road he lights a cigarette, when the camera goes back to him after focusing on his friend Aiden, the cigarette is gone. I think if a lot of special effects were used in this movie, they would have felt extremely forced due to the storyline, so the absence is a good one.

Personally, I think that the camera work was spot on in this movie. The different angles that the cameras use in different scenes perfectly portray the characters' emotions throughout the movie. For example, when Tyler is sitting on his window ledge in his worn down flat smoking a cigarette, the emotion on his face shows that he is hopeless and possibly even depressed. His sense of clothing looks careless and rushed which tells me he is at a low in his life at the moment. I think that this ironically becomes a positive for his character though as this is mostly what makes him talk to Ally in the first place. Another great example of the terrific camera work in Remember Me is the final scene in which Tyler is standing in the World Trade Centre, waiting for his father. For Tyler, it is like the ultimate relief after all of the troubles that he has gone through in the movie that he is finally able to make things right with his father. However, by this point we already know Tyler's fate. It was a shocking moment for me as I came into realisation of what was happening and the final shot of Tyler's life where he is staring out of the gigantic window at the city sums up the incredible camerawork used.

There wasn't a great deal of music in the film(not memorable music for that matter). But in further analysis, the music that was featured is great! It was predominantly of the indie genre which links to the genre of romance in movies. Generally, it just gave the film a bigger effect emotionally and it did so in a manner that wasn't blatant or forced. In regards to other sound, the sound producers did a great job. The busy streets of New York seemed chaotic to us due to the sounds of the traffic and the people walking the streets. Also, the speech from Tyler(Robert Pattinson) at the end of the film was a very strong scene to close on. It truly demonstrated his feelings and even had an element of truth to a general life belief that people can possess.

In conclusion, I'd give Remember Me an 8/10 due to its engaging storyline and good acting. In addition to that, the twist at the end of the movie was a noble decision to make and it brings a quality in films that I love. It doesn't have to have a happy ending...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Analysis of opening scene and Junky Limbo scene from Trainspotting

Image
Opening scene The opening scene of Trainspotting is widely regarded to be one of the most iconic scenes in British movie history. It does a great job of showing you what to expect for the rest of the movie, jumping straight into explicit scenes. The music that plays throughout it while Renton reels off all of the things to 'choose' sets the fast pace and adds an action-based effect to the scene. We get to see all of the main characters here and one of the sub-plots of the movie (Renton trying to get off of heroin) is set. Most of the camera shots are close ups or mid shots in this scene as it is still trying to develop the characters and introduce them to the viewer. The lighting in the house is very dark and miserable. This directly contradicts the light from the previous scene of being outside, and it also contradicts the music which is still playing in the background. This creates a strange effect on the audience which makes them not too disturbed or sad by the scene, d...
Read more

Similarities and differences between Casablanca and Do the Right Thing

Casablanca and Do the Right Thing are two very different films from two very different time periods. Both deal with different issues, but both are similar in a sense that the overall meaning of the film is deeper than just the storyline itself. Do the Right Thing inevitably has more advanced camerawork in comparison to Casablanca. The majority of Casablanca is simple over-the-shoulder camera shots and barely any wide shots. Casablanca was very good in it's utilisation of eye-lines when it cut from shot to shot. Do the Right Thing has more flashy camera work and it has traditional Spike Lee-type angles such as the zoom from above one. Similarly, Do the Right Thing has far more advanced editing too. It features a lot of flashy cuts and transitions, whereas Casablanca uses simple editing and doesn't really use any flashy editing throughout, as expected. Both are similar in a sense that they use establishing shots often. A good use of this in Casablanca is when Rick's bar i...
Read more

Weekly film analysis-Brazil

Image
Brazil is a film made in 1985, directed by Terry Gilliam. It is of the dystopian genre and is set in a future which ironically turned out to be rather inaccurate. The plot is very unclear throughout the whole movie, but this is done with clear purpose. Although the plot is hard to follow and often leaves the viewer wondering why they are watching Brazil, it is very thought-provoking and interesting to watch, which is why the film is so watchable. The plot was not believable at all but this was all part of the genre. The central goal of the movie was probably to express the opinions and views of the people who made the film, more so than to deliver a message or entertain the viewer in a certain way. A lot of symbolism was used in the film and there are many theories as to what the symbolism actually represents. An example of this is the flying scenes and especially when the ground begins to rise into the skies. The characters were complex and hard to break down. The acting was ...
Read more