Skip to content
Dan Owen reviews
P a r t O n e
2004. The year movies got serious. No, seriously!
Hollywood will always rely on special-effects for their big money-spinners inthe summer, but this year we were blessed with a more varied choice forcinemagoers: the eco-friendlyThe Day After Tomorrow,the politically-charged Fahrenheit 9/11, a battlecry against fast-foodin the Super Size Me documentary, religious blockbuster The PassionOf The Christ, and many more. Even Will Smith’s I, Robot had brainsbehind its CGI, being based on an Isaac Asimov story!
Take a look below and you’ll realize just how many of the year’s most popularmovies were great leaps forward in terms of ambition, creativity and genuinequality. Hollywood is even becoming more accepting of world cinema – withBritain’sShaun Of The Deadbecoming a hit Stateside, as well as foreign cinema’s Hero and HouseOf Flying Daggers raking up cash. A Japanese director was even allowed todirect the English-language remake of his horror smash The Grudge!
All this bodes very well for next year, but let’s take a look at 2004’s mostpopular movies and how they fared in the year.
Modern cinema’s greatest double-act, Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson, teamed up yetagain for their affectionate parody of Starsky & Hutch. Managing work asa traditional buddy-cop comedy, while also taking swipes at 70’s culture, themovie was a big success and has prompted next year’s Dukes Of Hazzard remake.Of course, beyond the sublime casting of Snoop Dogg as Huggy Bear, the laughsin S&H are actually pretty few and far between, but it’s still an entertainingbut mostly flat adventure.
A star was born with Scarlet Johanssen receiving plaudits for her role inLost In Translation,the romantic fish-out-of-water comedy drama from Sophia Coppolla, and co-starringBill Murray. Unfortunately, the domination of The Lord Of The Rings atthe Academy Awards meant LIT only took away Best Original Screenplay.
2004 was definitely The Year Of The Zombie, with three cinematic offeringsfrom the walking dead. First to make its mark was Zack Snyder’s remake of GeorgeRomero’s Dawn Of The Dead (2004). Despite predictably low expectationsand ridicule from fans of the original, this update was a pleasant surprise -managing to improve on the original in quite a few key areas and provide enoughbloody scares to keep zombie aficionados happy!
By far the most controversial movie of the year, and perhaps the decade, wasMel Gibson’s The Passion Of The Christ, with James Caviezel as Jesusand Monica Bellucci as Mary. Focusing on the final hours of Christ’s lifebefore his crucifixion, the movie divided opinion – with many people appalledby the movie’s excessive violence. Despite this, many Churches used the publicityto their advantage and the movie became the most successful independent moviemade… ever!
Occasionally, Britain manages to make a movie that finds success around theworld. These movies usually star Hugh Grant and have Richard Curtis in thecredits… until now. Simon Pegg and director Edgar Wright, fresh from cultsitcom Spaced, brought their skills to the big-screen with a low-budget Englishtake on zombie lore inShaun Of The Dead.A hit in Britain, the movie found an audience in America thanks to word-of-mouth,and entered the Top 10. Not bad for a debut movie Working Title has almost forgottenabout while prepping their big-budget Wimbledon and Thunderbirds movies!
Easily the most mind-bending movie of the year arrived courtesy of cranium obsessedwriter Charlie Kaufman, in Michael Gondry’s beautifully executedEternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind.Starring Jim Carrey and Kate Winslett as lovers who decide to erase each otherfrom their memories, the film is a sublime mix of romance, science-fiction andfantasy.
Eagerly awaited sequel Shrek 2 bounced into multiplexes in the summer,now packed with more characters and more startling CGI animation. Of course, noneof the technology really matters to children, so it was a good job the storyand characters remained as entertaining as the first time. However, whileentertaining and technically superior to the original, the movie never quitehits the same high for adults.
Another hotly anticipated sequel arrived in blue and red spandex, with TobyMaguire returning in Spider-Man 2 as everyone’s favourite (and only)web-slinging superhero. The effects were better, the action more elaboratelystaged, and the villain more monstrous in the guise of Alfred Molina as theeight-armed Doc Ock. While Spidey deservedly set the box office alight, thefilm was continually crippled by a romantic subplot that quickly becamerepetitive and a somewhat silly sense of humour. Still, no doubt superior inmost respects to the original and amongst the best in its genre.
M Night Shyamalan has quickly become the Stephen King of the movie world afterThe Sixth Sense in 1999. Now, every time he releases a movie the weightof expectation grows heavier and the quest to predict his stereotypical”twist endings” a global sport!
The Village was Shyamalan’s first foray into period drama, but his taleof a small village community surrounded by terrifying creatures in the woods,met with a lot of criticism. The Village is another beautifully constructedand meticulously filmed piece of gentle spooking, but maybe it’s time Shyamalanmoved away from twists in the tale before they bite him in the hand once toooften…
Five years ago you’d have thought it crazy that a political documentary wouldever be released to worldwide cinema audiences, but Michael Moore proved therewas a market for such cerebral movies with last year’sBowling For Columbine.In 2004, Moore went one step further, winning the coveted Palm D’Or withFahrenheit 9/11 – a biased, yet extremely persuasive argument againstPresident Bush and his “War On Terror”. The movie split audiences, but at leastprovoked debate amongst usually apathetic voters. Still, perhaps the movie’smessage didn’t hit home quite as strongly as it seemed, with Bush voted tostay in office until 2008…
Page Content copyright © Dan Owen, 2004.
Email Dan Owen
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.