Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Wild Justice


I read Gone, But Not Forgotten by Philip Margolin years ago, borrowed from my cousin, and liked it very much. Only recently I could read more books by the same writer and although they didn't impress me as much as Gone, But Not Forgotten, I thought they were still better than usual thriller novels.

Two days ago I finished Wild Justice. I like reading about serial murders and how the detectives solve them. Mr Margolin's books always have high body counts and horrible tortures. Gone, But Not Forgotten and Wild Justice have similarities, because both the culprits have a hobby to torture people and examine how long they can endure pain, like Nazi experiments.

Like its title, Wild Justice is more violent and the characters take the vengeance into their own hands than let the law take care of it. If in Gone, But Not Forgotten Peter Lake is saved from one of his victim's revenge; it's the opposite with the culprit in Wild Justice. His end is horrible and I was almost sick reading the part, that I had to think something happy (Snow White singing With A Smile and A Song).

I just read negative reviews about this book in Amazon and mostly they were disappointed because they could guess the culprit right away. I must say that I had my guess, too, and I was right, although that didn't stop me to read until the end to confirm that. I think Philip Margolin books are thriller, not who done it. So for me, it doesn't matter if I can guess the culprit early in the book, because the rest of the book is still exciting.

This book must be a success because the lead character, Lawyer Amanda Jaffe, is brought back in 3 more books.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Mirror Mirror (2012)

This is a strange version of Snow White story. Parts of the birth of Snow White until before her 18th birthday are told in very good animation. Her mother died in childbirth, and under a spell, her father, a king, married again to the most beautiful woman in the world. Couple of years later he rode into the woods and never been seen again. Snow White and the kingdom fell into the hands of the step-mother.

The new queen demands the people to pay taxes to pay for her parties and the kingdom now suffers. A baker tells Snow White to come out of the castle to see the people. On her way in the woods, she saves a half-naked prince and his aide who had been robbed by 7 dwarfs and hung from a tree. The prince resumes his journey to the queen's castle and the queen, heard that he is rich, wants to marry him. The prince, already fallen in love with Snow White, refuses, but the queen charms him, that he thinks he is a puppy and the queen in his master.

The queen orders Snow White to be killed in the woods, but the person who carrying the order sets her free. Snow White goes deep into the woods and stays in 7 dwarfs's house, where they teach her to become a thief. When she hears about the upcoming wedding between the prince and the queen, she & the dwarfs go to sabotage it. The angry queen sets out the beast (a dragon), who turns out to be the lost king. Snow White meets her father again and marries the prince, while the queen pays the price for using too much magic: she lost her beauty and becomes old. In the wedding ceremony the old 'ex-queen' tries to give a red apple to Snow White, but Snow White asks the old woman to take the first bite. The old woman eats the apple, falls down, and disappears.

I don't like the humour in this film. It's not funny. Julia Roberts as the most beautiful woman in the world? She is beautiful, but I don't think she is the most. I think animation is the best way if one of the characters is the most beautiful woman in the world. The prince is ridiculous, much more ridiculous than Prince Edward in Enchanted. The ending shows Snow White & co. dance with a Bollywood song, which I don't think match with previous atmosphere.


The scene of Snow White running in the woods is very beautiful