Hollywood Back On Track. Review on Five Best Hollywood Movies of 2002

Fantastic movies, tough choices. There were a number of big hit movies produced during the year 2002. The release of the second installment of Lord of the Rings (The Two Towers). The musical smash hit Chicago. Spider-Man webbed and captivated audiences of all ages. Robin Williams shocked viewers in One Hour Photo, as did Tom Hanks in Road to Perdition. Outstanding, unforgettable movies. Among my favorites are:

1. LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS (2002) Elijah Wood is back! This installment picks up where Fellowship left off. Gandalf’s (Ian McKellan) disappearance in Fellowship emerges with Gandolf and the Balrog in a struggle as they fall endlessly toward their fate. However, Gandolf is reborn and returns in the form of a white wizard. Accompanied by Legolas the elf (Orlando Bloom), Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), and Gimli the dwarf (John Rhys-Davies), the wizard and his crew head for Rohan, to try to convince King Theoden, that war will soon be upon his kingdom.

Meanwhile, Merry and Pippin (Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd), flee into the Fanghorn Forest, forbidden territory. Enters the giant shepherd of trees, Treebeard the Ent. He decides to protect the two little bobbits from the creature Gollum (Andy Serkis). Enters Frodo (Elijah Wood), and Sam (Sean Astin), trying to find Mount Doom. Tired and exhausted from the journey, Frodo is beginning to grow tired of being tracked by the Dark Lord Sauron. Meanwhile, Gollum is captured trying to steal the ring from Frodo. He then agrees to guide Frodo and Sam to Mordor.

The battle of Helm’s Deep is the highlight of the movie when an army of 10,000 creatures of Sauruman (Christopher Lee), sieges the stone fortress, with only a few hundred humans and elves, which is nothing more than a battle against the odds. The Two Towers is a great fantasy adventure film, enjoyable to the end.

1. CHICAGO (2002) All….That….Jazz……(I love that song). Chicago has all that and more. In a nutshell, we have Catherine Zeta-Jones as Velma Kelly, a chorus girl with high hopes of becoming even more famous. Velma ,is locked behind bars in the Cook County jail for murdering her cheating husband. Incidentally, Velma caught him cheating with her sister and capped them both. On the other hand, you have Roxie Hart (played by Renee Zellweger). Roxie is also in the Cook County jail for murder. Roxie killed her lover because he lied to her about helping to further her singing career. Roxie has this thing about becoming a vaudeville star.

Enters slick Flynn, Lawyer Billy Flynn that is, (played by Richard Gere). Supposedly, Flynn has never lost a case, and is considered the best there is. His aim is to use Roxie and Velma to woo the courtroom. As he so loosely states, “In this town, murder’s a form of entertainment.” Holding true to his word, Velma and Roxie instantly become celebrities in the spotlight, but it is short-lived. They must find a way to stay in the spotlight, or their newfound stardom will forever be forgotten.

There are quite a few numbers that are very entertaining, for instance the opening song “All That Jazz,” and Richard Gere’s rendition of “Razzle Dazzle.” This is definitely an entertaining movie with a great cast.

1. SPIDER-MAN (2002) The story begins with nerdy high school senior Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire), chasing the school bus. Peter is shy, smart, and hopelessly in love with Mary Jane Watson (Kristen Dunst), who can’t see the obvious love he has for her. Peter has lived next door to Mary Jane for more than 10 years. Harry Osborn, (played by James Franco), is Peter’s only friend. Harry is also the son of the wealthy scientist Norman Osborn (Willem DaFoe). Peter lives with his Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson) and Aunt May (Rosemary Harris).

While on a school outing in a lab at Columbia University, Peter is bitten by a genetically altered spider. After school, he passes out in his bedroom and when he awakens, he discovers that he has undergone physical and mental changes. His new powers really began to show when he ‘spider-whips’ Flash, the ‘bad boy’ of the school. Now, realizing that he has arachnid powers, Peter tries his hand at climbing a wall and using his web to fly from building to building.

Meanwhile, at the Osborn lab, Norman Osborn has been reprimanded by military leaders for not producing a long-awaited scientific experiment. To prove them wrong and keep the funds supporting his lab, Norman, with the help of his assistant, decides to become the guinea pig for his new formula. Enters, the Green Goblin, and the remainder of the movie evolves around a cat and mouse chase between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin, with Spider-Man always turning up at the right time to save the girl of his dreams, Mary Jane. Loads of fun, and comical adventure.

1. ONE HOUR PHOTO (2002) Sy Parrish (Robin Williams) is a very lonely man, with nothing better to do than watch television, when at home. He works at the local department store, SavMart, and is known as the “photo guy.” Sy thinks of his job as more than a job, it is a work of art. Everything matters to Sy, including pleasing his best customers, by giving gifts and free upgrades. His apartment is drab, and undecorated, except for the wall filled with photos of the Yorkin family. In his sick mind, Will, Nina, and Jakob Yorkin are his family. In his mind, he is Uncle Sy. To them, he is nothing more than the friendly photo guy who works at SavMart.

When things begin to go wrong, Sy becomes emotionally unstable. First, his boss (played by Gary Cole), begin to criticize his work, and has a gut feeling that something is not right with Sy. Next, he begins to invade the privacy of the Yorkin family. He shows up at Jakobs soccer practices, reads the same book as Nina, buy a toy for Jakob, and the mother of them all is when he catches Will having an affair. This betrayal of the sort hurts Sy deeply, and he is not going to take this kind of disappointment lying down (so to speak). Now you’ve got a deranged man taking matters into his own hands. Robin Williams gives one heck of a performance as he walks away from being a sympathetic case, and steps into the role of becoming a dangerous threat to the Yorkin family.

1. ROAD TO PERDITION (2002) In this movie, Tom Hanks steps out on the limb of being hard-core villain, Michael Sullivan, a hit man, who works for John Rooney, (Paul Newman). The movie begins in Chicago, 1931. The backdrop setting of Chicago is so Al Capone, viewers will almost live and feel the hardcore gangster lifestyle.

Rooney took Sullivan in as an orphan and thinks of him as his son. Conner (Daniel Craig), is Rooney’s natural son, and jealously despises the relationship between his father and Sullivan. One night, while Sullivan is out on a job, Connor kills his wife (played by Jennifer Jason Leigh), and his youngest son. Michael Jr., (played by Tyler Hoechlin), escapes the brutal killings. Now, Sullivan, along with his son Michael, are out for blood. Rooney knows that Sullivan will stop at nothing to revenge his wife and son’s death, so he hires another hit man (played by Jude Law) to take out Sullivan, but not his son.

This movie depicts the bond between fathers and sons. Rooney is a father figure to Sullivan, but in the end, betrays Sullivan to save his own son’s life. Sullivan risks everything to save his son Michael. Their loyalty toward one another, in the end, also determines their fate.