11-30-2005, 04:52 PM
It was actually nowhere near as bad as I thought it'd be. Plus Jay Hernandez had a great performance as Carlito and didn't shame pacino.
Biggest complaint naturally is the fact that it ties in, in no way to the original with Pacino. None of the people in the pacino version are in this pre-quel. None of the people you hear being talked about from his past are in this film. Not his girlfriend, his partner, all of his friends, even the italian guys.
Also the happy fuckin ending just ruined the whole tone of the film which all but for the last 2 minutes was really good.
The other complains are asthetic, it had too modern a look to it, it was set in the 60's but it had a whole hip hop feel to it. Mario Van Peebles was the only one who fit the bill. Also the fact that this movie is seperated from the pacino version by several years but the age difference, looks wise is too dramatic between hernandez and pacino.
Also there really was no "rise to power", I wont spoil the film but if certain people were left around how could carlito "run the streets", he's made out to be a god in the pacino version.
Overall, great cast though, including burt young and a nice story but basically two seperate films with one common thread being its main character.
Maybe if they make another film it might tie it all in. But I doubt it since this one was straight to video. As a movie its a 3 out of 5, as a prequel its 0 out of 5.
I never read the books though so maybe this pre-quel is actually more faithful to the book but since a major film was already set up, they shoulda just followed suit.
Biggest complaint naturally is the fact that it ties in, in no way to the original with Pacino. None of the people in the pacino version are in this pre-quel. None of the people you hear being talked about from his past are in this film. Not his girlfriend, his partner, all of his friends, even the italian guys.
Also the happy fuckin ending just ruined the whole tone of the film which all but for the last 2 minutes was really good.
The other complains are asthetic, it had too modern a look to it, it was set in the 60's but it had a whole hip hop feel to it. Mario Van Peebles was the only one who fit the bill. Also the fact that this movie is seperated from the pacino version by several years but the age difference, looks wise is too dramatic between hernandez and pacino.
Also there really was no "rise to power", I wont spoil the film but if certain people were left around how could carlito "run the streets", he's made out to be a god in the pacino version.
Overall, great cast though, including burt young and a nice story but basically two seperate films with one common thread being its main character.
Maybe if they make another film it might tie it all in. But I doubt it since this one was straight to video. As a movie its a 3 out of 5, as a prequel its 0 out of 5.
I never read the books though so maybe this pre-quel is actually more faithful to the book but since a major film was already set up, they shoulda just followed suit.