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Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017)
alpha concept and presentation, beta delivery.
I wanted to love this movie, I think the trailer is one of the most amazing I've ever seen. but my two main problems with it were -
a) it took itself a bit too seriously. the world building felt a bit indulgent and immersive in an artificial, set-piece way, and there wasn't ENOUGH camp or fun. that's the element that really set Besson's earlier hit the fifth element apart back in the day. the whole plot ultimately resembled the one-dimensional, non-nuanced nature vs conglomeration plot of avatar a bit too much as well. and,
b) I think valerian and laureline were both a bit too unlikeable. their brash, overconfident natures were a bit too on the nose. the first thing valerian talks about in the whole movie was how many women he'd slept with and how they didn't mean anything to him. I mean, jesus Christ. these guys are supposed to be our heroes for the movie. laureline is just a bit too cold and apathetic throughout, conversely becoming enamoured of valerian despite his overt machismo and chauvinism, which I thought was a tricky message - keep knocking on the door and eventually she'll relent - especially considering the current scandals in Hollywood. the bit where valerian races through alpha punching through walls, that was visually great but also too destructive and reckless for an officer of the law.
there was plenty I did like about it -
1) the whole concept of alpha, which the trailer and the synopsis of the comic it came from led me to believe that the movie would be a fifth-element-esque wacky romp through, meeting all the races, getting some backstories here and there, instead of the more focused, stereotypical plot we did get
2) the opening was pretty cool, featuring some nice visual techniques, a great song and was memorable and distinctive, tying the story in with our reality,
and 3) the inter-dimensional market was a fantastic concept, which I didn't realise Besson actually came up with, so extra marks to him for that.
But overall they weren't enough to save the film for me. I would like to see an expanded adaptation of the comic in a series, I would be up for that. remains to be seen if that'd be possible now. as a film in its own right, the tone was misjudged, the characters too characterised and the world skimmed over too fast. there wasn't enough fun and wonder in this film about the city of a thousand planets
Predestination (2014)
a stylish, compelling, taut portrait of the nature of destiny
Time travel films are always going to be a tough watch, requiring meticulous crafting and supreme attention to detail from the producers and supreme concentration from the viewers. Those that play fast and loose swiftly lose credibility, and you don't get as much out of the film if you expect a ride you can switch off for. our reality, our very existence has, as far as we know, a very linear relationship with time, whatever it really is. we experience it and travel through it in a very specific and stable way, in one direction. Time travel is one of the ultimate realms of science fiction, because it is so far removed from this existence we dwell in. and yet, exploring it and playing with it, can inform us and help us learn about our own reality; it can help us understand the limits and parameters of this life we are born into.
this film explores that in some detail, through the lens of time travel, which is a key aspect of the film but through which the real meat and potatoes of the film comes into sharp focus - a study of people, of what drives them, of the trials and tribulations they face, the way they interact with people, the way they change over time, the way experiences shape them, the way they influence those around them, the way they change the world, and the way the world changes them.
the sound design is important, with dialogue clear, vital actions emphasised by excellent recordings and sound effects which carry weight, have a real punch and a kick, immersing you further; the score is excellent, full of drama and emotion but not domineering, merely reinforcing the events on screen; the dialogue is compellingly delivered by the excellent cast and the story is tightly woven and built with a slow but inexorable pace, adapted from a short story by Heinlein, perhaps best known for Starship Troopers, and beyond the macguffin of very real time travel, invented in our past no less, the mechanics of which is not explained or explored in any way, is believable and grounded, lacking the pyrotechnics some stories of this ilk resort to; the acting is impassioned and natural; finally, the cinematography, camera angles and editing is crisp and very deliberate, complementing the sound design, and the set design and props are also very deliberate and carefully prepared, arranged and lived in for the film. it all combines to produce a world you are looking in on, not a show set up for our entertainment, not an artificial environment but what feels like a real one.
all of this is to create the revelation of the denouement and all that it implies and reveals, and it is worth it. Outstanding film, which I imagine will be further enlightening on subsequent viewings considering its nature.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
justice is served... somewhat.
Let me start by saying that I am a massive fan of Man of Steel. I think they did something really interesting and memorable with the origin story, emphasising Superman's alien origins, and by giving more prominence and context to Krypton's people and fate, and the military Kryptonian antagonists, they really bring Superman to life as an entity in a universe, rather then the heavily symbolic figurehead he has often been before.
That's not to slam past Superman movies or comics of course, but, for example, making Superman's suit a Kryptonian family suit, rather then something his human family made to symbolise him as a hero, makes it feel so much more appropriate and plausible. I really loved the exchange about the S between Kal and Lois, and I think it gives added meaning and impact to the already iconic outfit.
Of course, seeing how Marvel have brought their universe to life in their expanded MCU film series, it made perfect sense for DC to bring about the burgeoning DCU that they are establishing with these films. The way The Dark Knight Rises ended doesn't leave much room for Bale's Batman, so we get yet another actor and a fresh continuity. I think we're all desensitised to the rampant rebooting that Hollywood has embraced now anyway. Nevertheless, I was apprehensive about Ben Affleck as Batman; he is a vastly talented actor but has a chequered history of roles, and it didn't seem like he could exude the intelligence, intensity, and strength that defines Batman. I was wrong about this; I think Affleck was a terrific Batman, and I look forward to more from him. But on with the rest of the film, I've indulged in enough preamble -
I think dawn of justice doesn't really deserve the hate it gets, but something is missing... a bit of fun and energy. This is perhaps necessary and intended to deliver the tone of the plot; Snyder's films tend to have this kind of sombre reverence; the problem is, this film could surely have benefited from a little more levity and fun.
I don't mean Clooney-Batman fun, of course, but while Affleck's Batman was a compelling, engaging character, he did lack the sass of Bale's, if not the charisma which he had in abundance. Superman, meanwhile, has a lot on his mind following the devastation of Metropolis and the revelation that he is the last of his race after being forced to kill General Zod, but he has also just liberated his new home-world from that grievous threat, found acceptance of his true self on this world - tempered, of course, by the fear of his power that drives the plot of this film, but still, widespread acceptance and even worship of him nevertheless abounds, and is fairly deserved as well, in light of his defence of earth and his respect of his surrogate race in spite of his immense power in comparison to them - and he has a relationship with Lois and a job at the Daily Planet as well. He should be full of vigour, but instead, he is dampened into brooding depression by the cascading contrivances of this film's plot.
it seemed like they tried to inject that fun into the show with eisenberg's luthor, but he just didn't deliver in my opinion. he had a quizzical impishness about him, as he was cast as the bright young entrepreneurial caricature of the modern world's elite trailblazer, but he just coasts on that left-field eisenbergness and doesn't really assume the mantle of a proper Luthor, someone with ambition, confidence and buckets of menace.
It's not his age, he just doesn't fit with the preconception of Luthor, and while that's not necessarily a bad thing, his quirks just come off as odd, rather then memorable and entertaining. Heath Ledger's Joker was a one-of-a-kind performance, but there was a villain with true levity to go with his villainy. His own jaunty aspects complemented and reinforced his actions.
On the plus side, we get a compelling cameo by Wonder Woman, and briefer cameos by other Justice League members, offering hope for the upcoming films - aquaman's often a figure of fun but he seems like a hell of a character here, for example.
As for Doomsday, the fight between him and the heroes is a bit odd, as Wonder Woman and Superman seem as untouchable as he does, while Batman tries to help while avoiding being completely obliterated, before Superman and Doomsday seemingly finish each other. Thus, we get a pretty Snydery ending of gritty moroseness, with the hint at Superman's rise from the grave to bookend it after Luthor's ding ding warning, which just felt uncomfortable, seeming so forcedly kooky.
pros - the reaction of the world to Superman. debate, fear and differing attempts by people to hold him to account for his abilities, or just to take him down; I thought it was also interesting to see him try his best to respect the humans in these attempts, like when he enters congress and gently opens the wooden gate to his stand, and how his initial warning to Batman came off as arrogant.
cons - Their minuscule attempts at humour. Superman and Batman's exchange regarding Wonder woman - nothing wrong with it, but it was a tiny island in a sea of overt seriousness.
kryptonite: there was no mention or appearance of the iconic substance in Man of Steel. MoS attempted to create a new status-quo for the Superman story, and while Kryptonian material and environment did affect its people, it wasn't glowing green.
I think this film has many flaws, but also has it's own qualities, and works as a companion piece in the DCU that's being built. I hope this review adequately explains that and helps you to enjoy the film anew.
Virus (1999)
'what do you want from us?' ... 'spare parts'
This is one of those typical 90s action flicks with a bunch of get-up-and-go characters with a bad apple or two mixed in with them, a simple premise that isolates them and the unforeseen extra-terrestrial threat for the course of the movie, and a particular angle which gives the movie a unique theme. It's not the most intelligent movie you'll see, but all things considered, the premise of an electricity based ET taking over a Russian scientific vessel which a salvage crew have to contend with, survive and ultimately prevent from reaching wider civilisation is pretty nicely realised I thought. For the most part the acting is convincing, particularly from Baldwin, J.L. Curtis, C. Curtis, Augustus and Pacula, with only Sutherland seeming a little off-key at times in my opinion, as the grizzled, negative old sea captain. But for the most part I thought the actors and actresses contributed to the fun with some committed acting. The CGI was visibly distinguishable, but not game-breaking; it was convincing enough, with some good make-up work and monster design as well as mood-setting, character-laden sets and locations.
I really liked the concept of the alien life form itself; it comes from a spaceship that's seemingly composed of stable plasma, which passes close by earth and through a Russian spacecraft, transmitting a passenger through to the ship on the water. what it intends to do with humans, who it identifies as a virus itself, is to overcome them, and then use them as spare parts to establish physical, useful forms with which it can set up shop on our planet and do whatever it wants to do.
One thing that did stand out as I was watching the film was just how many references the film seemingly borrowed from, as though the film itself were behaving like the alien in it, borrowing aspects from other films and welding them together haphazardly to establish a functional form of its own. Now, don't get me wrong! it's not necessarily a bad thing; it's not downright plagiarism in this case, instead, perhaps intentionally or perhaps unintentionally, it actually adds a level of exploration and/or parody of the science fiction medium to the film; allow me to elaborate with examples. I've seen many mentions of other films and stories this film reminded people of, and here are several examples I noticed myself; first of all, there are many parallels with The Abyss - naval setting, crew member who goes mad and turns on the others for whatever reason, the additional threat of a hurricane, and even the appearance of the spaceship of the aliens, that ephemeral pinkish hue; Sphere, where the crew communicate with the alien entity through textual conversations on a computer, just like in Virus; The Andromeda Strain, which is a story about an alien virus coming to Earth and wreaking havoc; Terminator and perhaps also Robocop, clearly alluded to and used as inspiration for the half machine half human cyborgs the alien builds; John Carpenter's The Thing, which also featured an alien which liked to assimilate humans into itself, as well as Richie's paranoia near the end about not trusting Foster and Steve about whether they were still themselves or whether they were modified by and under the influence of the alien; and finally, most of all, The Matrix.
This film contains many startling similarities with and aspects of The Matrix, which was released in the same year as Virus, unlike all the other films I've pointed out which were released before 1999. It is difficult to say whether they were aware of the similarities, perhaps aware of the development of the matrix, or whether this was a pure coincidence, but let me list those similarities; a hive mind of an electrical, ephemeral nature, who wishes to overpower and, crucially, Control the human race and use human bodies for its own purposes; a sentience which acquires knowledge and exists, 'lives', electronically, through computers and signals and transmissions; a rapidly evolving, technologically adept and extremely intelligent intelligence who develops machines to act in its interests in the physical world; and how about the look and design of the machines? those clustered red 'eyes', recognise them from anywhere? how about the sentinels of the matrix?
So, what we ended up with was a patchwork of themes, filming styles, plot devices and references, which come together to create an overall entertaining, committedly acted story about a particularly macabre, calculating, and very alien, extra-terrestrial being, who interrupts a slapdash, mismatched crew of seamen, a few grizzled malcontents and the rest gung-ho young working folk, who think they've stumbled upon the salvage of their lives, but are sorely mistaken, as well as the original Russian crew of the ship, and the spacecraft, which it overwhelmed, used and slaughtered, of course, and must overcome many obstacles, a few self-inflicted, to prevent this dangerous entity from finding a way to undo its isolation and snowball in power and overcome the whole world potentially. they find this predicament in the eye of the storm and must go through the storm to prevail, in more ways then one.
Perhaps I shouldn't write a synopsis for anything ever again, heh. Sorry about that. But this is nonetheless something visceral, entertaining, and, if you see it from a particular angle, a rather smart poke at the fourth wall, a science fiction story which is built from parts of many others, the result of which could be more then the sum of its parts, or less, depending on what you're looking to get out of it - smart, allegorical science fiction what-if? brainless horror-SF caper? 90s action movie? personally, I just took it for what it was, and was left intrigued and impressed. it's no classic, but it's worth seeking out. 6/10.
Warm Bodies (2013)
not perfect... but you can still warm to it;
I went to see this with a lady friend of mine, in a really intimate screen with only 40 odd seats, and we and everyone else in the theatre had a good laugh at what is essentially a comedy, with a good sense of parody and amusement; it did have a dramatic element to it too, which is where it seemed to come off the rails, a little, for me.
The first 15 minutes, where R shuffles around the airport and introduces us to his world with his mentally delivered narration are brilliant, and left me terribly enthused about how it would unfold; his best friend at the bar, and the revelation that they could actually squeeze out a word or two, as well as the bonies, were intriguing and gave the zombie phenomenon in this story an identity and a logic which engaged me; I enjoyed the equal portions of comedy and brutality in the scene where he meets and takes Julie, too - not to mention that annoying intern from season 9 of Scrubs getting killed and his brain eaten by our main man/zombie - and settled back to enjoy the rest of the film. With it being a comedy they could have chosen a goofier route, but gratifyingly tried to retain a sense of an actual zombie apocalypse, producing comedy that shined through the otherwise bleak horror of it, which enhanced the comedy as far as I'm concerned. I also particularly loved the plot point that eating brains allowed the zombies to watch the memories of their victim; that was interesting and well presented in the film.
Then, it becomes apparent that R is starting to reanimate, miraculously... and then his best friend and other non-bony zombies at the airport also start showing signs of reviving, tangibly regaining a pulse and whatnot, seemingly triggered by R and Julie's burgeoning relationship and memories of a normal life and relationships garnered from posters at the airport... hmm.
The first Pokemon movie had the same plot point. Ash gets turned to stone when Mew and Mewtwo face off, but then Pikachu and all the pokemon and their clones who Mewtwo created start crying and basically their emotions, i.e. their tears bring Ash back to life. Just saying.
I'm not writing this movie off, in spite of that. For one thing, it has plenty of hilarious lines, particularly Hoult's narration, American accent an' all, and even when it does get a little goofy and girly with Julie and her friend applying make-up, there's an interesting aspect that makes that worthwhile;
Allow me to explain. In Twelfth Night, the character Viola dresses up as a man, disguising herself to fit in and work, which made for an interesting performance because female parts in plays were usually played by young, possibly androgynous men in Shakespeare's day - therefore, if you went to see Twelfth Night at the Globe or wherever back then, you'd have watched a man playing Viola, a woman pretending to be a man. Interesting, right! the make-up thing is a nod to that, i think, because Hoult wears zombie make-up for his role as a zombie in the film, who is then given make-up in the story by the girls to in turn look like a human.
This reference to Shakespeare is of course pertinent because R and Julie have obvious parallels with Romeo and Juliet, not least the balcony scene which precedes the make-up scene, Julie's dad played by Malkovich not accepting the relationship - at first, anyway - and of course the overriding sentiment that love can break down all barriers.
In addition to this particularly 'romantic' edge, there were also plenty of moments where the pedant in me strained against certain plot points and moments in the film, such as where R managed to successfully break into the human stronghold and even find Julie's house without detection, or Julie not reacting with more anger or despair when R eventually admitted he was the one who killed her Scrubs boyfriend, or even when the bonies don't jump after R and Julie at the end, and other little things like that, but ultimately, it wasn't enough to spoil the film, which was pretty funny throughout and also interesting enough to be a worthwhile experience. it embodied the symbiosis between a zombie apocalypse and a romantic comedy as well as it could and the body of work was generally well made. Depending on who you are, you might not be especially enamoured with some aspects of the film but I did warm to it and we all had a laugh and it helped make my evening with Ash a lovely one so I'll give this one a 7/10!
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
hey... fantastic man, psychedelic...
I first saw this in the cinema back when it was released with a couple of flatmates at uni who were massive HHGTTG fans, and i loved it enough to get the DVD which I watched again recently, and am now getting stuck into the radio play programme dramatisation thingy which started it all off and which I got from Audible and am thoroughly and utterly enjoying; the fun, memorable voice acting, the sound effects and music with an attention to detail that plunges you into the now famous story, which Douglas practically made up as he went along apparently... I can't get enough of it and I can see why it charmed so many people. I've seen the TV series a few years ago, which is full of that charm, a classic low-budget big ideas approach in a similar vein to Red Dwarf, and it was was a good adaptation, and my friend lent me the novel a while before that but I still haven't got around to reading it. I want to now, though.
The film was my first experience of the HHGTTG story though, and I absolutely loved it, indeed it's one of my all-time favourite films. Perhaps I'm not as torn about the film as a lot of the fanbase who grew up with the story seem to be because this was indeed the first incarnation of the story which I saw/read/heard?
Well, for me this film works. I'm very fond of and impressed by the considerable cast - Freeman, Rockwell, Deschanel whose role as Trillian made a big impression on me, Nighy, Mos Def, Malkovich, Stephen Fry, Helen Mirren, Alan Rickman and Warwick Davis, Bill Bailey, they all put their hearts into their roles however big or small, acted or voice-acted and enhanced the film, as did everyone else in it;
The CGI was what CGI should be - something that makes you gasp, that brings fantastical things to life, rather then something distractingly obviously fake; take the Vogons demolishing Earth, or Slartibartfast and Dent emerging into the planet-building factory floor for example. the Vogons themselves and the sets and props were also pretty awe-inspiring in the way they brought the places and the people in it to life and immersive and engaging too and gave the universe in the story character and substance which made the film infinitely more enjoyable for me - I loved the big, slouched Deepthought, the pristine, technologically advanced starship Heart of Gold, the odd combination of swampy landscape and church/palace on Vitvodle 6 and so on.
Also, some of the characters had an enduring impression; for example, although I love the TV series, I don't really like Zaphod in it, I don't know why, it just seemed like his actor wasn't entirely comfortable in the overacted, almost cabaret role. On the other hand, for me Sam Rockwell's Zaphod is one of the single funniest characters in any film i've ever seen, every single line, smug face, posture, little dance, faux pas etc. of his is priceless, the cocktail of his sheer brevity and idiocy hilarious, and movie Marvin is great too, although TV Marvin was truly marvellous himself, to be fair; like I said before though, Zooey's Trillian was enchanting even if she did get a bit overly cute at times, and Mos Def's Ford was a masterstroke, played to perfection; he just captured this sense of an intrepid blagger who absent mindedly ploughed on in his quest to document the galaxy for his book and who kept forgetting his mate Dent's ignorance of the bigger, crazier picture unfurling before his eyes and constantly tries to keep clueing him in. Meanwhile, Freeman played a very Freeman-esque Dent, which I think was also a very good idea. I loved little moments like him banging his head on the way down the stairs at the beginning which references the computer game, and the stereotypical old polite Britishness of a lot of his reactions, he was great.
So all in all, I really loved this movie, with the so long and thanks for all the fish song, the awesomely animated and welcomingly narrated HHGTTG entries, the rich, vibrant and visceral way in which the universe of the story was brought to life on the big screen... it's one of those movies that doesn't get old, and to be honest I'm a little sad that no sequels were made, although many of the cast are now at the top of their game and if they could be brought back together in the restaurant at the end of the universe... nevertheless we'll always have this marvellous vision, those of us who loved it anyway! Yes, it adds parts like Humma Kavula, the detour to his planet and the POV gun, it introduces the Trillian Dent Beeblebrox plot and it changes the end of the Magrathea ultimate answer ultimate question etc. plot but what they changed worked for me, was funny and memorable and gave this film its own at least slightly distinctive identity in the pantheon of different HHGTTG stories told in the various mediums available to us. Superb. I undoubtedly, unequivocally, unabashedly give this 10/10. So long, and thanks for reading!
Os 3 (2011)
a parody with substance and style
Scottish comedian Billy Connolly once described the act of watching Big Brother as 'sitting in a house watching people sitting in a house' with great incredulity, and this film adds a third layer - multitudes of people in the film themselves watch people sitting in a house, and i feel it's a wonderfully sharp and relevant indictment, portrait, celebration etc. of the age of reality TV, of the internet, of the positively voyeuristic, obsessive interconnectivity of this burgeoning cultural era.
3 people who've just arrived in the city, starting a course at university, meet at a party and decide to use the toilet at the same time because they're all dying to go, and the success of that act of cooperation inspires them to move in together the next day and a firm bond between the trio is established; it's also challenged by the complexities of passion, lust, friendship and love, the 4 watchwords described at the beginning;
at the end of their 4 year course, their idea - to host a Big Brother show filled with brands which can then be purchased by viewers online - is seized upon by an alumni who offers to pay them to be the subjects of their own show, which they agree to. i personally think it's a stupid idea, but then i've always despised reality TV; it starts slowly, but when they're told the plug is to be pulled and they get wasted and appear to initiate a love triangle, ratings and product sales explode and various contrivances and characters and plot twists in the house and the film itself unfold.
i found these events that unfold to be fascinating and subtly very clever because we're trying to work out if the characters are being genuine or playing to the cameras, and all the while we're watching a film in which characters are performing this plot - i think it's basically a wonderful parody of dramatisation and acting itself, and it strikes the perfect chord both in the performances and the denouement.
all in all, i thought it was an enjoyable, intriguing and satisfying portrayal of the complexity of human relationships, communication and connections, the nature of the curiosity and intrigue that drives the internet age and the nature of acting itself into the bargain, all in a crisply filmed, distinctly Brazilian package! i give we 3 9/10 with a cherry on top.
Predators (2010)
i'm gonna have me some fun tonight! (again)
After the damaging, degrading farce of Alien vs Predator and the illogically green-lit and unfortunately executed AvP: Requiem, this was something of a return to form for an iconic, groundbreaking and undoubtedly beleaguered SF institution, to my mind! it was created with a relatively small budget and it did seek to pay homage to and mimic the original Predator film a lot, but after the aforementioned train-wrecks which wasted the potential of the cross-over, this was a marked improvement and for me a welcome addition to the predator series;
the film is peppered with signature lines from Predator, as well as abundant references to moments in it, the Alien films, and even references to Scarface - 'say goodbye to your little friend' and Apocalypse Now - Fishburne's character humming 'The Ride of the Valkyries', which was a wonderful moment for me, as it transcended a simple reference, also being an implication that perhaps he was playing the same soldier he played in AN - indeed, that soldier would fit the predators' criteria as he gunned down a bunch of unarmed Vietnamese fishers in Coppola's classic.
some might accuse the film of being too much of a homage and not enough its own movie, but for me it instead displayed an attentive reverence for those things which made Predator so intense and simultaneously so much fun in the first place, and by repeating certain scenes in different contexts, with roles reversed etc. it represented a refreshing return to the kind of film the original was, with a novel stratum the characters find themselves in; indeed Predator 2 sought to do this, providing an alternative urban setting, and AvP: R also also respected its source material, elementary, essential plot flaws fatally undermining that project.
one of the things which made the original so effective, which was emulated successfully, was the avoidance of an outside perspective; we are immediately plunged into the grave situation our characters find themselves in, and discover the permutations of that situation with them; of course, as viewers and, in most cases, existing fans, we already know largely what to expect, and given the characters' skills as predators themselves, the pace at which they learn about their predicament is impressively fast and furious.
they're all killers, mercenaries, soldiers, guerrilla fighters, gangsters, convicts and psychopaths; this is why the predators picked them and beyond the obvious parallel which underpins the entire plot it's also interesting to have a group of characters who are essentially difficult to root for; and yet, i was sad when the RUF fighter died at the predator camp, when Russian Mac went back for the good doctor and got sliced and diced for his trouble, and when the Yakuza and the predator felled each other, in spite of who these people were.
This was down to immersive, high quality acting - Brody was a pleasant surprise, even after that slightly silly fight with the predator at the camp; the Yakuza was stone-cold, the convict was a convict, Danny Trejo was Danny Trejo... that's no bad thing guys! I thought it was pretty funny, which leads me to yet another thing i liked about this film - it had a sense of humour; Fishburne's cameo was memorable, as he pops up halfway through the film in full, activated predator garb, and he's hilarious and completely convincing as a careful survivor who's lost it after years alone, in spite of his slightly portly appearance; his character was a masterstroke that practically made this film for me.
although the moon they see in the sky next to this game reserve planetoid is far too close realistically, the fact it's a game reserve is still an amazing idea; the predators seed a world with flora and fauna from various other worlds they visit, hand-picking specific, dangerous beings from them and dropping them onto this one, engaging them in the hunt, learning from their illustrious prey; additionally, there are different clans of predator, who war with each other as well; this is a tantalising world which could be explored and developed in a huge number of ways, with this film only showing the tip of the iceberg;
i found the fight between the captive predator with the familiar mask and face and the larger predator who ran the camp to be a little disappointing; OK, the familiar 'dog' predator had been restrained, probably malnourished and comparatively exhausted, as well as being smaller then the 'wolf'; the final fight between Wolf and Royce wasn't as memorable as one might have hoped as well; but the ending with Royce and Isabella's observation and declaration was an enticing invitation to continue the safari, and if they do make more movies, I hope the same creative team return, along with the cast, if they choose to follow Royce and Isabella further, and they are given more resources to further explore the possibilities offered by this predator world.
There was the danger that this could retread old ground too closely - I maintain that it has merely given value to its legacy; it could have made a mess of a great idea, instead providing an intriguing glimpse into its possibilities, it could have hammered further nails into a franchise rocked by the insipid AvP films, instead potentially reviving it by going back to what it did best in the first place, and it could have undermined itself with a set of half-hearted and/or misinterpreting performances, but we were treated to a darkly comic, intensely convincing, thoroughly human set of predators, who made the hunt a memorable one. But here, among the monsters, I'm normal. I like it here. I wanna stay. "There is no hunting like the hunting of a man. And those who've hunted armed men long enough, and like it, never really care for anything else thereafter." I give Predators 9/10!
Chatroom (2010)
An interesting portrayal of the net; the mask it provides and what it trawls
The main thing this film does to play with the the role of a chatroom is of course to play out the online conversation in a kind of etch a sketch hotel that the users decorate at will to reflect their personalities and so forth; this is done well, I thought. it filled in the removal of personal contact and body language, for the viewer's sake, and also provided an insight into the tone of each user's thoughts as they got to know each other and then William's plot unfolded. I thought the content and delivery of the dialogue of the online conversations as acted out in the hotel were actually quite reminiscent of the kind of language used in chatrooms, at least from my own experience;
The film struck a chord with me because i spent a few years on chatrooms myself as a teenager; I was lucky, in that I avoided any real contact with weird people, or indeed malevolent entities such as William, and eventually met quite a few of the people i got to know well in real life, and struck up some great friendships, many of which continue to this day. however, i only met and talked to people in chatrooms because i had low self-esteem and was depressed and unsure of myself, the anonymity and control provided by a chatroom appealing to me more then less removed and more traditional forms of socialising; i'm sure a lot of people who use chatrooms have such issues and plenty more besides, which were represented by the film's characters;
William and Jim were extreme examples, and the fraught, hysterical plot of William's to drive Jim to suicide culminating in that chase through Camden market seemed a little over the top to me. i did appreciate the way that each character's own personal plot and life was almost entirely mutually exclusive to the central plot of their friendship and interaction in the Chelsea teens room, Eva's room etc. a person's online persona, particularly in a chatroom, is a contrived and carefully constructed thing, and it's a very distanced, protective form of interaction, however personal you may get, as the characters did in the film, to devastating effect. I thought the film's disjointed pace and seemingly inconsequential progression, in the first half at least, was a good portrayal of that compartmentalisation of online chat and personal life.
in addition to the bedrock of the main plot that emerges, the tragic lonely depressive characters who self-harm and/or seek solace online, meeting with people who display a variety of different responses from supportive to manipulative and cruel, we're also presented with a cross-section of sexual deviance, from the tolerable and acceptable - a hallway Eva walks through to meet William which is filled with people indulging in fetish, and mo talking to that older lady while other people talk dirty in neighbouring rooms - to the disgusting and unacceptable - mo's paedophilic interest in his mate's 11 year old sister, and the pervert whose entry to Chelsea teens prompts William to set up a password.
along with the girl who Jim meets early on and from whom he runs away, using the above, the film seeks to establish the consensus that the world of chatrooms is a forum for the disaffected, deviant and personality-disordered to convene, and of course provides a warning about the dangers of such conference by presenting a group of characters so misguided and/or malevolent that their initially beneficial, well-intended, supportive online friendship leads to a life-or-death situation, which yields one casualty, fortunately not the painfully depressive Jim.
all in all, i was impressed by this film, which i consider a worthy, well-made, convincingly acted portrait of the world of chatrooms, the freedoms, connections, pitfalls and traps that can result from such interactions and friendships, and ultimately, the value of real social structure, especially for those who aren't entirely comfortable with it and are driven to seek less direct ways of establishing it. i give the film 8/10
Going the Distance (2010)
it went the distance; a pleasant surprise
i went to see this yesterday with a friend, with the intention of enjoying 2 hours of cinema and then meeting up with more people and having an evening out; we were originally going to see 'the last exorcism' but went for this because of the lighter subject matter, although it was pertinent; i wasn't expecting much, but, perhaps because of this, i was hugely, pleasantly surprised. this is a warm, natural, consistently funny and highly enjoyable flick, and it set the scene for a great evening. no, i didn't meet someone like Garrett did, but from that outset, it became apparent that this wasn't the stereotypical romantic comedy that i'd assumed it would be;
the dialogue and the humour is fresh, flowing and crucially, vitally vital, natural and realistic; this film reminded me a lot of 'the 40 year old virgin'; low on stupid set pieces which have their purpose but which a majority of comedies and 'rom-coms' become a procession of, and instead rich with more plausible, realistic, likable characters, plots and humour. the banter was quite lad-dish at times, sex talk, making fun of each other, silly discussions, weird stuff, the open door policy, the moustaches etc. it reminded me again of the aforementioned '40 year old virgin' and Smodcast and that kind of think; i'm a guy and i loved that, and judging by the laughter in the audience, it seemed to go down well with everyone else too, and there seems to have been a welcome shift towards that more open, more sarcastic, buddy kind of having a laugh, among the more traditional comedy types that are present here also. those worked well too; there was the awkward comedy when Erin introduces Garrett to her new friends at the gig and they don't find him funny and the dinner at Erin's sister's house, and there are the goofy set piece tanning and Erin and Garrett caught in the act at her sister's house scenes but they are all quite funny and blend together smoothly and expertly with the rest of the film; i can't think of any scene or comedy in this film which is at all out of place.
as for the realism that i'm harping on about, it was so satisfying, for example, to see Garrett and Erin both exposed to situations where they could have cheated, and one even thinks that Garrett did for a moment when the girl from his label runs to the bathroom as Erin comes in after that fraught evening they'd had, and yet it's his hilarious roommate who'd brought her back, as is swiftly revealed, and neither did, because realistically, i don't think the majority of people jump into bed with someone else the moment a relationship hits a speed bump. it's equally gratifying when Garrett runs into the airport at the end of the 6 weeks, but instead of asking her to stay, simply professes the depth of his feelings and instead of splitting they cement the relationship as a long distance gig for the time being, and when Garrett asks Erin to move to New York at the end, but then tells her to take the job in San Fransisco (i think) and they break up near the end; it's so gratifying and genuine, and it makes the characters far more likable as a result.
i gave this top marks here because it was such a surprisingly funny movie and a good time; i hope it does well because it's a real diamond in the rough. i can only name one actress from my knowledge of movies, Drew Barrymore, although i recognised others by face, but they all do a great job; Erin's sister is probably the most typically romantic comedy character, but even she is a welcome and likable lady, neurotically obsessed with hygiene and scarred by the sight of the hand-print, but a good sister to Erin; the band is given a good dose of plugging too, but who cares? i saw 'kick ass' a while back with some friends and had a great time at the cinema, and i think of that as a cinema film, and i'd say this is one too; if you're after a nice evening at the cinema with your friends - or with your lover - then i'd recommend this film. 10/10!
The Animatrix: Beyond (2003)
she's at the old haunted house. hey look! there's a rainbow over there again!
i'm quite fond of the nine Animatrix, superbly made companion pieces, interesting stories that surround and supplement the matrix world established by the movies, and along with both parts of the Second Renaissance this is certainly my favourite; i prefer it even to that aforementioned Second Ren origin story. this is despite the fact that this tells perhaps the least significant story of the nine; two others tell stories directly linked to Reloaded, and the other four are examinations of escape from the matrix, converting machines to the human cause, choosing between the matrix and the war in the real world and a detective getting caught up in a battle between Trinity and agents.
the story of this title is thin, flighty and seemingly diversionary like a few of the others; it is a neo-fantastical tale of a girl whose cat goes AWOL at feeding time and who goes searching for it; a couple of capricious kids take her to a haunted house where all manner of spectacular, unnatural and illogical wonders take place, such as rain from the sunny sky, floating objects, displaced shadows, weird fluctuations inside the building, doors to voids which contain echos of your thoughts etc.
it's a dilapidated ruin but the kids make games of and delight in the impossible twists in the laws of physics in the place and play. the girl joins them when she finds her cat. however, agents have identified the place and set out to fix the bugs and reconfigure the glitches. as they get near rats swarm the previously calm building and then the agents break in and kick the kids out. the next day they and the girl return but the magic is gone.
this title is a sea of tranquillity and calm beauty amidst all the style, conflict, struggle, philosophy and bleak post-apocalyptic ruin of the matrix universe, and the tone of the anime and little hints along the way reveal the true purpose and observation of the story. to elaborate, the story begins with a sped up montage of a city centre road crossing and a busy office. monotonous, churning, busy, reliable and ordered. then, a green computer screen moves over to the haunted house. it's glitches and bugs and pathways and malfunctioning routines in this old house and surrounding gardens but the kids who have found it play with and make games out of them.
this is the distinction between the machines and people; where the former see errors, the latter see the changes in reality there and revel in them, they see them as fun, beauty and wonder. the house even seems to react to that, with bright oceans of light and an ability the kids find to make the rules of gravity and time and so forth up as they go along and manipulate them in their harmless, innocent games, enjoying the carefree abandon in the impossible playground. the rats spew out, seemingly in reaction to the approaching agents who arrive as they do.
after the house is built over and glitches and bugs fixed, the kids return but the magic is gone and everything behaves normally. disgruntled, they saunter away, while the girl picks the formerly floating can up and drops it. it rolls over to the house, and the girl studies blood dripping from her hand. she was touched by the random magic and craves more, and an entrancing slowed drop of blood drips to the ground. the title ends with another look at the inner city crossing, as order has been again restored. but for a brief window, there was magic in the world, and the people rejoiced in it.
the delightful tranquil atmosphere of the short is helped by the animation. it's suburban Japan with shrubs and gates and houses everywhere and every scene is over-arched by a bright sunny day, things and backgrounds shimmering and glowing over their crisp outlines in the great weather. Studio 4°C did a good job with their Animatrix projects but this is probably their nicest effort. the music is evocative and perfect for the piece, haunting, dreamy, ambient and rhythmic. director Koji Morimoto and the considerable cast and crew do a great job of taking a simply story and making something beautiful and poignant out of it.
Beyond is an observation on beauty and a calming panorama of creativity in the face of monotony and it celebrates the fun that can be squeezed out of even a system of control. the flower is stamped on but it makes its mark. it is a wonderful piece of animation that goes beyond its insignificant little story in the grand scheme of the franchise and presents a touching beauty in the eye of its beholders that is witnessed and interacted with to gorgeous effect even among authoritarian agents and the dreamworld of the matrix.
The Animatrix: Matrixulated (2003)
style and substance dance but struggle to couple on the outskirts of the matrix world
Matriculated is a decent effort that attempts a lot and only partially pulls it off, but contains intriguing elements and discussion; it features a lady on an island in the real world who waits by a fire by the sea, attracting the attention of 2 'runner' machines. a chase through a cyberpunk post-apocalyptic vision of the wasteland of the machines' world leads the runners to a setup where a few tests lie in wait. both are taken down but the smarter one takes a human friendly machine - their lights are colour coded accordingly, the familiar red for the runners, green for the friendly robot - down before the lady re-emerges with an energy gun from the films to take it out. a short conversation with a scientist ensues regarding the nature of reality and subjective perception and the conversion of machines to friendliness and helpfulness to humans as opposed to simply reprogramming their AI as necessary, and then all but the scientist are plugged into a simulation along with the smart machine which has been repaired.
a small monkey lives with them and is also plugged in, which suggests some animals survive, or are used as batteries by the machines too; it doesn't seem to serve any other purpose but that's nothing compared to the simulation they're jacked into. director Peter Chung, of Aeon Flux fame, presents to us a severely drug induced psychedelic montage of colourful and bizarre images and interactions that make no real sense other then to, eventually, lead to the machine being stripped of its calculating logic and malignant desires toward humans and then saved from them in an act of solidarity later on, which persuades it to become friendly toward humans. i imagine it's great fun to watch if you're on drugs. sober as a judge it's an interesting visual journey but also, i feel, an unnecessarily abstract one.
anyway as we see earlier one of the runners - presumably the smarter one - dropped a number 2 while chasing the girl into the human compound and that little number was in fact a warning beacon, which attracts a bunch of sentinels and other robots. just as the smart runner is converted into a friendly, those reinforcements arrive and the compound is attacked. the other friendly robots are activated and the malicious and beneficial machines and humans fight it out; basically they all die or get destroyed. one machine remains, which carries the girl away after hurting her as she pleaded with the newly converted runner to help her, having been the final straw that broke the runner's anti-human desire. it snaps out of it and attacks the machine, having watched the rest of the battle unfolding previously. it then plugs itself and the girl back into the simulation.
the girl seems terrified when it sees the runner's residual self image, and fades away. it isn't clear if she died then, thought it was the matrix, thought the machine was trying to hurt her or what, but it's very a King Kong moment. the runner then waits by the fire by the sea. it's a tragic conclusion that did inspire sympathy for the runner in me, as well as for the girl and the scientist and the other humans on the island; they were simply trying to survive, and in addition reason with and make friends with machines, first steps in a possible plan for peace with the machine collective. it all ends in tragedy and death and the latest converted machine, having been shown human compassion and made friendly, has been left alone after the attack killed the humans and the friendly machines, and the little monkey. even the unfriendly machines were destroyed, leaving this lone runner yearning for purpose. bleak, full of discussion and in-keeping with the atmosphere of the films and the other Animatrix titles.
a few other interesting aspects are the monkey's presence, suggesting other animal life having survived in some capacity at least - i've always entertained hopes that there were perhaps a few places on the matrix Earth of the future untouched by operation dark storm or by the machines, havens where flora and fauna still thrived and survived, a small flame of hope kindled slightly by Smith's contempt for man in his interrogation of Morpheus in the first film highlighted by his unfavourable comparison of man with other animals - the anti-matrix that the people use on the runner to convert it, taking the concept of the matrix simulation and turning it on its head by using it to placate a machine rather then pull the wool over the eyes of an enslaved human, promoting discussion on the rather blurred line between the two and how it seems to come down to intention and result, and finally the presence of a compound of humans on the surface, suggesting Zion isn't the only stronghold of people left, even though this particular compound is wiped out.
it's the final Animatrix on the DVD of the nine in the Ultimate Matrix Collection and it is a quite bleak and tragic conclusion to series, that all the same contains philosophy and dialogue and ideas that promote hope and positive development. it ventures into realms of abstraction and vivid, visceral imagery that seems somewhat excessive and pointless at times as well as that seemingly careless luring of the runners into the compound - one runner calling for reinforcements which of course leads to their downfall - but the style and the substance are there, they just don't seem to overlap much. still, it's a worthy piece in the matrix universe and well worth a watch.
The Animatrix: World Record (2003)
this one doesn't quite break 9.8
this Animatrix features an athlete called Dan Davies who is trying to break a world record time in a race, even though he seems to have already qualified in a previous heat for some other race - this is not made clear, not that much is in this anime - a fact which makes his coach opposed to his taking part in this one, which he expresses to Dan in a ridiculously animated way, like a dancer in a rap video. Dan decides to race anyway, after further conversations with his dad which reveal he had a previous doping scandal and with a reporter lady during which he displays a dismissive arrogance which makes him unsympathetic. he runs the race, and his thigh muscle packs in but he keeps going, pushing himself to his limit. the narration informs us at the beginning that only the most exceptional of people become aware of the matrix but occasionally some do through different means, and three agents observe him during the race, springing into action when he freezes, the world goes pale green and his signal as the agents inform us becomes unstable.
he actually wakes up inside his pod before the machines subdue him again, and back in the matrix he collapses over the line, breaking a world record and ending up later in a wheelchair. a nurse talks to him about homemade cherry pie while agents observe him but he gets up in defiance, craving freedom. he collapses again, having glimpsed the veil and peeked beyond its facade. it's also interesting that the reporter mentions that he broke 9.8 in the qualifying heat; on Earth, that figure is terminal velocity, and the suggestion may be that he, having broken a figure that is in the context of terminal velocity a mathematical constant, is breaking rules, breaking preexisting laws. the agents are watching him because he is trying to break them again, which is indeed the point, as having woken up from the matrix briefly, he is later consumed by an unconfined desire for freedom, a single-minded pursuit of rebellion. defying his physically crippled form and trying to stand whispering freedom while his nurse discusses domestic joys expresses this nicely too.
it's a decent story animated solidly and variously by Mad House, the guys who did the Animatrix Program and the Final Fantasy 7 anime Last Order, but like them it falls flat for a few reasons, but is also interesting and well made, and some of the reasons for that are not mutually exclusive to those for its negative aspects. for example, the protagonist is entirely unlikeable, which is a positive and a negative facet. he wants to race for no good reason other then self-gratification and behaves with a distinct air of arrogance towards those around him. his superiority complex makes it difficult to enjoy his story and yet it's also a welcome challenge for the viewer in a franchise of otherwise noble or likable protagonists.
Commander Lock plays this role in Reloaded and Revolutions, but his reasons for obtuse and pragmatic arrogance are better then Dan's, more grounded in reason and reality, and his stunned silence when Morpheus' belief in Neo is finally vindicated at the end of Revolutions is the reason for his arrogance played out to its conclusion. in this short, the reasons are less clear but they are welcome as Dan's own poor humility and stunted, restrained craving for freedom shows the range of personalities people can adopt, and that they aren't necessarily always positive.
another reason for this being an interesting Animatrix is what appears to be a different, perhaps earlier version of the matrix. i think this to be the case because the numbers that appear while Dan is waking up from it are red, and more conclusively because the agents look different to their normal suited selves. this is reinforced by the fact that other Animatrix stories contain the familiar suited agents, suggesting this could be a different matrix we're watching.
World Record won't set or break any records or major impressions in anime or the matrix franchise or storytelling in general; more 6 out of 10 then 9.8. it's still a competent, well made, visually interesting effort which matrix fans should enjoy all the same.
The Animatrix: Program (2003)
that was too easy! what's your problem? where's your concentration?
maybe you regret making an Animatrix that doesn't offer anything original. this is certainly watchable, visually spectacular and crisply animated, by Mad House, prolific anime animators whose work and style i recognise from the continuity-destroying-but-pretty Final Fantasy 7 anime Last Order, competently scripted, said dialogue performed well and exciting in content and in the graceful, epic and spirited battles and physical and ideological conflict that ensues. it tells the story of a lady enjoying her favourite training simulation when a man called Duo enters the frame and locks them in, proposing a return to the matrix for them both, because he loves her and wants to stop the fighting and the struggles of the war against the machines, to which the lady protagonist refuses to co-operate and resists. they discuss the prospect heatedly while battling across a range of simulated environments.
the problem? Cypher had the exact same idea in the first Matrix movie and the issue was explored and resolved satisfactorily. this Animatrix is weak because it offers no twist or original slant on the theme, simply retelling a story that was adequately dealt with by Cypher's actions. there is a hint of tortured doubt or ambiguity at the end when, having been released from the simulation which is revealed to be just that, training, the girl shuts her eyes solemnly in the lift, but it's not worthwhile, it's simply diversionary.
it is well made and enjoyable to watch, to its credit. it features plenty of armour, environments, buildings and scenarios evocative of Japanese warrior traditions which is a big influence on the Wachowskis and which is no doubt a feature emphasised by Japanese director Yoshiaki Kawajiri, and it does suggest at the very least that perhaps as a reaction to Cypher's actions in the Matrix such a test of loyalty and whether crew members of ships are steadfast in their devotion to Zion and unwilling to betray their fellows has become a staple of training programs for crews in the matrix world. but it doesn't bring much else to the table.
still, in conclusion, this being the least original and one of the weaker Animatrix, it is still a feast for the eyes and a well made anime, and it reflects well on the Animatrix as a series.
The Animatrix: A Detective Story (2003)
for what it's worth, I think you could have handled the truth
This is one of the periphery stories told by the Animatrix that isn't directly relevant to the war stopping One glorifying plot of the films, but Trinity, voiced by Carrie, does appear in it. it features a private detective who is hired for big money to look for a hacker named Trinity. we see his search which features other PIs, only one who he meets, who has seemingly gone mad from his own experience trying to track Trinity down. eventually he makes contact with Trinity who he assumes to be a man of course - told in the narrative and something that firmly puts us in his own perspective despite what we already know - on a hacker chat-room, and solves a riddle which forces him in a hurry to catch a train. he forgets his hat but his faithful cat throws it to him in a moment of ludicrousness so absurd it's hilarious.
he meets her on the train but the ruse is thereby revealed when agents attack; the agents were using him to get to Trinity and Trinity was trying to free the PIs sent after her, which he doesn't know of course, and which isn't explicitly stated in the animation itself, something common to film noir titles, which often hint at plenty of interesting back-story, subplots, developments etc. but don't show you more then the core story and a limited point of view to create an extra air of mystery and intrigue.
almost everything in this short is in black and white, the music is reminiscent of film noir and the offbeat, old fashioned yet dedicated detective is the perfect protagonist for a film noir title. the trivia section of this title's entry on IMDb also helpfully presents a few references this title makes to hardboiled literature, something it also borrows heavily from, a genre of mysteries for detectives, gangsters etc. who engage in challenging conflicts readily and often. animated aptly by Studio 4°C and directed by Shinichiro Watanabe, it is an enjoyable variant on the usual matrix story.
The Animatrix: The Second Rennaissance, Part II (2003)
May there be mercy on man and machine for their sins
this is the second part of the story of the events that led to the machines' dominance over the planet and the Matrix, this episode presenting the conflagration that completely ravaged Earth and eventually ended with humanity's downfall. Narrated by a female bearing a fairy appearance in both parts and named as a file in the Zion archives, we are presented with more imagery to reinforce the events and decisions that take place, such as a skeleton clapping when world leaders decide to destroy the sky to block the sun and a mechanical, seemingly apocalyptic rider on a horse during the war. it begins with the machines retaliating after Zero One is bombarded with nuclear weapons, and operation dark storm is implemented to deprive the machines of their main energy source, the sun. it appears to be a gas, or perhaps nano-machines, distributed by planes across the sky. it is called a last resort, and although it seems crazy that leaders would resort to such an ecologically damaging solution, it is perhaps a sign of the sheer desperation of the situation and a hint at the world shattering escalation of methods and weapons of war concurrent with our technological development. after all, the cold war partially involved averting the use of globally destructive weaponry.
the machines fight back in full force after the sky is scorched and we see the terrible and overpowering onslaught of the machines against marines and soldiers and human weaponry in a battle royale. it's preceded by praying and trenches and fear and bravado, and then our world falls, with brutal explosions and machines rending people limb from limb. in the aftermath, the music takes a tragic turn and the narrator presents the post apocalyptic vision of the machines' victory and subsequent experiments and conversion of our bodies and species to batteries and an energy source to compensate for the lack of sun. we return to the UN where world leaders are told to give up their flesh by a machine, before the place goes up in a massive explosion.
we see the fields getting set up, people getting experimented on and the symbiotic, one sided relationship being born. we then see a boy playing in the snowy ruins of a city, before being called home by parents. running home, the spotlight falls on him and the penny drops. we see a flash of agents in the parents' place, and the world falls apart around the boy, to reveal him in a pod. it was possibly an early matrix. the fairy strokes the pod sadly before fading and the camera pans out to reveal the fields. the narration wraps it up, and it's a bleak, tragic, poignant and effective precursor to the films.
The Animatrix: The Second Ranaissance, Part I (2003)
Thus did man become the architect of his own demise
this is the first of a two part back-story to the conflict between the machines and mankind in the Matrix world and it delivers spectacularly by combining observations on man's fear of the unknown and of being usurped with politics, extensive religious and historical imagery, subverting expected portrayals of parties involved and an at least partially believable and thus terrifying vision of our near future. it isn't perfect and some plot points and images are at once obvious and contrived but it has the desired effect and impact and tells a visceral and cautionary tale.
this first part sets the scene - human societies have developed advanced and capable robots, mostly humanoid, to serve people doing menial, unskilled jobs, labour, construction etc. and thus the populace has become lazy and derogatory towards them. one robot, however, rebels and kills his owner, stating at his subsequent trial that he simply did not want to die. he is destroyed but when the robot masses' destruction is ordered to protect humanity many robots rise up in protest, with many human sympathisers alongside them.
the imagery here is exploitative, recounting race riots and abuse, Tiananmen square, the holocaust and an overly provocative scene of a robot in a human girl's guise getting harried, hammered in the head and then shot dead as it pleads 'i'm real'. it lays on the ground, clothes and skin torn and breasts hanging out. it's an obvious and obscene image designed to present human fear towards uncontrolled elements and aggression towards groups based on the actions of individuals.
anyway, this first portion is much like a compressed version of the film I Robot, but it soon develops into a recognisable Matrix back-story as the surviving robot contingent is exiled and congregates in the middle east, in the cradle of civilisation as the narrator informs us. there, the machines regroup and begin to produce new AI and to manufacture mass technology and trade it with human nations. we see a commercial for a car that uses the circular energy hover engines that the ships the rebels in the movies use and we see sentinel type robots flying around Zero One, the name of their city. their goods and trade make their economy soar affecting other economies detrimentally and human governments and authorities establish a blockade in response. the machines send ambassadors in the form of Adam and Eve resemblances to a UN congress to negotiate a peaceful resolution to the blockade, but they are forcibly removed and the scene is set for war in the second part.
the animation is by Studio 4°C who work on quite a few of the Animatrix and it's evocative and visually stimulating, rendering different scenes like imagery montages, CCTV footage and particular scenes of import distinctive and overall presenting the story perfectly. the plot may not be an original concept and it may draw on simplistic sheep mentalities and plot models and resort to provocative material for impact but after the tantalising mystery offered by the first film and Morpheus' vague brief info-dumps this is a nice exposition of the cataclysmic events that left the world ravaged and in the hands of the machines that serves as a warning and as a vehicle for many observations and comments on the human condition, the development of AI and the importance of harmony and co-operation and the devastating consequences of conflict and prejudice, themes expanded on in the movies.
The Animatrix: Kid's Story (2003)
raging against the machines
one of two of the nine Animatrix shorts connected directly to the first movie sequel Reloaded, this explains what the kid pestering Neo in Zion was on about. It reveals his escape from the matrix, which involves him asking questions on his computer and getting a cryptic reply, black screen, green typing, like Neo's white rabbit chat in the Matrix. at school, his phone rings, and his teacher confronts him when he is told off but it rings a second time and he answers.
he is warned to escape, which he does, with some interesting slippery animation depicting him skateboarding through his school, chased by his teacher and a whole bunch of agents. he is cornered and climbs out of a window to the roof. the short began with the kid dreaming of a suicidal jump from a rooftop, which the kid performs after asserting his belief in Neo.
his funeral is attended by his teacher who talks of delusions and of the real world being a scary place to the kid. then the kid wakes in the real world as Neo and Trinity discuss his self substantiation and Neo tells the kid he saved himself when the kid tells Neo he saved him, something annoyingly repeated in Reloaded and Revolutions.
Keanu and Carrie voicing their characters add a welcome authenticity to the short, and the animation by Studio 4°C combines rubbery pencils and colours with seemingly real world, photo-realistic backgrounds, a dualistic reference to the distinction between the real world and the matrix, surely a consciously chosen style of animation for that purpose, if not then an interesting coincidence. Shinichiro Watanabe of cowboy bebop fame directs this worthy effort and matrix enthusiasts should enjoy the escapist fiction and revel in the truth of the kid's story.
The Animatrix: Final Flight of the Osiris (2003)
immortalising their timely sacrifice
this is one of two of the nine Animatrix shorts directly connected to the events of the Matrix Reloaded and tells an important story animated in gorgeous CGI reminiscent of the movies themselves. it begins in a dojo much like the one Morpheus and Neo spar in during Neo's training in the first film where we meet Thadeus and Jue who spar with swords and acrobatics and a tribal little tune to accentuate their sexual tension. they are interrupted by the warning of sentinel activity.
the ship is named the Osiris, after the Egyptian god who presides over death, resurrection and immortality - as far as I'm aware - and this is about letting the story of its crew and their sacrifice for Zion be told and remembered, otherwise only mentioned in passing at the beginning of Reloaded. in escaping from the sentinels they choose to go down an uncharted passage and end up above the surface of Earth, where they spot the massing army of sentinels and the big diggers. they realise that Zion is directly below them, just as the sentinels realise they're being watched. the Osiris escapes while Jue enters the matrix one last time to deliver a warning of the impending invasion of Zion.
she succeeds using lush acrobatics to get from a building high up to the ground through a set of bars down an alley, to a mailbox on the high street before having a short conversation with a granny about important packages getting to where they're meant to be. meanwhile in the real world, despite the best efforts of the Osiris engines and gunners and pilots, they stand no chance against the thousands of sentinels that descend upon them, and they are killed by sentinels before the ship explodes finishing them off. message delivered, goodbyes said and conversation with granny done, we see Jue's matrix self die.
Final flight of the Osiris captures the essence and character of the films and visually satisfies with beautiful graphics, apparently produced by Square, of Final Fantasy fame, and the plot is an interesting and significant precursor to the events of Reloaded and any matrix fan should give it a watch, along with the other Animatrix. Fly, baby, fly!
American History X (1998)
by no means black and white
It's important to retain a sense of objectivity throughout this film, which keeps skewing and provoking reaction and consideration with controversial situations, imagery and dialogue that explores the dangerous and volatile issue of racism and social tensions in brutal depth. it's not perfect but in dealing with such complex and deeply rooted societal flaws, prejudices and ignorance it tests the viewer and forces lengthy consideration and discussion. it is an engaging, magnificently powerful and important article.
Norton steals the show with his fierce and terrifyingly focused portrayal of young front leader Derek Vinyard, while John Connor - a perfectly cast Furlong - plays his impressionable brother Danny, handed a special assignment by his black head-teacher, to write an examination of the racial hostility issue relating to Derek, his family and society in modern America. Derek is released from prison that day.
what unfolds is a compelling story brought together through flashbacks, dialogue, confrontations and self reflection that does not hold back, a difficult amalgam of social conflict that plays out in the most destructive and devastating way possible to examine the reactions of the participants. Derek's was a once prosperous family in a nice house, until fire-fighting father was shot putting out a blaze at a crack den; Derek allied with the manipulative Cameron, asserting his dominance playing a black gang off the basketball court. at school Danny defends Malcolm in the middle Francis from a couple of black kids, which will have repercussions.
the cinematography and shot selection is crisp and evocative and important scenes are slowed down for maximum impact; a haunting choir and score reinforces the conflagrations, murders and epiphanies that yank this movie from hope to despair, hard-line racism to bright-eyed acceptance. the flashbacks appear in black and white, a none-too-subtle nod towards the racial conflict this film deals with, as well as a contrast with the colourful present; in the past things seemed clear-cut. due to events, relationships and revelations, Derek and by extension Danny through his assignment see through the hypocrisies; it's a lot more complicated then the sheep mentality of the conflicts and societal effects involving gangs, immigrants, community and country.
Derek violently killed 2 of 3 Crips who tried to rob his dad's car, enraging him to gleefully perform that brutal curb-stomp; he got 3 years. Danny goes to a party held to honour Derek's release but Derek defiantly attempts to turn his mind from the vengeful Neo-Nazism fostered by Cam, the suitably repulsive Seth etc. and onto their family, now living in a cheap apartment, struggling onwards. we are treated to flashbacks of Derek discussing social problems at dinner with a focused ferocity that underpins the misguided anger fuelling it, a store robbery he lead and his difficult time in prison, which includes an unlikely friendship with a cheeky black guy who ended up protecting him when the crew of whites that did turned away, ironically because he rejected their pseudo-Neo-Nazism, and symbolically raped him. that head-teacher came to help him, and he renounced his formerly racist ways.
in the morning the police corner Derek to help them with the supremacists, which he is reluctant to do after warning Cam off the previous night, causing a standoff and an escape after which he enlightens Danny to his time in jail and his revelations. they and Danny's insightful and reflective paper are for nought as he is shot in the school toilets by the black kid he stood up to the previous day. Derek cradles him and asks 'what have i done' crying hysterically, the chain of vengeful violence perpetuated in spite of the enlightenment embraced by the Vinyards.
the film only concentrates on the Neo-Nazi side of the issue, creating an imbalance realised when the Crip kids bully Francis and 'smoke' Danny for defending him. they are as aggressively and tragically misguided as the Nazis who oppose them and lament their co-existence, but a lack of focus on them creates an imbalance in the morals the film promotes. Derek is also quick to feel remorse for killing the guys who were, after all, robbing his car, one of whom would have shot him when he opened his door if he hadn't shot the guy first.
the film preaches. if it's not Cam, Derek or Seth, it's the head-teacher. the messages are deceptively attractive and seemingly insightful, like when Derek pigeonholes minorities for social problems and unemployment, then destroying the store, beating up the employees, which presents the blind siege mentality of the rhetoric. it may be somewhat narcissistic that Norton edited more of himself into the film, causing the director to sue no less, but he is definitely the vehicle that drives the twisting perspective, and his fury is riveting.
there is one compelling scene featuring his father reacting negatively towards his reading list, given by that head-teacher, veering from a completely acceptable and justified assertion - the black guys shouldn't have been hired ahead of the white guys who got better scores - to dangerous diatribe - conspiracy involving blacks. this bit of dialogue highlights how complicated and delicately poised the issue is, at all levels, at home, on the basketball court, school, prison, in all society.
this film is as complicated as the issue it's trying to deconstruct, a memorable and ambiguous study that transcends the preaching and brutality and permeates the very direction and intentions of the film itself. it doesn't focus on the black gangs and completely ignores Hispanics, Orientals etc. besides the store attack, but this reflects how skewed the issue is.
hopefully, through the poignant and genuinely painful tragedy that befalls our heartily acted protagonists, the viewer can perceive the utter pointlessness and horrific waste of the hostility from all sides that breeds the problem. if not, the viewer should watch this masterpiece again, for it is a spectacular study of the issue.
Green Street (2005)
see you next Tuesday.
this film was a hilariously and unacceptably overacted caricature of hooliganism, that too often required suspension of disbelief and resorted to stereotypical and unrealistic behaviour to deal with the conflicts and themes.
the actors and actresses in the film are solid and give off convincing airs until the final third when the waterworks and the screaming and the posturing went into overdrive in an orgasm of drama. despite the police presence throughout the film, they stay strangely absent when the abbey pub is burnt and smashed up and during the final fight with the millennium dome backdrop.
the underlying message is ultimately a double edged sword, a positive slant on the camaraderie and siege mentality of the rowing and the lawless rivalries, while trying to present the idea that this experience may have taught Matt the strength of character to stand up for himself, but also the ability to make the right choice and to reject the battle when more important things are at stake. also, honour, trust - the whole journalist suspicion thing and the guy returning at the end to fight after telling the Millwall lot about the journalism business etc.
two things about this are unfortunate. firstly, these messages are subjective in nature and have been presented in many films already, not to mention more subtly and/or effectively in many cases, and secondly, the film almost seems like an exercise in self parody at times, returning to the waterworks and the silly facials and squaring up and the rest of it. a constant supply of overacting backed by dramatic strings and stone roses and other appropriate music.
i joined the film a little late when it looked very promising, but the whole set up with the drug deal seemed a little flimsy, like it was a half hearted afterthought with regards to placing an American student in a hooligan situation. Matt - Elijah - also makes an emotional exit from Stephen and his sister's home to get stuck into the hammers lifestyle in a move which is made to seem as though it is forced and necessary, when Matt just could have been clever and, you know, not gone and lived with the hooligan. also, how the sister found the battleground at the end, and why she took HER BABY WITH HER boggled the mind. she is fit though, and i've seen her in other films where her acting cannot be faulted.
it must also be noted that the hatchet or whatever the Millwall firm leader was called walked into a chippy and lit up a spliff, and then smacked a guy's head into the table because his girlfriend didn't stop talking? that's overly, unnecessarily macho, in an almost Arnie kind of way that doesn't seem to fit in with the characters. and when Stephen's brother, the leader of the West Ham firm, Ben i think, dies at the end and they crowd around; it wouldn't have surprised me if one of them suddenly said in a mockingly retarded voice 'oh what a surprise that we got together for a grudge row and someone only went and died'.
the themes and the unfolding storyline with the journo sideline and the rivalry between Millwall and irons firms background were all dealt with over dramatically with crisp cinematography and a rousing score, and the cracks in the hastily flung together plot were papered over with over dramatic acting and tears and seemingly an expectancy that the violence would string it together neatly and reinforce it all.
to be fair the British cast paint a pretty accurate picture of a match-day for the firms and the banter is pretty accurate, until of course those histrionics i keep referring to kick in. it almost seems like a dumbed down, conveniently packaged Hollywood vision of the hooliganism issue. a character conveniently inserted into the situation in question, slices of realism to lend authenticity to the project, a load of explanations smugly delivered by the headstrong firm leader for the uninitiated viewer, and then the themes kick in, some convoluted twists thrown in over complicating things unrealistically as opposed to intelligently and interestingly due to a predictable main plot that requires such complications to prolong the viewer's interest - Stephen being the firm leader, Matt being spotted at the Times and the lads jumping to conclusions etc. - and a load of drama and full bodied dramatics from all, before a self indulgent eulogy to reinforce the tragedy and the moral, and a somewhat insipid ending - the bubbles song.
in conclusion, this is a poorly thought out project and it fails to inspire for the above reasons. go watch football factory which isn't perfect but paints a more authentic and indeed compelling picture of hooliganism. this film aims for the lowest common denominator and misses, and you should miss this one if you're after plausibility, an authentic portrayal of football hooliganism and intelligent film making. and if your a hammer chav, go watch that ICF film that's coming out, and do us all a favour and sign Barton up.
Notes on a Scandal (2006)
notes on a scandal?
first, a confession and some praise. i am not familiar with the vast majority of Judi Dench's television, film and dramatic work, beyond her appearances in the bond films, and although i am aware of her hefty CV and experience, i am not clued up about how much of a Judi Dench performance this is. i can say the same about Cate Blanchett and Bill Nighy - i am fond of Blanchett in the lord of the rings films, and Nighy's work as Viktor in underworld, Davy Jones in the pirates of the Caribbean films and with Simon Pegg and co in Shaun of the dead and hot fuzz, but they are not familiar to me, just as the style of film, a very modern, British drama often seen on British television these days, is again not one i'm well acquainted with, a brooding, topical, moody kind of drama, evolved from shows like the bill and casualty and period dramas, that i've only encountered on occasion.
all of that is preconception that can be discarded when weighed against the strength of the performances put in; there are a lot of raised voices, serious moody introspection, a wide range of emotions and reactions and a sense of realism and plausibility lent to the situations of comfortable home life, bitter hermit life, public school in the staffroom, classroom and playground, all strung together expertly by a waspish and somewhat insightful narrative delivered by the desperate and manipulative Barbara. it's a credit to them all that Dench can portray so convincingly a lonely, isolated, regretful and tragically vicious old woman trying to forge some sort of warmth out of her calculating web of secrets, Blanchett can portray a liberal, beautiful but weak and easily tempted young teacher, Nighy a happy, logical optimist husband who goes to astonished and dismayed pieces when his wife's societally unacceptable crime comes to light and even Simpson gives a good performance as the headstrong and somewhat overconfident, animal boy who gets some Sheba.
this brings me to the flaws, which are subjectively observed ones pertaining to the plot / message balance but which i think affect the film detrimentally. first of all, Steven is predatory and Sheba is the weak and passionately seduced maiden in their relationship which is as such to offer debate about the nature of paedophilia and how it isn't necessarily as clear cut as the law or media insist it is in every case, but the ease with which she believes his smugly delivered woe-is-me story uncovers her flaws far too readily and threaten to detract from that debate; Barbara's knowledge would also suggest a far more cleverly manipulative and devastating problem for Sheba, but the focus is really on Barbara's own weakness, and as such she pines for attention when her cat dies and when she doesn't get it, clumsily and riskily deals the blow to a fellow teacher interested in Sheba himself. this brings the media and her head teacher down on her hard.
when she takes Sheba in, Sheba finds a page of her insidious and lonely diary in the bin? you think such a manipulative woman would keep such damaging material more safely concealed, or just destroyed. all of this puts more focus on Barbara's weakness. the film ends with a status quo that is revealed shortly after it begins, which is even more contrived as Barbara has suffered an embarrassing and violently delivered rejection to compound her incompatibility with people, and the school has suffered a second underage teacher relationship scandal, both of which would be reasonably expected to give more lasting damage.
a better plot for me would have been a more genuinely vulnerable boy and a less easily manipulated Sheba screwing, followed by a less vulnerable Barbara finding out, and then a tense friendship / power struggle between Barbara and Sheba which tests the growing need of the vulnerable boy she's seduced, the acceptance of her family and her own ability to hide the affair and cope with her own growing shame and guilt, and the damnation of her school and the law and media when it inevitably finally comes out, Barbara's manipulation of Sheba exhausted leading to her cruel humiliation, that could backfire with the revelation that she's an accomplice etc. that's just my suggestion; i'm simply angling for something more subtle and less contrived then that which we got. British drama in my experience is less ambiguous and more direct, as it is in this film. at least it's not dumbed down, albeit somewhat contrived.
it's still a good film. it's acted brilliantly and engagingly, Blanchett, Dench and Nighy convincing the viewer that they're Sheba, Barbara and Richard, along with everyone else presenting great characterisation. the cinematography and score and production are superb and it's an interesting project. the plot and debate within the film are flawed and presented in a slightly clumsy and contrived way in my honest opinion, but it's still a worthy effort, and certainly worth seeing.
Predator (1987)
i ain't got time to bleed
I must congratulate the cast and crew on the fine job they did on Predator. it succeeds and has become such a classic because it observes religiously important and easily overlooked or in-advisably tampered with rules regarding such films; namely, it doesn't require more then a basic and easily digested premise, with, at best, plenty of intriguing and important sounding back-story hinted at through dialogue (which ties in with the slow exposition of the predator); it doesn't rush said exposition of the main villain, especially in the predator's case, defamiliarising the role of the soldiers in the jungle, camouflaged and stalking the prey that earlier on were the ones taking out the central American/Russian/whoevers and trying to rescue some important sounding figures; it whole heartedly enters into the spirit of the situation and the characters, restricting our exposition to their own revelations as they happen, thus involving the viewer more effectively; and finally the cheap humour is timed and executed to perfection, not overkilled - like, say, bill Paxton did in the sequel in trying so embarrassingly to emulate Hawkins - and delivered with panache and offbeat ease, and the special effects, kept to a premium and revealed in glimpses before the glorious conclusion unfolded, is again not overkilled and used brilliantly in minimalism.
this is how to make a good SF thriller. there are flaws, in my opinion, slight ones in plot, and i'll go into them now just to give a sense of perspective; the film is by no means perfect. the predator does a sephiroth, which basically means he is hilariously overpowered, and although that is one of the things that makes him awesome, it also means that his equipment breaks or is discarded out of a warped sense of sport and his complacency and lack of urgency in finishing dutch off leads to his demise, as happens when sephiroth comes to fight cloud. this is all part of the action movie mantra, which must end with a rugged, war-torn and utterly homo-f'ing-sapiens i-just-owned-an-ET-warrior powerful man, Arnie effortlessly breathing the role throughout, surviving beatings that would bring down buildings, a shoulder cannon shot that burned through everything and everyone else it hit in the movie, a damned nuclear bomb and assorted falls and impacts relatively unscathed. he's goddamn dutch Schaefer, that's why. other slight imperfections = the soldiers figure out the predator's game pretty quickly, and are able to predict motivations, why they're being attacked etc. Arnie's forces seemed to discard any worries about the guerrillas swarming the area once it started to dawn on them that an invisible and clearly extra terrestrial warrior was the real nemesis, as well as seeming unconcerned about the chance either guerrilla or said beast would attack them while they built their traps, and the helicopter, which wouldn't cross the border earlier, seemed to have no qualms about doing so once the predator's bomb went off, and with the army chief on board and all.
all of those little niggling plot simplicities and conveniences are merely observations of a pedant. they prevent this film from being perfect, but significantly, it would be less fun if it were more complex, intelligent - from a plot perspective anyway - and plausible. it is still one of the elite SF films, reasons given in the first paragraph. it doesn't look dated now, because the wardrobe and the cinematography, the shot selection - example: the predator shooting at the trees after dutch shoots him with his explosive arrow, showing the whole area, the little predator silhouette with missiles of light firing into the trees, example: Dillon and Mac looking looking at the predator through the trees; the setting helped the shot selection pick itself, anyway, but they nailed it each and every time for a feast for the eyes, after all the carefully and minimally revealed exposition - and the style of filming all lend an atmosphere to a setting that can't age quickly and that remains timeless, effective and immersive even now, and it presents a veritable feast of effective aspects of atmosphere and exposition for the budding film maker to learn from, and the viewer to enjoy.
and besides all that, the predator was fantastic. bizarre and positively alien motivations and intentions, a hunter for the sake of it, elegant, vicious and deadly, with functional and dirty but effective and sleek equipment and an approach to hunting that denoted graft and perverse machismo, and sheer strength as well as fearsome weaponry. he was played masterfully, and the complacency which led to his undoing and the simplicity in which dutch finished him are tolerable when weighed against his awesome strength, brutality and demonstrated power. a great creation, that was not quite represented adequately in the sequel - compensated with the ending on the ship; not like the 2 AvP movies which relied on sheer idiocy, complacency on a less forgivable or believable level on the part of the predator race, as well as implausible and hard to digest back story and illogically pointless enterprises conducted on earth, unlike the hint given at the end of predator 2. comics, games and movies have created a fan-base who have been largely betrayed by overkill exposition and poorly conceived plotting that has ruined and cheapened the mystique constructed in this movie, only really maintained in the sequel, the game AvP 2 and perhaps a handful of comics. it remains a pleasure to indulge in and be awed by that mystique on subsequent viewings of Predator.
it's a visceral, engaging, simple, macho, atmospheric, glorious, intriguing SF thriller about a mysterious alien warrior wreaking havoc in a central American jungle, stalking and butchering an elite unit of American soldiers on a mission, headed by Arnie, a film that presents the optimal SF thriller experience in all facets, that is also cooler then almost anything else you're ever likely to see.
mine's as big as a house! oh baby! havin me some fun tonight!
Predator 2 (1990)
LA dumbed down and action-movie'd up for a predator safari
The opening scene to this movie sets the subsequently maintained tone appropriately and somewhat absurdly; an anticipatory predator theme tune sweltering in the LA backdrop, as the now familiar heat vision pans across the city, which is quickly revealed to be in the midst of a city wide gang war between Colombian 'Scorpios' and the Jamaican 'voodoo posse'. and the dialogue actually gets tackier then that. in a street that looks like a primary school kid's idea of a ghetto, Colombians with weaponry that would make Dutch whimper with joy kill the hell out of the police, while a frenzied over the top news crew rants excitedly about the conflict, bullets flying past their ears. along comes the cavalry, in the hilarious form of Danny Glover, who looks like he has a hangover and a hernia, labouring around for the duration of the film with an expression of sheer exasperation on his face. he drives a car into the maelstrom, ignoring the likely possibility that a stray bullet, or perhaps grenade - which those silly coked up pendejos have already used to slow-mo blow up a police car - could kill the expletive out of hernia Harrigan right there and then. as it happens, his bravado gets his fallen colleagues out of no mans land, and the Scorpios retreat into a dilapidated factory to pack some more weapons and snort a mountain of beacon.
the predator spies Harrigan's headstrong heroics, and we don't hear it but he probably gives himself a hernia of his own laughing his head off, before mopping up the Hispanics. that would also explain how the good lieutenant manages to obscenity him up in the end, with his own Frisbee (the weaponry the predator sports in this film is pretty cool though, quite a plethora). we find out that Harrigan also has a fear of heights, just to reinforce his manliness. we're introduced to a police station that looks more like a punk gig, and a bunch of characters that like to shout and look moody and self assured while engaging in dumbed down banter that makes me want to watch another film that doesn't kill my intelligence. Bill Paxton is the worst of these, trying to be a mixture of Hudson and Hawkins, and failing so embarrassingly that i only stopped cringing when the predator skewered him during that epileptic train scene.
the sets are pretty tacky and contrived, however, more a surreal dumbed down OTT characterisation of LA then the real thing, as epitomised by the skunk-mobile king Willy's boys drive around, blazing a trail to Willy so hungover Harrigan can shudder at Willy's demon babble. then the funky rasta gets decapitated in a pretty cool face off, before the train scene. Busey and his cutout fed boys keep flitting in and out of the picture, ineptly arriving late to every butchering in their plastic helicopter and pissing Harrigan off. eventually, Harrigan's team decimated after a few encounters, the knocked up sassy and annoyingly accented crew-cut Leona spared, Keyes' fed team and Harrigan converge on the slaughterhouse, where the predator has been nailed on one of his feeding times - like the first film, the predator is worked out in order to be beatable. instead of enhancing the mystery the original otherwise promotes with some unexpected twists, it turns out to be little more then a strong, ugly dude with cool toys to kill the other boys, and a clockwork schedule that even the sheer idiots that populate this film can work out. all the same, it takes out the feds and Keyes pretty swiftly and scares the shizam out of hysterical Harrigan, which leads to a tag chase around a few buildings and finally though an elevator shaft to the predator ship.
notice my skillful swear word dodging. sarcastically, of course, but for a reason; this is exactly what the film didn't do, instead indulging in character decisions and dialogue that makes British televisual 'drama' Eastenders look erudite, insightful and metaphorically rich. the predator is not expanded on either, because everyone, from the gangs to the press to the police to Keyes and his feds are complete idiots, and each fight with the predator reveals something new in the most patronisingly presentable way - oh look! it spares the pregnant. oh look! it has a net and a spear and a blade gun. oh look! it can see in every spectrum of light, as helpfully demonstrated by Keyes assuming it can't. very clumsily done and shamelessly tacky and plastic, much like everything else about the film; and a great shame, as there were good aspects to it and given a revamp in style, setting, dialogue, plot, score, cinematography - well, everything, it could have been challenging and a worthy sequel.
let's not forget how similar the plot is to the original, and how it tries too hard to emulate everything the original does naturally and fails as a result; let's concentrate for a moment on the saving grace of the film, the final battle. the ship is interesting in design, and the gun given back and the revelation that they visit often and are many are tantalisingly revealed and enjoyably observed. Glover still seemingly has that pesky hernia at the end as his drags himself out of the tunnel to confront the cardboard cutout fed who tsks and frets because that nasty but usable alien got away. still, as Harrigan looks up and remarks 'you'll get another chance' the viewer eagerly enjoys an ending that slightly makes up for the rest of the generic 90's action movie mess, and offers the hope for superior, imaginative, exciting sequels to come.
well, after 2 separate and unfortunately equally horrific match-ups against the aliens, a bunch of comics that pitted the predator against all manner of characters from Tarzan to Superman, a bunch of games and enough rumours to crash the internet, we're still waiting.
OK pussyface, it's your move.
About Schmidt (2002)
beautiful
SPOILERS WITHIN, I THINK
I was told this film was a comedy when we rented it out. The title also said to me 'camp stuck up stereotypical Hollywood comedy'. It didn't start well either. It seemed mundane and boring. There were no fast movements, no really major events. But i must say by the end i was actually emotionally involved. The ending really touched me, which is strange, because i tend not to get involved with films in that way. i honestly felt for jacks character warren. I also felt for his little friend in Africa, Ngudu! The comedy was tender and very REAL. Warren retires from his insurance company, and he feels inadequate because he was never the boss but the assistant manager i think. Anyway he's watching the TV, switching the channels looking for something interesting to fill the time - something im sure a lot of us can relate to, and another REAL touch of this film - when he spots a charity third world commercial, which gradually catches his attention. Anyway he gets a pack, which introduces him to 6 year-old Ngudu, who he'll be sponsoring for 22 dollars a month. It also asks to send a letter so warren writes his letter. This is the first real moment of comedy but its good. He pours his heart out about his life. He talks badly about his wife.
He goes out to post the letter to Ngudu and comes back to find his wife has died. He has neglected her and it's another metaphor for depression and loss and waste. Anyway he writes again to Ngudu after the funeral. At the funeral his daughter comes over with her fiancé, this trailer trash bed salesman. Warren argues with daughter over marrying this man and the funeral. He's obviously at odds with her. She meanwhile is estranged from her father, angry with and yet loving of her father. The fiancé meanwhile proposes business after trying to console warren. Anyway once they've all gone, warren descends into a life of squalor, hilariously denied in his next letter to Ngudu. Another funny moment follows when he writes that he misses her. Moments later he finds a box of letters from her lover, his best friend. He goes maniacal for once in the film - he plays a timid tired man - and hits his best friend. Then he trashes all his wife's stuff, before embarking on a road trip, which he intends to find his soul and peace on. He tries to go to see his daughter early the wedding is on soon - but she rejects him. This prompts the soul searching.
He goes to a camper van park where he meets a couple that like to meet random people. This is a metaphor for the desperate measures that people go to, to find friendship and love, i think. Anyway he kisses the woman after reading the wrong signals, and has to leave. This is he searching for affection from anyone who can give it. Then he meditates, and forgives his wife. Then he goes to attend the wedding. He meets his soon to be son in laws mother, who is a slob and open about her sexuality. The whole family is a disgrace, and he tries to persuade his daughter to not marry into it. She won't listen to him - they have been distanced. He attends the wedding and gives a forced speech at the cringe worthy reception. After leaving he contemplates his failure, and writes to Ngudu. He writes back - the hilarity of his writing to Ngudu - both the content of the letters, and the fact that he is writing in quite grown up language to a 6 year old boy in a third world country - is fully revealed. But the nurse looking after him at the nursery writes a heartfelt reply, with messages from Ngudu to him, who although indeed cannot write or read thinks about Warren and his kindness every day. Enclosed is a beautiful little picture drawn by the boy. Warren finally cries and its truly a heart wrenching moment.
For me the films success comes in its realism - little touches like the daughter going to open the car door after arguing with warren, and having to ask her boyfriend to unlock it, his terrible hairstyles when waking up, his bored watching of the TV, his checking of the phone boxes money thing for change, and so forth. The message of this film is that it can relate to all depressed and tired people, this is a result of conformist lives, as the retirement party emphasizes. Basically, open your heart, don't waste time fighting or not being interested and/or involved in the lives of those you care about, because that's what's really important. He was open to Ngudu, and got the love and affection and interest he perhaps craved. He failed to stop his daughter marrying this man he hates, but realised the value of communication, love and life in his tears at the end, one hopes. The film is very beautiful, with slow and quiet classical music, great and heartfelt performances by every actor and actress, and SUBTLE and underlying humour. It's a real masterpiece, and probably one of Nicholson's best, in a distinguished career.