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Fallout (2024)
Quite Good But Can Be Improved In Script Writing
I just finished watching it from beginning to end. I played the PC game Fallout 4 but never finished it. The series at the other hand was very compelling for me at least. Only problem I can find as far as I can see is First Act introducing the world of Fallout although great , is a little bit long and tedious and might be turn over for casual viewer. Fallout starts with a nostalgic jittery aura of an alternate future with 1950'ies aesthatics when bombs begin to fall but then after centuries later we are introduced with a very naive and insular isolated society of vault dwellers living their lived not interracting with any surviving human communities at all ( or so ity seems) From then the story and conspiracy involving it unfolds with flashbacks to pre nuclear war era step by step.
The writer Jonathan Nolan's reluctance and deep suspicion of corporate culture and wild free for all capitalism is all plain to see in it. ( there was something similar in his previous tv series Person of Interest and even Michael Emerson from that show guest starring in one episode here in Fallout)
Ella Purnell as main heroine Lucy , Vault 33 dweller searching her father is quite a find for me and Aaron Muten as her co star Maximus Brother of Steel squire holds own his own. ( the building romance has a macabre humour in it) But as far as I concerned best performance was from Walton Goggins as Ghoul the Bounty Hunter and his previous Western Actor character before the nuclear war , Cooper Howard. Goggins was great in his dual role especially as badass and snarky Ghoul but I bet he had fun with pre war 1950'ies aestetics driving car or wearing fashion of that era.
iZombie (2015)
A fun unusual look at Undead genre
In second episode of iZombie evil zombie Blaine goes on a monologue : "I should ask you. Zombies... I heard we're finite. Is that, is that true? Has over-saturation buried us? I don't know. I think we're gonna surprise some people." I think this quote is a nice summary for this surprise series. A young , pretty , ambitious , overachieving medical student named Liv Moore (played by talented Kiwi actress Rose McIver with all of its creativity) goes to a frat boy boat party that turns into an isolated zombie massacre due to an experimental drug distributed there , bitten , infected and joins legions of undead. The zombie lore here is different though. Liv as long as fed with human brains regularly can maintain her life and act like a regular human being aside pale skin , bleached hair color and inability to have a social life. (if she misses her brain meals too often or angered though she becomes a classic George Romero type classic walker ) To stop herself hurting anyone in search of sustenance she begins to work in city morgue to access brains she needs. Here is the catch : When Liv eats brain matter of someone she experiences and sees their experiences and memories briefly. That includes murder victims lying in morgue. With help of her boss and confidant Dr. Ravi Chakrabathi (British Indian actor Rahul Kohli definitely having fun with this role) running the morgue she begins to help police to solve murder cases of the victims whose brains she snacked upon with her visions and trying to add a meaning to her new undead "life"
Although for first four episodes so far there are only standart case of week police prodecure episodes there are several plot elements that apparently goes to a story arch. Actors and characters are mostly great to OK (though Robert Buckley playing a secondary character either needs to be developed or leave I think. He is just too bland) Liv who was all work career and planned her life stopped enjoying the life while living. Now as undead she begins to experience small nuances of life or its different aspects with her visions and murder cases all over again. Humor is great but not overwhelming.
By the way it really reminds me 1988 horror comedy buddy cops movie Dead Heat. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094961/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_1
The Patriot (2000)
South Carolina Land of Happy Slaves , evil tyrannical sadistic Brits and one unblemished American hero. That's Hollywood for you.
I am really really sick that Holaywoods's latest trend that USA is the God's gift on Earth or best thing on Universe always stands for right things ! Sure. Mel "the drunk high" Gibson is a honest good American farmer from South happily living with his family children until righteous Revolution sweeps peaceful slave holding Carolinas , evil Brit Red Coats slaughter every innocent colonist including Mel's sons and surprise Mel and rest of his family becomes super ninjas to avenge their losses.
First of all. Director is a problem. Roland Emmerich is a hack , one of worst directors in hall of messy overblown productions history. In an attempt to rewrite history (I am warning everyone historical movies SHOULD have an obligation to be more than entertainment. They must be somewhat historically accurate. Depiction of Tavington and his supposed atrocities are unforgivable. If Warshaw Ghetto inhabitants were depicted as criminals in "The Pianist" or Amon Goeth character was depicted as a sympathetic or heroic character in "Schindler's List" imagine the uproar from Holocaust survivors. A lot of people from general audience get a sense of history from these productions not from books ) Emmerich depicts every Englishmen as Nazis. Guilt trip Herr Emmerich ? There is a simply disgusting scene in movie which really happened actually a certain torching scene which was done actually by German SS against French and Russian civilians during WW2. American characters are all innocent and righteous are freeing black slaves (in Carolinas of all places ! ) , sparing enemy wounded and prisoners (too bad they are not doing same thing in Afghanistan and Iraq) and making British look like fools. British were ACTUALLY granting freedom to blacks in colonies (thousands of them went to Canada as free men along with loyalists which was under Crown's reign after the war) They also abolished slavery 60 years before you Yanks.
What else ? Mel playing his long gone Lethal Weapon performance. He and his super kids slaughter a bunch of Red Coats in swamps where Mel hacks a Brit to sheds literally with his hacket. A scene which will George Romero proud really. A very corny romance. Battle scenes are nice and realistic though I give that. (though I really would like to have that flintlock pistols killing people from several hundreds of yards. LOL. In that era you really had to be very very lucky to kill person with a pistol/musket even from a close range )
Elysium (2013)
Elysium : A Movie with certain sci-fi vision whatever you like it or not
First of all I really missed Sharlto Copley's heavy South African accented f-bombs. It is great to hear them again.
That being said lets get on the review. You can point one constant fact about Neill Blomkamp so far. He does not mind about being politically correct , non -offensive , family friendly or child/studio/box office friendly , PG-rated work. In his productions he shares what he thinks with audience , sparing nothing about his vision of where we are or where we are heading , putting effective real life examples or analogies about main themes or subjects of his scripts. You might not agree about him. But he creates a controversy a discussion about issues we can not ignore. That is his strength and what makes his movies so fun , interesting. Not like Disney funded banal and boring comic book stuff which became shallow formulatic and predictable as hell just to make BO profit by trying to appeal everyone and we are forced to watch on screen every year. District 9 ( which was a great piece of work) was about racism , xenophobia and apartheid. It struck hard. Elysium is about massive illegal immigration , health care , social/income inequality we are forced to face more and more each passing day. Blomkamp basically says that we can not afford to ignore them anymore. Though the actions of main protagonist Max DeCosta we are faced with a desperate man driven to desperate means. In 150 years Earth became a gigantic slum , a Barrio from Mexico City. (most of the film was produced there so it is not surprising ) Pollution , over population , automation of certain services and extension of life created a hell on the planet. When Max played by an subdued Matt Damon has a fatal work accident in the plant he was working (did I mention that Work Safety Regulations , Employee Rights , Unions all vanished as well ) that will cause his demise in a few days he goes on a path that will either save him or kill him a few days earlier. Desperate people and their actions. Alice Braga as Frey Max's childhood crush and Wagner Moura as Spider tag along as well.
Then there is Elysium. A huge O'Neill class rotating space station in high orbit of Earth , an orbital habitat , a paradise for humans. A place where extreme pleasure , health care and life can be experienced through technology that was denied to masses. Jodie Foster who emphasizes her detachment from humanity by her fluent speaking French discussion in her first scene then orders shuttles full of immigrants approaching Elysium to be shot down coldly plays Defense Minister of Station Delacourt who oversees tight immigration procedures and makes no one who does not belong to a rich privileged class comes to station. She is OK with this character. But from antagonist types from the movie two other characters over shines her. First company CEO John Carlyle who is played by sharp cold uncompromising straight William Fichtner. The other is great Sharlto Copley who plays a sociopathic , unpredictable creepy South African mercenary / bounty hunter named Kruger. He is basically dealing with dirty work on Earth for Elysium administration.
CGI and other visual effects along with camera work is great in my opinion. Droids are cool and cold without any sense of empathy or emotion. Action is great but not over the top or oh look Green Screen overload type of thing. It is adequate.
What this movies missing I think is overall sharpness or much more uncompromising attitude of District 9. That movie dealt with our world and our society in a much more harsher , "in your face" way. Here Blomkamp seems to take a back step , made Elysium s little more audience friendly maybe probably due to studio pressure. Another disappointment is script's similarity to District 9. Characters , their motivations , sequence of events are all to similar. One might even say that Sharlto Copley called his workmate David James from District 9 and asked him how to act like a crazed mercenary. Still one hell of a movie definitely one to be watched in theater with big screen. 7,5 would be closer to my final rating.
Man of Steel (2013)
A Great Cinematic Experience
All I can say to describe MoS is a very satisfying big silver screen time. Synder/Nolan/Goyer trio did what Nolan accomplished with The Dark Knight series. The main superhero comic book character taken and lifted with its roots and resource material , updated with current times and themes we can relate ( great drama and character work , non linear back story , a plot stakes with as high as possible to thrill , wonderful production values , zero camp/cheesiness or immature humor ) This is the first first-class production that do Superman justice since Christopher Reeve era. Production is very impressive. It is not trying to imitate or try to be something from past of Superman mythology. This is completely a new a restart of Man of Steel legend. With plot themes like isolation , trying to find your place , alienation from society , first contact and choosing to do right thing Superman comes to our level for a better understanding and we rise to his level to empathize with him. This is a guy with almost god like powers after all. What can harm him or stop him ? A green shiny rock ? No even better. Himself. His identity search. His principles. His limits. His inability to save everyone. When third act starts and casualties suffered in characters introduced and climatic battle finalizes you realize what I mean. Story themes are about being as idealistic and inspirational as possible but there is a limit even in that like in real life. Soundtrack is amazing , beautiful. (I am listening it as I write this review ) Hans Zimmer adds so much to this movie. He is the BOSS.
Casting is just perfect. Henry Cavill is this generations Superman. He relays everything Clark Kent feels and experiences with his quest for identity and choices. Russell Crowe was just great as well. He was the mentor , guide of Kal El as his biological father. I felt Kevin Costner was underused though. He nailed Jonathan Kent but his scenes were not that much. Amy Adams fits as not as damsel in distress but as a resourceful investigative reporter Lois Lane. And antagonists. Michael Shannon is a new and fresh take on General Zod. This is not a character to conquer Earth for his ego but for his vision his agenda about greater good. He is a fanatic but you can even sympathize with him. Rest of cast Antje Traue as Faora (watch Pandorum) , Diane Lane as Martha Kent , Laurence Fishburne as Perry White , Chris Meloni as Col. Hardy perform superbly as well. Just this amazing cast is enough to watch this in theater.
As for negatives in third act there is just too much CGI destruction action and even after you accept nature of this movie after a point your mind goes numb and blank after one destruction scene another. How many buildings you can destroy you ask and then you accept plastic CGI simulation as "meh whatever." And aliens leveling another US city like this was done to death before. They drop a couple of stars from this. Please try something else next time Snyder. I know you are visual director but enough is enough. Still very impressive take on Superman. Eagerly waiting the sequel.
Olympus Has Fallen (2013)
A Very Strong Razzie Nominee
What can I say ? First of all congratulations Antonio Fuqua. Selling and getting BO profit from a production straight lifted or ripped down to last inane dialog from a B grade cheese flick you can rent from Blockbuster or Netflix is an accomplishment no one can deny. It is even more impressive to get positive reviews for this silly trash that takes itself seriously which makes it even more terrible. When this thing was called Air Force One everyone every critic ripped it apart. Only explanations Olympus Has Fallen getting a 7+ point in IMDb ( a rating system which I will never take care of ) after so many years can be decreasing IQ of mass movie going audience and insecurities of 9/11 on US public. Every dumb stupid over the top Die Hard action cliché was crammed in this production. A C-130 gunship entering restricted DC airspace before shot down from a safe distance beggars belief. Or highly trained Secret Service agents wasting ammunition on a fast flying armoured aircraft. Or same agents exposing themselves only to be mown down. North Korean terrorists ( yeah you read that right Korean ) are depicted more like Orcs or Klingons. Any actual Koreans watching this film would probably laugh his ass off. At least in Hollyland Number 1 villains are not Middle Easterns with cheesy Arab accents anymore. What else ? Fallen military trained lone wolf hero killing all of them one by one , meanwhile taunting evil mastermind ( who makes one of most ridiculous evil turnout / reveal scene just by taking glasses off. Rick Yune is just not Gary Oldman ) with US macho jargon and saves the day. Down to talking to his wife in the middle of war zone he basically screams "I am a John McLane looka like no:10241." Failed military strike to retake captured building to increase tension. Oh look only 3 seconds left to disaster...AAAAAND it is averted.
Last year Hollywood Powers That Be gave us Lockout which had basically same script but also semi enjoyable but this is just awful. I completely erased Gerard Butler from list of professional actors in fact I will stay away from his films away from now on. Aaron Eckhart , Morgan Freeman and Dylan McDermott will have to struggle a lot to redeem themselves in my eyes after this.
Have I mentioned shoddy CGI or annoying heroic /sad music during supposedly heroic/sad moments ?
The Lovely Bones (2009)
I will remember you Susie Salmon
I watched this movie last night and immensely moved. Peter Jackson was not a director I hold in high regard unlike his other fans due to LOTR but here the story was touching and quite human. Susie's murder and its aftermath makes anyone to question if we can trust anyone in this society or if anyone who lives next door could be someone or something else. Aftermath Susie's narration of events , her time in her personal limbo watching , commenting and sometimes intervening to the events and lives she left behind were also dramatic material we see less in commercial movie productions. Saoirse Ronan was a new name for me but it is a name I will follow more closely in coming movies. For her age she performed quite admirably. Other actors are hit and miss though. Susan Sarandon and Rachel Weiss easily display their acting skills as wild grandmother and grieving mother. Stanley Tucci , another name I did not hold in high regard before was quite good and really surprised me as creepy and slimy serial killer. I can pass on Mark Wahlberg though. He just can not act. Besides in my opinion Jackson extended the movie too long. 135 min is unnecessary for this kind of story.
Still thank you Susie Salmon and Peter Jackson for reminding the preciousness of the things we take for granted in this life. I will keep that in my mind more often.
The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
Christopher Nolan Makes Movies
Christopher Nolan Makes Movies.. There can not be any other summary to explain that man's career. He does not make genre flicks , CGI or 3-D simulations , banalities. He does not take lame overwhelming and childish humor because of target audience or nature of script-basically comic book stuff-He goes against expectations. He does not bow under studio pressure. ( I hope other directors take a note how he stands for his own vision and principles ) He is a very bad man. Don't we love him because of that ?
Beginning of TDKR reminds me that Chris Nolan once wanted to direct a Bond movie and how much he and his script writing genius brother Jonathan had been influenced with that era of cinema. Aircraft hijacking/crashing scene was intense and one of the best thrilling introductions I have ever seen. Then we get to Gotham our location where our story being told to its finale. Now I am going to intrude here and say that Nolans begin to tell a compact history of French Revolution. He once said Charles Dickens classic novel "A Tale of Two Cities" was his inspiration. And it shows ! After eight years of suspending a legend , a lie about what happened in The Dark Knight , Gotham seems peaceful. Due to Dent Act all major criminals and other trouble makers are in Blackgate Prison (Bastille ?) But most of the underlying reasons of Gotham's suffering remain. There is still a huge gap between rich elite , a relishing minority and poor suffering masses , a forgotten and ignored majority. Orphans are working in sewers , doing whatever they can. Wayne Enterprises stopped its charities and visionary clean energy projects. Wealthy continue to spread their money for parties and luxury. Police is increasingly powerful because of Dent Act but it is like putting a cork on top of a boiling bottle. Actually things are not as peaceful as it seems (It was the best of times , it was the worst of times , it was the age of wisdom , it was the age of foolishness , it was the epoch of belief , it was the epoch of incredulity , it was the Season of Light , it was the Season of Darkness..) It is all the right mixture for someone with radical agenda to spread chaos and anarchy with extreme violence and destroy the established order.
Architechts of all this temporary peace are not satisfied with what they accomplished either. Bruce Wayne , degraded in body and soul , retreated into a solitary life. No one saw either him or his altar ego Batman for a long time after Batman took all blame of Harvey Dent's crimes. Jim Gordon is also at unease and torn about revealing the truth to public. Both Christian Bale and Gary Oldman are great , excellent as usual we expect from these established actors and their well drawn characters. A burglary incident in Wayne Manor puts Bruce Wayne back into game to track a resourceful cat thief. ( Anne Hathaway just made everyone who criticized her to eat their own words with her wonderful performance. No one can question Nolans actor selection from now on ) And meanwhile trouble is brewing beneath Gotham in form of Bane , a hulking and cunning extreme revolutionary/mercenary fanatic and his army. Tom Hardy is just awesome both physical , vocal and facial (as much as with a mask , shades of Hugo Weaving in "V for Vendetta". Unlike others I could understand him perfectly and his voice just scared hell out of me ) acting in this role. Death of John Daggett ( or death of Maquis St Evermonde , Nolan Nolan how you gave audience so much credit for their intelligence ) was one of the finest piece of acting between two actors I have seen this year. While Alfred , trusted Butler and confident of Bruce try to stop him for his own good (Veteran Brit actor Michael Caine goes amazing lengths especially in his final scenes) war is approaching....
Remaining supporting cast and characters are great too. Joseph-Gordon Levitt is just screaming with huge potential as John Blake , a honest good cop trying to help Batman , Morgan Freeman is also very good again not surprising with his career. I haven't seen Matthew Modine for a long time so he was a nice surprise as Foley. Only casting I had trouble with was Marion Cotillard as Miranda Tate. (Madam Defarge here) Marion is an excellent actress but here she was struggling with her French accent and her character's romance with Wayne does not make sense or established well ( nor his second romance with Catwoman either ) There are a few plot holes like Blake's figuring out Batman's true identity with a flimsy explanation. Pacing of story can sometimes be uneven but seriously I never noticed how almost three hours passed. The whole movie was that gripping. The throwbacks to first movie are very elegant , Scarecrow , Ra'as al Ghoul both make an appearance and confirm that TDKR is a full circle from first movie , a conclusion of protagonist's heroic journey , closing of final chapter. Actually story structure is somewhat similar to Batman Begins with revelations , hellish conditions in prison ( Black Hole of Calcutta ? ) process of fall and rise and hero's inner struggles but not disturbingly so. It is not a copy cat or rip off.
The themes are serious , there are no more darkness and light anymore. While heroes and villains struggle in light for ultimate salvation of Gotham , some like Sidney Carton from "A Tale of Two Cities" will make the ultimate sacrifice.
"It is a far far better thing that a I do ,than I have ever done , it is far far better rest that I go to than I have ever known" final words of ToTC
The Avengers (2012)
Superhero Pollution in Hollywood
Actor John Cusack once said that there are no more big production studios anymore. There are just a bunch of banks which provide funding/credits for projects and approve which script would be produced according to box office profit it is projected to generate. ( because Hollywood mentality became like : more money , bigger stars , bigger budget , bigger marketing , bigger blockbuster , bigger box office income that's all it matters ) Since comicbook / superhero genre is the newest and biggest market to be milked in popular culture for Hollywood in these harsh economy ; is it surprising that The Avengers , a childish intake about a bunch of ridiculously costumed "Superheroes" with one dimensional immature behavior getting together to repel an alien invasion ( AGAIN ! I think any actual alien seeing these alien invasion movies would not even close Earth ever again. Our "always winning despite odds" thing would be silly to them ) ? Unfortunetely not. This is another shallow seasonal product , another "leave your brain at theater door" movie aimed for Comic Con Convention fans. And I admit it is a BIG market.
Just like most movies in this genre ( there are a few exceptions ) it has its own cliché's and tropes like they are coming out of a factory assembly line. At least director Joss Whedon ( a great TV writer/producer. I was a follower of Firefly and Dollhouse ) does not deny them and recognizing what they are , wears them at movie's sleeve. Bickering superheroes ( that's fine amusing with Whedonesque humor but humor got overwhelming and made "superheroes" childlike not multi dimensional characters ) , threat from outer space from a sneering arrogant enemy with another comic book costume ( at least Tom Hiddleston performed as well as he could with material he was given , but what the hell was Loki's motivation in conquering Earth ? ) , his boss with a digital voice , super secret ( American as usual ) military spy agency ( I can never understand American film industry's fetish of military - for a nation devoid of conscription ) , national stereotypes ( Russians are evil you know ) , hot ass kicking super agent babes ( Scarlett , Scarlett are you so desperate ? ) , Aryan looking superheroes from WW2 era ( Thor , Captain America , blond blue eyed , with whom we were fighting with anyway in that time ? Did you realize that there were no other ethnicity among these heroes like Oriental or Latin ) , Tony Stark rich jerk , Hulk a Doctor Bruce Banner marked with tragedy ( Mark Ruffolo is the only actor with proper character material and performs admirably in this ) , Hawkeye with baby faced Jeremy Renner ( I never warmed to that guy as an actor ) , and Samuel Jackson as Nick Fury big boss of agency with an eye patch ( no fake protez in nowadays ? ) because it looks cool , a final battle with lots of laser rays and CGI explosions without casualties in another American urban area ( this year it is New York City's trashing time ) , good vs evil , government made the mistake of launching a nuclear missile , it is averted , heroes are victorious blah blah it is the end....
After all this sequence of predictable events where no protagonist was harmed and good guys win , what do we have ? An empty blockbuster which will make a big Box Office hit , probably a franchise but at the end an empty film. I can not wait in 20-30 years our grandchildren asking "Is this the stuff your generation was watching ? No wonder everything really mattered like environment , economy , politics or simple psyche of human or society condition all of them gone hell. Your visual arts stopped reflecting them !"
Battleship (2012)
Annual US Armed Forces Recruitment Film - 2012 version
What is a fact is a fact. There is no denying. Peter Berg and Universal execs probably envious of big box office profits of latest trend of Michael Bay Aliens vs US Army , decided to adapt another of Hasbro titles , old "Battleship" game into a movie. That's right. Video games , comic books , action figures all run out. Now boardgames are latest target of stupid , empty headed but CGI overloaded studio production.
Actually whole movie is a huge excuse for cramming as much CGI explosion , special effects s possible. Characters are paper thin boring clichés. To increase appeal photogenic super model like actors who can not act are in the movie ( neither Brooklyn Decker nor Rhianna can act worth a damn. There are in movie for eye candy. Liam Neeson has just 10 minutes of screen time. Taylor Kitsch was not too bad in John Carter but in Battleship his character is worst kind of stereotype , suffering from Captain Kirk syndrome) but like in GI Joe it does not help. Actions of aliens make no sense and are not defined. Producers probably decided that Air Force , Marine Corps had enough fun repelling freaking alien invasions so it is Navy's turn. Story is weak. So they added every possible cliché from sci-fi genre : instant battlefield promotion , male hero taking responsibility in crisis , his hot girlfriend involving a pointless secondary story ( a trick in script writing that dates back to disaster flicks of 1970'ies ) US military kicking ass of faceless aliens ( when these freaky fictional aliens will learn that in Hollywood fairy land they have no chance against humans with cocky attitude ? ) etc....What else ? Ruined cities check , geeky scientists check , trashed military hardware check , no blood or casaulties in ruins check , middle aged government officials making emergency conferences shouting computer screens to hammer gravity of crisis check , evil genocidal aliens with energy shields , powerful weapons , interstellar travel and other overdone technological advances check , same aliens having a weaknesses in their tech to be exploited in CGI battles check , cringe worthy exposional dialog check....List goes like that.
Make no mistake. Battleship will make money probably a decent profit due to its marketing campaign for targeted audience ( teenage , uneducated young adult populace who do not know how to distinguish between quality and cr..p. They are majority audience ) Box Office performance usually determined by shape of your marketing and selling your movie to your audience. But a year from now I doubt anyone who watched Battleship , basically Independence Day made for 2012 season ( come to think of it Roland Emmerich could also direct this ) , will remember that they paid cash to see it without embarrassing themselves.
Universal just expanded 200+ million dollars for a bad militaristic seasonal product. Can you point out how different it is from Battle LA ? Even old World War 2 propaganda movie "Why We Fight ?" has more substance than this one
Person of Interest (2011)
Person of Interest made me watch TV again
I will be honest. I gave up watching TV programming for a long time. In every TV show entertainment , contest , talk show , series I was recognizing same lame similarities and banality for last few years. Person of Interest renewed my faith in serialized crime/thriller drama. Now it is the only TV series I follow in entire week. Acting is great to watch. Jim Caviezel and Michael Emerson add nuances and layers to their characters with their fine acting skills. I am not a fan of JJ Abrams at all. I gave up watching LOST after first two seasons. His other series were mediocre to terrible. But here in PoI he is balanced with great Jonathan Nolan in production department. This adds a whole The Dark Knight vibe to series which I love. I hope they do not screw up main storyline or character arcs. Person of Interest brought my childhood with vigilante hero/adventure series like Knight Rider or The Equalizer. I am eagerly waiting next episode !
Don't screw up CBS ! You got a new audience.
John Carter (2012)
John Carter : A mediocre combination of previous sci-fi/fantasy epics
I once read somewhere there are only seven stories to tell. By changing details like characters , environment , sequence of events and editing you can make them different or look like original ( and be successful ) But at the end there are just seven stories to tell. John Carter is a prime example of this.
Plot is simple and familiar since the days of simple fairy tale era :( though it is understandable , we are talking about 100 year old sci-fi fantasy novel written by Edgar R. Burroughs as original story material I admit that it is nicely paced and edited.) The protagonist John Carter , a US Civil War veteran , a man robbed of his life purpose , suddenly finds himself in Mars of past...a long lost era when Red Planet was sustainable of life. Here with incredible jumping capabilities and physical powers he becomes a hero , a legend fighting on the side of good Helium city against evil Zadonga city , hooking up with a Princess needed to be saved , becomes buddies with six foot CGI Gungan like creatures from Star Wars etc.....
In this era when virtual video games became more complicated and scripted like real stage plays or movie scripts themselves and movies became more and more like video games , John Carter relies more on visual effects , CGI and 3D as expected in the absence of original writing material. They are not bad but just like the story itself they are all in "we have seen that before" territory. In outdoor decors ,fashion , style and writing it is all like Star Wars Episode I , Prince of Persia , Avatar , Flash Gordon , TV series Rome 2005 ( it even has three Rome actors in similar roles ) and Farscape combined. It is not bad but as I said before , it is too FAMILIAR...
As for acting although Taylor Kitsch did not impress me as regular young white muscled long haired handsome hero , rest of the cast was not bad. Lynn Collins was OK , from supporting actors Mark Strong was quite good as expected from his theater trained career. So were other live action actors like great Ciaran Hinds , Dominic West and James Purefloy with their limited screen time. Other decent actors like Samantha Morton , Polly Walker , Willem Defoe and Thomas Haden Church provide nice voice acting for Tarks if nothing else.
John Carter of Mars is not a bad movie. It is enjoyable , enough to waste a couple hours. Kids will probably like it. One thing it would not be though. It won't be a franchise , something Disney longed to replace dying Pirates of Caribbean series. It is just too unoriginal and mediocre for that. Era of Eroll Flynn heroics are long past...
Tron: Legacy (2010)
Delivers what it promises
Original Tron made in 1982 was revolutionary at its time though it passed unnoticed and unrecognized. Partly because it was so ahead of its time with amazingly imagined ( and inspired from Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" ) and designed digital world , ideas like quantum teleportation to this alternate digital world inside a computer mainframe , programs having their own identities , personalities and lives in this universe etc....Now 29 years later Tron Legacy comes back to remind us the ideas and concepts original Tron seeded in science fiction AND visual movie making and advances CGI technologies we took so far.
Tron Legacy's story is simple ( though more complicated than original Tron ) but effective. ( I have no idea why certain critics or audience simply trash it "No plot" Have you watched the same movie ? It is like a choir. When some critics defend a position everyone flocks around them ) It is about creating a paradise with order and efficiency turning into a nightmare through extremism and fanaticism. And it is also about a nice father/son relationship. Basically Sam Flynn , son of Kevin Flynn ( protagonist of original Tron ) , a 27 year old young man traces his father's steps after his disappearance 20 years ago. By same teleportation means he enters a similar digital world , a world which his father created and titled as The Grid. Programs in this sub universe or realm have their own identities , personalities and lives just like you or me. And they have created a civilization. But it is a civilization run by totalitarian control of CLU , a digital copy program of Kevin Flynn. Kevin Flynn himself is trapped in this world and now he , Sam and a wunder program/miracle life form named Quorra try to escape and return to real world before CLU and his violence spills into our world also...
As concept they took out a lot of computer jargon of original Tron and replaced it with philosophical/religious sub texts. Although it is disappointing from sci-fi angle it is not disturbing too much and it adds some kind of a depth ( a shallow one but a depth nonetheless ) Visual effects , CGI all of them are wonderful , marvelous I should say. When I saw the recognizer first time there was a huge grin on my face. There is a certain fight scene which was designed like a techno dance. Garett Hedlund as Sam Flynn is OK. He is not outstanding but he delivers the role well and holds his own against other actors. Real star is of course Jeff Bridges as both Kevin "The Dude" Flynn and dictator program CLU ( effectively de-aged with CGI ) He is excellent. Olivia Wilde is also fine as naive but spirited Quorra. Bruce Boxleitner from original Tron also reprises his role as Alan Bradley and a short cameo role as Tron. Michael Sheen is also a fine addition as a David Bowie like wild program named Castor.
If you are a sci-fi/fantasy fan with good quality taste give Tron Legacy a chance. Especially after watching original Tron...It delivers what it promises as a good epic sci-fi fantasy fun without ever feeling dumb. ( unlike most of hig budget big studio sci-fi productions of today )
Man on Fire (2004)
"Revenge is a dish best served in cold"
Based on a 1980'ies A. Quintrell novel "Man on Fire" as a production sizzles and then flares with high quality. It is a violent revenge movie , it is a touching redemption story , it is a friendship/healing tale....and it succeeds telling all these aspects in an emotional , gripping way. Main creator of this production Tony Scott ( whom I think along his brother Ridley Scott are last of the few creative artist directors remained in CGI/Marketing oriented Hollywood ) uses a non-original but still very good script , high class acting talents of Denzel Washington , Dakota Fanning and supporting cast plus some very stylish , cutting , flashy , clip like camera work ( especially in violent scenes ) to create a great movie. Tony like his brother Ridley is a true artist on my account.
Story : Creasy ( Washington ) is an ex CIA operative/assassin who was burnt and now is an alcoholic filled with guilt due to his past career. When a friend of his arranges a job for him as a bodyguard for Pita ( Fanning ) daughter of a young industrialist in Mexico City where kidnapping-for-ransom is the new rising crime wave , he accepts it reluctantly. But when Pita with her child like innocence forms a bond and takes him out of his self pitying he is committed to her. Until she is kidnapped and Creasy wounded while protecting her. When ransom payment goes awry and she is assumed dead Creasy goes rogue and starts a bloody rampage , begins a violent reckoning among these "professional criminals" and whoever arranged and profited from this foul deed or "looked wrong" to Creasy
The whole movie is tight accessible to regular viewer , filled with themes fills you with emotions along with clip like scenes...Acting especially from Denzel Washington and Dakota Fanning is great...Highly recommended
Stargate SG-1 (1997)
Pathetic is not even enough to describe it.
Seriously , seeing that this awful show getting so high ratings ( except last two seasons which seems it has crashed completely ) and having a fan base seriously made me question quality of sci-fi audience of today. Everything from acting to writing is cliché , recycled and weak. Plots are same in every season. Most of the episodes were ripped from either Star Trek or other previous much successful space opera series. So they are also predictable. and very boring. Big bad ( and mostly black or swarthy ) digital sounding and belly-dancer costumed aliens who are also (conviniently) fundamentalists of false religions or false gods are out there , conquering universe. Their victims are white Caucasian looking naive innocent decent and defenseless humans. And USA Air Force with a 4-5 man team ALWAYS stops and defeats bad guys. ( great Air Force ad ) and saves the world. ( USA version of it ) That's all. I just love how ignorant North Americans look down other cultures of the rest of world , religions and civilizations of Ancient/First Ages and present then label them "false" , "barbaric" , "fanatic" , "evil" etc....Inferiority complex talks among producers. I mean there is no way backwards(!) Ancient Egyptians who needed to be saved from clutches of their evil(!) god/religion could build complex structures like pyramids themselves right ? NO of course they must have been built by aliens...evil ones. ( of course anyone who bothers to study a little bit archeology will find undeniable evidence that they were built by Ancient Egypt civilizations but who cares about historical facts compared with badly written space opera fantasy )
Full of technobabble , silly jokes , lame humor , one dimensional characters with a single function ( brainy chick , funny commander , cute nerd and alien sidekick. Without these functions and looking good on screen they are nothing) and simple dialogs made for 5-10 year old kids complete the picture. Maybe if it had some proper production values it might have been watchable. It does not even have that ! It is obvious that this is a Canadian production with terrible production values and a very low budget. Every alien speaks English without explanation. Every alien planet looks like a wild park in Canada. Every alien settlement is like same Middle Ages village. In every episode or season the threat dealt , plot resolved nicely and conveniently with good guys always victorious with moral high ground but without long term effects , casualties or consequences. No drama value. No acting talent. ( seriously these actors must have been performing for their low wage paychecks and a chance for long term employment . Their effort is so uninspired. ) Nothing..
Oh last of all. This series might be a ten year long military ad. BUT producers of this c..fest have no idea about military life or procedures at the end. Watching supposedly brilliant special ops soldiers firing and expanding their ammunition on spaceships ( spaceships I mean not a helicopter or fast moving aircraft but ARMORED SPACESHIPS ! ) is so silly and unrealistic I don't even bother to mention more...
Inception (2010)
It is...pure creation
Just like Ellen Page's character Ariadne says "It is pure creation" This quote summarizes whole movie. Inception is a well through implicitly written and edited , deep , thrilling and above all INTELLIGENT summer sci-fi block buster we miss so much for years.
The reason and genius behind this work of art is one name : Christopher Nolan. This is his handiwork , his final work on through , conscious and sub conscious mind state. He spent ten years to complete the script. Believe me. It shows on the screen. Since Memento we see his obsession on time , memories , dreaming , emotional pain , loss , tragedy in dark noir sense....Now I have decided that these aspects are his trademarks...But boy he uses them excellently especially in Inception. He is not after latest CGI explosion. For him CGI and other special effect tricks are just tools to tell his story and his characters. And due to his trade marks I mentioned above his stories , characters are serious and involving. As you go one layer after another you give yourself as a whole to understand the plot and characters. In Inception whole audience is so mesmerized when it ended with that ending there were lots of "ahhhhhhh"s. Christopher Nolan does not insult audience and their intelligence. He trusts them. He creates a maze at first half then puts us right in it. He does not bore and lower his standards with lame teenager jokes and sex appeal of latest no talent chicks. He does not make fun movies. But he also leaves entertainment element in his productions. There is humor but subtle and timely. There is action but it is on the spot and not over the top. There are few clichés if none. It is not predictable. You do not know what is coming next. Time difference , cut/edit work between several dream levels are jaw dropping. Several scenes like zero gravity fight at hotel or slow motion drop of van are sure to be cult moments for fans. They reek of elegant artistic work. Nolan takes his work seriously. He is making what Alfred Hitchkock or Stanley Kubrick was doing in previous decades. He is working on 7th Art....
Main characters also display an impressive performance on screen. Leonardo Di Caprio ( who is becoming more legendary and professional because he chooses his projects carefully ) is the main protagonist of Inception....his character Dom Cobb is an Extractor , a thief of thoughts and ideas in dream state and he is one of the best. A fugitive for a murder he did not commit he is on run around the world and he is also a haunted man marked with tragedy. Inception is primarily Cobb's story...his dealings with his loss and his quest to reunite with his children. Caprio puts his best performance with this character. Joseph Gordon Levitt is Arthur the Point Man , Cobb's partner in extracting operations. I saw Levitt first time in that awful GI Joe movie last year. But here he was quite excellent. Ellen Page surprised me with her decent performance as Ariadne the Arcitect , builder of dreams and a recent addition to Cobb's team. She performed as a very mature , wise character , a voice of reason for Cobb. Tom Hardy ( I know him from Star Trek Nemesis movie , Band of Brothers and Colditz mini series ) was another amazing stand out as wise cracking Eames the Forger. And let's not forget wonderful French actress Marion Cotillard as Mal , main villain of Inception....Cotillard was quite good when I saw her first time in Public Enemies last year. But in Inception her acting is beyond words. Her glare was enough...Other actors Ken Watanabe ( Last Samurai , Letters from Iwo Jima ) as Saito the Tourist who hired Cobb and his team for "Inception" , Cillian Murphy as Robert Fischer the Mark ( quite a normal and emotional character a real change for Murphy ) , Dillop Rao as Yusuf the Chemist and Tom Berenger as Browning were also quite impressive. Legendary Michael Caine also has a short role as Miles. Cast is quite international. ( British , Irish , American , Canadian , Japanese , French ) It seems that Nolan is not interested working with latest Hollywood celebrity. He is interested working with a talented cast...And you know what ? It works
Last thoughts : Thank God for Christopher Nolan. When we despaired of Hollywood and its finished creativity he served us Inception....A movie that incepts ideas in minds , inspires , starts creativity....It is not a comic book rip-off or a remake of another classic. I know some would say that Inception was ripped from Japanese animes to Matrix , Uncle Scrooge comics...So what ? Nolan never denied that he used ideas from James Bond movies , "13th Floor" ( another impressive production ) , Matrix....He mixed them so well you do not realize that fact at all. Pay no attention to them. As for me...I am eagerly waiting Inception DVD....
Robin Hood (2010)
Robin Hood : How Magna Carta Charter was created
There are roughly three kinds of directors....Directors who made movies just for dumb fun , entertainment for ignorant masses and a quick buck in box office. ( mainstream Hollywood directors are usually like that ) 2) Directors who think their profession as an art forms and make productions like an art work with diligence 3) Directors who combine above both successfully
Ridley Scott is a director who is in third category above. He entertains but he never loses focus , drama , serious air , character development , good scripting and plot line , editing , camera work etc...His movies are entertaining but also intelligent with characters , events , scenario development...Like a lot of directors he works with a group of established high quality actors and they do not disappoint....Russell Crowe who is professional actor worked Ridley with several other productions ( most notably "Gladiator" of course ) and this duo always gets some positive results...Cate Blanchett is quite admirable with her performance here as Marion. Other actors like another Scott favorite Mark Strong , William Hurt , Oscar Isaacs and Max Von Sydow ( hell he is 81 and he is still in his top form. His character was quite good and performed nicely. ) and other supporting cast also combine their talents and creating a very interesting version of Robin Hood.
Interesting because this Robin Hood is devoid of most of the known/memorized myths and clichés about character itself. It tells the origin story of an ordinary archer in King "Lion Heart" Richard's British Army after Third Crusade before he became the legendary outlaw Robin Hood. Due to a series of events , misunderstandings , deceptions and conspiracies Robin Longstride chooses the path which will make him a myth figure in future. There are lots of conspiracies , plotting , historical events and background like French invasion attempt of British Isles in 1215 and origins of Magna Carta Charter.
A little history lesson here : Magna Carta Charter ( Charter of Freedoms ) is the first official document and law which limited King's authority , order and crowns absolute grip on people/nobility. Charter made King below the law and made it clear that his will could be bound by law. It was written and originated in Britain in 1216 during King John's rule after King "Lion Heart" Richard died and French invasion attempt. Due to high taxes King John's ( or Price John before Richard's death ) rule was quite unpopular among common people and nobility , aristocrats. After a civil war between King John and nobles who rebelled his authority , John was forced to sign Magna Carta. Magna Carta was arguably the most significant early influence on the extensive historical process that led to the rule of constitutional law today in the modern world we live in. Magna Carta influenced the development of the common law and many constitutional documents...
Only things I didn't like in the movie : First , Nazification of French. When I watched French soldiers got peasants together in a barn by force and then set it on fire I groaned "No please not another "THE PATRIOT" ( a terrible movie about American Revolution made by Roland Emmerich in 2000 ) mess !" Second is just we got real Robin Hood legend , how it was created movie ended just like that ! Maybe they are thinking a sequel. I don't know....
Aside from that historical details and camera work is fine. You get a little sense of "Saving Private Ryan" nostalgia in French landing attempt and final battle. Director Ridley Scott must have watched Saving Private Ryan a few times....So if you like a movie about serious themes , issues , history with some fun combined together watch Robin Hood...
Avatar (2009)
Master is Back !
James Cameron returns to big screen with all of his grandeur after 12 years of hypersleep. During all this time he mostly kept himself busy with some documentary projects like "Expedition Bismark" and last few years with Avatar. Apearently he was waiting for necessary CGI visual and camera technology to develop....
Usually I dislike when a movie production is sold to gullible audience through only with overblown massive CGI ( mainly with explosions ) and a lame bad or awful script and terrible or non existent characterization. Industrial Hollywood directors like Bay or Emmerich just sign on horrible scrips only to show latest massive CGI destruction scenes....But thankfully James Cameron does not take that path. He uses CGI and other extensive visual/camera technology to tell a simple , understandable ( though covered before in other previous productions ) story through visuals...That means he uses elegant scene capturing , camera work , excellent acting and elegant plus revolutionary CGI all combined together to tell a story , including its background and universe. He is using visuals , CGI to tell his story and set its background extensively. That's why "Avatar"s battle scene was towards its end ( it was also excellent and massive of course ) Cameron uses more than half of 162 minutes just to introduce this new alien planet , its ecology , biosphere and beautifully created Na'vi people plus characters with visuals..He takes his time...But to make it interesting he does that again with excellent amazing and creative visuals and scenery...And in 3-D wow..absolutely amazing...You are virtually in this alien but somehow familiar planet. And with all of these imagery , scenery , visual 3-D tech planet Pandora , its surroundings , plant-animal life and Na'vi culture all seem something novel , aesthetically gorgeous , wondrous and interesting to audience...That my friends is the mark of great movie making...We became so familiar and combined with Na'vi and their harmony with nature , way of life and beautiful environment when action starts we subconsciously side with them. It is almost like instinct...One side there is military industrial complex of humanity in future who wants to expel Na'vi with massive firepower , exploit their lands and ruin natural habitat ( as we have seen countless times in history in colonization of American and African continents ) just to mine a mineral below ground...At the other side these beautiful and simple people with their harmony with nature....
As I mentioned before story was covered before in other productions like Dances with Wolves and Pocahontas so it is also kinda predictable ( that's why I broke one star from rating ) but as I said before magic of Cameron is ability to tell even a simple and previously told story from a different angle with astonishing visuals , serious attitude ( there is no lame humor here ) and emotionally moving and exciting way...There isn't much originality left in Hollywood storytelling anyway..and I pick Avatar's story over stereotype evil aliens vs good victim humans and military saves world with massive firepower plots....Still towards the end of battle sequence some events began to go over the top....Like Eywa "Mother Nature" comes to rescue at last minute , it was a lame cop out McGuffin so good guys win at the end...Col. Quaritch jumping from crashing command craft in a battle suit was silly like something out of a dorky Bay movie and his final fight in battle suit with Jake and Neytiri reminded me a final boss level fight from a mediocre video game...
But these are small nit pickings. Basically story was good and it was about something ( anti-corporate , anti-militarization , nature/environment preservation ) As for the acting it was usually decent. Sam Worthington was OK...Zoe Saldana was excellent ( still amazed how her and other characters CGI facial features were so elegantly displayed in different emotions..How the hell they pulled off that ! ) Sigourney Weaver is bringing her usual professional performance. Her character Dr. Grace Augistine reminded me another character played by Weaver again..Dr Dian Fossey in "Gorillas in the Mist" (1988). Stephen Lang was great as bad ass Col. Quaritch. Lang had also pulled an impressive secondary character performance in Michael Mann's "Public Enemies" this summer and here in "Avatar" he does not disappoint again as main antagonist. Quaritch was basically General Patton of future...Giovanni Ribisi as Selfridge , a corporate weasel ( a clear rip off from Burke character from Aliens ) , Michelle Rodriguez as chopper pilot Trudy and Joel Moore as Spellman were again OK as secondary characters...
So summary : Master James Cameron is back folks...Though Avatar is short of excellent or perfect as it intends to be...it is damn good , it has at least a nice plot , amazing visual scenes and it provides a fantastic entertainment...And I loved the soundtrack..Definitely will buy it...
2012 (2009)
Adventures of Super American Dad and his family !
The title of this sorry excuse for a movie should be like that..I mean after watching Curtis family survive every massive disaster milliseconds before...with making so many jokes and in script gags ( I swore I thought this was becoming a comedy towards middle while countless gigantic tragedies supposed to be going on everywhere with millions dying "The guy is an actor. He is getting paid to read a script !" ) , scientific nonsense and dismissal of laws of physics ( jumping through massive gaps on the ground with a limo ! , flying with a two propeller aircraft in front of an exploding super volcano , moving a gigantic Antonov plane between collapsing buildings and inside chasms , cell phones and global network of communications still on along with GPS and other navigational systems after Earth's magnetic poles screwed up ) , god awful leaps of logic ( hey listen and follow what every conspiracy nut says when the end is coming....They might have a map which shows our survival ) , racial and national stereotypes for dumb Americans ( "Arab sheiks and their families are not worthy of saving" implies morally superior scientist hero...WHAT ? Queen of Great Britain is leaving everyone and saving herself with her dogs , shifty fat Russian billionaire buffoons can not be trusted but hey their Paris Hilton like mistresses are hot ! ) , every disaster movie cliché crammed in ( a dysfunctional American family , dad estranged from wife and struggling with an menial job but he is a hero , her new boyfriend is a jerk to be killed , dog survives , family reunited at the end , a scientist warns everyone with a moral and ethical speech at the end and gets First Daughter , US President good decent man doing right thing always and sacrifices himself with his people....STOP STOP TOO MUCH US PATRIOTISM ALERT )
After watching all of this I went to restroom and threw up....Another case which Hollywood does not make a real production or interested with art of film making anymore but only bothered to create a PRODUCT to be consumed by idiot audience to make money....And it will make money because of the marketing campaign , CGI porn and ignorant masses. Not because script or acting means or worthy of anything. Seriously I respect John Cusack a lot. What happened to this guy ? Why he accepted leading role ? I will not even bother to discuss rest of the cast...They were all terrible one way or another ( except for little actress Lily Morgan ...She was quite talented and acted better than anyone else...Because she acted natural as she supposed to be...not like Woody Harrelson's overbearing absurd conspiracy nut manners
Roland Emmerich has only one or two script and he is using it over and over again with little changes ( except little changes names , characters events and characters are similar with "Independence Day" and "Day After Tomorrow" ) Even he has a different scrips he shows what a terrible director he is....He is just selling a CGI show and you can go to Disneyland instead and get a similar thrill in rollercoasters....
Blood Diamond (2006)
Precious gems will not seem same after watching "Blood Diamond"
"Througout the history of Africa whenever a substance of value was found locals die in great number and misery.." "Blood Diamond" is best Edward Zwick movie I have seen so far ( I was immensely disappointed with Tom Cruise turd "Last Samurai" ) With characters and locations seem straight out of a Wilbur Smith novel Blood Diamond displays an example of blood mayhem , tragedy and huge suffering occurred during Sierra Leone Civil war ( 1999 ) in West Africa. The catch is rich diamond deposits of Sierra Leone of course. Everybody wants them , brutal RUF rebels who raids and burns villages for labor to work in diamond mining , South African mercenaries who sell arms to them in return for the diamonds rebels got , diamond cartel which funds mercenaries and rebels to control the illegal diamond flow to market , individuals , governments you name it. This movie shows how inhuman we can be in pursuit of material monetary enrichment and disregard human suffering in the background. Or worse inflict that suffering ourselves...
Meet Danny Archer , ex-South African soldier now mercenary and diamond smuggler. Leonardo Di Caprio displays this character excellently on screen. He studied this character meticulously , perfected a Rhodesian accent , obviously took some kind of military training down to ammunition saving in battle situation as any sane soldier in combat situation does. This is not an just an action movie ( though there is a lot of amount of action and violence ) This is a drama , history , social commentary movie with realistic action and a little bit romance. When bullets struck home it usually kills or wounds one severely. Archer is a cynic. He is what he is. A man making his own fortune in a place of chaos....Although he is one of the three main characters he is not an angel or do gooder. His actions are usually based on his interests. But in fact he is is a decent man who has the capacity to do right thing. He just does not know or show that...Di Caprio was really brilliant with this character and that year Academy should have awarded him for this performance...( I am not including the Departed of course )
Djiman Hounsou is also very good as other main character as Solomon Vandy a poor fisherman who is separated from his family when RUF rebels raided his village. While working as a slave labor for rebels he finds a huge diamond and hides it. Meanwhile trying to find his family , especially his son Archer finds him and his secret so two make an uneasy deal...This character is usual and even a little bit stereotype for Houmatsu but again he plays it strongly...He is somewhat representative good simple ordinary man , another add in countless victims of Africa's troubles , a man of simple nature who determined to take his family back
And lets not forget Jennifer Connelly as Maddy Bowen an American journalist , idealist trying to make a difference by writing facts...By acting as voice of conscience for Archer she makes an impression though Connelly's character is a little bit weaker than other two. Still Maddy was passionate and quick-witted. Her silent romance with Archer was beautiful and unusual somewhat more classic romance in over sexualized Hollywood...Most of the supporting cast is also very good as David Harewood as sadistic RUF rebel commander ( he was also humorous sometimes ) , Arnold Vosloo as commander of mercenary forces , Kagiso Kuypers , Basil Wallace and Michael Sheen
The battle sequences , violence , tragedy of child soldiers might be haunting but they are also strong reminders of what really happened and shall happen as long as we don't care...When you pay your three month salary to purchase a diamond ring for your fiancée / girlfriend / wife think about it. That piece of shiny rock might have passed through a layer of human blood....
T.I.E. ( This is Africa )
District 9 (2009)
You want something different and original ? Prawns of D9 can provide it.
District 9 was this years secret ace. But it exceeds expectations of a thinking sci-fi audience. District 9 is basically crisis of an alien arrival to Johannesburg South Africa and its effects on everything after two decades. But unlike a stereotypical evil aliens bent on destruction of humanity and taking over the planet ( do sci-fi writers or audience ask themselves what is so special about this little planet or humanity anymore while writing scripts ? ) these are chaotic , aimless , half starved creatures who landed to small planet of ours because their giant spaceship hovering above Johannesburg is out of fuel. South African government transfers them to a temporary camp outside the city due to international pressure. But temporary camp becomes permanent , militarized and at the and turns into a isolated slum called District 9. Aliens segregated and mistreated by human population of South Africa in general. Because they look different almost ugly. We humans are so easy to judge them from their outer appearance we can not comprehend they are sentient living beings..They are called Prawns , a degenetaory term due to their half cockroach half locust outlook. They are humiliated and segregated from humans by force. There are special public places they can enter and they can not. ( Subtle Apartheid allegory from director Neill Blomkamp ) Nigerian gangsters who move in to District 9 exploit them with various scams , like selling their favorite meal , cat food with high prices...And now a large arms manufacture company MNU ( Multinational United ) contracted to baby sit aliens and District 9. MNU does not give a damn to well being of aliens. All they care are advanced alien weaponry brought with them. Because humans can not operate alien DNA coded weapons MNU takes it as far as making medical experiments on Prawns...
This whole universe laid out in first ten minutes with a largely mocumentary TV program edition. You can get the feeling this is news channel or documentary of already happened. Then main plot starts from tragic dramatic story of one man. Wikus Van der Merwe. A MNU official a bureaucrat who is tasked with alien affairs. A regular everyday man Wickus he has same prejudices against aliens with rest of society. Not because he is a bad man but the society he is living in makes this prejudices as a reflex. He does not even acknowledge that he is treating Prawns wrong. When novelty of alien first contact wears of and it is clear Prwans are just refugees who do not offer anything MNU starts moving 1.8 aliens population from District 9 to a far away camp District 10. By force if it is necessary. Wikus is the one of several MNU officials to notify them eviction notice in District 9. During his search in District 9 he contacts some alien chemical with slowly turn him to a prawn. As a result his life is ruined he is the most wanted man in South Africa now because he is the only human being who can operate alien weaponry. He goes only place he can seek refugee now...District 9
It is clear that Peter Jackson and new director Neill Blomkamp try to display our human nature to screen. Our ability to prejudice , exploit , segregate and even hate to others who do look like and act differently as a society...At the entrance of District 9 there is a huge statue , a Human and a Prawn hand to hand but it is worn down and disrepair...Just from it atmosphere is apparent. The message is clear. The idea of humans and aliens co existing , living together has lost its appeal long time ago..We humans are majority on the planet and we are the hunter gatherers by instinct. We do not care anybody else because it is not in our nature..Second half of movie goes from mockumentary and hand held camera to regular film making with themes of run-pursuit and sci-fi action....Ironicly as Wikus transforms to a creature like scientist in The Fly he becomes more and more human with good traits...like self sacrifice , help , understanding...Sharlto Copley as Wikus Van der Merve shows an excellent acting performance...
Conclusion :If you like smart thinking man's sci-fi with regular CGI action diet ( final battle is quite satisfying though it is a little bit gory ) do not miss District 9...
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009)
Somewhat Entertaining Toy movie but toy movie nonetheless
There is a new trend in Hollywood. Its unofficial name might be : "Shortage of original scripts and producing dumber , sillier and flashier movies based on comics , toys or PC games" I mean come on this is directed by Stephen Sommers and once you see his name you know that it is not Oscar material but after you see the movie ( finishing it might be a real ordeal for a regular average thinking person with some artistic taste ) any hope that there might be some substance in it quickly vanishes.
G.I. Joe Rise of Cobra is basically a toy movie aimed for children and Hasbro fans in 1980'ies with large dose of US Army propaganda mixed. Every character , conversation , line was thinner than one dimensional. Channing Tatum might be a good dancer but he sucks when he tries to act as a soldier. Marlon Wayans was standard stereotype funny black sidekick...Adewale Akinnouye , Rachel Nichols , Said Taghmaoui were all one functional team members with their distinctive abilities and accents that's all....Snake Eyes played by Ray Parks only well laid out character and when your only well remembered character is a nameless ninja who does not utter a word throughout whole movie it means something is wrong in script writing...Veteran professional actors like Jonathan Pryce , Dennis Quaid , Arnold Vosloo and Christopher Eccleston should be embarrassed for their awful characterizations. I mean these are decent actors but material given them to perform was beyond terrible. ( Economic crisis must have hit Hollywood worse than I thought ) Adding Victoria's Secret top model Karolina Kurkova as a soldier with long unmilitary feminine hair and fatigues is a cheap shot to bait juvenile male viewers...I am at loss to describe the character writing of James Gordon Lewitt's Rex/Doctor. Not only awfully overdone it was copied directly from Star Wars along with his and Destro's change. And the plot was so over cliché and simplistic ( launching missiles with deadly warheads to spread chaos , US President ) with stereotype simplistic speeches/coversations ( I AM SOOOO EVIL HAHAHAHA ) it wouldn't even be shown in a live action cartoon series anymore.
What was good ? Well CGI , special effects and sets were not bad but hey that was a Stephan Sommers film what do you expect ? He tries to sell movie through CGI ( like Michael Bay does )
Pandorum (2009)
Decent Sci-Fi Horror Attempt
Sci-Fi productions of this summer were mainly disappointing to horrible for me. From bloated piece of trash Terminator Salvation to banal Star Trek almost everything of this genre had the title of Hollywood big studio production company and style an awful cliché stereotype style I might add...
Only exceptions were District 9 and Pandorum so far. ( I am planning to watch Moon also ) With Pandorum director Christian Alvart takes us to a familiar and classic sci-fi atmosphere we know since Alien. Space horror in dark cramped almost claustrophobic environment....All characters and incidents are deadly serious and creepy. Bower and Peyton , two astronauts wake up from an extended hyper sleep in a gigantic space ship called Elosiyum deep in space. They are suffering from hyper sleep amnesia. They have no memory of who they are or what their mission is though they know how to operate the damaged systems of ship. As main protagonist Bower takes off to scout the ship he discovers something no a lot of things went wrong and many kinds of different horrors and dangers lurking in darkness...Survival is the main goal now. Meanwhile Peyton is in a different kind of struggle with a situation he does not want to admit to himself...
Are they suffering a sickness called Pandorum ? ( Orbital Dysfunctional Syndrome )
Actors are decent. I always liked Ben Foster since 3:10 Yuma and here again he does not disappoint as an astronaut who tries to reorient with his surroundings amidst great hazards plus remembering his past life meanwhile. This is a scared and confused pratogonist and Foster is just well on that one. Veteran actor Dennis Quaid is not bad either....The actors I have seen first time beautiful Antja Traue , martial arts champ Cung Le , Eddie Rouse and Cam Gigandet pull up impressive slightly crazed character performances. The plot twists were interesting. I have never seen them coming....As you watch the movie you can get a slight similarity of Event Horizon ( 1997 )-same production company or Dead Space PC game. You might even get a little Solaris vibe. And towards the end whole scripts kind of reminded "Planet of Apes" to me. But this familiar feelings do not take the original sense of movie....
The Abyss (1989)
Mark of James Cameron all over it....
The Abyss , a production 20 years old still incredible in acting , production , camera work , FX and other special effects , CGI , script , editing ( well OK Special Editon is far better ) is a wonderful piece of art. It has James Cameron stamped all over it... Perfection..Getting best performance from everything , pushing limits hard...Ed Harris was solid as rock as main character , Bud Brigmann , captain of DeepCore underwater oil rig. He is a well established leader of men in underwater condition with a troubled personal life and collapsing marriage. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is also showing quite a performance as somewhat annoying Lindsey Brigman , Bud's soon to be ex wife who is also rediscovering herself and her feelings for her husband....But real ace in the hole of whole movie was Michael Biehn as Lt. Hiram Coffey , Navy SEAL Commdr. who arrives to DeepCore rig and began to descend into madness right after wards due to high pressure environment....Biehn definitely deserved an award for his characterization here. Rest of the supporting cast was also impressive with Leo Burmaster , Todd Graf , Kimberly Scott and Adam Nelson...If you like decent science fiction with "deep" themes don't miss this one...
Public Enemies (2009)
HEAT in 1933 style
If anyone watched Michael Mann's "HEAT" starring Al Pacino , Robert DeNiro and Val Kilmer then you know what I am talking about. Seriously the parallels between HEAT also a Mann production and Public Enemies are several....A charismatic , even sympathetic bank robber with a code of conduct and honor , an obsessed law enforcement worker trying to catch him , robber getting closer to flame and his demise after a series of unfortunate events , death of his friends in a stylish gunfight and losing his girl ( played suberply by Marion Cotillard ) because of circumstances he found himself at the end....
Johnny Depp continues to amaze me...His versatility in characters he chose to play is incredible...From a 19th century detective to 17th century pirate to Willy Wonka and now this...John Dilinger....Bank robber a common criminal in Great Depression era but also some kind of Robin Hood or Jesse James like public hero figure....Isn't there any role he can not handle ? Christian Bale unfortunately is overshadowed by Depp's character but this is hardly Bale's fault...Even the best actors can only perform as well as the material given to them...So Bale's character Mevin Purvis seems only a stoic stereotype cop , a one dimensional character. Although writing for Bale's character suffered he did his best and pulled that accent thing fairly well.
Unfortunately film begins with a fairly uninteresting and uneven pacing after initial scenes of a jail breakout. I don't know if that's due to Mann's choice of confusing editing , or mediocre writing of script adaptation. We don not know anything or more precisely see anything about Dilinger's life prior to initial prison break out or his earlier exploits...So the movie begins with an assumption that audience has enough historical information about characters..That is a bad introduction..After a while we see Dilinger's robberies after break out his other escapes from law etc.. And then we get partly familiar with him... After night firefight in farmhouse and to the end of movie things get interesting...We see a fairly dramatic ending to main character John Dilinger with Eroll Flynn's "Manhattan Melodrama" accompanying him..
While Dilinger is shown as sympathetic to audience lawmen of that era are mostly not...J.E. Hoover FBI Director is a bureaucrat , a media relations obsessed public servant who has never been in field. He proposes to use the methods of Fascist Italy to catch Dilinger's gang...Melvin Purvis as I mentioned is very one dimensional except he is a crack shot and he gives in under the pressure of Hoover and "takes out white gloves" as Mussolini said....He turns a blind eye as a wounded suspect is tortured while he was in hospital bed and in pain....He then blackmails someone to set a final trap for Dilinger...Another detective brutalizes Dilinger's girlfriend....Meanwhile Dilinger continues to evade them until the end of movie...Only decent looking law enforcement officer was Special Agent Charles Winstead ( Stephen Lang ) who shot Dilinger at the end and delivered his final worlds to his girlfriend Billie in prison..
1930'ies settings are nice and well produced from clothing to cars and weapons...Firefight in farmhouse at night was cool looking , stylish , with fast moving camera. I think that kind of firefight scene is Mann's trademark.. Summary : A decent movie. Worth seeing..