Aliens

Yesterday I took a look at a film that tried to re-establish the fun of a franchise that was created back in 1987.  Predators is one half of a franchise duo that came together in 2004 with AVP: Alien vs. Predator, a film that took what little hope was left from two stagnant brands and buried it under nothing less than unfortunate cinematic nonsense.  I figure that it is only fair to take a peek at the other half of the equation and look at Aliens, James Cameron’s sequel to Ridley Scott’s Alien.

Sequels, franchises, and fans are all fickle things that are very hard to predict.  Most of the time, the rule seems to be that a follow up film should try and capture the feel of the original and recreate the experience for the audience.  Audiences enjoy familiarity, even if they claim they don’t.  The Hangover trilogy is a great case in point.  Audiences gobbled up the sequel even though they criticised it for being an exact carbon copy of the original and made many a complaint over that fact.  When the third movie came out and left behind all similarities to the first two movies (except for the characters) audiences did not buy in and complained that it was a different movie and did not feel like one of The Hangover films.

Well, when James Cameron stepped up to the plate to sequel the insanely well received Alien (both by the public and critics alike) he not only steered clear of attempting to recreate the atmosphere of the original, but essentially took the franchise into an entirely different genre.  While they are both science fiction, Alien is best described as a horror while Aliens was created to be an action movie.  Switching the genres of a franchise may seem like an awful idea, but the result was a movie that stood on its own while still adding to the cannon of the first film.

I can tell you specifically how I first saw this movie.  I was sixteen and it was on television one night on a French station, so I stayed up late and watched the entire film in a foreign language.  My long time desire to see the movie is what made me check it out, but it was the environment created by Cameron that lured me into this world.  It mattered not that I could not tell what the people were saying, the visuals and the situations were riveting and all I wanted was more.

Watching the film again last night, I still got much of that same sense of being immersed into the realm created for this movie.  It is not just the sets that accomplish that task, but the pace of the movie as well.  Watching the director’s extended cut the action does not start for over an hour into the movie, but it is not a slow paced first hour.  A lot happens, as we get an idea of where Ripley’s (Sigourney Weaver) life is at after having survived the events of the previous chapter.  We are introduced to the faces behind the ominous ‘company’ that we find out about in Alien, and we meet the Colonial Marines who Ripley will escort back to the dark planet from the first movie.

Where some sequels fail is in the realistic set-up that would allow the events to happen a second time.  With Aliens, everything is very well explained and understood so we gain a good sense that these choices would actually happen the way they do.  We see what causes Ripley to go against all of her better judgement and return to the place of her trauma.  It is this part, in particular, that is best explained in the extended edition.  The theatrical cut does not allow us to get to know that Ripley, while lost in space, missed out on the life of her only daughter.  She has nothing left on earth, and it sets up the base line for decisions that she will take down the road.

Which leads to my only one qualm with the movie, and that is the child character, Newt.  Her functionality to the script is clear, as she is parentless and provides Ripley a chance to become a protector and provider once again.  Her role is very important in the theme of maternal protectionism in this movie (from both the side of the humans and the aliens), but she really was not cast or written very well.  Her lines are disruptive to the flow of the movie at times, and the delivery of those lines can jar you from the otherwise perfect world that James Cameron creates.

James Cameron brings over some talent from the Terminator in Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton, and Michael Biehn (who gets his hand bit by a girl in both movies) as well as some terms that he established in the Terminator universe, such as ‘phased plasma rifles’ (yes, I am that much of a geek that I notice such things), and Hyperdyne Systems (a play on Cyberdyne Systems, the company that created Skynet in Terminator).

My own personal geekdom aside, Aliens is a visual treat, and not one that is non-stop, fist-pumping action.  The action happens in segments throughout, with a lot of time in between to understand the situation and to get a better understanding of the characters and what is at stake.  Too often we see movies that have long, uninterrupted sequences of nonsensical action (Man of Steel) instead of using it sparingly and as an element to heighten the emotional investment in the story.  Sometimes less is more, allowing the sequences to be properly built up with real consequences at hand is better than having them for the sake of it.

In Aliens, we get a well told story in a vivid environment that went a long way to establishing the foothold that this franchise stills has.  Even after multiple failures, it is the strength of Alien and Aliens that allow fans to still hold on.  For the most part, it is a movie that visually holds up today and should still entertain newcomers.  It is a great reminder that action movies do not need to always be senseless, that females can be strong leads, and that new directions for a franchise can be a wonderful thing.

Rating – 3.5 out of 4 stars

Predators

When I was a young boy, I remember the joy that existed whenever my mother and sister were away for a weekend.  This did not happen very often, but when it did it meant that my father and I would eat all of the foods that we were not regularly allowed and that we would watch some awesome movies.  It was with my father on one such weekend that I first saw Predator, and I always knew, from the cover of the movie along, that I would love it.  Since that first memorable time seeing it, it is a movie that I have viewed countless times and could most likely recite ninety percent of the movie verbatim.  I have owned it on VHS, I own it on DVD, and it will be one of those movies that I will always possess in one format or another.

Because of my undying fondness of Predator, it has been hard to see what has become of the franchise.  The sequel was not so great, and Alien Vs Predator was a nightmare.  The second film that pitted alien and predator against each other seemed a big improvement, although that does not mean much because almost anything would have been an improvement.  I had believed that the Predator franchise (along with the Alien franchise, another one that I hold close to my heart) was done forever.

And then Predators came out, a movie which I never cared about and never bothered to see until ultimate boredom one day brought me to this film.  While on its own it is not a ground breaking film, it is a very fun action movie and it is made with such a passion for the 1987 film which captured many people’s imagination.  It helps that it had one of the original producers of Predator returning, as well as having the skilled Robert Rodriguez as a producer.

The movie is about a planet that functions like a game preserve, bringing in warriors from earth (or deadly baddies from other planets) for the predators (awesome ass aliens) to hunt down for sport and for trophies.  What a simple concept, which is great because that means we don’t have anything convoluted story lines that are abundant in many a film.  That is not to say that you will not notice a plot hole or two, because there are a number of those, it just means that the story is simple and straight forward.  People with guns are brought to a planet to be hunted by aliens with guns.  Simple.  And the best part is, that is a simple plot that guarantees much action.

As we get the action sequences that we so desire, we also get a warm and comforting feeling of meeting up with an old friend.  This movie knows just how much the franchise had been ruined and seems to have been made as a love letter to the original and its fans.  The music and sound effects are all identical.  There are sequences that are straight out of Predator (tumbling down a hill and falling into water, knife fight with a predator).  As well, there are lines directly from the first movie.  None of these things are clunky and stand out, but are organically placed and woven into the movie so the die-hard fan can feel the love and nostalgia for the film that was an all-time action classic.  Some people who see it may believe they were just copying Predator, but I see it as a love note to the original and a way to reset the franchise back to its original tone and feel (if only Ridley Scott did that with Prometheus).

I had been worried that Adrien Brody would be an awful lead for this movie, as I did not think that one of the Gillette ‘Masters of Style’ would be a good action hero in a movie that was set to recapture the essence of 80s action.  I owe Mr. Brody an apology, because he was actually quite good in this sort of role.  I kind of rolled my eyes when I first heard him talk in a raspy tough guy voice, but before long I was loving it.  This film is not about taking itself seriously, but about having a great time while watching a brainless action movie.  The cast also had Danny Trejo (probably on account of Robert Rodriguez being attached to this film.  In fact, most of the producers had worked with Rodriguez before), Topher Grace, Lawrence Fishborne, and Oleg Tactarov (a cherry for the top of this sundae for fans of early mixed martial arts).

This film is in no way perfect, but it easily achieves the objective of entertaining the audience and does so by doing something that the last two movies involving predators have not done, and that is that it does not take a dump on what made these man-hunting aliens awesome to begin with.  If you find no place in your heart for mindless action movies, or if you think that such movies are stupid then you will have no clue why I am talking so greatly about this franchise.  However, if you grew up in the 80s watching the action movies it produced, or if you had your imagination seized by the 1987 Predator then you know where I am coming from.  This movie entertains, but it also re-acquaints us with an old friend and it does so with many a gun shot and explosion.

Rating – 3 out of 4 stars

Children of Men

This movie was picked for me to review by my good friend, Chris, who did me the favour of selecting a film that I had seen years ago and had been dying to see again.  It is about to vacate from Netflix’s lineup, so the time was now to take in Alfonso Cuaron’s 2006 film Children of Men.  I was wanting to give it a pass today and post a pre-written review thanks to some overwhelming anxiety, but I figured I would give ‘er a shot and see if what comes out of my mind makes sense.

The film is set in the future, 2027 to be exact, and the earth has been plagued with infertility, with a child not having been born in 18 years.  The world seems to have fallen apart in many places, and Britain has become almost a military state that seeks to preserve the human experience by closing its borders.  In the process, it also looks to expel all illegal immigrants to maintain utopia, a utopia that appears to only exist for those on the high end of the social spectrum.

With any good dystopian science fiction, there is a rebellious group who looks to fight for the rights of the immigrants.  We quickly get the sense that under the rule of the government people are watched and possibly tortured, this information is thanks to neat government posters on the walls in public places and other indicators that Cuaron displays in the background for the audience to get a sense of the government’s method of dominance.  Our protagonist, Theo (Clive Owen), is a former activist and protestor turned pencil pusher who is all of a sudden aligning with an immigrant rights group known as Fish who is led by his ex-wife Julian (Julianne Moore) as they need to transport an immigrant girl to the coast to be picked up by the Human Project, a rumoured group of scientists working on the cure for the infertility.

While the story unwinds and plays out, the audience is completely pulled into this world that has been created by Cuaron.  No corners were cut in creating the visual environment of Britain in a police state, as we see a number of different locations varying from the extremely affluent to an immigrant settlement.  There is much attention to the detail of all locations, with clues in the background as to the types of people who live there, their thoughts on the government, and the involvement of the government.  The future state of Britain becomes very believable, a powerful component in creating a dismal futuristic society.  If the issues are so unbelievable and the environment not realistic in context with those issues, the audience does not get that unsettled feeling in their gut that comes from envisioning a future that is void of hope.

Cuaron shows that he is a master of long takes as there are a number of scenes of action and tension that are all done in one long take.  There is one scene in a car when it all hits the fan, with the camera’s perspective seems to be from right in the middle of the car, but it smoothly pans all around the vehicle and takes different vantage points, and eventually exits the car.  It is done with such a fluid motion that you may not even realize that it has the feel of one continuous shot, but the effect that it has on the emotion one feels is noticeable. 

The even longer take happens near the end of the film, and the camera follows Theo through a number of different locations with an overwhelming amount of action and other people involved.  I am at a loss around the logistics between planning and shooting complex scenes like these, which have so many elements and last for well over four minutes each.  When action happens and we get many fast cuts, it is easy to remember that we are watching a film, but when we do not get those comforting reminders of our own separation from the film we can slowly start to feel like we are caught up in the action.

I feel as though I will never be able to do proper justice to this film.  I have not broken into any of the themes of the movie, and I have not discussed any major characters.  Pretty much I have only talked about the atmosphere created by Cuaron, but this is such an important aspect to the emotion of the story.  It is the environment of the future that pushes the motivations of the characters, and shapes them.  If I had another thousand words to spend on this review, I would definitely delve into those other areas.

This is always the sign of a really great movie or an incredibly terrible movie… when you have so much to talk about that you never even scratch the surface.  From all angles, Children of Men is a great movie.  The story is gripping, the characters are real and we gain an understanding for their motivations, and the social struggles are ones that we can care about.  For myself, it was the construction of the world in which it was set that stood out the most.  It was so real and tactile that it elevated all aspects of the story and effectively transported me from my couch into the future, surrounding me in the tension and action thanks to the ambitious work of Cuaron.  It is a film I most definitely recommend, and even more so, I encourage you to pay attention to just how long some of the takes are.  You may find yourself amazed when you realize what they accomplished.

Rating – 4 out of 4 stars

Hannah's Pick - The Bang Bang Club

It is once again Wednesday, which means it is humpday.  It also means that it is time for me to review a movie that was picked for me by my sister in-law, Hannah.  The picture (pun not intended) that I will be looking at today is The Bang Bang Club, a film about a group of photographers in South Africa who operated together between 1990 and 1994 as apartheid was drawing to an end.  It is based off of a true story of photojournalists who covered the violence between supporters of the African National Congress party and the Inkatha Freedom Party.

The first act of the film starts off very strong, as we meet up with young photographer Greg (Ryan Phillipe) who is working freelance and meets the three who would later make up what was referred to as ‘The Bang Bang Club.’  He is treated well by the seasoned photojournalist and is warmly encouraged by Kevin (Taylor Kitsch) and shows a level of bravery as he heads into a hostile neighbourhood to get the other side of the story to a bloody altercation that has just happened.  This impresses the others, who allow him into their circle as they try and photograph the bloody violence that is happening in South African townships.

We see an interesting dynamic in the first part of the film, as the lens of the camera almost appears to act as an emotional divide between the photographer and the atrocities that surround them.  They look through their viewfinders and scan for pictures, all the while showing no connection to the severity of turmoil in which they are standing.  A corpse mutilated by an opposing faction is something to be captured, not something to be lamented.  It is an interesting dynamic for the viewer, who has the ability to feel for the morbid nature of what we see, and yet seeing business and profession playing out in the main characters before us.

While this presented an interesting contrast, it was not a theme that director Steven Silver seemed interested in carrying throughout.  On one hand that is good, because we want to see the emotional walls of these people start to crack and break under the reality of their jobs.  On the other hand, the execution of such a transition needs to be handled properly for it to become effective.  There were some scenes that seemed rather forced, as it tried to push the narrative into focusing more about the individuals of the group and their dynamics.  Within this shift I felt like the power that was established at the beginning of the film was left behind.

There were a number of very interesting themes that this film looked to explore though it never fully exposed any of them.  There was the racial aspect of white photographers taking pictures of black on black violence and profiting on it.  There was the celebration of accomplishment for the photographers after walking away from horrific events and the emotional disconnect that they had.  And there was the issue of them taking pictures of awful things, but not taking any action to assist fellow humans in need (this issue was perhaps investigated the most).  The film introduced each of these elements but it never felt like it did enough to develop them, and instead lightly touched down on them from time to time.  I was left feeling life there was some terrific content to be uncovered, but the transitions and pace kept the concepts from being fully explored and the emotions I was meant to feel were never given enough time to properly sink in.

That being said, there were some amazing scenes in this film that were gripping and tense.  We get scenes of literally hundreds of people in a tense standoff that the viewer is sure will end poorly.  There is an incredibly well shot pursuit through a village as Ryan Phillipe’s character is running from pursuers waving machetes.  The locations that were picked and the set-up of the scenes of turmoil were well constructed and provided a solid emotional punch.  Perhaps the most powerful scene of the movie is just how quietly someone dies from being hacked and bludgeoned, a scene that has the ability to live inside your head when the film is over.

By the time the movie came around to the end, however, I felt like the intended effect was diminished by the sometimes rushed pace that came into play during the second and third act.  I found that, just as the photographers had an emotional disconnect with what they were seeing at the beginning of the film, I had the same experience at the end.  As the story wound up I felt like I knew aspects of the characters, but never knew them as individuals, keeping me from being fully invested when they were finally personally affected by the events on the other side of their cameras.

Rating – 2.5 out of 4 stars