Well, that movie that everyone has been secretly talking about, District 9, is here. Was it worth all of the hype it has received? Yes -- this movie was incredible. Congratulations Neill Blomkamp, you have created a movie that Michael Bay & Stephen Sommers should both be forced to watch over and over again in filmaking 101 in hopes that they learn a valuable lesson: special effects should support the story, not be the story.
District 9 is a very special movie in one very important sense: it's original. The film might actually be the most original movie you will see all summer, if not for the next couple of years. For one, the classic 'alien comes to Earth' story has been flipped on its head. Blomkamp does not portray these strange creatures as powerful aliens, but instead, they come across as a weak and ugly race -- at least through the eyes of the humans. The aliens, otherwise known as the "prawn," have crash landed on Earth, and the humans have found them hiding in their massive ship, both malnourished and very close to death. Thus, what do the humans do? They throw the aliens into a camp, fence off the area, call it District 9, and become extremely interested in their weapons.
District 9 is a movie about human greed and ignorance, no doubt. Blomkamp drives those two themes home mercilessly. However, the film is also about how, when push comes to shove, we can learn to live together. The main character, played by Sharlto Copley, who by the way delivered an amazing performance, is assigned to a task force that must serve eviction notices to the prawn. The plan: take the aliens, and move them into even smaller homes, which are disconnected from human society. During the mission, Copley comes across an alien container, gets sprayed by some black goo, and before he knows it, something starts happening to him whether he likes it or not. The rest of the film follows him and his incredible journey into the heart of District 9, the only place that he can take shelter in due to his rare new condition, where he makes an unlikely friend called Christopher. Throughout the film, Copley turns into the most unlikely hero since Bruce Campbell in The Evil Dead.
The aliens in this movie are not pretty. Think of tall black ugly lobsters who eat cat food, meat, and rubber, and that's what you'll get. The conditions they live in are disgraceful, and of course, where there are slums, there is violence. This movie is very violent at times, but the violence is never overdone. If anything, the violence is needed in order to make the story as effective as it is. District 9 is what it is, and it isn't trying to be anything else. The film is savage, and it doesn't give a shit if you agree with that or not.
Some of the special effects in this movie are just jaw dropping. I could not believe this movie was created on a budget of 30 million. To me, being able to create such an epic movie on such a low budget is THE true mark of a genius filmmaker. Let's name some other directors who have been able to accomplish that very same task in the past: Steven Spielberg (Jaws), James Cameron (The Terminator), Sam Raimi (Evil Dead), and Peter Jackson (Dead Alive, Heavenly Creatures, The Lord of the Rings, the list goes on with this one). Blomkamp (District 9), I think you are on the right track.
In my G.I. Joe review, I stated that the new G.I. Joe film reminded me of Street Fighter. Well, District 9 does not remind me of Street Fighter, it reminds me of The Terminator. District 9 is insanely original on to many levels to count, and I feel comfortable in making some predictions here. This film will be the sleeper hit of the summer, just as The Terminator was back in 1984, and it will also go down as a science fiction classic, the same way that The Terminator is considered one today. As for Blomkamp, I have no fear in stating that he will one day be a very important director, if he isn't considered one already.
Recommendation: If you see one movie this summer, it should be this one.
Rating: 3.5/4
Friday, August 14, 2009
Monday, August 10, 2009
Movie Review -- G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra
Ahh, the summer is here. Can ya smell the CGI? I sure fucking can. Sigh.
I'm not sure that it matters if I do or do not delve into the plot of this new pixel party of a movie, but I will, just in case anyone is actually reading these things. Bad guys in weird suits want to take over the world with small green computers that eat everything, and good guys in even weirder suits come flying from the sky in hopes of stopping it all. In short, if you were hoping for some sort of logical plot line, then DO NOT go see this movie. However, if you like being beaten over the head with a barrage of CGI shots for two consistent hours, courtesy of Steven Summers of course, then by all means, go see G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra.
On top of the movie practically not having a fucking story, the little story that it does have is riddled with plots holes to the point of embarrassment. Very little is explained, and when things do occur up on that silver screen, the audience has to fill in many of the blanks. The twists in the movie are of course preposterous, and the cheese factor is unbearable at points.
Now, with all of that complaining out of the way, this is exactly what I expected from this movie. If you are going to go see this movie in hopes of catching an early Oscar winning performance, trust me, that's not what you are going to get. The acting in this movie is beyond atrocious. However, the movie itself knows what it is, and it knows what its trying to do. Is it cheesy? Of course, it's fraking G.I. Joe. Steven Summers clearly has his tongue planted firmly into the side of his cheek. This might be the only reason that this movie was slightly better than the new Transformers, and even then, I'm not to sure that's saying much.
So yeah, I get it, I understand what the guy was trying to do. But in all honesty, it was just lame. Out of the 1 hour and 45 minutes of action sequences (if you do the math, that only leaves about 15 minutes to flesh out the characters), there was only one action sequence, which involved a chase scene through Paris, that I enjoyed. It made me feel like a kid again. Granted, that scene was probably about 30 minutes long, but it just wasn't enough to save the movie as a whole. You know what this movie reminded me of? You remember Street Fighter with Jean Claude, the muscles from Brussels? Yeah, that one, just super upgraded. Take that comment as you will.
Recommendation: When Street Fighter came out, I was 10, and I liked it then. So, I guess if your 10 years old, you should go see this movie.
Rating: 1/4
I'm not sure that it matters if I do or do not delve into the plot of this new pixel party of a movie, but I will, just in case anyone is actually reading these things. Bad guys in weird suits want to take over the world with small green computers that eat everything, and good guys in even weirder suits come flying from the sky in hopes of stopping it all. In short, if you were hoping for some sort of logical plot line, then DO NOT go see this movie. However, if you like being beaten over the head with a barrage of CGI shots for two consistent hours, courtesy of Steven Summers of course, then by all means, go see G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra.
On top of the movie practically not having a fucking story, the little story that it does have is riddled with plots holes to the point of embarrassment. Very little is explained, and when things do occur up on that silver screen, the audience has to fill in many of the blanks. The twists in the movie are of course preposterous, and the cheese factor is unbearable at points.
Now, with all of that complaining out of the way, this is exactly what I expected from this movie. If you are going to go see this movie in hopes of catching an early Oscar winning performance, trust me, that's not what you are going to get. The acting in this movie is beyond atrocious. However, the movie itself knows what it is, and it knows what its trying to do. Is it cheesy? Of course, it's fraking G.I. Joe. Steven Summers clearly has his tongue planted firmly into the side of his cheek. This might be the only reason that this movie was slightly better than the new Transformers, and even then, I'm not to sure that's saying much.
So yeah, I get it, I understand what the guy was trying to do. But in all honesty, it was just lame. Out of the 1 hour and 45 minutes of action sequences (if you do the math, that only leaves about 15 minutes to flesh out the characters), there was only one action sequence, which involved a chase scene through Paris, that I enjoyed. It made me feel like a kid again. Granted, that scene was probably about 30 minutes long, but it just wasn't enough to save the movie as a whole. You know what this movie reminded me of? You remember Street Fighter with Jean Claude, the muscles from Brussels? Yeah, that one, just super upgraded. Take that comment as you will.
Recommendation: When Street Fighter came out, I was 10, and I liked it then. So, I guess if your 10 years old, you should go see this movie.
Rating: 1/4
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Movie Review -- Moon
Has anyone else noticed how the Science Fiction genre is slowly starting to creep back into mainstream pop culture? Shit, I don't care, the more the better if you ask me. The latest Science Fiction hurrah put out by Hollywood these days is titled Moon. Directed by Duncan Jones, who I think is David Bowie's son (I could be wrong), and starring Sam Rockwell, Moon actually turned out to be a decent flick.
After watching the trailer for Moon, I thought to myself, fuck me silly, the next 2001: A Space Odyssey is here. I mean, when one hears Kevin Spacey's monotonous voice come out of a computer, one cannot help but think about the evil HAL in Kubrick's classic science fiction movie. Even the rest of the spaceship seemed to be modeled after the machines in 2001. Needless to say, that, and the interesting twist introduced in the trailer, Sam Rockwell finding another living version of himself in space (!), had me very excited about this movie.
The movie is what I expected it to be: Sam Rockwell on a spaceship talking to a computer and his other self for 97 minutes. Sounds boring, right? Actually, not really. The initial idea behind the trailer was rather creative, and to be honest with you, the only reason I paid 10 dollars and 50 fucking cents to see this movie. However, that's where I think the film lost some of its magic. Instead of leading this movie down an interesting path, the entire thing just felt a bit safe at times. Especially the ending, it was just downright lazy. I will not ruin the second twist of the film, but I will say this: I was expecting time travel, and I got something else.
With that minor (?) issue out of the way, you should know that Sam Rockwell's performance is a good enough reason to go see this movie. I mean, dude, it was like, woah. Seeing two completely different characters up on that silver screen being played by the same actor was nothing short of fascinating. I wouldn't mind seeing Rockwell get some accolades for this one. And despite how mundane the plot might seem at times, there are some touching scenes here. Director Jones even raises some important questions, such as, what exactly does it mean to be human? I would like to discuss that part of the film here, but hey, I can't. I would ruin the entire thing for you.
Recommendation: Moon is a solid movie, but wait for the rental. It's not worth $10.50, its worth about maybe $8.00.
Rating: 3/4
After watching the trailer for Moon, I thought to myself, fuck me silly, the next 2001: A Space Odyssey is here. I mean, when one hears Kevin Spacey's monotonous voice come out of a computer, one cannot help but think about the evil HAL in Kubrick's classic science fiction movie. Even the rest of the spaceship seemed to be modeled after the machines in 2001. Needless to say, that, and the interesting twist introduced in the trailer, Sam Rockwell finding another living version of himself in space (!), had me very excited about this movie.
The movie is what I expected it to be: Sam Rockwell on a spaceship talking to a computer and his other self for 97 minutes. Sounds boring, right? Actually, not really. The initial idea behind the trailer was rather creative, and to be honest with you, the only reason I paid 10 dollars and 50 fucking cents to see this movie. However, that's where I think the film lost some of its magic. Instead of leading this movie down an interesting path, the entire thing just felt a bit safe at times. Especially the ending, it was just downright lazy. I will not ruin the second twist of the film, but I will say this: I was expecting time travel, and I got something else.
With that minor (?) issue out of the way, you should know that Sam Rockwell's performance is a good enough reason to go see this movie. I mean, dude, it was like, woah. Seeing two completely different characters up on that silver screen being played by the same actor was nothing short of fascinating. I wouldn't mind seeing Rockwell get some accolades for this one. And despite how mundane the plot might seem at times, there are some touching scenes here. Director Jones even raises some important questions, such as, what exactly does it mean to be human? I would like to discuss that part of the film here, but hey, I can't. I would ruin the entire thing for you.
Recommendation: Moon is a solid movie, but wait for the rental. It's not worth $10.50, its worth about maybe $8.00.
Rating: 3/4
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