I hope you paid attention to that year in the title, because we're not quite at that other Batman & Robin film just yet! This is the second serial created, and fortunately being made in 1949 means we're past WWII and can just focus on telling a hero story.
This serial does share some things in common with its predecessor however. The budgets are low, which means that the costumes look fairly cheap. Batman fairs even worse in this one, as his bat ears are a little too pointy and off center. His cape seems to be made out of some kind of material that almost always seems to get in the way during the fight scenes. For the time period however, those fight scenes are usually pretty good. Lots of different things going on at once with lots of back and forth action.
There's also a nice heavy dose of pseudo-science that has to make you laugh. The villain here, called The Wizard, has stolen a machine which was designed to remote control vehicles from a distance. It's powered through diamonds. Let's stop and think about that for just a moment. I suppose a remote control vehicle is supposed to be useful because you wouldn't need a driver, but you'd need someone to control it remotely, so you're really not saving man power. Then you power it with one of the most expensive and rare substances on earth - how is this going to be helpful to anyone but a villain? Really they were not thinking about this one at all.
The Wizard also has some kind of blinky eyes in his mask that allow him to hypnotize people for some reason. It's hysterical. Apparently mind control was a really big plot device in the 1940s, because Dr. Daka in the previous serial put special headpieces on people to control them from a distance too. Eventually he also gains the ability to turn invisible.
We have a few more familiar pieces of Batman history being incorporated here. The batcave is back, and is now full of lots of high tech gear. Commissioner Gordon heads the police force, and Vicky Vale is Bruce Wayne's love interest. Batman is once again a vigilante and not secretly working for the army. We even see the batsignal for the first time, though how that tiny little light manages to be visible in the sky, I have no idea.
This serial includes a few mystery elements, as we have multiple possible identities for The Wizard, from the old man who invented the machine and also apparently has a device which charges him up and allows him to get out of his wheelchair and walk again, as well as a radio newscaster who always knows what The Wizard's crimes are going to be before they happen. That last one is rather ridiculous - Gordon has his men speak to him, but when the newscaster says "trade secrets!" they let him get away with it rather than taking him into custody. However the question of whodunnit keeps your interest and makes you want to come back for more far better than those overly silly cliffhanger endings do.
You might think that a serial would be fast paced and nonstop action, but you'd be wrong. The episodes are generally about half slow plot development and half fight scenes leading to a cliffhanger, and I found it pretty hard to watch too many in one sitting. But this one is definitely much more worth watching than the previous serial. If you have an appreciation for a more classical style of film making, I recommend it.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Monday, July 16, 2012
Batman (1943)
In preparation for the premiere of The Dark Knight Rises, I figured it was time to do a Batman movie marathon! While most people tend to think of Tim Burton's Batman being the first, there's actually a few theatrical releases that proceed it, the first two being serials rather than full feature films. As the blog title tells you, the first one was made in 1943. Unfortunately.
I say unfortunately because this means that it aired right when America was in the midst of fighting in World War II and is therefore chock full of propaganda. Batman isn't a vigilante, he's a secret agent for the army. Racism against the Japanese is prevalent in the serial from the very beginning when our narrator gleefully tells us that all the Japanese Americans in Little Tokyo have been rounded up and put in detention camps "where they belong" though our main villain Dr. Daka has somehow escaped their clutches. Daka is of course not actually played by an Asian man but the Irish J. Carrol Naish in full stereotypical ethnic portrayal of the time. This really isn't so much a Batman story as it is a Pro-American Anti-Japanese film starring guys dressed in Batman and Robin costumes to play the heroes.
I usually have a fascination with this type of stuff. I'm a firm believer that those who ignore the past are doomed to repeat it, and I tend to enjoy it as a learning experience. Here in New Orleans we have the excellent World War II museum, and the section dedicated to propaganda is fascinating, as it shows propaganda from both sides of the war. But I really don't need to be reminded every single episode that the Japanese are trying to build an evil empire, the Americans are strong willed patriots who will always prevail, and that apparently the English are a little bungling and silly. Both Alfred and another English character are shown in a silly light, and all I can imagine is that this was some kind of sentiment related to believing that the English weren't capable of winning the war on their own and desperately needed us? It's rather head scratching.
However, you can't deny that this film is important to Batman continuity as a whole. While referred to as "The Bat's Cave" this is the first appearance of the Batcave and would lead to it being established in the comics as well. Also, Alfred here is very thin with a mustache, while previously in the comics he had been more portly. In a move we're all now incredibly familiar with in recent Marvel films and comics, Alfred went off to a health spa and came back looking more like William Austin's portrayal in this serial.
As a serial that means that every episode ends on a cliffhanger, and all I can think of is Annie Wilkes from Misery. She tells author Paul Sheldon that pretending Misery had never really died in the previous book was a cheat like the old serials she watched as a kid. We see a car careen off a cliff and explode with the hero stuck inside, but then the next episode starts and we learn that he actually escaped the car just before it went off the cliff. Well, Annie, I'm with you. It is a cheat, and Batman didn't get out of that cockadoodie car either. I can just imagine how incredibly tired people got of seeing heroes seemingly blow up, fall to their deaths, almost get run over by trains, etc. in cinema back then. Seems like every serial I've ever seen uses those tricks.
However this silliness also led to another important part of Batman history - that being the 1960s TV series. It's easy to see that series as a direct parody of this and the later serial, with tongue planted firmly in cheek all the while.
So I can't really recommend this serial for anyone other than the die hard fan, or perhaps someone who is a really big fan of WWII propaganda films. But I am glad I at least checked it out. It's available pretty cheap on DVD these days, so if you're curious, I say go for it.
I say unfortunately because this means that it aired right when America was in the midst of fighting in World War II and is therefore chock full of propaganda. Batman isn't a vigilante, he's a secret agent for the army. Racism against the Japanese is prevalent in the serial from the very beginning when our narrator gleefully tells us that all the Japanese Americans in Little Tokyo have been rounded up and put in detention camps "where they belong" though our main villain Dr. Daka has somehow escaped their clutches. Daka is of course not actually played by an Asian man but the Irish J. Carrol Naish in full stereotypical ethnic portrayal of the time. This really isn't so much a Batman story as it is a Pro-American Anti-Japanese film starring guys dressed in Batman and Robin costumes to play the heroes.
I usually have a fascination with this type of stuff. I'm a firm believer that those who ignore the past are doomed to repeat it, and I tend to enjoy it as a learning experience. Here in New Orleans we have the excellent World War II museum, and the section dedicated to propaganda is fascinating, as it shows propaganda from both sides of the war. But I really don't need to be reminded every single episode that the Japanese are trying to build an evil empire, the Americans are strong willed patriots who will always prevail, and that apparently the English are a little bungling and silly. Both Alfred and another English character are shown in a silly light, and all I can imagine is that this was some kind of sentiment related to believing that the English weren't capable of winning the war on their own and desperately needed us? It's rather head scratching.
However, you can't deny that this film is important to Batman continuity as a whole. While referred to as "The Bat's Cave" this is the first appearance of the Batcave and would lead to it being established in the comics as well. Also, Alfred here is very thin with a mustache, while previously in the comics he had been more portly. In a move we're all now incredibly familiar with in recent Marvel films and comics, Alfred went off to a health spa and came back looking more like William Austin's portrayal in this serial.
As a serial that means that every episode ends on a cliffhanger, and all I can think of is Annie Wilkes from Misery. She tells author Paul Sheldon that pretending Misery had never really died in the previous book was a cheat like the old serials she watched as a kid. We see a car careen off a cliff and explode with the hero stuck inside, but then the next episode starts and we learn that he actually escaped the car just before it went off the cliff. Well, Annie, I'm with you. It is a cheat, and Batman didn't get out of that cockadoodie car either. I can just imagine how incredibly tired people got of seeing heroes seemingly blow up, fall to their deaths, almost get run over by trains, etc. in cinema back then. Seems like every serial I've ever seen uses those tricks.
However this silliness also led to another important part of Batman history - that being the 1960s TV series. It's easy to see that series as a direct parody of this and the later serial, with tongue planted firmly in cheek all the while.
So I can't really recommend this serial for anyone other than the die hard fan, or perhaps someone who is a really big fan of WWII propaganda films. But I am glad I at least checked it out. It's available pretty cheap on DVD these days, so if you're curious, I say go for it.
Monday, July 9, 2012
Fritz the Cat
Sometimes I add things to my Netflix queue out of a morbid sense of curiosity. I don't think The Garbage Pail Kids Movie or Bloodrayne are going to be excellent examples of film-making, but I am curious as to just how bad bad can get. I added Fritz the Cat to my queue a long time ago on a similar reasoning. I had heard it was all disgusting shock value and not much else. I expected to turn the movie on and most likely shut it off in the first five to ten minutes once I had a good idea just what it was going for. Imagine my surprise when I actually enjoyed it.
There's no doubt that the film is shocking and disgusting, but it's all in the name of satire. Fritz is a college kid in the 1960s, claiming to be in search of the truth and adventure, wanting to connect with others who are all about waking up America to the dream it's been living in. He claims to understand the plight of the black man and wants to help him usurp his white suppressors. In reality, Fritz and most of those he runs into are just degenerate idiots, though the cops that call them so are just as ignorant and stupid.
Drugs and sex aren't helping them reach a higher consciousness, they're just acting like fools. Fritz doesn't understand a single thing about what it's like for minorities, and his attempts to help only make things much worse. He eventually rejects the counterculture, yet continues to help them in their cause while condemning them. And at the end he hasn't learned a single thing.
While some of the satire here is very specific to 1960s America, I think a lot of it is still relevant today and therefore just as amusing. I appreciate the fact that no one comes off looking good in the film - it's a nice way to point out that in one way or another, we're all part of the problem.
I couldn't help but liken Fritz to Candide, as a young man looking for answers and frequently being misled by others. But while Candide is often misled directly by the philosophers he runs into, Fritz has been lied to by authors like Jack Kerouac. And while Candide learns to focus by "cultivating his garden," Fritz shrugs off his near death experience and goes back to where he was before. It's a more cynical outcome, to be sure, but perhaps slightly better than the original intent to have him die at the end. Or is it worse? I suppose that depends on your viewpoint.
I also think that the fact that this is the first X-rated animated film makes it significant. Director Ralph Bashki wanted to make a film that was the complete opposite of a Disney animated film, and there's no doubt he succeeded. I also think that's necessary. Far too often, even today, animation is brushed aside as solely a children's genre, and there's no reason why that has to be the case. Live action children's films are easy to recognize versus an adult live action film, and the same can be done for animation. It's just another medium, and I think artists should be allowed to explore it in any way they choose. The nature of it also really makes it best for exceedingly dark themes. No one can get hurt this way, after all.
The one scene I found disturbing is when a female is stripped and abused. After so much excess done with a humorous wink, that scene was not funny at all. However, I think that was intentional - it is a wake up call for Fritz (however fleeting it may be for him) and therefore a sign to us in the audience just where all this depravity can lead.
This isn't the kind of film that everyone is going to enjoy. We all have our own personal line on what offends us and what we consider funny. For me this was a well done satire, for you it may be trash. But if you do enjoy satire and aren't easily offended, I'd recommend giving it a shot. You can always turn it off after the first ten minutes if it's not your thing.
There's no doubt that the film is shocking and disgusting, but it's all in the name of satire. Fritz is a college kid in the 1960s, claiming to be in search of the truth and adventure, wanting to connect with others who are all about waking up America to the dream it's been living in. He claims to understand the plight of the black man and wants to help him usurp his white suppressors. In reality, Fritz and most of those he runs into are just degenerate idiots, though the cops that call them so are just as ignorant and stupid.
Drugs and sex aren't helping them reach a higher consciousness, they're just acting like fools. Fritz doesn't understand a single thing about what it's like for minorities, and his attempts to help only make things much worse. He eventually rejects the counterculture, yet continues to help them in their cause while condemning them. And at the end he hasn't learned a single thing.
While some of the satire here is very specific to 1960s America, I think a lot of it is still relevant today and therefore just as amusing. I appreciate the fact that no one comes off looking good in the film - it's a nice way to point out that in one way or another, we're all part of the problem.
I couldn't help but liken Fritz to Candide, as a young man looking for answers and frequently being misled by others. But while Candide is often misled directly by the philosophers he runs into, Fritz has been lied to by authors like Jack Kerouac. And while Candide learns to focus by "cultivating his garden," Fritz shrugs off his near death experience and goes back to where he was before. It's a more cynical outcome, to be sure, but perhaps slightly better than the original intent to have him die at the end. Or is it worse? I suppose that depends on your viewpoint.
I also think that the fact that this is the first X-rated animated film makes it significant. Director Ralph Bashki wanted to make a film that was the complete opposite of a Disney animated film, and there's no doubt he succeeded. I also think that's necessary. Far too often, even today, animation is brushed aside as solely a children's genre, and there's no reason why that has to be the case. Live action children's films are easy to recognize versus an adult live action film, and the same can be done for animation. It's just another medium, and I think artists should be allowed to explore it in any way they choose. The nature of it also really makes it best for exceedingly dark themes. No one can get hurt this way, after all.
The one scene I found disturbing is when a female is stripped and abused. After so much excess done with a humorous wink, that scene was not funny at all. However, I think that was intentional - it is a wake up call for Fritz (however fleeting it may be for him) and therefore a sign to us in the audience just where all this depravity can lead.
This isn't the kind of film that everyone is going to enjoy. We all have our own personal line on what offends us and what we consider funny. For me this was a well done satire, for you it may be trash. But if you do enjoy satire and aren't easily offended, I'd recommend giving it a shot. You can always turn it off after the first ten minutes if it's not your thing.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Alien 3 (NES)
While in the midst of reviewing the movies, I realized I also had a copy of this game sitting in my front room. I had never played it before as it actually belongs to Jak and is just on loan. I gave it a shot and turned the footage into a brief review. Consider it a bonus to the marathon!
Friday, June 29, 2012
Alien vs Predator: Requiem
I don't like having to end a marathon on a bad note, but I guess that's often the nature of movies. Franchises often end because the sequel is a clunker, not because the story reached a natural conclusion. Movie studios will churn these things out as long as they make money off them and often don't stop to think about what made the franchises so good to begin with.
Alien vs Predator: Requiem is just a mess of a film. It contains a fairly large cast of characters, and it even tries to provide us some kind of story for most of them, but the story is hollow and empty. A young man returns to his hometown from who knows where, picked up by his friend who is now a cop and inquires about his younger brother and is told he's been getting himself into trouble. A woman returns home from the army to her daughter and husband Sam Merlotte and apparently her daughter isn't too happy about her being gone for so long, but that plot gets dropped like a stone somewhere in the middle of the film. The younger brother has a love interest and some bullies who bother him but they all get killed off so fast that it doesn't really matter. As such, I don't care a bit about any of these humans and whether they survive or not.
As far as our big two species are concerned, the Predator apparently collected some facehuggers and put them in jars, which really doesn't make any sense considering they blew the whole pyramid up at the end of the last film. The hybrid grows quickly and causes enough chaos that the ship crashes, which sends a signal to some other Predator to come to earth and clean up the mess. The facehuggers get loose and create more aliens, and the clean up Predator is here to kill them and the hybrid. This is all functional enough but not particularly interesting. The hybrid has the ability to impregnate humans without an intermediary facehugger by simply shoving something down a human's throat. That really makes me wonder how Predator reproduction works, but beyond that and his silly dreadlocks, there's no real difference between the hybrid and the other xenomorphs. It's wasted potential, in my opinion.
Much like Predator 2, there was one scene that genuinely amused me. When the little girl complains about monsters being outside, her parents don't believe her. The dad walks up to the window and says, "See? No monsters." The xenomorph then promptly breaks through the window and kills him. I'm probably supposed to be more scared than amused at that point though, so I think it's still a fail on the part of the filmmakers.
I have a nitpick, and this happened in the first Alien vs Predator as well, and I let it slide then, but now it's really bugging me. In both films, a xenomorph walks up to a woman and snarls at her, having her recoil in horror, breathing heavy and afraid. After we have this moment, it kills her. This is an obvious callback to Alien 3, but the thing is, it doesn't make sense! The xenomorph did that to Ripley because it sensed she was carrying the queen, and leaned in closer to make sure! Xenomorphs don't tease their victims, they rip them to shreds!
At the very end of the movie, the people who have been told repeatedly by the government that rescue was coming are in fact blown up by them instead. The two brothers and mother and daughter are on a helicopter at the time, trying to escape, and the explosion blows the helicopter off screen. I really, really wish the movie would have ended there, so I could pretend they didn't make it and everyone in this miserable, pathetic excuse for a film was dead.
Congrats, AVP2. You turned this usual "give it the benefit of the doubt" reviewer into a bitter, snarky critic. There's an "uncut" version of the film that contains about nine more minutes but from what I have heard adds very little to the film. AvP Galaxy breaks it down for those of you who are curious.
And that's it for the films. There have been plenty of comics, novels, video games and even an action figure line that joined these two franchises together, but I'm not familiar with any of them. To try to end this on a more positive note, I recommend you checking out Batman: Dead End. That's an Alien vs Predator match up that's definitely worth watching.
Alien vs Predator: Requiem is just a mess of a film. It contains a fairly large cast of characters, and it even tries to provide us some kind of story for most of them, but the story is hollow and empty. A young man returns to his hometown from who knows where, picked up by his friend who is now a cop and inquires about his younger brother and is told he's been getting himself into trouble. A woman returns home from the army to her daughter and husband Sam Merlotte and apparently her daughter isn't too happy about her being gone for so long, but that plot gets dropped like a stone somewhere in the middle of the film. The younger brother has a love interest and some bullies who bother him but they all get killed off so fast that it doesn't really matter. As such, I don't care a bit about any of these humans and whether they survive or not.
As far as our big two species are concerned, the Predator apparently collected some facehuggers and put them in jars, which really doesn't make any sense considering they blew the whole pyramid up at the end of the last film. The hybrid grows quickly and causes enough chaos that the ship crashes, which sends a signal to some other Predator to come to earth and clean up the mess. The facehuggers get loose and create more aliens, and the clean up Predator is here to kill them and the hybrid. This is all functional enough but not particularly interesting. The hybrid has the ability to impregnate humans without an intermediary facehugger by simply shoving something down a human's throat. That really makes me wonder how Predator reproduction works, but beyond that and his silly dreadlocks, there's no real difference between the hybrid and the other xenomorphs. It's wasted potential, in my opinion.
Much like Predator 2, there was one scene that genuinely amused me. When the little girl complains about monsters being outside, her parents don't believe her. The dad walks up to the window and says, "See? No monsters." The xenomorph then promptly breaks through the window and kills him. I'm probably supposed to be more scared than amused at that point though, so I think it's still a fail on the part of the filmmakers.
I have a nitpick, and this happened in the first Alien vs Predator as well, and I let it slide then, but now it's really bugging me. In both films, a xenomorph walks up to a woman and snarls at her, having her recoil in horror, breathing heavy and afraid. After we have this moment, it kills her. This is an obvious callback to Alien 3, but the thing is, it doesn't make sense! The xenomorph did that to Ripley because it sensed she was carrying the queen, and leaned in closer to make sure! Xenomorphs don't tease their victims, they rip them to shreds!
At the very end of the movie, the people who have been told repeatedly by the government that rescue was coming are in fact blown up by them instead. The two brothers and mother and daughter are on a helicopter at the time, trying to escape, and the explosion blows the helicopter off screen. I really, really wish the movie would have ended there, so I could pretend they didn't make it and everyone in this miserable, pathetic excuse for a film was dead.
Congrats, AVP2. You turned this usual "give it the benefit of the doubt" reviewer into a bitter, snarky critic. There's an "uncut" version of the film that contains about nine more minutes but from what I have heard adds very little to the film. AvP Galaxy breaks it down for those of you who are curious.
And that's it for the films. There have been plenty of comics, novels, video games and even an action figure line that joined these two franchises together, but I'm not familiar with any of them. To try to end this on a more positive note, I recommend you checking out Batman: Dead End. That's an Alien vs Predator match up that's definitely worth watching.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Alien vs Predator
Having just seen Prometheus, watching this movie again it was really hard to not see the parallels in the storyline. Both feature a crew of specialists sent to inspect ancient civilizations by the head of the Weyland Corporation. Both insist that alien creatures played a hand in human development. And of course, both involve incredibly naive scientists and businessmen making really bad decisions. They both attempt to be prequels to the Alien franchise, so I suppose it makes sense that they would have at least some similarities, but I'm a little shocked they're so close to each other.
Also, it goes without saying that the two films simply can't exist in the same continuity. It just doesn't work. Given the large negative reaction to Prometheus, I can't help but wonder if people are going to start thinking about that film as the alternate timeline rather than the proper one.
Of course, the response to this film was also largely negative, and once again I'm in disagreement with everyone else. I thought it brought together the two series in a way that made sense, and turned out to be a decently made creature feature. We get likeable human characters, a fairly logical plot, and most importantly two of the most bad ass monsters in recent movie history fighting each other and us.
Sanaa Lathan is an excellent Ripley replacement as Alexa, playing a strong woman with a good dose of common sense and the bravery to face these creatures. It's great to see an African America hero who is female and yet not "sassy" or otherwise cliched. It's also great to see Lance Henriksen return as the inspiration for Bishop, who ends up being a really interesting character. He certainly has more depth than the Weyland we see in Prometheus.
It's not perfect, of course. For some reason, both races are a lot bigger in this film, towering over the human counterparts. It's just not necessary. The alien lifecycle is also greatly accelerated, and the Predator ships look nothing like the ones we've seen before. The alien queen takes her time asking her babies to free her, and that's solely because it adds a dramatic scene at the right moment to the story. The Predators have also greatly advanced their technology in the last 14 years, though I guess that part is a little more believable.
But this movie is primarily meant to be fun, and that's exactly what it is. We get callbacks to previous movies in both franchises, and we get to see lots of action. Isn't that exactly what you want from this type of film? And yes, I was still rooting for Momma when she took on the Predator. Girl's been locked up and frozen for at least a hundred years, after all. She didn't deserve defeat.
Alexa's acceptance by the predators is an obvious reference to what happened at the end of Predator 2, but I must say I like the way it was done here much better. She fights beside him and earns his trust. It's the marking on her cheek that communicates to the others that she is meant to be left alone.
I remember when I first saw this in the theater, I was pretty blown away by that ending. A hybrid?! What?! But for whatever reason, I never actually went back to watch the sequel. I'll be remedying that with my review tomorrow.
Also, it goes without saying that the two films simply can't exist in the same continuity. It just doesn't work. Given the large negative reaction to Prometheus, I can't help but wonder if people are going to start thinking about that film as the alternate timeline rather than the proper one.
Of course, the response to this film was also largely negative, and once again I'm in disagreement with everyone else. I thought it brought together the two series in a way that made sense, and turned out to be a decently made creature feature. We get likeable human characters, a fairly logical plot, and most importantly two of the most bad ass monsters in recent movie history fighting each other and us.
Sanaa Lathan is an excellent Ripley replacement as Alexa, playing a strong woman with a good dose of common sense and the bravery to face these creatures. It's great to see an African America hero who is female and yet not "sassy" or otherwise cliched. It's also great to see Lance Henriksen return as the inspiration for Bishop, who ends up being a really interesting character. He certainly has more depth than the Weyland we see in Prometheus.
It's not perfect, of course. For some reason, both races are a lot bigger in this film, towering over the human counterparts. It's just not necessary. The alien lifecycle is also greatly accelerated, and the Predator ships look nothing like the ones we've seen before. The alien queen takes her time asking her babies to free her, and that's solely because it adds a dramatic scene at the right moment to the story. The Predators have also greatly advanced their technology in the last 14 years, though I guess that part is a little more believable.
But this movie is primarily meant to be fun, and that's exactly what it is. We get callbacks to previous movies in both franchises, and we get to see lots of action. Isn't that exactly what you want from this type of film? And yes, I was still rooting for Momma when she took on the Predator. Girl's been locked up and frozen for at least a hundred years, after all. She didn't deserve defeat.
Alexa's acceptance by the predators is an obvious reference to what happened at the end of Predator 2, but I must say I like the way it was done here much better. She fights beside him and earns his trust. It's the marking on her cheek that communicates to the others that she is meant to be left alone.
I remember when I first saw this in the theater, I was pretty blown away by that ending. A hybrid?! What?! But for whatever reason, I never actually went back to watch the sequel. I'll be remedying that with my review tomorrow.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Predators
" A déjà vu is usually a glitch in the Matrix. It happens when they change something."
(If a good portion of this review seems familiar, then you're one of the few who has been reading my blog a while! This is a cleaned up review from March 2011)
It occurred to me while watching this film that I don't particularly care for Klingons or dwarves who tend to have very similar sentiments to that of the predator race. Of course predators are a little more concerned with hunting than just fighting, but all those races would rather die than surrender to their enemies. I think the silence of the predators makes them more appealing to me. Klingons and dwarves tend to boast a bit too much.
When I first heard about them making Predators, I was, as so often I find I am about movie news these days, cautiously optimistic. It certainly seemed like they were coming up with a proper followup to the original film. Most of the reviews weren't so good, so I didn't rush out to the theater to see it but I did rent it on DVD soon after it came out.
This film succeeds as an excellent followup to the original. Instead of taking the predator from the jungle to the city, this mimics the Alien to Aliens change in more than just name - we now have multiple predators and the planet they are on is basically just one giant jungle inhabited with other crazy alien creatures to really up the stakes. While the first film featured one tight elite military force sent in to get rid of the predator, this film features a cast of various killers specifically chosen by the predator race to be hunted. I really think that was a great idea and fits in very well with the mythology of the predators. It also mirrors Aliens in that this sequel is more about action than the suspense of its predecessor.
While the first film stressed the bond between a team of soldiers, this one spotlights the tension between strangers in a dangerous situation, particularly when most of these strangers are just as equally dangerous. Nearly all of the characters are interesting people, even if they do fall prone to stereotyping. A Yakuza agent with dragon tattoos all over his back? Of course he knows how to use a samurai sword! I'm willing to overlook it though, largely because the sword fight between said agent and one of the predators was pretty awesome. Laurence Fishburne's part is great, and I thought Adrian Brody made a good lead even if I can't help but feel like his voice doesn't match his looks. Am I alone in that?
There's one element of the film that really annoyed me, but I can't honestly tell you if it is the film's fault or not. The Netflix DVD sleeve spoiled the twist for me before I even watched the film. Now, I'm not saying you couldn't see the twist coming. The movie does provide you with hints all the way through. But to have someone flat out tell you before you start watching that "Hey! Something is going on here!" rather than just letting you go "Hm.. something doesn't seem quite right. But maybe they're just trying to mislead me?" is really quite annoying. As such the twist felt expected and cheesy and lost all possible dramatic weight it could have had.
Overall, it's a pretty strong action film with a decent story arc that works as a good followup for the original. I'm not sure what people didn't like about it, but for me it hit the right notes.
Tomorrow is Alien vs Predator.
(If a good portion of this review seems familiar, then you're one of the few who has been reading my blog a while! This is a cleaned up review from March 2011)
It occurred to me while watching this film that I don't particularly care for Klingons or dwarves who tend to have very similar sentiments to that of the predator race. Of course predators are a little more concerned with hunting than just fighting, but all those races would rather die than surrender to their enemies. I think the silence of the predators makes them more appealing to me. Klingons and dwarves tend to boast a bit too much.
When I first heard about them making Predators, I was, as so often I find I am about movie news these days, cautiously optimistic. It certainly seemed like they were coming up with a proper followup to the original film. Most of the reviews weren't so good, so I didn't rush out to the theater to see it but I did rent it on DVD soon after it came out.
This film succeeds as an excellent followup to the original. Instead of taking the predator from the jungle to the city, this mimics the Alien to Aliens change in more than just name - we now have multiple predators and the planet they are on is basically just one giant jungle inhabited with other crazy alien creatures to really up the stakes. While the first film featured one tight elite military force sent in to get rid of the predator, this film features a cast of various killers specifically chosen by the predator race to be hunted. I really think that was a great idea and fits in very well with the mythology of the predators. It also mirrors Aliens in that this sequel is more about action than the suspense of its predecessor.
While the first film stressed the bond between a team of soldiers, this one spotlights the tension between strangers in a dangerous situation, particularly when most of these strangers are just as equally dangerous. Nearly all of the characters are interesting people, even if they do fall prone to stereotyping. A Yakuza agent with dragon tattoos all over his back? Of course he knows how to use a samurai sword! I'm willing to overlook it though, largely because the sword fight between said agent and one of the predators was pretty awesome. Laurence Fishburne's part is great, and I thought Adrian Brody made a good lead even if I can't help but feel like his voice doesn't match his looks. Am I alone in that?
There's one element of the film that really annoyed me, but I can't honestly tell you if it is the film's fault or not. The Netflix DVD sleeve spoiled the twist for me before I even watched the film. Now, I'm not saying you couldn't see the twist coming. The movie does provide you with hints all the way through. But to have someone flat out tell you before you start watching that "Hey! Something is going on here!" rather than just letting you go "Hm.. something doesn't seem quite right. But maybe they're just trying to mislead me?" is really quite annoying. As such the twist felt expected and cheesy and lost all possible dramatic weight it could have had.
Overall, it's a pretty strong action film with a decent story arc that works as a good followup for the original. I'm not sure what people didn't like about it, but for me it hit the right notes.
Tomorrow is Alien vs Predator.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Predator 2
I always try to give movies a fair shot, regardless of how they are critically rated. When a movie is universally regarded as bad, I take that knowledge in hand and lower my expectations for the film. The concept alone of Predator 2 pretty much told me that it would be ridiculous, so I was hoping that if nothing else it could be cheesy and fun. What I'm telling you is I tried really hard to like something about this movie.
I suppose it's not all awful. When Danny Glover's character punches a reporter in the face, it made me laugh out loud. The special effects are of good quality and I think the Predator design is pretty stellar. It also worked well as a kind of time portal that took me back to the late 80s and early 90s when these kind of over the top action movies were common place. Nudity for no reason? Check. Racial stereotype bad guys? Check. Kid who almost gets caught in the crossfire? Check. Old lady making snarky comments to provide humor in the middle of the action? Check.
While it started off in a way that I could have called it "so bad it's good," by the time the kid was offering the predator a piece of candy, it was past good and back to bad again. People tell us over and over in the film that Danny Glover's character is a loose cannon, but besides some cursing and that punch to the reporter, he actually comes off quite tame. His team is made of of generic characters you don't really get to know, with the exception of Bill Paxton's character that I wanted to smack the hell out of. I can't be the only person who finds him incredibly annoying. It's his voice, it just grates on me.
Having Paxton here makes the obvious Aliens ripoff plot device all the more noticeable. I will say that it makes more sense for our military to want to use Predator tech than to think they could control a xenomorph, but it still looks like a stolen plot, especially when we see the xenomorph skull in the Predator's trophy room.
But more than anything, this movie manages to make its meager one hour and forty five minute running time feel way too long. The scenes in the meat locker felt like an ending, but no, we have to watch a painfully slow fight between Danny Glover and the Predator on the roof of a building. Then for no apparent reason, falling through the hole in the building leads him to the Predator spaceship where apparently 9 different Predators are just sitting around chilling letting their one guy go out and kill people. And when Danny Glover gets one lucky move, they decide that's enough for him to earn their respect and they'll just quietly leave now. Seriously?!
Remember how I said the final scenes with Arnold and the Predator worked so amazingly well without dialogue? Danny Glover mutters to himself constantly during this movie's final moments. What he's saying offers no contributions what so ever ("Birds... damn birds!") and I think they were probably going for a Die Hard effect. But he's not John McClane or even Roger Murtaugh here and it just lacks charm. Also, calling the Predator "pussy face"?! This is not wit.
While I applaud their attempt to try something different, I just can't recommend this movie at all. Considering that the series basically went into stasis until the eventual Alien vs Predator films, I'm clearly not alone in that. Before we get to the crossovers though, I'm going to talk about the more recent attempt to revive this series, Predators.
I suppose it's not all awful. When Danny Glover's character punches a reporter in the face, it made me laugh out loud. The special effects are of good quality and I think the Predator design is pretty stellar. It also worked well as a kind of time portal that took me back to the late 80s and early 90s when these kind of over the top action movies were common place. Nudity for no reason? Check. Racial stereotype bad guys? Check. Kid who almost gets caught in the crossfire? Check. Old lady making snarky comments to provide humor in the middle of the action? Check.
While it started off in a way that I could have called it "so bad it's good," by the time the kid was offering the predator a piece of candy, it was past good and back to bad again. People tell us over and over in the film that Danny Glover's character is a loose cannon, but besides some cursing and that punch to the reporter, he actually comes off quite tame. His team is made of of generic characters you don't really get to know, with the exception of Bill Paxton's character that I wanted to smack the hell out of. I can't be the only person who finds him incredibly annoying. It's his voice, it just grates on me.
Having Paxton here makes the obvious Aliens ripoff plot device all the more noticeable. I will say that it makes more sense for our military to want to use Predator tech than to think they could control a xenomorph, but it still looks like a stolen plot, especially when we see the xenomorph skull in the Predator's trophy room.
But more than anything, this movie manages to make its meager one hour and forty five minute running time feel way too long. The scenes in the meat locker felt like an ending, but no, we have to watch a painfully slow fight between Danny Glover and the Predator on the roof of a building. Then for no apparent reason, falling through the hole in the building leads him to the Predator spaceship where apparently 9 different Predators are just sitting around chilling letting their one guy go out and kill people. And when Danny Glover gets one lucky move, they decide that's enough for him to earn their respect and they'll just quietly leave now. Seriously?!
Remember how I said the final scenes with Arnold and the Predator worked so amazingly well without dialogue? Danny Glover mutters to himself constantly during this movie's final moments. What he's saying offers no contributions what so ever ("Birds... damn birds!") and I think they were probably going for a Die Hard effect. But he's not John McClane or even Roger Murtaugh here and it just lacks charm. Also, calling the Predator "pussy face"?! This is not wit.
While I applaud their attempt to try something different, I just can't recommend this movie at all. Considering that the series basically went into stasis until the eventual Alien vs Predator films, I'm clearly not alone in that. Before we get to the crossovers though, I'm going to talk about the more recent attempt to revive this series, Predators.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Predator
After talking about a lot of films of differing quality, it's nice to talk about a truly great film once again. While I don't love Predator quite as much as I love Alien, there's no doubt that for what it is, Predator is truly great.
It's easy to see why someone once thought of combining the two franchises, as the basic set up is the same - alien killing machine species preys on humans, picking them off one by one until only one person is left in a final showdown. But that's really where the similarities end. Predator takes place in the dense jungle of Central America and our prey here are elite soldiers. It automatically makes the Predator seem more dangerous and imposing, that he is able to so easily take out these well trained killing machines.
But what really makes it work is that these guys aren't just kill happy grunts (like, for instance, most of the marines in Aliens) but men who actually care about each other. The friendship between Blain and Mac (played by Jesse Ventura and Bill Duke) may be one of the closest friendships I've ever seen portrayed in any creature feature/slasher film. You could easily think that a film where military men are the fodder could end up portraying them very badly, but this works well as a tribute to our men in uniform, both in the bonds they form with each other and the sacrifices they are willing to make to save others.
After watching the Rocky films and going back to watch Predator again, I had to laugh a bit. What is it about Carl Weathers that he has to start off acting like a bad guy and then turn into more of a hero? I guess that's what you call typecasting. Regardless, he's fun to watch, and the way he and Schwarzenegger play off each other is also well done. It's easy to want to disregard the "rescue the hostages" subplot that starts the film when it's all just a ruse, but I think it helps to keep the film going and establish our character's personalities. Though I can't help but think it would have worked better if we hadn't seen that opening shot of the spacecraft coming to earth.
Once again, the slow reveal of the creature really helps build the suspense. We get POV shots of its heat vision, images of it fully cloaked, and then slowly see its menacing claws and weapons. When we do get the full shot, it is of course wearing its helmet, which makes that moment when he takes it off and reveals his face all the more meaningful. I also think its pretty funny that the movie spends a lot of time avoiding the F-bomb just so Arnold can drop it at that moment.
But for all the camaraderie and strength of its characters, this movie really shines when it gets down to just Arnold and the Predator. Dialogue is non-existent as we watch them both prepare for their final battle, but your eyes remained glued to the screen. Their final fight sequence is just fantastic and you really feel like either one of them could be the victor.
Before doing this marathon, I'd never seen more than a scene or two of the sequel. Having heard a lot of bad things, I set my expectations low. You'll see how I felt about Predator 2 tomorrow.
It's easy to see why someone once thought of combining the two franchises, as the basic set up is the same - alien killing machine species preys on humans, picking them off one by one until only one person is left in a final showdown. But that's really where the similarities end. Predator takes place in the dense jungle of Central America and our prey here are elite soldiers. It automatically makes the Predator seem more dangerous and imposing, that he is able to so easily take out these well trained killing machines.
But what really makes it work is that these guys aren't just kill happy grunts (like, for instance, most of the marines in Aliens) but men who actually care about each other. The friendship between Blain and Mac (played by Jesse Ventura and Bill Duke) may be one of the closest friendships I've ever seen portrayed in any creature feature/slasher film. You could easily think that a film where military men are the fodder could end up portraying them very badly, but this works well as a tribute to our men in uniform, both in the bonds they form with each other and the sacrifices they are willing to make to save others.
After watching the Rocky films and going back to watch Predator again, I had to laugh a bit. What is it about Carl Weathers that he has to start off acting like a bad guy and then turn into more of a hero? I guess that's what you call typecasting. Regardless, he's fun to watch, and the way he and Schwarzenegger play off each other is also well done. It's easy to want to disregard the "rescue the hostages" subplot that starts the film when it's all just a ruse, but I think it helps to keep the film going and establish our character's personalities. Though I can't help but think it would have worked better if we hadn't seen that opening shot of the spacecraft coming to earth.
Once again, the slow reveal of the creature really helps build the suspense. We get POV shots of its heat vision, images of it fully cloaked, and then slowly see its menacing claws and weapons. When we do get the full shot, it is of course wearing its helmet, which makes that moment when he takes it off and reveals his face all the more meaningful. I also think its pretty funny that the movie spends a lot of time avoiding the F-bomb just so Arnold can drop it at that moment.
But for all the camaraderie and strength of its characters, this movie really shines when it gets down to just Arnold and the Predator. Dialogue is non-existent as we watch them both prepare for their final battle, but your eyes remained glued to the screen. Their final fight sequence is just fantastic and you really feel like either one of them could be the victor.
Before doing this marathon, I'd never seen more than a scene or two of the sequel. Having heard a lot of bad things, I set my expectations low. You'll see how I felt about Predator 2 tomorrow.
Friday, June 22, 2012
Prometheus
Sometimes when I go to see a movie, I immediately want to jot some notes down so I can write a proper review. In the case of this film, I decided to sit on it. There were lots of thoughts running through my head, and I was a little conflicted.
Visually, the film is gorgeous, from its sets to its creature design. I had no problems with the pacing, soundtrack, or mood. I enjoyed all the characters and I liked that we got a larger crew with varying levels of importance. I felt like even those with tiny parts felt real. I also really enjoyed the story arc. No, I had no doubts that it was two hours well spent, and that the bloated ticket price I had been forced to pay for IMAX 3D was also worth every penny.
I was conflicted because I'm writing this review in the context of the Alien series, and I don't really know what to tell you, or how to entirely reconcile it in my own mind. I knew that we weren't getting a straight up prequel and that this wasn't just another Alien film, so I wasn't anywhere near as disappointed as I think a lot of those angry reviewers ended up being. But I'm still just not sure if I entirely like this new mythology that's been added.
I've seen people nitpick that the technology in this movie is more advanced than in the original movies, and I really hope they were jesting. When you're talking about films made over 30 years apart, it's natural that you're going to have to update the technology to make sense in what we now have in modern times. I felt like enough of it still made sense, and I liked that David was not quite as convincingly human as Ash and Bishop later were. Really, David is probably the most fascinating character of the film.
The main problem with this rather large cast is that we barely got to know a lot of the characters. I feel like I need a prequel to this film just to fully understand more about the character Meredith Vickers and what her motivations were. What we did receive was fascinating, but I wanted more. That could be said for a lot of the supporting characters really. Damon Lindelof showed talent for building a diverse and complex group through Lost, but he didn't have enough time in this film to tell us all about them. I just realized that we even get to see flashbacks of Shaw's life, much like a Lost episode.
Further analysis requires spoilers, so you have been warned.
I like the idea of the Engineers creating us and also creating the aliens. It doesn't make much sense to me that our DNA would be an exact match when they're clearly much larger than humans, but I'll let that slide. What's strange to me is that they seemed to be suggesting that the creatures we saw here are predecessors to the xenomorphs; at least that's what I assume that final scene was all about. So we're supposed to believe that either the snake or the giant octopus eventually evolves into a facehugger, but that the chestbursters/xenomorphs only have a few cosmetic differences. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
By the way, this doesn't mean I didn't love seeing those creatures. I loved the snake-like creature, and I loved the way the biologist reacted to it. There's a part of me that would think a brand new life form is adorable too, though I probably wouldn't stand so close. Also, I may have gotten giddy when it went after him. What can I say, there's a part of me that's still siding with the creatures, regardless of what they look like.
The scene where Shaw cuts the alien creature out of her was just a fantastic piece of film. Wonderfully tense and squirm-worthy. Another wonderful tense moment is when they wake up the Engineer and face him for the first time. They are all so desperate for answers, and the fact that he immediately attempts to kill them all is kind of beautiful to me. It reminds me a bit of Dr. Frankenstein being confronted by his monster for the first time, as the Engineer seemed to have no real interest in interacting with its creations. Of course, his real feelings are left up to our own interpretation, as the survivors are left still not knowing why they were created or why they were going to be destroyed. Personally, I'm of the opinion that we were only meant to be hosts for the xenomorphs to begin with - a sort of intermediate species to help facilitate the growth of the weapon. But the beauty of it is that you can decide whatever you want here.
Also, I know I'm not the only one who gasped when that chair rose from the Engineer's platform, right? While watching the original Alien I was wondering where that creature had come from, and it was pretty cool to get an answer, even if this isn't the same chair or spaceship. (I've seen people say this was spoiled in the trailer, but I guess I missed it.)
Prometheus is not a perfect film by any means, but I still think it's a good one. I've read lots of analysis since I originally saw it, and I'll admit I can't disagree with a lot of the problems people had with the film in terms of its unanswered questions and strange motives of the characters. But I still think there's enough good here that I can overlook it. In terms of the series as a whole, I think I would rate this behind Alien and before Aliens for me, though I'm not sure it's entirely fair to judge it by those merits. I think it belongs in a class by itself, and feels much more like a different series in the same universe. Which is in contrast to another series that was forced together with this one just for the sake of having a little fun.
Oh, did you think my marathon was over? Nope! But before I look at the crossover films, I'll be taking a look at the Predator series. Predator is up next!
Visually, the film is gorgeous, from its sets to its creature design. I had no problems with the pacing, soundtrack, or mood. I enjoyed all the characters and I liked that we got a larger crew with varying levels of importance. I felt like even those with tiny parts felt real. I also really enjoyed the story arc. No, I had no doubts that it was two hours well spent, and that the bloated ticket price I had been forced to pay for IMAX 3D was also worth every penny.
I was conflicted because I'm writing this review in the context of the Alien series, and I don't really know what to tell you, or how to entirely reconcile it in my own mind. I knew that we weren't getting a straight up prequel and that this wasn't just another Alien film, so I wasn't anywhere near as disappointed as I think a lot of those angry reviewers ended up being. But I'm still just not sure if I entirely like this new mythology that's been added.
I've seen people nitpick that the technology in this movie is more advanced than in the original movies, and I really hope they were jesting. When you're talking about films made over 30 years apart, it's natural that you're going to have to update the technology to make sense in what we now have in modern times. I felt like enough of it still made sense, and I liked that David was not quite as convincingly human as Ash and Bishop later were. Really, David is probably the most fascinating character of the film.
The main problem with this rather large cast is that we barely got to know a lot of the characters. I feel like I need a prequel to this film just to fully understand more about the character Meredith Vickers and what her motivations were. What we did receive was fascinating, but I wanted more. That could be said for a lot of the supporting characters really. Damon Lindelof showed talent for building a diverse and complex group through Lost, but he didn't have enough time in this film to tell us all about them. I just realized that we even get to see flashbacks of Shaw's life, much like a Lost episode.
Further analysis requires spoilers, so you have been warned.
I like the idea of the Engineers creating us and also creating the aliens. It doesn't make much sense to me that our DNA would be an exact match when they're clearly much larger than humans, but I'll let that slide. What's strange to me is that they seemed to be suggesting that the creatures we saw here are predecessors to the xenomorphs; at least that's what I assume that final scene was all about. So we're supposed to believe that either the snake or the giant octopus eventually evolves into a facehugger, but that the chestbursters/xenomorphs only have a few cosmetic differences. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
By the way, this doesn't mean I didn't love seeing those creatures. I loved the snake-like creature, and I loved the way the biologist reacted to it. There's a part of me that would think a brand new life form is adorable too, though I probably wouldn't stand so close. Also, I may have gotten giddy when it went after him. What can I say, there's a part of me that's still siding with the creatures, regardless of what they look like.
The scene where Shaw cuts the alien creature out of her was just a fantastic piece of film. Wonderfully tense and squirm-worthy. Another wonderful tense moment is when they wake up the Engineer and face him for the first time. They are all so desperate for answers, and the fact that he immediately attempts to kill them all is kind of beautiful to me. It reminds me a bit of Dr. Frankenstein being confronted by his monster for the first time, as the Engineer seemed to have no real interest in interacting with its creations. Of course, his real feelings are left up to our own interpretation, as the survivors are left still not knowing why they were created or why they were going to be destroyed. Personally, I'm of the opinion that we were only meant to be hosts for the xenomorphs to begin with - a sort of intermediate species to help facilitate the growth of the weapon. But the beauty of it is that you can decide whatever you want here.
Also, I know I'm not the only one who gasped when that chair rose from the Engineer's platform, right? While watching the original Alien I was wondering where that creature had come from, and it was pretty cool to get an answer, even if this isn't the same chair or spaceship. (I've seen people say this was spoiled in the trailer, but I guess I missed it.)
Prometheus is not a perfect film by any means, but I still think it's a good one. I've read lots of analysis since I originally saw it, and I'll admit I can't disagree with a lot of the problems people had with the film in terms of its unanswered questions and strange motives of the characters. But I still think there's enough good here that I can overlook it. In terms of the series as a whole, I think I would rate this behind Alien and before Aliens for me, though I'm not sure it's entirely fair to judge it by those merits. I think it belongs in a class by itself, and feels much more like a different series in the same universe. Which is in contrast to another series that was forced together with this one just for the sake of having a little fun.
Oh, did you think my marathon was over? Nope! But before I look at the crossover films, I'll be taking a look at the Predator series. Predator is up next!
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