Over Achiever (the Last Starfighter, 1984)

Alex Rogan is stuck in a dead end life. He, his mom and little brother live in a run down trailer park. He wants to take his girl friend Maggie and get out…but the options seem to be dwindling. His main outlet for his frustrations is a video game called Starfighter.

This leads to the most excitement the park has seen when Alex beats the game…but then it is back to real life. Until that night when Alex is visited by the video game maker. Calling himself Centauri, he invites Alex to join him on a short trip. Alex does not realize this will change his life forever.

The video game was actually a simulator that was meant to test potential pilots in an intergalactic war. Reluctant at first, Alex finds himself forced to put himself aside to help in something much larger than he.

The Last Starfighter is imaginative and fun, with a great cast of characters. Alex (Played by Lance Guest) is a likable dreamer, which is important as such characters can also come off as painfully whiny. Instead, you genuinely feel for him when his college goals seem crushed. Catherine Mary Stewart (Night of the Comet) is Maggie, who is more down to earth, not as worried about escaping the potential future of their small town life.

Centauri is one of those big idea pitchmen who is certain Alex is just what the Star League needs. He is brought to life by the great Robert Preston (Harold Hill in the 1962 version of the Music Man). Dan O’Herilihy is Grig, a jovial and kind reptilian co-pilot for Alex in their Gunstar.

Probably the biggest knock against the film is that it was made in the infancy of digital effects. Unlike Tron two years earlier, everything is not meant to look like a video game. Now, mind you, it looks like a late 90’s video game…so it was advanced for its time…but the purely digital spaceships look very low tech.

The Last Starfighter is certainly not the first story about a dreamer getting their wishes, but it is very successful at making it a fun ride. It is the humor and heart that allows it to overcome limitations such as severely outdated digital effects. The Last Starfighter is a minor science fiction classic.

August 28, 2017 0

Future Love Pt 2 (Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, 2017)

Director of the Fifth Element, Luc Besson, returns to Science Fiction with Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. Based on the french comics Valerian and Laureline, this is a visual science fiction feast. An early sequence indulges in a beautiful ocean planet that seems to be just ocean and beaches. The alien species are tall slender humanoids of grace and beauty. But it is disrupted by falling ships, which incinerate the planet. We are then introduced to Major Valarian and Sergeant Laureline, who seem to be enjoying a pleasant day at the beach. This is revealed to be a hologram, and they are actually on their way to a special covert mission. And so begins the continuous roller coaster of a story.

Valerian is a playboy special agent, a space James Bond if you will. He is trying to pursue romance with Laureline, who repeatedly shoots down his attempts…mainly on the grounds of his apparent commitment issues. As they go from adventure to adventure, taking risk upon risk, they eventually find themselves uncovering a deep governmental cover-up.

The action scenes are many and exciting. The film is vibrant and colorful, filled with exotic creatures and life forms. Besson indulges fanciful aliens and hungry beasts. But at the core, what matters to this story is love. Love plays a huge part of the resolution. Not just romantic love, but a larger love based in trust and faith.

And yet? The film is a bit of a disappointment. The story comes second to the amazing visuals, the barest of plots to justify the beauty of a distant future filled with wonder and threat.

While the film desires to feel like it is about something exciting and big, the characters are light and barely caricatures. Valerian is the rakish rogue with a good heart. Laureline the smart and capable better half. This leads to characters filling in by the numbers stereotypes. The Commander seeking to hide a dark secret. The unknowing Defense Minister who must help uncover the secret, unaware of the danger this puts him in. And so on and so on. There are no surprises to the story.

Valarian and the City of a Thousand Planets is satisfying only in it’s visual aesthetic, not it’s story.

August 9, 2017 0

Future Love Pt 1 (The Fifth Element, 1997)

Welcome to the Future. It is run down and grimy. And Bruce Willis lives there. And a mysterious object is hurtling towards Earth…a planet…an evil planet. The Government is trying to destroy it, but a religious order is pushing for an alternate plan…

Using the DNA from an alien life form that is said to be the greatest warrior in the universe, military scientists end up with a beautiful young woman. She escapes and finds herself in the flying cab of Korben Dallas. He does not want any trouble, but when the woman (named Leeloo) begs for his help, he finds he cannot just turn a blind eye. This of course, forces Dallas into helping Leeloo along with Priest Cornelius. Hot on their trail are alien creatures working for a deviant business man named Zorg. They must find a set of stones that were stolen and use them in conjunction with Leeloo to stop the evil planet.

Luc Besson’s the Fifth Element is a richly beautiful action film. It is filled with colorful costumes, vibrant lifeforms and entertaining characters set against an a crazy backdrop of tall buildings, exotic spaceships and flying cars. The costume design is almost amusing in it’s weird fashion sense and impracticality. McDonald’s workers have sexy uniforms for goodness sakes. But Besson has a real eye for detail, with the designs being important.

The characters are, largely, archetypes…and Dallas is basically that “Bruce Willis Guy” that we saw throughout the 80’s and 90’s. World weary, tough and sarcastic. But Besson puts that to good use. Milla Jovovich’s Leeloo falls into that “Child-Like Super Hero Girl” Trope. You know, can barely speak, innocent and super powerful. This is, admittedly a painfully over used trope…but Jovovich gives one of her stronger performances here, making Leeloo like an exuberant child as she is absorbing knowledge and working through the mission.

Gary Oldman’s Zorg is a strange duck, but Oldman is very entertaining. Surprisingly, the real standout though? Chris Tucker’s Ruby Rhod. Rhod is a flamboyant television host who is clearly modeled after Prince. Tucker pretty obviously had a lot of fun with this role.

The Fifth Element is a fun Sci-Fi amusement park ride. The plot is very simple, overall. The evil planet is evil because…well, it is (and it can make phone calls). And Leeloo is good, because…well, she is. And yet, the film is an entertaining visual rush.

August 8, 2017 0

Daytripper (The Dark Tower, 2017)

The Dark Tower has had a long trek to the silver screen. There have been attempts for many years…at one point, there was an announced plan that included A movie and television series, so the story would keep going between films. Very ambitious, but questionable how to make it work. The Dark Tower series by Stephen King is a sprawling epic. There are eight books in the series at this time.

Roland Deschain is a Gunslinger. They were similar to an order of Knights, though are modeled closely on the old west. Roland is the last of the order, and he seeks a dark sorcerer The Man in Black to take revenge. Roland has lost his way, no longer focused on protecting the Dark Tower. The Dark Tower, by the way is the center of the universe and protects the Universe from “What is Outside”. Meanwhile, in our world, Jake Chambers has nightmares about the man in black and Roland. He ends up finding a house from his dream and there finds a portal to another dimension and…

Sound complex? That is because it is. For one? This film is not so much an adaption as a sequel, even though it borrows elements from the first novel, the Gunslinger, such as meeting Jake Chambers. The movie is set up as a sequel to the seventh book. And so the film rushes to fill in as much information as possible, explaining stuff that probably makes more sense if you have read all the books.

In the books, King liked to tie in parts of his other novels, characters pop up, terms…in this film, you will maybe recognize the reference to Jake’s “Shine”. And so the film spends a lot of time and dialog trying to catch the audience up…and the end result is that everything feels like cliff notes. The film never truly gets to breathe, so big “moments” in the film never resonate quite like they could. Even “lighter” moments feel like they deliver no payoff or relief. When Roland asks if bullets are hard to come by in “our” world…Jake tells him he will really like our world. This should be a moment that delivers at least a chuckle…and the audience I was with simply sat silent.

This is not to say there is nothing I liked. Both Elba and McConaughey turn in good performances, which is to be expected. McConaughey portrays the Man in Black with a calm menace. He never seems to panic or lose his cool…even when doing evil, he maintains a gentle and assured tone. Elba plays the Gunslinger in the mold of the embittered and broken Western Hero. He also finds himself becoming a new father figure to Jake, progressing towards the restoration of his role as Gunslinger.

Visually, the film is pretty good, though a bit overdone in the de-saturation of color. But the visuals of Roland loading his guns, shooting his guns…the monsters look good…but in the end, the immensity of the source material kind of over runs the film. Those who have read the books are likely to be frustrated by the liberties, those unfamiliar with the books left confounded by all of the information they have to unpack.

August 5, 2017 1

I Am the Law (Dredd, 2012)

When a new Judge Dredd film was announced, there was no real fanfare. What people did not realize is that the film was being written outside of the Hollywood scene. Alex Garland (writer of 28 Days Later and writer/director of Ex Machina)…Garland is a fan of 2000AD and Judge Dredd.

Keeping the story very simple, Judge Dredd is taking a trainee with him, a hopeful Judge named Anderson. She has some limited psychic ability. Dredd is tasked with evaluating her. When three skinned bodies fall from the sky, Judges Dredd and Anderson arrive at a 200 story building that is pretty much a city unto itself. Dredd and Anderson capture a drug dealer who works for notorious gangster Ma-Ma. To prevent him from being taken out, Ma-Ma has the building in lockdown and then announces to the entire complex that she wants the two judges killed.

This simple setup makes for a very effective story of survival. Our leads must work their way to Ma-Ma to bring an end to their situation. They are cut off from the outside world and must rely on their skills and wit.

The look of the city is grimy and lived in. Full of pollution and decay, the sets of the film are effective. The effects, specifically the sequences depicting the effects of the drug Slo-Mo (it makes the user feel that time has slowed down) are very well thought out. The viewer sees everything in slow motion, with a shimmering effect.

Garland understands what makes Dredd work. Keeping the story simple is such a benefit here. There are no over the top conspiracies. Karl Urban never shows his face without the helmet in this film. And he wears a permanent scowl. Never does Dredd break down. Even when he seems to be relenting on his firm stances, it is in a fashion that he is in line with his attitude throughout the film. Urban really embraced the character and does Judge Dredd real justice here. Anderson is very sympathetic as a rookie and owns up to her mistakes. At one point, she knows she has failed the evaluation but refuses to back down from the challenge of Ma-Ma and her gang. And Ma-Ma? This is no glamor role for Lena Headey (Game of Thrones). She is a drug addict and psychopath…cruel and vicious with scars to show for it.

Dredd has gained a cult following over the past five years, with people hoping for a sequel. A few years ago an April fools announcement declared Netflix was doing a Dredd series with Karl Urban and Thirlby returning. Fans were bitterly disappointed it was untrue. But every so often, we get word of the filmmakers trying to press ahead. And Urban has welcomed the possibility of returning to the role. Most recently, there is the word that a series may be on the way after all, possibly with Urban back as Dredd.

Dredd is a very effective cop survival story, gritty and violent with strong performances. The creators get the characters and manage to remain true to what made the character work in comics, without being alienating to those unfamiliar with the source material.

June 18, 2017 0

Rob Schneider in the Apocalypse (Judge Dredd, 1995)

Somebody looked at Sylvester Stallone’s chin and declared him perfect for the role of iconic British comic book character Judge Dredd. And they were not wrong:

(I know I already showed this…but it seems relevant for the review)

Anyhow, looking for a story, the filmmakers thought the best approach was to tell it through the eyes of SNL alum Rob Schneider. He is an ex-convict returning home who gets caught in the crossfire between thugs and Judges. A little background here. After a nuclear event society is rebuilt in heavily concentrated cities. In these cities are massive buildings, communities unto themselves. They are known as Megacities. Outside of the sprawling cities is a desert wasteland populated by outlaws and mutants called the Scorched Earth. The Society has combined Police Officers with Judges. You do not go to court, a Judge simply tells you your sentence and that is that.

The most famous Judge is Judge Dredd. Dredd has no tolerance for lawbreakers. The comic is a satirical look at fascist societies (the Eagle emblem is not a coincidence, it is meant to acknowledge both America’s national bird as well as the use of the bird as a symbol by fascist societies). Of course, fans also like the ultraviolence, making Judge Dredd’s popularity complex. As Neil Gaiman notes, the comic is one of the rare instances where you have something that is both the very thing being commented on and the commentary itself.

While attempting to hide in a robot to avoid death by gang members or a Judge, Fergie (Schneider) is caught and sentenced for tampering with the robot. In the meantime, Judge Dredd is framed for murdering a critic of the Judges. He is sent to the Scorched Earth, where he runs into Fergie. They return to stop a conspiracy to destroy the Judges and establish a new regime.

Judge Dredd is not very good in its story. It tries to give some emotional depth to Dredd that ends up feeling odd. Family angst is not something that drives the character and is an unnecessary addition. The film also tries to hint at a romantic tension between Dredd and Judge Hershey (Diane Lane) who plays the role of the angel on Dredd’s soldier, pressuring him to be less harsh.

There are some notable things about the film. The costumes look great. They feel like they are ripped from the pages of 2000AD. The sets are also like the strip come to life. The cities and the Megacity blocks are appropriately broken down and seedy looking and the Scorched Earth barren and unforgiving. Visually, the film is pretty impressive looking. There are some nice nods to other 2000AD characters (most notably the use of the ABC Warriors robots). Mean Angel (a cyborg and member of a cannibal outlaw family) stands out.

The cast includes Max Von Sydow, Diane Lane, and Armand Assante. Most of these choices are good choices. Rob Schneider is there as comedic relief, but it is not very organic in the story. There is one amusing moment where Schneider looks over to Dredd on the prison transport and tries to figure out why he recognizes him…Schneider uses his hand to cover the top of Dredd’s head and recognizes him based on the chin.

No, where the film fails is not in its look. It’s the story. Trying to create an origin for Judge Dredd makes all sort of unnecessary explorations of his character. Dredd does not question the Law. The Law is his life. You can have Judge Dredd question the application of the Law, but the character loses meaning if he questions the Law itself.

The biggest issue here is that ultimately, they did not hire Sylvester Stallone to bring Judge Dredd to life. They hired him to be a stock Stallone Action Hero. And Stallone delivers his lines as such. It is not that Dredd does not make jokes…but he does not deliver them as one-liners. He should always sound deathly serious. Also? Dredd does not smile. And most importantly…remember that gag I mentioned with Schneider recognizing Dredd? That scene should simply not happen. Judge Dredd is never seen in comics without his helmet. Never. I mean NEVER. And yet, in this film? He is seen far more without the helmet than in it. This is because it is a star vehicle for Sylvester Stallone, rather than Stalone making a character live on screen.

Judge Dredd pretty much killed other 2000AD film deals, and frankly, it is obvious why. The film fails in all the areas where it needs to succeed. Character and Story.

June 17, 2017 0

The Art of Rebellion (Future Shock! The Story of 2000AD, 2014)

For Americans, the character they probably most recognized from the British comic book series 2000AD is Judge Dredd. But 2000AD actually had a whole host of characters spawned from its weekly pages. Almost all of them every bit as violent and over the top as Dredd. There was Rogue Trooper, the ABC Warriors, Nemesis the Warlock, Bad Company, the Ballad of Halo Jones, D.R. & Quinch and Zenith to name a few.

Back in 1988 or so, I went to Northern Ireland as part of a church mission trip. I came upon a comic shop there and discovered 2000AD…I came home from the trip with several progs (the term for an issue of 2000AD) and a few books collecting specific characters. I fell in love with the world of 2000AD…the writers and the artists provided inspiration to my artistic side.

Future Shock! is an entertaining journey through the creation of the comic in 1977 to present day. Interviews with its staff and creators explore the controversies and successes. There are may familiar faces for comic book fans (As American companies, especially DC’s Vertigo imprint, poached a lot of their stars). Included in the film is commentary from Neil Gaiman, Brian Bolland, Alan Grant and Carlos Ezquerra (the creators of Judge Dredd) and more. One of the stories discussed is the unfinished the Ballad of Halo Jones. Written by Alan Moore (with gorgeous art by Ian Gibson), it is a story that verged on being epic. But Moore was frustrated by his treatment by the magazine and walked away, leaving it unfinished. Both Leah Moore (daughter of Alan and a writer in her own right) and Neil Gaiman lament that it was never finished. Moore states she wishes she could have convinced her father to return and finish the tale.

The film explores failures as well, for instance, their ill-fated movie plans. The only result is the heavily maligned Judge Dredd starring Sylvester Stallone. It is maligned for good reason, of course. I do disagree with the idea that choosing Stallone was a bad idea from the start…I mean…LOOK:

But more on the Stallone film at a later date. There is a pretty rich history behind 2000AD, and it is pretty well covered by this documentary. Both fun and educational, it makes for an enjoyable watch. This includes the titles and the transitions with animated art from 2000AD to great effect. It makes the film feel like it is moving quickly, as well as allow you to appreciate the rich history of artwork.

June 16, 2017 0

The Hunter or the Hunted? Pt 11 (Alien vs Predator: Requiem, 2007)

While critics and plenty of fans pummeled the first film, it was more than successful enough to get a sequel greenlit. Directed by the Brothers Strause (that is what they direct under), Requiem is a real mess in more ways than one.

The cast is immense, so you start figuring out who will die sooner than later based on how much attention they get. The film picks up right after the first film, with a xenomorph bursting from the body of a predator. It has the predator mouth and dreadlocks., so it gets nicknamed the Predalien. It rapidly makes trouble for the Predator ship crew and their ship crashes in a forest.

The predator and a couple face-huggers escape, a new Predator comes to earth after getting an emergency alert from the crashed ship. Soon the town is besieged by Aliens.

It is all pretty much what you would expect, unfortunately there is little to set it apart. Oh, the “Predalien” looks big and aggressive, and instead of laying eggs, the Predalien shoves it’s secondary mouth in your throat and feeds live larva into your stomach. It gets pretty gross when the Predalien takes over a hospital and assaults multiple pregnant women. The vast majority of characters are there to be alien fodder.

Time has no meaning in the film…the Predator make it from his planet to Earth in a couple hours, aliens grow to full size in a couple hours…as usual, the practical effects are the high point and the digital a bit dodgy. This film also messes with the timeline, at least the first film ends in a way you could argue humanity is not aware of the Xenomorphs. That is wholly implausible in this film. I can understand why Scott blew this crossover off for Prometheus.

June 7, 2017 0

The Hunter or the Hunted? Part 10 (Alien vs Predator, 2004)

The Predator films went quiet after the second film, and Alien films were stalled by Resurrection seven years earlier. In that time, there had been a series of successful Alien and Predator comics by publisher Dark Horse Comics. In 1990, Dark Horse brought the franchises together, which was one of those crossovers that you never knew you wanted until you were given it. The Alien vs. Predator comics were very popular and fueled desires of a crossover movie from the fans of the franchises. There were attempts to bring this to life, but it seems nobody could settle on a story idea.

After the first Resident Evil was somewhat successful in it’s box office, Director Paul WS Anderson was brought in to guide the film to fruition. Rather than adapt the comics, they came up with an entirely new story (though they did adopt a few ideas from the comics). Set in 2004, a Weyland (eventually becoming Weyland Yutani, the company from the Alien films) satellite discovers a unique structure buried below arctic ice. The company assembles a team of historians, geologists, survivalists and so on to investigate (and lay claim to the discovery). Lance Henrickson returns to the Alien franchise as Charles Bishop Weyland…the human on which his character from Aliens was based.

They discover a pyramid that seems to be a combination of structures from around the globe. The film suggests this pyramid was part of the cradle of civilization and people worshiped the Predators as gods. Ridley Scott borrowed this notion for Prometheus (but it was language and cave art). The humans are unaware of the arrival of the Predators, and inadvertently activate the dormant temple. An alien queen is revived and starts pumping out eggs. A bunch of nameless characters are attacked and birth aliens while the Predators discover they are not alone. There is the standard misunderstanding where the people are hunted by both Predator and Alien, but eventually the last human and Predator team up.

The visual effects (especially the practical effects) are quite good, though Anderson relies to heavily on the “Transition Through Hologram” set up, which he used in Resident Evil. Considering how large the cast is, very few characters are well defined, resulting in the majority of characters simply being monster fodder.

This is the first film set in the present for the Alien films. The Predator films were always in the present, so the idea that people are running into Predators is not much of an issue. For the Aliens, the idea that they are already on earth seems pretty problematic. The film tries to resolve this and as a one off film, this would probably be sufficient…but then they made a second film…

June 6, 2017 0

The Hunter or the Hunted? Pt 9 (Predators, 2010)

After the second film, the Predator series went dormant. The alien hunters only saw the screen in the “team up” Alien vs Predator films. It was not until about 2009 Predator was announced as getting it’s own new film. It was spearheaded by Robert Rodriguez (Desperado, From Dusk Til Dawn, Sin City) and was referred to often as a reboot. The problem with the tendency to treat every film as a remake or reboot is that it is not always clear what a particular entry is. These days, people tend to refer to a new film in a franchise as a reboot, even when it is in continuity. Admittedly, it is a little unclear here. Nothing discounts the previous two films, but they are not really acknowledge in reference (# 2 made reference to the first film).

It does however feature the original Predator design along with a much bigger and more aggressive version.

Anyways, whether this is a new start or simply a new installment is not that important. What we have is a group of people who find themselves falling from the sky. They apparently had not planned this themselves. As things unfold, we find that the most common trait the group has is they are mercenaries, soldiers, mob enforcers and so on. There is one odd man out named Edwin who is a doctor. He seems meek (but very smart). He is played by Topher Grace, so, you know something is up with him. Adrien Brody plays mercenary Royce. Royce takes on the role of defacto leader, convincing everyone they need to work together.

After encounters with strange animals, they start to try and find safety, only to realize they are not on earth. Unlike the previous films, the people being hunted have been dropped onto a planet that functions as a big game hunting preserve.

This does make for an interesting idea, though it is basically a jungle like the first film. The new Predator design is good, building off the previous design in a way that is sleeker and more threatening. While the film strives to have lots of surprises, in the end, there is not much new here. The humans are picked off by the predators in violent and bloody fights. But it is pretty straight forward action, and pretty predictable. Frankly, it feels like the franchise may have hit a wall, and truthfully, I don’t know that people will care all that much about it. The second two films are not strong enough to pretend this is a trilogy. It is just a decent action film followed by two okay sequels.

June 5, 2017 0