Tag Archives: Sci-fi

Avatar (2009)

04 Saturday Apr 2020

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(Today’s NaPoWriMo prompt was to write something inspired by a dream’s imagery. Since I don’t remember most of my dreams, I incorporated a more general theme of dreaming that tied in with today’s movie.)

My eyelids are a diving board,
And when they close, I leap
To worlds no other human’s seen
In waking or in sleep,
Ephemeral new universes
Born of counted sheep.

I fly on wings of opal skin
And climb inverted mountaintops.
I live a life that’s not my own
And wait until my bubble pops.
I test the limits of a dream
And hope to God it never stops.
______________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

Considering Avatar was the biggest movie ever for a time, this review is probably long overdue. I suppose the reason it took so long was simply because I considered it vastly overrated. I remember making a point of watching it before I started my Top 365 list back in 2014, just to check whether it deserved placement. It didn’t make the cut. That’s not to say James Cameron’s monster hit is bad; it’s an impressive sci-fi epic with a brilliantly rendered world held back by a painfully unoriginal plot.

In 2154, mankind has reached out into space and formed a colony on the distant moon of Pandora, where their mining endeavors run into conflict with the big, blue native Na’vi. In an effort to connect with the aliens and convince them to move, scientists have created Na’vi-human hybrids called Avatars, which a human consciousness can control while their real body sleeps. Jake Sully is one such candidate, a paraplegic Marine who is only brought to Pandora because he shares DNA with his dead brother and can control his brother’s Avatar. There, he forms a bond with the fierce Neytiri and the other Na’vi and must choose between the nature-centric natives and the unsympathetic military.

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Not to be confused with the beloved Nickelodeon cartoon, the film Avatar can be summed up in various ways, but my favorites are Pocahontas with blue aliens or Dances with Wolves in space. My VC noted FernGully as another clear inspiration. The whole nature vs. industry/natives vs. military conflict has clearly been done before, and there’s nothing about the overlong plotline or the romance that makes it any better than those other two films. James Cameron’s New Age, environmental sentiments are worn on the film’s sleeve, and it’s anything but subtle. And honestly, Sam Waterston is rather bland as the main character, though I enjoyed Sigourney Weaver’s scientist and Stephen Lang’s macho villain (Lost alert for Michelle Rodriguez as well).

What Avatar does have going for it are its groundbreaking motion capture and 3D special effects, which leave no doubt why it won Oscars for Art Direction, Visual Effects, and Cinematography. The flora and fauna of Pandora are full of colorful, eye-popping wonders, and the scenes of flight after Jake tames a dragon-like creature are exhilarating as he swoops between gravity-defying midair mountains. And the epic battle scene at the end is one of the biggest, most awesome action sequences ever made. Plus, James Horner’s score adds a perfect majesty to the visuals. If only the story had the same imaginative effort as the rest….

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Avatar is a well-made sci-fi adventure that isn’t the transcendent blockbuster it tries to be, even if its box office haul says otherwise. I was glad when Avengers: Endgame passed it as the highest-grossing film of all time (not adjusted for inflation), simply because that record and Avatar’s Best Picture nomination indicates that it’s better than it is, which irks me a little. Perhaps it just doesn’t feel as innovative now as it was in 2009. Even so, I’m interested to see what the repeatedly delayed sequels will do to continue the story and how certain characters will return for another three films. Perhaps they’ll avoid clichés better than Cameron’s first film… whenever they finally come out.

Best line: (Jake, narrating) “I was a warrior who dreamed he could bring peace. Sooner or later, though, you always wake up.”

 

Rank: List Runner-Up

 

© 2020 S.G. Liput
675 Followers and Counting

VC Pick: The Fly (1986)

28 Saturday Mar 2020

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Whenever some genius succeeds in inventing a teleportation device,
Whoever created it ought to be wary and test the darn thing at least twice.
For things can go well in initial experiments; but, due to bug or pollutant,
It only takes one time for things to go wrong, and next thing you know, you’re a mutant.
_________________________

MPA rating: R (very R)

Remakes often get a bad reputation, but certain remakes are more well-known than the original. Although I haven’t seen all of it, the original version of The Fly has that famous scene of a woman screaming into the compound eyes of a fly-headed scientist. Yet I’ll bet most people think of Jeff Goldblum before anything else in the 1958 film (except maybe the high-pitched “Help me! Help me” scene). That’s probably because David Cronenberg’s version of The Fly is extremely… memorable, one of the great gross-out flicks that still carries something of a message in its extreme body horror.

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The Fly works well because of its gradual nature. Goldblum’s Seth Brundle, a scientist working out of a deserted warehouse, proudly shows attractive journalist Ronnie Quaife (Geena Davis) what he’s been working on, a pair of teleportation pods. They’re unfinished, though, and despite the horrific results of testing it on a baboon, he perseveres until he believes it safe for human testing. Spoiler alert: it’s not. Whereas the original film had an immediate head-and-arm swap between the man and the fly inside the telepod, Brundle’s transformation is gradual, taking a while for him to realize what went horribly wrong, and the results are anything but pretty.

The transmogrification of Seth Brundle is a pitiful sight, and Goldblum succeeds in exposing the character’s initial hubris and later desperation, even while being covered in more and more disfiguring makeup. Comparisons with unstoppable diseases like cancer or leprosy are unmistakable. One scene felt like a precursor to a similar scene in Prometheus that I’ve always found deeply disturbing. And then there are the final scenes, in which the visual effects and Oscar-winning makeup make the most of a gruesome finale. The ending is a bit too abrupt, not unlike An American Werewolf in London, but it has staying power, haunting the brain and keeping the heartbeat elevated even after the credits roll.See the source imageMy VC thinks this is possibly Jeff Goldblum’s best role, but I’m still surprised that she recommended this movie, considering she is far from a fan of shock horror, and neither am I. Still, The Fly felt like a higher form of it, one that’s hard to ignore. It was also a nice surprise when I was reminded that the famous line below originated in this film. If you don’t enjoy grotesque imagery, The Fly is not for you, but if you can stomach some for the sake of compelling sci-fi, it’s a classic of its genre.

Best line: (Ronnie, to a potential victim of Seth’s) “No. Be afraid. Be very afraid.”

 

Rank: Honorable Mention

 

© 2020 S.G. Liput
670 Followers and Counting

 

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

09 Thursday Jan 2020

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A long time ago, in a galaxy far,
A popular story began
Of sand-covered planets and creatures bizarre,
And ships that can travel from star unto star,
Of heroes and scoundrels who meet in a bar,
Of princesses, sages, and even Jar Jar,
And rebels who battle the way that things are.
Of such stories, I am a fan.

Yet stories must finish to make room for more.
All tales, great and small, say good-bye.
They thrill us with action and romance and war;
They shock and amaze with sights not seen before;
They spark controversy and trigger uproar;
They grant us new worlds with their mythos and lore
That lovers and haters alike can explore.
Their endings do not mean they die.
__________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

At long last! I had wanted to post this review before the New Year, but instead it gets to be my first review of 2020. Star Wars fans everywhere were eagerly anticipating the final installment in the Skywalker Saga, and the return of J.J. Abrams as director reassured many that it would be ended by a sure hand. Yet I was one of the few who really enjoyed Rian Johnson’s work on The Last Jedi and was hopeful that Abrams wouldn’t retcon it just because some fans were dissatisfied. Thus, I approached The Rise of Skywalker with hopeful but mixed feelings, and I walked away with satisfaction that has yielded somewhat to similarly mixed feelings.

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Since it was no secret in the trailers, posters, or the film’s opening crawl, I don’t mind revealing that Emperor Palpatine has returned. (Collective non-gasp!) With Supreme Leader Snoke dead and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) still wavering in his villainy, they had to bring back the original Big Bad, no matter how unlikely his survival seemed at the end of Return of the Jedi. Faced with an evil armada, Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega), and Poe (Oscar Isaac) team up for the first time to track down a Sith planet and stop the un-dead Emperor.

The Rise of Skywalker is an unusual beast. I thoroughly enjoyed it in the theater and left satisfied, yet I knew then that I still liked The Last Jedi better. This latest film is an exercise in all things Star Wars – alien critters, good-at-heart criminals, explosive action, the redemption of bloodlines – all things I love, yet it also felt safe in a way The Last Jedi didn’t, with fewer laughs and impactful moments too. Not that I minded any of this while watching it, but as the Internet has since pointed out its flaws to me, somehow they annoy me more here than all the complaints over The Last Jedi did, perhaps because the previous film had the hope of a sequel making sense of things while this bears the weight of being a grand finale.

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I think J.J. Abrams was the right person for this job, but it sometimes felt like he was trying to “redeem” the previous film, for instance sidelining Rose (Kelly Marie Tran) almost completely. It was interesting, though, how it doubled down on the “new” things the Force was capable of; if you didn’t like that aspect of The Last Jedi, watch out. With Abrams at the helm, there’s much to appeal to fans, but every time something unexpected happens, it’s walked back to prevent offending those fans too much, you know, like that last movie. I am one of those fans, so I’m not sure if I should be relieved or bothered at being patronized like this. (However, Lost alert! I did appreciate a certain cameo from my favorite show.)

Boy, I sound like all those whiners over The Last Jedi. Yet unlike them, I can still say it was a great movie, warts and all, and a worthy conclusion to the Skywalker Saga. All the actors are in fine form, with the original cast (Mark Hamill, Billy Dee Williams, etc.) provided a fitting send-off for their characters, including the late Carrie Fisher. It’s easily the messiest of the new trilogy, raising questions that are never answered and wearing its plot holes on its sleeve, and the storyline is all over the place. At one point, the main characters are searching for an object that has a clue to locate another object that will help them find a planet, yet the brisk pace and chemistry among the actors always sustain the fun of a good space adventure. There’s just something about Star Wars. It’s what made people turn out in droves for this movie despite the public disappointment in the previous one.

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I suppose the main problem with The Rise of Skywalker for me is how it changes the arc of the series as a whole, due to the return of the Emperor. The first two trilogies were about the fall and rise of Anakin Skywalker, but this trilogy makes it all seem more like the rise and fall of Palpatine. Perhaps that’s not so bad, but I doubt it’s what George Lucas had in mind. Even so, The Rise of Skywalker caps off an uneven but still thoroughly entertaining chapter of the Star Wars story, with impressive visuals and rousing action. Despite my gripes, I stand by my assertion that there has never been a Star Wars movie I haven’t enjoyed. Now we just need to wait twenty years or so for a new trilogy with an older Rey training a new generation of Jedi to fight another evil empire. In the meantime, may the Force be with you.

Best line: (Zorii Bliss, played by a masked Keri Russell) “That’s how they win… by making you think you’re alone.”

 

Rank: List-Worthy (joining The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi in my Top 100)

 

© 2019 S.G. Liput
659 Followers and Counting

 

2019 Blindspot Pick #10: Mr. Nobody (2009)

17 Sunday Nov 2019

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This poem is a couplet, a two-liner rhyme,
For readers and poets who haven’t much time.

Or rather it could have been, if I’d decided,
But maybe I’ll make it a villanelle instead.
Which bears repetition by which it is guided.

You ask who would make such a change? Answer: I did.
So this is a villanelle now, as you’ve read,
Or rather it could have been, if I’d decided.

Let’s not be verbose.
A haiku might be better
To save syllables.

But then again, a sonnet I’d allow.
For fourteen lines in length would be provided
If only I would end this poem right now.

So what kind of poem was this one?
All four that I’ve named, or else none?
You can only decide
Once you’ve finished and tried
Looking backward when all’s said and done.
________________________

MPAA rating: R (mostly for sensuality and 2 F-words, seemed closer to a PG-13)

Well, this movie was a trip. I’ve been curious about Mr. Nobody for a while now, based on what I’d read about its unusual nonlinear story, and I can confirm it’s certainly unique. On one level, it’s a mind-bending, provocative tale of the potential directions life can take, which is exactly the kind of story I love, but it also is a bit too abstract for its own good.

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The title character is Nemo Nobody (Jared Leto), a man born in 1975 who ends up living till 2094 as the oldest and last mortal in a world that has achieved quasi-immortality through science. Plagued by memory loss, he is interviewed on his deathbed by a tattooed psychiatrist (Allan Corduner) and a journalist (Daniel Mays), both of whom are perplexed by the unusually disparate histories he recounts, lives that split at major crossroads in his life, particularly a train station when he had to choose which divorcing parent to stay with at the age of nine.

To call Mr. Nobody peculiar is an understatement; it’s a full-blown experimental film. It’s amazing to me that such a film was made at all, and even more amazing that it was made three years before Cloud Atlas, which is the closest film I can compare it to in terms of cosmic ambition and madcap editing. Due to Nemo’s ability to see possible futures, it swings back and forth between Nemo’s potential lives: the three women he could marry, the jobs he could have taken, the mistakes and accidents he endures or avoids. Also interspersed are more fantastical detours, such as a future journey to Mars that doubles as a story written by a teenage Nemo and a surreal argyle-themed dream world that may or may not be part of Nemo’s subconscious.

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Sometimes, these various storylines seem designed to confuse: The beginning shows bits and pieces of all the timelines in quick succession, like a sneak peek that leads to moments of revelation but is bewildering in the moment. In other cases, it gives a particular story more time to develop emotions, such as a romance between a teenage Nemo (Toby Regbo) and his stepsister Anna (Juno Temple; Diane Kruger as an adult) or the mental illness of one of Nemo’s other wives (Sarah Polley). Most of these timelines end in tragedy, yet others retain a sense of hope that one of Nemo’s decisions could lead to happiness.

At a certain point, the journalist interviewing the 118-year-old Nemo asks what the truth is, since not all of these lives could have happened, and Mr. Nobody’s answer extols the endlessness of possibility without providing a real answer. In that vein, one of Nemo’s professions is as the host of a TV science show, which allows him to ask big cosmic what-if questions that some might consider deep but ultimately boil down to “No one knows,” to the point that they’re almost meaningless, which may excite philosophers but can be frustrating to viewers who desire concrete answers. Plus, there’s uncertainty about whether some timelines are “real” at all, like the Mars mission that doesn’t always seem like something Nemo made up. Likewise, the ending is a strange mix of long-awaited satisfaction, pseudo-science that I at least didn’t fully understand, and a sweet conclusion undercut by a lack of context.

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So, while Mr. Nobody frustrated me more, I suppose my final opinion is the same as for Cloud Atlas: a magnificent mess that individual viewers must decide whether it’s a masterpiece or a trainwreck. It certainly never fails to enchant visually, particularly several sequences that depict the butterfly effect (reminding me of similar scenes in Ink and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), and the special effects, cinematography, and Pierre Van Dormael’s score are exceptional. At times, it seems to borrow individual motifs from the likes of Forrest Gump, When Harry Met Sally…, and Harold and Maude, yet all of the ingredients come together to form something wholly distinctive and idiosyncratic, for good or ill. It’s a film like no other, featuring Jared Leto’s best performance I’ve seen and individual scenes I loved, and, though its complexity and length will not be for everyone, it’s an experiment worth experiencing.

Best line: (Nemo Nobody) “At my age the candles cost more than the cake. I’m not afraid of dying. I’m afraid I haven’t been alive enough. It should be written on every school room blackboard: Life is a playground… or nothing.”

 

Rank: List Runner-Up

 

© 2019 S.G. Liput
652 Followers and Counting

 

Circle (2015)

03 Thursday Oct 2019

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Someone must die one minute from now.
You lack any power on why, when, and how.
But someone must die, and it could be you,
Unless you choose somebody else.
But who?

You don’t know a soul as you look all around.
They’re nothing but strangers, their eyes on the ground,
For they have the same choice, deciding who dies,
And may well have voted for your own demise.

So who will you pick, knowing death is no joke?
The seediest? Noisiest? Least of the woke?
Will you choose at random, no malice or spite?
And if you survive, then does that make it right?

Ten seconds to lose,
So judge them and choose.
_____________________

MPAA rating:  Not Rated (should be R for plentiful language)

This is my contribution to MovieRob’s Genre Grandeur for September, which focused on Ensemble Films.

If an ensemble means that the entire cast are on equal footing with no clear main characters, then few films match that description as closely as Circle, a sci-fi chamber piece currently available on Netflix. I have MovieRob to thank for even alerting me to this low-profile film’s existence, and it’s a fine example of a simple premise expertly executed.

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Partially inspired by 12 Angry Men, the plot can be summed up in one sentence: a group of fifty people wake up standing in a circle, unable to move or touch each other else they die, and they discover they collectively decide who dies every two minutes. That is practically the whole movie, people standing in a circle debating who should be the next to die. Yet that simple, disturbing idea turns out to be something intense and thought-provoking from start to finish, buoyed by a talented cast of totally unfamiliar actors who give no clue as to who will survive.

After the disorientation of coming to grips with what’s happening, assumed to be an alien experiment of some kind, the deliberation among the “survivors” illustrates how easily people judge each other, delving into such a diversity of social debates, from race to gender to religion. While some of the stressed characters seem to act rash and stupid at times, the film lets the characters’ words and actions speak for themselves, not judging them but allowing them (and the audience) to judge each other. As the bodies keep dropping, a major split concerns the presence of a young girl and a pregnant woman, half the group believing one of them deserves to be the last one standing while others see them as obstacles to their own chance at survival. The film asks, without a clear answer, how evil is the desire to live?

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While laden with far too much profanity for my liking, Circle is nonetheless a fascinating study into human nature. The deaths, carried out by a lightning strike, have shock value, always unpredictable in their selection, yet are mercifully bloodless. Some of the logistics aren’t 100% clear, such as how people make their choice with an implant in their hand. And while I would have liked some last-minute twist (or rather a different twist), its final scene is more about sparking conversation, theory, and ethical soul-searching than providing a satisfying end. Compelling in its moral grayness, Circle is an ensemble thriller that asks uncomfortable questions through an alarming, improbable situation as only science fiction can.

 

Rank:  List Runner-Up

 

© 2019 S.G. Liput
648 Followers and Counting

 

The Chronicles of Riddick (2004)

22 Sunday Sep 2019

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Evil is as evil does,
And such it is and ever was,
But when an evil worse than most
Endangers all on every coast,
Perhaps what once was evil might
Defend the day against the night.
___________________

MPAA rating:  PG-13

I watched Pitch Black for the first time earlier this year, curious about Richard B. Riddick’s reputation as an anti-hero and the cult classic status of the series, and I liked it for the most part. Vin Diesel radiated cool danger as the shiny-eyed criminal, and it echoed Aliens while being just different enough. The Chronicles of Riddick distances itself from the Aliens comparisons, widening its scope perhaps too far but still preserving the coolness that made Riddick memorable.

Whereas Pitch Black was confined to a single alien-infested planet, The Chronicles of Riddick opens up a wealth of previously unknown sci-fi lore: a fanatical force of Necromongers under the supernaturally powered Lord Marshal (Colm Feore), a prophecy about the Lord Marshal’s downfall, a race of Furians thought to have been wiped out. It sometimes comes off as ridiculous and I couldn’t help but wonder what Karl Urban or Dame Judi Dench thought of their careers as they were delivering certain lines, but it’s just as often camp-tinged fun with enough fast-paced action, imaginative set and costume design, and genuinely awesome set pieces to forgive its faults. The effects sometimes belie their low budget, yet that somehow just adds to their appeal.

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For some reason, writer-director David Twohy chose to target a PG-13 rating for this sequel, and I was grateful for it. I stand by my conviction that extreme gore and profanity are largely unnecessary, and The Chronicles of Riddick still delivers plenty of sometimes brutal badassery without them. (I mean, Riddick kills a guy with a tea cup, for Pete’s sake!) I’ve been shown to be very forgiving with science fiction movies, but once again I think this film’s mere 29% on Rotten Tomatoes is far too low and personally found it more watchable than Pitch Black, though my VC disagrees.

Of course, I recognize its faults as well, from occasional histrionics, a lackluster script, and meh villains. (The main villain’s past motives are basically the same as the peacock in Kung Fu Panda 2.) Yet I think the film’s worst aspect is its insistence on Riddick alone being the one character worth keeping around. I was disappointed with how Pitch Black ended by killing off the main character worth rooting for, but at least it had thematic significance at the time. The sequel continues that trend by showing that anyone who’s not Riddick is just there to be either an enemy or a sacrifice, which I think hurts the film as part of a series.

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Despite this drawback and an admittedly dumb final scene, The Chronicles of Riddick was still great fun for this sci-fi fan, an underrated entry that replaced the first film’s horror with a partially successful stab at space epic. Now two films in, there’s just one left to watch in the series, 2013’s Riddick (which incidentally returned to an R rating), and I’m curious to see how the series ends. Unless Twohy and Diesel decide to keep it going, which I wouldn’t mind at all.

Best line: (Aereon, in the intro monologue) “In normal times, evil would be fought by good. But in times like these, well, it should be fought by another kind of evil.”

 

Rank:  List Runner-Up

 

© 2019 S.G. Liput
646 Followers and Counting

 

Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)

02 Monday Sep 2019

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Don’t you just hate it
When you’re on vacation
Intent on enjoying some hard relaxation,
And then all at once,
With distinct irritation,
Your work calls, demanding your consideration?

You reach for the phone
With a slight hesitation,
But then you ignore it with smug indignation.
But if the world ends
Due to your recreation,
You just might regret your own preoccupation.
_____________________________________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

How do you follow up a monumental universe-changing achievement like Avengers: Endgame? With a light-hearted high-school romp, of course! Just as Ant-Man and the Wasp lightened the mood following Infinity War last year, Spider-Man: Far From Home brings the scale of mayhem and destruction down a bit while delivering yet another marvelously entertaining entry to the MCU.

Spider-Man: Homecoming was a fun new version of the webslinger, but actors other than Tom Holland hadn’t quite settled into their roles and there was a tad too much “gee whiz, this is awesome” mentality, albeit an understandable one since they’re high school kids. In Far From Home, all the pieces just fit more comfortably, and characters like Zendaya’s MJ and Angourie Rice’s Betty Brant are given more presence than the first film. And, of course, the other big difference is the absence of Robert Downey, Jr.’s, mentoring Iron Man (for reasons everyone should know by now), though his legacy still plays a role.

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This time around, after most of Peter’s class was snapped out of existence by Thanos and then returned five years later in what is understatedly called the Blip, things have largely gone back to normal, and Peter and friends are eager to enjoy a school trip to Europe. Enter Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and the new interdimensional hero Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) to interrupt Peter’s carefree vacation with the threat of elemental monsters wreaking havoc, which is almost as stressful as telling MJ he likes her.

Anyone familiar with the comics should know what to expect in regards to Mysterio, but there’s still plenty of action to enjoy, as well as some hilarious running gags and a few genuinely surprising twists. The subplots are all good fun, from the impromptu romance of Peter’s friend Ned (Jacob Batalon) to a rivalry between Peter and a handsome classmate (Remy Hii) for MJ’s affections. And of course, the visual effects are staggeringly well-executed, including a hallucinatory sequence that would feel right at home in a Doctor Strange movie.

It’s not above complaints, such as an unrealistic scene of the villain monologuing about his plan in detail or the uncertainty of why Peter is somehow expected to fill Iron Man’s shoes. Plus, Holland and Zendaya probably have the least chemistry as far as spider-couples go. Yet Far From Home serves as an enjoyable epilogue to the ambitious gravitas of Endgame, a teen comedy in superhero guise that ends Marvel’s Phase 3 on a high note, as well as a cliffhanger.

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Looking forward in Marvel’s timeline, it stings to notice that it looks like there’s no forward motion in the current storyline until late 2020 with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier on Disney+. But maybe that’s best, what with the time jump of Endgame and the threat of people getting “superheroed out.” Not that I’m in danger of that. No, I’m still very much on the Marvel bandwagon and hoping, like so many, that Disney and Sony can come to some agreement on letting Spider-Man continue in the MCU. I don’t expect him to take Iron Man’s place, but he fits so well in this universe that it would be a shame for the powers that be to yank him out of it.

Best line: (Happy Hogan) “You handle the suit. I’ll handle the music.” [‘Back in Black’ by AC/DC plays]
(Peter) “Oh, I love Led Zeppelin!”

 

Rank: List-Worthy (joining Spider-Man: Homecoming)

 

© 2019 S.G. Liput
646 Followers and Counting

 

2019 Blindspot Pick #7: Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honneamise (1987)

28 Wednesday Aug 2019

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The depths of space have tempted man
For years while holding him at bay
Through distance, death, and lack of breath,
Insisting that we humans stay.

But mankind rarely takes a hint,
For us, a challenge is a lure,
Inviting us to sojourn thus
And learn how far we can endure.
___________________

MPAA rating: Unrated (an attempted rape scene probably would make it R, but otherwise, it’s an easy PG-13)

Unless you’re a diehard anime fan, you probably read the title of this movie and said, “What the heck is that?” Well, now that I’ve seen most of the mainstream films anime has to offer, I’m now seeking out the obscure, and I was surprised at the glowing reviews this unknown film has gotten since its 1987 release, growing into an apparent classic of the medium with 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. (Imagine my surprise when Netflix didn’t have it, but my local library did.) Royal Space Force is a hard film to categorize, but it’s undoubtedly well-made with unexpected thematic depth.

Imagine an anime mixture of The Right Stuff and Contact, and you’ve got Royal Space Force, the title referring to the poorly organized space program of the fictional country of Honnêamise. (Hun-ee-a-meece? Honey-mice? I don’t know how it’s pronounced since I don’t recall the name ever being spoken.) While no one takes the program seriously with its poor management and frequent failures, a slacker recruit named Shirotsugh Lhadatt finds a new passion and ambition for the project after a run-in with a young female evangelist named Riquinni. Despite the innate dangers of this unprecedented venture, including hostilities from a rival nation, Lhadatt literally shoots for the stars in a quest for peace and meaning.

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Beyond the plot or characters, what makes Royal Space Force really unique is its comprehensive world-building. It’s not quite straight fantasy or science fiction: there are a couple futuristic machines and some unique animals, but otherwise there aren’t many fantastical elements to the setting. It’s just different, a vision of what our world might have looked like during the Space Race if history had taken a different route. Windows slide downwards; plane propellers spin on the tail of the plane; currency is made up of small needle-shaped pins instead of coins. The architecture of the cities is ornate yet believable, often a mish-mash of cultural styles that create something new. I would watch it again just to appreciate the imagination on display, the fashioning of an alter-earth with creativity sadly lacking in so many other animated films.

As someone with direct family ties to the space program, I was also intrigued at how this film would approach its version. The filmmakers went to NASA to study space flight, and their efforts at authenticity mix surprisingly well with the otherworldly setting. The training contraptions for preparing Lhadatt for his mission are more slapdash and home-made than NASA’s, but their crudeness highlights how big of a scientific leap space travel is for this world, as it was for our own. And by the time the launch day comes amid self-doubt and international turmoil, the event has a similar gravitas and grandeur as the real thing.

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Another unique aspect of this film was the role of religion. Riquinni’s faith is clearly a fictional one based off a couple stories mentioned, but her discussions of God and nightly dispersal of tracts are clearly an analog to Evangelical Christianity. And unlike Contact, which annoyed me by pitting faith and science against each other as if they were antithetical, Royal Space Force depicts faith as a positive influence, encouraging Lhadatt to believe he is part of something bigger than himself and push toward a brighter future. There have been plenty of anime with Christian elements and themes, but this movie climaxes with a sincere and moving prayer that is one of the most explicit declarations of faith I’ve seen in animation.

While it’s a significant achievement in the medium, Royal Space Force does suffer somewhat from a deliberate pace and not quite enough resolution by the end. It’s not boring and has a few thrilling sections, but you shouldn’t expect constant humor or action from its grounded drama. The biggest problem is a scene of attempted rape that saps a lot of the sympathy for Lhadatt, even if he seems repentant later, and also serves no other purpose than to put the film into “mature” territory. The scene was cut in its video release, and it would have been better if the initial editors had done the same.

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Now at least, I can check off another Blindspot from my list, an anime film that has held my curiosity for some time now. I think anyone interested in the development of space travel and speculative fiction would find much to appreciate, and fans of animation even more so, since this feature was the first project of Studio Gainax, which went on to the fame of producing series like Neon Genesis Evangelion and Gurren Lagann. Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise may have an ungainly name, but it deserves its low-key classic status, making me wonder if the sequel that’s been rumored for years will ever get off the ground.

Best line: (Riquinni, reading from her holy book) “And you shall find that prayer is the greatest of all things, and it is also the smallest. You’ll find nothing more noble than prayer, nothing more humble.”

Rank: List Runner-Up

© 2019 S.G. Liput
645 Followers and Counting

 

I Am Mother (2019)

23 Friday Aug 2019

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Mothers care,
And mothers bear
The heavy weight
Of a child’s welfare.

They guard the gate;
They mind and wait
Until that child
Can negotiate

The world so wild
And be exiled
From all that Mother
Once reconciled.
_________________

 
MPAA rating: TV-14 (aka PG-13, mainly due to heavy themes; nothing gratuitous)

It’s a good time to be a fan of science fiction, and Netflix has been supplying a steady stream of it, with I Am Mother immediately catching my eye with its trailer. One part dystopian sci-fi, one part psychological thriller, it’s a futuristic chamber piece that keeps the audience guessing as it asks whether humans or robots are the more trustworthy.

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The film starts with some unknown catastrophe that prompts a robot called Mother (voiced by Rose Byrne) to activate in an underground facility and begin the development of one of thousands of embryos stored there. We then cut to 38 years later, when a girl only referred to as Daughter (Clara Rugaard) grows into a teenager with Mother as her sole teacher and companion. (And if you recognize a discrepancy between the 38-year time skip and the teenage girl, rest assured that there’s a reason.) Daughter, however, entirely trusts and helps Mother, who has warned her of radiation outside, but the arrival of an injured woman (Hilary Swank) who warns her against her robotic guardian throws everything she’s ever known in doubt.

Those who know dystopian fiction might be able to guess the most likely explanation for what’s going on (though perhaps not all of it), but I Am Mother thrives on its atmospheric uncertainty. Mother seems to be a dutiful, even tender parent to Daughter, yet sci-fi has shown us too many times that advanced robotics are rarely sympathetic to mankind. Similarly, Swank as the unnamed woman knows more of the world and shares a common humanity with Daughter, yet she’s a survivor whose motivations are similarly hazy. There are lies and accusations of lies that can’t be proven, forcing Daughter to choose who has her best interest at heart and letting themes of truth, trust, and motherhood play out as only sci-fi can.

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Both Swank and Rugaard are excellent in their roles, while Byrne makes a surprisingly good female HAL, and the effects are every bit as impressive as a big budget Hollywood version of this story might have been. In many ways, it’s a coming-of-age story, one that shatters the Bechdel test while delivering a thriller that may have familiar elements but still delivers on its thought-provoking suspense. There are plenty of Netflix movies that only got there because they wouldn’t make it as a big-screen film, but I Am Mother is not one of them.

 

Rank: List Runner-Up

 

© 2019 S.G. Liput
644 Followers and Counting

 

Mortal Engines (2018)

17 Friday May 2019

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We all survive in different ways
When struggles line our path.
We cry, we grieve, we carry on
And curse the aftermath.

There’s healthy ways to deal with loss,
Like, say, the world’s demise.
Yet most dystopias suggest
That man won’t be so wise.

Authoritarian regimes
Are now a stock motif.
But giant cities set on wheels?
That takes some disbelief!

Yet who can say what man might do?
His foolishness is nothing new.
_________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

I’m clearly more forgiving than most critics when it comes to the fantasy and sci-fi genres. In fact, I could probably compile a list of sci-fi films that critics have savaged and I’ve still enjoyed (note to self: make such a list for later). I was eagerly awaiting the release of the Peter Jackson-produced Mortal Engines, which promised a young-adult Mad Max: Fury Road on an even bigger scale, but then it tanked at the box office and earned a mere 26% on Rotten Tomatoes. That made me question my prior expectations, but now that I’ve seen it, it definitely fits into the category of movies that are better than their reviews indicate.

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Based on the first of a quartet of novels and directed by Christian Rivers, who has worked on the effects of many Jackson films, Mortal Engines is one of those far-flung, highly unlikely post-apocalyptic futures where the world has radically changed and forgotten its past, as evidenced by the amusingly misinterpreted “relics” of our present day. In this world, a terrible war has led to a system of “municipal Darwinism” in which cities have become mobile, mounted upon enormous tank tracks so they can hunt smaller towns for their resources, with London being the strongest. A scarred girl named Hester (Hera Hilmar) seeks revenge on London’s Deputy Lord Mayor Valentine (Hugo Weaving in familiar villain mode) for the death of her mother, and when a museum worker named Tom (Robert Sheehan) learns the truth, he is thrust into a journey with Hester to stop Valentine’s plans for world domination.

Mortal Engines has its imperfections, particularly in the way it blatantly echoes many better movies, such as Star Wars and Howl’s Moving Castle. (Really, Star Wars is a huge influence.) Yet there’s nothing that would warrant the film’s poor box office, unless people just don’t connect with the story’s post-apocalyptic quest and relatively unmemorable characters. The actors do their best, though, and I thought the film more than made up for its weaknesses with its epic steampunk visuals and fast-paced storyline.

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There are many references to unfamiliar places and events that are unique to the film’s internal history, and while this might make it hard to follow at times, I love this kind of world-building, making the story’s universe feel bigger than what we see onscreen. The moving cities crafted by Weta Digital reflect the same level of commitment and detail that the company brought to Peter Jackson’s Middle-Earth films. And while the plot can feel derivative at times, one subplot featuring Stephen Lang as an undead cyborg adds great tension and a surprisingly emotional payoff. Mortal Engines may not be the blockbuster I thought it could be and certainly isn’t on par with The Lord of the Rings, but for fans of the genre, it’s a large-scale, effects-heavy adventure that deserved much better.

Best line: (Katherine Valentine) “How can a society so advanced, so scientific, be so stupid?”   (Tom) “Well, no more stupid than people today.”

 

Rank: List Runner-Up

 

© 2019 S.G. Liput
632 Followers and Counting