Category Archives: Science Fiction

Avatar: Fire and Ash

Leave a reply

Avatar: Fire and Ash        3 stars

As incredible as it sounds it has now been seventeen years since James Cameron brought us Avatar, his spectacular CGI-3D movie about the blue-skinned inhabitants of a distant planet called Pandora and the efforts of humans to dominate and exploit it for its natural resources. The humans developed a technology that allowed them to blend in with the alien race in copies of their bodies. Then in 2022, came Avatar: The Way of Water, which followed a family of the Na’vi race who flee from their own tribe and come to live with the Metkayina, another tribe that has a close relationship with the sea and the creatures that dwell there. Both movies were noted for their colorful and overwhelming special effects using body capture technology and their tales of exploitation of native cultures by a technologically superior race in the search for valuable resources (an indictment of corporate greed). Cameron’s latest incarnation, Avatar: Fire and Ash continues the story, with most of the same characters and the same astounding special effects of the first two films. We follow Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), the fearless Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) and their family through family drama, their dealings with their Metkayina hosts, adventures with some incredible animal inhabitants and the inevitable conflict with their human pursuers, who seem to never learn from their past experiences. Meanwhile, Jake’s enemy, Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), has not given up on tracking down Jake, who he regards as a traitor for “going native”. (You may remember that Jake and Quaritch were both humans who now inhabit Na’vi bodies, able to breathe the air of Pandora that is toxic to humans.) The movie feels like it has little to add to the story, featuring much of the same conflicts and action that we’ve seen before despite its three and a quarter hour running time. One very notable addition though is the villain, Varang, who leads her tribe, the Mangkwan, who prey on the vulnerabilities of other Na’vi tribes and steal whatever things of value they can find. Varang is ruthless and smart as well, able to adapt to new situations. It doesn’t take long for her to see the value in allying herself with the vengeful Quaritch. Oona Chaplin is perfect for the role of this native leader. (Chaplin is the granddaughter of the legendary Charlie Chaplin.) Overall, this third iteration seems like more of the same including the relentless greed of the humans and the spirituality of the native Na’vi. Of course, the movie did not need to be nearly this long. The word is that James Cameron is planning on two more movies in this series (each probably over three hours). I feel that the story has been played out and it is time to move on to something else. We will see if he follows through on this plan.
 

Downsizing

Leave a reply

Downsizing         2 stars

I saw two movies recently that can be classified as social satires, one of which was very well done and the other while having great intensions falls far short.  Downsizing, from 2017 takes place in the near future when a technology is discovered that allows people to be shrunk in size to only a few inches tall.  The promise is that this will save the planet from environmental catastrophe by reducing the human footprint and allow people to live in luxury in a place called Leisure Land because their cost of living is reduced to a tiny fraction of normal.  It stars Matt Damon and Kristen Wiig as the couple willing to embark on this adventure when he becomes disillusioned with his job.  The movie has a few funny moments but loses its satiric edge as it seeks to deliver a message on the inequalities of this new world and the dangers of overconsumption.  By the end of the movie I just wanted to say: Ok I get it. There are always injustices in the world!  The movie was by director Alexander Payne who in the past has given us great movies like “Sideways” and “The Descendants”.  Something did not go well with the idea for Downsizing.

Mum, I’m Alien Pregnant

Mum, I’m Alien Pregnant.        3 suns

For my final film of the festival, I saw something really bizarre: Mum, I’m Alien Pregnant in the Midnight section. In this British comedy a young woman gets pregnant via engaging in a sex act with the neighbor boy who is half alien as a result of his mother being abducted by aliens before he was born.  The comedy all centers around the very exaggerated trauma that a woman goes through while pregnant.  There is plenty of screaming and vomiting and slimy fluids involved while the young woman keeps blaming the half alien for her trouble.  There is even a vacuum cleaner involved in a bizarre abortion attempt. We get a peek at what an alien penis looks like and after many antics the baby alien finally arrives.  The movie was a riot in the theater, and the actors even brought baby alien with them and allowed fans to have their picture taken with him.

Rock Springs

Rock Springs.      4 1/2 suns

One movie getting a lot of buzz here is Rock Springs by director/ screenwriter Vera Miao. This movie is in the Midnight section that is reserved for the very weird, sometimes gory films. Rock Springs certainly fits that description as it concerns an Asian mother, her daughter and her mother-in-law who move into an isolated home in the woods only to discover that there is something monstrous hidden in the woods. I can’t say a lot about it without giving away the plot but can say it concerns a small forgotten chapter of the racist history of the US. I really liked the way the story was told in chapters from different characters’ points of view and in a non-linear fashion. It is a monster movie that ends with a hopeful message. And the special effects were very impressive.

Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!

Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!       4 1/2 suns

I was especially pleased with Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! by Japanese director Josef Kubota Wladyka and starring Rinko Kikuchi which follows married couple Haru (Kikuchi) and Luis who regularly compete in competitive Latin ballroom dancing in Tokyo.  But then Luis suddenly dies leaving Haru all alone.  Fortunately, Haru’s sisters encourage her to get back out on the dance floor where she soon is taken up by her new dance instructor who is world famous and who also happens to be married.  One can see that this situation will lead to trouble and the movie does not disappoint.  It is an honest depiction of how hard (and messy) it is to deal with grief while delivering on many humorous situations.  It also includes some fantasy like aspects drawing from Japanese culture.  I enjoyed seeing the blending of the Japanese and Latin cultures which is a real thing in Japan. So far this is my favorite drama of the festival.

A Quiet Place

A Quiet Place                     2 ½ stars

Last year’s hit monster movie, A Quiet Place, was a type of post-apocalyptic movie in which humanity has been nearly wiped out by ravenous creatures that have ultra-sensitive hearing, but are completely blind.  Thus, the remaining humans can only survive by remaining absolutely quiet in all that they do.  The story focuses on one family living in a house in the woods who have learned to live without talking and raising food without making any sound.  This movie was well received by critics and audiences, but there was too much for me to get over.  There were good performances I am sure, but the holes in the plot were obvious, like how could they possibly raise a field of corn without making any noise.  And there is no real background about how this all came about.  Any good horror movie has to provide some explanation for how the disaster came to be.  I actually enjoyed this year’s Bird Box more than A Quiet Place.  The movie earned an Oscar Nomination for Sound Editing, presumably for the sounds that the monster makes, but I feel like I’ve seen this before in horror movies.  It may have been the best horror movie of 2018, but then I couldn’t find one from last year that I really liked.

Ad Astra

Ad Astra                               4 stars

Ad Astra is last year’s emotional and grand science fiction movie that starred Brad Pitt as an astronaut sent on a mission to make contact with a rogue astronaut who is threatening the solar system.  It is a quiet contemplative film while also containing moments of intense action.  Past movies it has been compared to include Apocalypse Now and 2001: A Space Odyssey.  It opens with a thrilling scene where astronaut Roy McBride (Pitt) is helping in the construction of an enormous space antenna when disaster strikes sending him hurtling toward earth.  Later, he learns that a series of electrical disruptions may be due to a lost space mission sent to Neptune twenty years earlier that was commended by Roy’s father, Clifford (Tommy Lee Jones).  The Space Command has decided that Roy is the best suited to try to make contact with the rogue mission.  The movie has a realistic feel to it and the events in space seem to be plausible.  Private interests seem to have taken hold on the moon that even leads to space pirates with raiding parties!  The movie really succeeds with the quiet performance of Pitt aided by a fine Tommy Lee Jones.  There is also a small role for Donald Sutherland that is carried off well.  So, see Ad Astra for the role that Brad Pitt was not nominated for.

The Invisible Man

The Invisible Man                             4 stars

If you are ready to experience something more terrifying than the Coronavirus you can check out the new remake of The Invisible Man.  This film by Leigh Whannell reimagines the 1933 classic horror movie setting it in modern times and bringing several surprises and shocking moments with it.  Cecelia (Elizabeth Moss in Us last year) does a daring nighttime escape from her violent boyfriend, Adrian who is essentially holding her captive in his luxury home.  She is aided by her sister and a childhood friend James, a police officer (Aldis Hodge of Straight Outta Compton).  Adrian also happens to be a wealthy and brilliant scientist who has some interesting projects he is working on.  Before long while Cecilia is still in hiding she learns of the suicide of Adrian, but refuses to believe it.  She suspects it was faked and that it is just part of his scheme to control her.  At this point things get interesting when strange things start to happen in James’ house where she is hiding.  The film uses many slow panning shots where the camera shows us parts of the rooms with no one in them, but Cecelia is certain there is a presence there nonetheless.  As the tension rises so does the certainty that Adrian is out there but he is unseen, because, well, he is invisible.  The filmmaker comes up with an ingenious explanation for how this is all accomplished which I cannot share with you.  The shock comes from experiencing it for yourself.  But rest assured, many people will die before the end of the movie which you had to expect.  Leigh Whannell is probably best known for his work in the Saw series of films, only one of which I ever saw.  They weren’t movies that I cared to see, but The Invisible Man is well worth the ticket if you are in for two hours of shock and terror.

Ralph Breaks the Internet

Ralph Breaks the Internet            4 ½ stars

For my first movie while being stuck at home because of Coronavirus I picked Ralph Breaks the Internet, the sequel to Wreck It Ralph, the well received movie about a video arcade character from the eighties.  It’s appropriate to see this one as it includes the release of a virus that wreaks havoc on the population.  Ralph (John C. Reilly) spends his days either in his videogame at the arcade or hanging out with his best friend Vanellope (Sarah Silverman), that is, until an accident leaves Vanellope’s racing game, Sugar Rush, disabled making her a character without a game.  Ralph gets an idea when he learns about the internet and a thing called e-Bay, where almost anything can be found at a price, so the set off into the world of the internet where they meet all kinds of interesting characters.  The charm of the movie is the presentation of the things we run into when online, such as annoying pop-up ads, web searches, (Mr. KnowsMore), Chat pages and characters from popular movies.  Of course the best of these is the collection of all the Disney princesses in one place when they try to help out poor Vanellope.  The quest is aided by Yesss (Taraji P. Henson), the head algorithm of the website BuzzzTube who comes up with some hilarious ways for ralph to make money with ridiculous videos.  The breaking of the internet comes about with a misguided attempt by Ralph to try to change the path that Vanellope has chosen for herself.  It’s a funny family safe movie that has a lot going for it in spite of the virus.

Annihilation

Annihilation                                        2 ½ stars

Annihilation by Alex Garland is a movie I was curious about when it came out in 2018 but didn’t see then.  It has a look of a fantasy adventure from the previews with its characters venturing into a strange landscape full of new plants and creatures giving it a biodiversity look.  Let me assure you that that is not what it is like.  It’s a full-fledged science fiction horror movie with a strange alien presence that has invaded earth.  For reasons I won’t go into the biologist character Lena (Natalie Portman) volunteers for a mission to enter an area on the Florida coastline taken over by the alien presence that is referred to as The Shimmer. It’s an area surrounded by a strange force field defeating all communication with those inside.  She is joined by psychologist Dr. Ventress (Jennifer Jason Leigh), physicist Josie Tessa Thompson), paramedic Anya (Gina Rodriguez), and anthropologist Cass (Tuva Novotny).  It doesn’t help our confidence to hear that a previous expedition has never been heard from again.  The group discovers that they have lost some of their memories after entering and encounter strange plants and animals that are growing and taking on characteristics of other species.  Soon one member is attacked by a giant crocodile that the women dispatch with heavy machinegun fire.  (They are very well armed.)  One by one, the group are either picked off by strange creatures or by their own actions as their minds turn them against one another.  Until Lena must face the alien presence alone.  One can compare this movie to the science fiction film Solaris as there is a similar theme.  The film is based on a book, Southern Reach by Jeff VanderMeer and has been compared to the ancient myth of Orpheus.  It has a very slow moving and menacing tone to it with plenty of ominous music.  It’s very pretty to look at with some shocking surprises but it doesn’t make my list of great science fiction films.