Movie Review: Up

Pixar has yet to make a really bad movie. There's been a couple that I've been rather indifferent on, but when the company sits down to really do a good story, they really do a good story. Watching Up last night with my girlfriend helped to reaffirm that no matter what the subject of the movie is, it's likely going to be a very good one. While Up doesn't necessarily top The Incredibles, Toy Story or Wall-E for one of my favorite movies from the company, it's certainly one of the better films that I've seen from them.

When watching the first trailers for the film, I was struck at how odd the film seemed at first glance. A man decides to lift his house out of the city using balloons? Where The Incredibles focused on the nostalgia of the past, Wall-E at some of the dangers of rampant commercialism and the use of environmentalism, and so forth, Up didn't appear at first glance to really have any sort of interesting theme. Looking back, I should have known better, because I've enjoyed some of their other films where the stories weren't readily apparent from the early peeks at the film. Up is a story about adventure, about living life and appreciating what you have, but also keeping in mind that sometimes, you get far more than you expect. Up accomplishes its story in more ways than I can recount, in a wonderful and emotional story that is cute, funny and sobering at the same time.

The opening moments of the movie are possibly the best, and saddest moments that I've seen in one of Pixar's films. Carl gets married to Ellie, and we watch as their life moves along with them, but the tragedy that they aren't able to achieve that one last dream that they have always had: something that motivates Carl to escape from the life that he's had and go on one more adventure. As he gets his house to float away with thousands of brightly colored balloons, he picks up a small stowaway, Russell, a small asian boy who is a Wilderness Explorer (A lightly masked version of a Boy Scout) who needs just one more badge. Where Carl is tired and cynical, Russell is almost literally bursting with enthusiasm and excitement for his surroundings. Along the way, both have their expectations drastically changed, and by the end of the film, everybody learns something in the end.

What made the movie for me, however, was Dug the Golden Retriever. His introduction of: "My name is Dug, I have just met you and I love you," absolutely stole my heart because it's so close to how I imagine most dogs (especially my own) think. He's hyper, excited and an absolutely sweet dog and is by far one of the more memorable characters out of the Pixar films. The heart of the character really lies with the core of all Pixar films: enthusiastic and entertaining, and I kind of wish that the whole movie was about this funny talking dog.

What struck me the most was some of the central themes of the film, revealed through the interactions between Russell and Carl, is living out one's dreams. Carl and his late wife, Ellie had long wished to go on some sort of adventure, but life got in the way. At the same time, Russell has enthusiastically worked to collect all of his badges, and the two are swept up on an adventure, with each other cancelling the other out. Over the course of the film, Carl regains a certain amount of enthusiasm, but also comes face to face with the true nature of his dreams, while Russell finally gets to have an adventure, and to have a sort of father figure that he really hasn't had. The film acts as a really good bit of social commentary there, which I really appreciated.

However, the real message for Up comes right at the end, when Carl discovers that his wife had filled her journal with pictures of herself and her love, noting that their life together was the adventure, better than any mere trip that they might have gone on. Life itself is an adventure, and that things can come out differently than you expected, and that opportunities shouldn't be passed up as they come up. Russell says something along the same lines towards the end, that it's the little things that you remember, not necessarily the exciting trips and events that happen in your life, but the slow and boring parts. It's very true, and helped sit the movie into the entertaining and revealing at the same time category: the best sort of film, I think. Unlike where some of Pixar's other films have had more tangible themes and stories, Up has an incredibly personal and enlightening story that to me, seems to hold far more meaning to it.

In the end, Up is a fun movie, certainly one of Pixar's stronger ones. It's one that I would.... Squirrel!

The Game's Afoot: Sherlock Holmes

Guy Ritchie's latest take on the Sherlock Holmes is an incredibly fun ride, but one that takes far more from Ritchie's visual style and storytelling than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's. The end result is around seventy percent Guy Ritchie, ten percent Johnny Depp's Captain Jack, ten percent Hugh Laurie's Gregory House and the remaining 10 percent Conan Doyle. Despite that, Sherlock Holmes is an entertaining, exciting and over the top adventure that fits well within Ritchie's canon of British gangster films.

I've been a fan of the Sherlock Holmes stories for a couple of years now, after coming across Baker Street in London, and shortly thereafter picking up a collection of Holmes short stories at a Tottenham Court Road bookstore. I blew through the stories, both for the mysteries that Holmes picked apart with impeccable logic, as well as the character of Holmes, who's interested me since those first readings. I've never gotten into the other films or other adaptations before, so this new film was a little worrisome until I heard that a) Guy Ritchie was at the director's chair, and b) that Robert Downey Jr. was playing the titular character.

I absolutely loved Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, as well as Layer Cake (which falls well within the same genre) for their highly entertaining characters, grimy English underworld and fun plots. Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes easily falls within the same sort of world, and could easily be a precursor to the films set in the modern day, and indeed, has a story that both mixes fantasy and reality, but takes a dated story and places a modern-day take on how it's conducted.

In this story, Holmes and Watson are pulled into a mystery that starts rather abruptly with a chase to St. Paul's Cathedral, and continues with the supposed resurrection of a murderer, Lord Blackwood, that sets London into a panic. Holmes and Watson together follow his trail through the city, gathering clues and finding themselves at odds with the government, and at times, each other. Their journey through the city is an entertaining one, with Holmes picking up on small clues, which lead to somewhat larger ones. I have a couple specific issues with the plot, which builds and builds to a largely anti-climatic end that leads neatly to a likely sequel (and sure enough, looking at IMDB, there is a sequel listed), which brings me to my biggest complaint for the film: the entire movie feels built by committee. At points, there's too much action, too many leaps of faith in Holmes's logic, but mainly that the film feels caught between stories. The beginning picks up at the end of a chase, while the end drops off with a number of tantalizing hints of Dr. Moriarty. Even the Irene Adler, supposedly one of Holmes’s greater opponents, is largely reduced to a placement character who almost never demonstrates her wit and intelligence during the story, instead becoming a very dull lead for Holmes to follow along to other aspects of the story. In this regard, there was much to be desired.

Where the film ultimately succeeds, however, is with the characters Holmes and Watson. In this regard, I have a feeling that the film's writers watched quite a bit of the TV show House, MD - a show that bears many similarities in story style and characters - because at points, there were enormous similarities in how the two interacted, one impulsively intelligent, the other, exasperated, following in tow, much like the House/Wilson relationship. I can't help but wonder if Hugh Laurie was vetted for the film, and I can't help but think that it would be an awesome experiment for the show to film a Sherlock Holmes episode. Downey and Law are fantastic as Holmes and Watson, and really sell the film as a pair.

Even then, the real credit goes to Downey Jr.'s Holmes, who was expertly crafted and executed in a very interesting fashion. If memory serves, an idea for the character was that he was somewhat autistic, and with Holmes’s brilliance comes his anti-social personality. This Holmes feels very much at points like the one in Conan Doyle's stories, in the way that he interacts with people and solves his crimes.

Looking at this film in a conceptual manner, it becomes clear that Holmes is the perfect type of character for this sort of story, one where reason comes into conflict with belief, along with science comes into conflict with religion. At the center of this story is a supernatural figure, one who supposedly returns from the dead, intent on taking over Britain through the efforts of a secret society that wields black magic, which in turn throws London into panic, and through several demonstrations, has this society believing that he really can wield an awesome power. On the other side of the equation is Holmes, who uses his impecable logic and reasoning to problems to follow them to their end, dispelling much of the carefully constructed mythos that surrounds Blackwood has put together and saves the day.

In a way, despite the period that the film is set in, this film is a product of the modern era, not only in its production, but in its story as well. A look at any newspaper today will show this sort of conflict of faith vs. reason is commonplace, in US communities and in the global jihadist conflict that puts the Middle East and western styles of civilization into conflict. This film isn't necessarily a commentary on the war on terror by any stretch of the imagination, but it does highlight an interesting point, and one that I think is highly relevant, that matters of faith aren't necessarily what they seem at first glance. This is the case in Blackwood's attempted rise to power with his own devices and manipulations, and it's the same for any campaign that involves faith. In a sense, the film is about thinking over belief, a cause that I can heartily promote and believe in, no pun intended.

The bottom line for Sherlock Holmes is that it's pure fun - there's certainly plenty of action, a number of cool fight scenes, humor and some fantastic visuals, but it has a bit of intelligences lurking below the surface for anyone who knows where to look.

You're Not In Kansas Anymore; You're On Pandora

The moment that Avatar really opened up for me was a massive spaceship travelling towards the viewer, the moon of Pandora, orbiting Alpha Centauri I. While that in and of itself wasn't anything new with science fiction, two things struck me: the first was how utterly real the spaceship looked, and the neat reflection of Pandora in the solar panels towards the rear of the ship.

Avatar is the story of a crippled Marine, Jake Sully, who is given the chance to travel to Pandora and operate an Avatar, a genetically grown Na'vi, a native of the hostile planet. A corporation has begun a mining operation on the planet, and has had some difficulties with the natives of the world. Jake takes to this role like a fish to water, finding that his life in a new body is a liberating one, and soon, finds that he is siding with the Na'vi.

James Cameron's movie set me back on my heels (figuratively) with Avatar. The movie is absolutely stunning in a number of ways, and most likely be one that will be a turning point in the movie industry. Despite an overly familiar plotline - not necessarily weak, just predicable - Avatar was an exciting ride from start to finish, a well rounded Science Fiction epic that should appeal to a very broad audience. Above all, the movie was fun to watch.

For a film that has been in the works for over a decade, it's understandable that there is quite a bit of disapointment over the plot. For all the leaps and bounds that the movie takes, it's something like a new mustang. Very flashy, but with stone-age suspension. The storyline of someone spying, going native and turning against their own kind is something that's been used numerous times, and already, there are comparisons to Pocahontas, Dances With Wolves and The Last Samurai out there, and for good reason: that's pretty much what it is, just on another planet. There's not really any reason to believe that this particular storyline is weak - all of the above films have been nominated for Adacamy Awards, with several wins between them. Undoubtably, Avatar will be nominated for a number as well.

Still, there is some lingering disapointment that the film didn't try anything rash with its plot. The film's visuals are so far out there that it's clear that everyone's attention was more about the appearance of the film than the story that they were telling. The story is simple, intermixed with narration and a rushed montage that detailed Jake Sully's intigration into Na'vi society in order to better exploit them. Throughout the entire film, you know what will happen next. But despite that, I just didn't care.

Most of that can be chalked up to the astonishing special effects. Consiously, any viewer will know that just about everything that you see is digital. But, from the first couple of minutes, I was just sucked in to Cameron's fantastic world of Pandora. Where the production crew skimped on the story, they made up for it in the look and feel of the world. The jungles of Pandora are incredibly detailed, entire ecosystems that are not only realistic looking, but somewhat plausible. This element of the film lends itself beautifully to science fiction, and I can see why Cameron waited until the technology was just right to make the movie.

Technology is at the forefront of the movie, between the advances to bring it to the screen in the first place, but also throughout the plot. Shortly after Sully awakes, they are brought down to the planet, travelling over an endless jungle, before reaching a clearing. The change is jarring, going from organic to industrial. This theme is at the heart of the movie, and one that our protagonist is caught between. On one side, he is drawn to the freedom of a new body with incredible abilities, while on the other, he is brought back to a shell of a body to serve his superior offices within the company - Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) and Parker Selfridge (Giovanni Ribisi). The mining company that represents the large portion of human activities onplanet is destructive, and with that, contains some fairly broad critisizms about our relationship with nature. This isn't a new theme, and indeed, I was reminded of Karen Traviss's Wess'Har series, Dinotopia, and a bunch of other films/novels that do much the same thing. Humans crush their surroundings without regard for the bigger picture, a message that comes at a particularly potent time, with the whole climate change argument continuing, (There's an offhand reference to Earth with a devastated ecosystem) but also with the ongoing financial crisis, with companies seeking to expand their own interests over the bigger picture 'good'. In this instance, the scientists pleas for more time to understand the world is met with laughter and a very simpleminded attitude that 'trees are just trees.'

Despite this, and some of the alien elements that are put into the ecosystem, Pandora and the Na'vi aren't really all that alien. The ecosystem is fairly logical with predators feeding on prey, and the primitive Na'vi society, while happy with their surroundings and existance, seems very similar to any number of 'primitive' societies on Earth, from their social organization to beliefs. There's little wonder that the company is dismissive of the claims, but then again, this is pretty shallow allegory.

Of all the elements that really bothered me throughout the film were some of the characters. Where the plot was pretty bare, the characters are at best archtypes drawn out of the most stereotypical of hollywood characters. There's the uncaring company man, the daughter of the chief, the daughter's love interest, the crusading scientists and the tough as nails marine who disregards just about everything and is spoiling for a fight. There's very little nuance to the people here, and part of Avatar's biggest weaknesses with the plot and story.

That all being said, its well worth seeing, because this film will likely reinvigorate the way people see movies in the future. 3D is here to stay, and hopefully will represent one of the biggest changes since George Lucas put Star Wars out to the general public. The graphics throughout looked good in a way that weren't intrusive to the viewing experience, and allowed me to really sit back an enjoy (or jump, when something appeared to come out of the screen) the film. While this movie wasn't necessarily the best example for paying more attention to storyline over visuals, the principle stands, and I'm eager to see what will happen next with films - I couldn't help but think that Star Wars will look absolutely fantastic with this technology, and adding an additional dimension to the screen allows filmmakers so much more that they can do to entertain the masses.

In short, Avatar is an incredibly fun movie. Visually, it has no rivals - yet - while storywise, it's a little weak, but it gets the job done in grand, Science Fiction fashion.

Review: Moon

Moon, the debut film by Duncan Jones, starring Sam Rockwell as Sam Bell and Kevin Spacey as Gerty, is a masterpiece of science fiction, one that is likely to achieve cult status very quickly amongst the fans of the genre. While it's only on limited release, Moon is a movie that is well worth making the time to go watch it.

Set at some point in the near future, humanity has returned to the Moon, for the plausible explanation that extensive mining operations will spell the end of most of Earth's energy problems in the form of Helium 3. Sam Bell is the sole miner on one of Lunar Industries outposts on the far side of the moon. Because of a communications error, Sam has been isolated for his entire time on the station. At the opening of the film, he is two weeks away from his return to earth, when an accident leaves him injured, when another Sam Bell appears. With this turn of events, the pair realize just what their lives are, and mean in the greater scheme of things.

The trailer, unfortunately, gives away much of what this film is, and from early reports about the plot and visuals, I was able to guess pretty much the major plot points and reveal - Sam Bell is in fact a clone, and the memories of his life back on earth are all nothing but fabrications, or copies of the original Sam Bell. While the story doesn't come off as a wholly original one, the execution alone is what turns this story into something far more interesting.

What I found the most interesting is the calm indifference to the news of their origins that both Sams (let's call the first one Alpha and the second one Bravo) feel when they come to the realization that neither is a figment of the other's imagination - there's a far more level of realism there, for people coming from a futuristic world where elements such as cloning aren't out of the realm of possibilities.

Furthermore, while the film harkens back to other films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, the plot doesn't focus so much on the greater moralistic issues around the story, such as cloning, artificial intelligence, or some of the other, lofty grand ideas that other classics might have looked to, but it takes these elements in stride, looking more towards the ethics of a major corporation, in this case, Lunar Industries, and the human side to the story. Rockwell plays a fantastic set of characters in the two Sam Bells - Alpha is lonely, tired, dying and crazy, while Bravo is young, vital and temperamental. Easily the best scenes are when the two interact, the same person, but two different people. Their reactions upon realizing just who they are absolutely brilliant, with an entire range of emotions, from anguish to anger, and this is where the film excels the most.

There is a subtle element to the storyline about Lunar Industries and their moral stance towards their workers that largely takes a back seat to the primary storyline of Sam Alpha and Bravo. Towards the end of the film, Gerty says that the two of them (himself and a third, recently revived clone, Charlie) will be back to their regular programming, where Bravo same counters: "We're not programs, Gerty, we're people." This is a profound and defining moment for this storyline, and it's something that really resounds with me when it comes to themes within science fiction. In the past couple of years, the broad themes of science fiction have shifted. During the Golden Era of SF, the 60s and 70s, there was a predominant trend (from my observations) of stories that involved an individual against a government, which tended to be the faceless antagonist. In more recent years, there seems to be far less vilification of a government, with more towards larger corporations being more of a target. Entities such as this seem to control people, viewing them far more as parts of a machine or system than as the individual people that they are. In this case, this element is brought to the extreme, where people are packaged up and replaced as needed on these mining stations.

Visually, the film is stunning, looking back to films such as 2001 for a quiet, calm, minimalist look at the future. There is a very retro, but realistic and practical feel to all of the sets, from the rovers to the mining base, which is something that I've longed to see in science fiction films of late. But while these elements are absolutely fantastic, they help to drive home a vital point when it comes to science fiction - the story is the primary element of any such film. Unlike films that are likely to gross millions of dollars, such as Terminator, Star Trek and Transformers this year, Moon is soft spoken, relying on models and physical sets, which help to supplement the story, rather than drive it. This is a lesson that far too few directors and studios are taking to heart nowadays, it would seem, relying far more on the glamour and excitement than on the story, and it shows. Moon is a film that is going to be remembered for years to come, because of its timeless feel and nature brought on by the story, rather than something else that is going to simply be known for its box office totals.

The last element that makes this movie really click is Clint Mansell's fantastic soundtrack. With films such as Requiem for a Dream and The Fountain under his belt for notable genre scores, Moon's soundtrack is a little overwhelming at times, but wonderful all the same, with a simply stunning opening track that is followed by several others that absolutely nail the feel of the film, and stands alone in its own right.

In short, Moon is a film that is Science Fiction at its best, and shows that this is the sort of movie that we need to see in the genre far more than we do. It is very rare indeed to come across a film in the SF/F genre nowadays that is truly original (homage aside) but that also provides a thoughtful and interesting story. Moon is the sort of film that needs to be made and seen far more often then it is.