PASSENGERS - Review

Billed as a Space Romance starring Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence as Jim Preston and Aurora Lane, from an original black listed script by Jon Spaihts, which meant this should’ve been a good, thought provoking film, and having the Director of the Excellent, The Imitation Game should’ve been the ace in the hole. The final product, whilst entertaining and visually outstanding received some harsh words from critics.  The Film follows Jim Preston, one the 5000 Passengers aboard the Starship Avalon who woke up 90 Years too soon in the Ship’s 120 Years cruise to a new human colony in a new galaxy. 

The Film opens with the uniquely designed Starship Avalon zooming across a star field and then through an asteroid field, but thankfully, the ship has a shield to take care of those potato shaped rocks, despite having no crews on the steering wheel. It was a little unnerving to see the ship sterile emptiness, kudos to the Production Design Team for managing to create such impressive interior for this spaceship, despite its rather strange almost Kryptonian style exterior. It’s soon established that Avalon is in the middle of a 120 Years cruise to a planet called Homestead II where its 5000 passengers are to be the first settlers of the uninhabited planet. Not only is the planet uninhabited, it’s owned by the Homestead Corporation, and guess what? The Planet turned out to be one of many Planets the Corporation owned! Kudos to Screenwriter Jon Spaihts for creating an interesting vision of the future. 

Things started to go wrong aboard The Avalon, after the ship cleared off the Asteroid Field (and everything automatically fixed themselves) when one of the Pod malfunctioned, waking up its inhabitant Jim Preston 90 Years too soon. The scenes where Jim searched the ship for fellow humans through the deserted pristine corridor brought to mind 28 Days Later and The Walking Dead (minus the garbage and debris). It didn’t take long for Jim to figure out that he’s an early riser, and that everybody else would sleep for 90 Years more in their pod. Being an optimist, Jim tried to make the best of his situation, following advice from Android Bartender from The Shining-like Bar, Arthur to “live a little”. Moving himself to a VIP Suite, playing basketballs, dance dance revolution (holo?) game (Clever reference to Peter Quill), and dramatic spacewalks. He also attempted to break into the Crew Quarters to try and wake up the crew to no avail, thanks to the heavily secured door.  However after a Year of being alone, Jim started to lose his mind and contemplated suicide by throwing himself out to space. It is this dark aspect that is unfortunately, the Filmmakers chose not to explore. Instead, they opt to continue to make Jim the nice optimist he is at the start. 

Jim met Aurora after his botched suicide and immediately regained his old swagger as he browsed through Aurora’s Interviews. In a creepy, (but presented as cute) scene, he watches Aurora’s interview, while sitting next to her Hibernation Pod and eating crisps. Naturally, the video recordings aren’t enough and Jim soon faced a dilemma : Should he wake Aurora and doomed her to a lifetime on the ship with him, or let her stay in her pod and continue with her life? This being a Movie, there’s no doubt which scenario ended up on the Screen. He woke her up, and lied about it.  Initially distraught, Aurora soon accepted her situation and initiated a relationship with Jim, which probably doesn’t seem like a bad deal (he’s nice, he’s hot) considering it was some form of Stockholm Syndrome.  She had no choice. But thanks to the leads performance, this subtext might be forgivable to some. 

Of course, Jim’s lie was soon uncovered, just moments before he’s due to propose to Aurora via Arthur’s revelation. Aurora’s distraught at the truth was understandable, she’s stuck on the ship for 90 years, with the Man she now hates. But, ever the Optimist, Jim continually attempted to make it up to her by taking over the Ship’s P.A System to apologise to her, justifying his action. This is film’s critical point. By this point, the filmmakers could go the horror route by having Jim, twisted by his period of solitude go all Jack Torrance on Aurora or down the road they went to, by introducing a new Character, Gus (Laurence Fishburne) the Ship’s Deck Manager and problems with the Avalon that only Jim and Aurora can fix by working together. Thus the Film kept to the Sci-Fi Romance it marketed itself to be.

Passengers is not a perfect film, its flawed and its plot points problematic to some people, but this is not a film made for discussion, or deep analysis, it’s a popcorn film. Of course the Guy and the Girl end up together, of course the Girl forgives the Guy. Yes, there is a darker, scarier version of the Film that the Filmmakers could’ve made, but they didn’t. It is a shame that they didn’t go with that version, but that doesn’t make this film any less enjoyable. At least it’s not one of the Transformers sequel.

ARRIVAL - Review

Arrival is a 2016 Science Fiction Film directed by Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners, Sicario) and written by Eric Heisserer based on “A Story of your Life” by Ted Chiang. It follows Louise Banks (Amy Adams) and Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner), a Lingustic Expert and Physicists, to initiate first contact with one of the 12 Alien Crafts that mysteriously appeared around the globe. A tense sci fi, drama thriller in the vein of Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, Arrival took the First Contact idea and turned it into a drama about predestinations and the importance of communication.

The film’s first important theme is the importance of communication. This is first highlighted during Louise’s first arrival to the Montana Base, where one of the 12 alien craft had landed (dubbed “The Shells”). Multiple Screens are visible showing live feeds from 11 other Sites around the World. A connection that will later revealed to be the key in decoding the alien’s message. Louise’s objective is to find out the Heptapod’s (the name given to the Aliens on account of their seven legs) purpose on Earth.  To achieve the objective, Louise uses her linguistic expertise to teach the Heptapod how to communicate, to the annoyance of her military superiors who wanted nothing but quick results. Louise argued that it is necessary to teach the Heptapods the basic concepts of the Human language to ensure no miscommunication between the two races that might lead to war.  Later China’s misinterpretation of the Heptapod’s message (“Use Weapon”) led to China breaking off communication with the World, followed by the other 10 Nations involved. Believing the Heptapod’s to be hostile, China declared war on the Heptapods and urged the other nations to do the same. At the Montana base, several soldiers, swayed by the rant of a provocateur mounted a plan to bomb the Heptapod’s shell, managing to kill one of them.  Louise attempted to convince her Military Superiors that the Heptapod’s message may be benign and that their concept of Weapon could refer to something else (Knowledge, Technology, etc..). and that to solve the true meaning of the message all 12 Sites around the world should work together.  At the film’s denouement it is revealed that the Heptapod’s does indeed intend to unite the human race to work together, understanding the “Weapon” they’re offering : Their Language.  At one point in the film’s second act, Louise herself said to her Military superiors that, “Language is the first weapon drawn in a conflict”.

The film’s theme of Inevitability and its true heart is stated explicitly in its first 5 minutes. The film opens with a montage showing our Protagonist, Loise Banks (played by Amy Adams) and her daughter, Hannah. The montage quickly goes through Hannah’s birth, and ending with Hannah’s death.  The early years, covering Hannah’s childhood were shot in warm, dreamy, handheld cinematography reminiscent of the Smallville’s sequences in Zack Snyder’s Man Of Steel. The dreamy cinematography and warm, golden colour grading conveys both the sense of joy and hints at the true nature of the sequence. However, by scoring the scene with Max Richter’s On The Nature Of Daylight a sense of loss and melancholy are present, and thus the sequence becomes a beacon in the dark, happiness recalled by someone in despair (or maybe this Reviewer was reminded by the effective application of the same Max Richter’s Music for the dream sequence in Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island). The Montage ends with Hannah lying lifeless in a hospital room, her head completely shaven, hinting at the disease that killed her (it was never explicitly named).  Through the montage, director Denis Villeneuve brilliantly depicts how death is inevitable, pain unavoidable in life and love, and prepared the film’s big question : “If you could see your whole life played out in front of you, would you go with it, or would you change it?”. Through her understanding of the Heptapod’s non-linear language, Louise also gained an ability to see the future, specifically her daughter, Hannah who has yet to be born out of her future relationship with her colleague, Dr. Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner). The Glimpses into this future informed the audience that Louise and Ian had a daughter and that at some point they would separate, leaving Louise to raise Hannah herself, and that Louise’s foreknowledge of Hannah’s death is what ended her marriage to Ian. Yet despite knowing where her life would lead, Louise decided not to change a thing. 

Arrival is a brilliant sci-fi drama film, with strong cast, strong cinematography, convincing visual effects, and an important message for humans, as both an individual or a member of an entire race. A reminder that death, life, pain, love, grief, joy are inevitable aspects of being human, and that we should all work together to create a better world, because no matter where you are, which flags you salute, whatever language you speak, this is our world. 

Hello Again

Hello everyone, it's been a while and I do mean a while. Two years just flashed by *snap fingers* like that. Anyway, since it was part of my 2017's resolution to again, post my thoughts on the latest releases at the Cineplex, and maybe I'll finally post some of my own works as well.

Anyway what a year 2016 has been right? So many lessons learned, so much changes, both good and bad. So here's hoping that 2017 will go down as one of the better ones, eh? *fingers crossed*

- Adi Wijananda

The Art Of Shagging: Nymphomaniac Vol 1 & 2

Lars Von Trier is back! And..with a film  that promises a lot of sex in a story about..sex. Even before its release the film has already gained a lot of attention. First off there's that promise that none of the sex scenes will be simulated, Shia LaBeouf's statement on terror, the announcement that the film will be 5 hours long and there will 2 versions of it (hardcore and soft core), and that finally it will be split into two films and these 2 four hours film have not received (gasp!) Von Trier's seal of approval.

However having watched the unapproved 2 volume Films back to back. This audience are happy to say that the film(s) is still very much Von Trier. And being the final film in Von Trier's Depression Trilogy this film(s) is certainly the funniest.

The story kicks off in Volume 1.  A middle-aged Joe (Charlotte Gainsbourg) is found lying in an alley by a kindly middle aged asexual, Seligman (Stellan Skarsgard) who proceeds to bring her to his intellectual abode (his Apartment).  There, Joe makes a statement : She's a Nymphomaniac and proceeds to tell Seligman his life story.

Vol.1 mainly follows Joe (portrayed brilliantly by newcomer  Stacy Martin) through her teenage and young adult years in a story divided into 5 chapters. At the end of each Chapter Seligman would offer an intellectual take on every single act of perversions that Joe committed. For example: he likened Joe's competition with a friend to have sex with most men on a train in a Chapter of the film, to the art of fly fishing.

Seligman's intellectualisation injects a lot of wit into the entire Apartment sequences and saves them from becoming the boring bits between the sexy bits.

Vol.2  heads into darker territories. The story now follows Joe as portrayed by Gainsbourg in her quest to reclaim her lost ability to have an orgasm. Joe is now married, but in order to fulfil her needs, her husband allows her to engage in plenty of "side activities". One of which is spending time with a sadistic s&m provider, K (brilliantly played by Jamie Bell).  But there are still moments of levity, but mainly sadness and well..depression.

It would be a mistake to watch these two films separately. They are meant to be enjoyed as one film (with a little intermission, of course). Watching them one at a time is the same as eating a plain bread without butter, or Pancakes without syrup. Always missing something.

Overall, a great, great film. Entertaining, touching, shocking, sometimes profound, and sarcastic to hell. I cannot wait to see what the proper 5 hours version would contain when it comes out (if it ever does). Note to fellow fans, there's a very entertaining recreation of 'Antichrist' in Vol. 2 that is both funny and terrifying at the same time.

4.5/5

Year Off

Been taking a year long sabbatical. But I think I might be back for good this time. Will endeavour to to be more..well..frequent this time.

Trekking Into Darkness

My familiarity with Star Trek is unfortunately, very much restricted to the recent feature films and naturally I'm not in any position to understand whatever allusions to the TV Series that may or may not have been in the J.J Abrams' series.

I massively enjoyed 2009's Star Trek. From the breakneck pacing, the casting, Giacchino's score, and yes, even the lens flares. So naturally, expectation was high for a second outing.

Star Trek Into Darkness follows the crew of the enterprise facing one of their own agent, a man named John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch) who held a personal vendetta against Starfleet. Driven by very much the same emotion USS Enterprise's Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) decides to take up arms against Harrison, an act fully sanctioned by the Starfleet leader, Marcus.  However, Harrison turns out to be not the man they thought he was, and there is a far more sinister plan abound.

Retaining the first film's wonderful breakneck pacing, this Trek opens rather spectacularly with an exciting action sequence on an alien planet which put Mr. Spock at the heart of an exploding volcano which seemingly will become his final resting place. But of course, Kirk, once again break all the rules to save his (now) pointy eared buddy.  Their dynamic was the heart of the first film and in my opinion, the most interesting thing from the first film. Here, that dynamic works wonderfully in setting up the film's climactic scene.

The action sequences are very well staged, and the team seems to be getting very confident. One change, I enjoyed the most has to be the new "warp effect" which distorts and elongate the Enterprise just before it jumps into warp, leaving trails of lights , like a slingshot.

Not so successful is the introduction of Carol Marcus, General Marcus's daughter who joins the enterprise to perform an investigation of its cargo. To be honest, I think her existence is solely so they could put the infamous "lingerie scene" that was in one of the trailers.

SPOILER!

The film's second and third act are where things start to steer off course, despite the emotional climax. The revelation of General Marcus's sinister plan which sets him up as the film's villain, which needs to be defeated by The Enterprise's Crew with help from John Harrison (revealed as classic villain Khan).

Now, the first Trek film already re-booted Kirk/Spock dynamic, why not reboot Khan as an ally rather than a villain? He'll make wonderful addition to the Enterprise, if he's not so mad and zealous that is.

The film's ending also cheated the emotional climax by providing a very simple solution to resurrect someone from death (A"why don't they just" plot hole).

Its flaws aside, this is still a very entertaining film with wonderful mastery of its elements. Everyone is much more mature this time around. With Abrams confirmed for Star Wars Episode VII, and taking into account his direction for the two Trek films, It is exciting to imagine how his Star Wars going to turn out.

And one last thing, despite all the good things about the film, they still need to work on getting better posters.

3.5/5

Good To Be Back: IRON MAN 3

After a group outing in last year The Avengers (Avengers Assemble to some), Tony Stark dons his armour for another solo outing. This year's mission is to stop a crazy terrorist leader, The Mandarin from destroying the world.

Set one year after The Avengers, Tony Stark is dealing with the trauma following the attack on Manhattan by Loki and the Chitauri

Stresses and anxiety attacks aside, his life is pretty stable and hunky dory, he's got a girlfriend (Pepper Potts) and he has tons of cool new armours at his disposal (and new method of suiting up).  However, after a terrorist attack, led by the Mandarin, on every aspect of his personal life, which left him powerless, Tony must once again save this day, but this time with less reliance on his suits.

Directed by Shane Black who replaced Jon Favreu as the helmer of the series, Iron Man 3 is without doubt a much better sequel than Iron Man 2 and even better than The Avengers.

Robert Downey is as charismatic, witty, and badass as usual.  Ben Kingsley is truly menacing as The Mandarin and the action sequences are spectacular (the air force one rescue and the attack on the mansion in particular).

The script is surprisingly very, very funny in contrast to the The Dark Knight Rises vibe the trailers were giving. I absolutely loved the opening which is very different than its predecessors, and the post credits sequence.

After two composers (Ramin Djawadi & John Debney), Iron Man finally gets his own (long overdue) heroic theme from Composer Brian Tyler. I have always found the music of Iron Man (AC/DC aside) to be the weakest in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe (with Captain America: The First Avenger, Thor, and The Incredible Hulk being personal favourites), so it is great that Brian Tyler finally gives Iron Man the music he deserves whilst balancing the rock and orchestral elements better than Iron Man 2.

Overall, a very entertaining entry in the series, and I sincerely hope that this is the last Iron Man film, for the ending is just perfect (but looking forward to more of Tony Stark in future Avengers sequels).

4/5