July 16, 2016
The first "Ghostbusters" was a classic American comedy film from 1984. Written by actors Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis and directed by Ivan Reitman, it was about three parapsychologists (Venkman, Stantz and Spengler) who ran a ghost hunting outfit in New York City. This year, a reboot of this film with an all-female main cast written and directed by Paul Feig is released.
Dr. Erin Gilbert (Kristen Wiig) and Dr. Abby Yates (Melissa McCarthy) have been interested in ghostly phenomena since they were in high school. After a period of estrangement brought about by differences in career paths, they are reunited when they were called to investigate a ghostly sighting at a local museum.
Together with nuclear engineer Dr. Jillian Holtzmann and her prodigious talent for inventing weapons and New York subway employee Patty Tolan, they formally launch a ghost hunting business, later dubbed by media as "Ghostbusters". For their first major case, they track down a mentally-disturbed janitor of a local hotel who had been causing malevolent spirits to appear all over New York City. Never would they have guessed that this case would actually lead to a city-wide ectoplasmic apocalypse.
Melissa McCarthy was not annoying here as Abby, unlike her early films. She continues her winning run following "The Heat" and "Spy" (also by director Feig). Kristen Wiig is so geeky, so self-deprecating, so delightfully funny as Erin. It took time for me to warm up to the unorthodox comedy styles of Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones, since this is the first movie I have seen them in a film. They eventually do hit their stride as the quirky badass Holtzmann and the loud excitable Patty. coming up with their own comic highlights.
The scenes with their pretty but dumb receptionist Kevin were so awkward and cringe-worthy. But only because he was played by Chris Hemsworth, the against-type casting actually worked to make this character hilarious. In addition, I found the scenes accompanying first part of the closing credits featuring Hemsworth were so embarrassingly funny. You won't see Thor the same way again. While this Kevin character could also be seen as feministic male-bashing, but I did not take offense because of the good-natured comic treatment.
Being a reboot of a beloved film, comparisons, fair or otherwise, will be inevitable. Most evident would be that the comedy in the original film was more subtle and mature, while the comedy in this reboot can be gross and childish. The disparity of male and female team dynamics and interactions are very clearly noted. There was none of the sexual innuendo and smoking which were prominent in the first film. The ghosts of this reboot had the same colorful and cartoony style as the first film, but the technological advance of 30 years is evident to make them look polished.
There was no mention of ever having a previous Ghostbusters, which may bum out loyal diehard fans. However, I enjoyed seeing many references to the first film, like the logo, the old firehouse, Dana's apartment building (now a hotel), Ecto-1 (now a hearse), Slimer and the Marshmallow Man. I had fun seeing the original cast members (Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Annie Potts, Ernie Hudson and Sigourney Weaver) in cameo appearances, though too bad that they were not as their old characters. The late Harold Ramis was cited in a dedication at the end of the closing credits.
There was also a very short extra scene at the very end of the credits when the song faded out. There was a mention of a name which can be recalled from the first movie. Was this just another nostalgic throwback or was it hinting a possible sequel?
I had so much fun watching this light-hearted and happy-vibed film. I was actually laughing out loud so much at some pretty side-splitting silly gags. The interaction between the four ladies started off uncomfortable and rough. But as the movie got on, they really hit it off very well, and their individual comic styles gelled very well as a group as they spouted all their pseudo-scientific jargon and wielded their sophisticated proton-pack weaponry. 8/10.
July 15, 2016
I do not usually watch mainstream Filipino movies because they are usually rom-coms or rom-dramas, which are not exactly my cup of tea. That is why for Filipino films, I prefer watching indie films for the edgier topics they tackle. However, there are some rare exceptions, and this mainstream film "Dukot" is one of them.
Bureau of Customs official Charlie Sandoval and his loving wife Cecille just celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. They have two children. Eldest daughter Cathy has an MBA and is now running a classy yoga studio. His youngest, 19 year old Carlo dabbled in photography, but was generally still aimless in his life. One day, a gang of thieves held up Cathy's place of business. Diverting from their usual MO, they decided to kidnap Carlo for want of a higher monetary yield.
The suspense began right from the opening sequence alone, where multiple characters were being introduced one after the other in a tightly-edited montage, accompanied by an intense musical score. The camera angles used were quite adventurous and dramatic, adding not only to the photographic beauty but also to the atmosphere of dread and danger being built up. That overhead shot tracking the kidnappers' car from the road to their remote hideout was technically stunning.
This film was designed to be an acting vehicle for teen heartthrob Enrique Gil. He delivered very well in his mostly silent role as Carlo. He wordlessly made us feel his misery and helplessness as the kidnap victim. Ricky Davao and Bing Pimentel were given plenty of dramatic highlights as the distraught parents Charlie and Cecile. Shaina Magdayao felt underused in her rather limited role as the guilt-stricken sister Cathy.
Ping Medina played the usually level-headed gang leader Alex, who turned to crime to raise money for the eye surgery of his blind mother (Erlinda Villalobos) and the education of his deaf-mute daughter Jenny. His character was the most puzzling and erratic one as the story unfolded. Alex Medina played the crazy loose cannon of the group Jimbo, who the scariest one because of his unpredictability. He played this one-dimensional role with manic relish. Bangs Garcia played Girlie, Jimbo's sexy girlfriend and criminal accomplice. Too bad they did not play up the Bonnie and Clyde dynamics of this pair. Dino Pastrano (best actor in the indie film "Baka, Siguro, Yata") was wasted in a nondescript role of a goon who did not even have any speaking lines.
Christopher de Leon, whose recent films have been plagued by some hammy acting mannerisms, was surprisingly restrained in his performance as the ex-soldier "Shotgun" Johnny, the oldest gang member assigned to stand guard over Carlo in captivity. He projected the sinister nature of his character quite subtly, without those irritating and florid facial tics he had been known to do in the past.
The story is rather straightforward. It even became predictable a little more than halfway through because of some obvious clues. Several issues brought up within the film, like the motives for crime and the corruption in the bureaucracy, were never heard about again. However, it was the directorial skill of Paul Soriano that made this film rise above the limitations of its script. The unique cinematographic decisions and the heart-pounding film editing were outstanding and worthy of recognition. 7/10.
July 10, 2016
The Ice Age franchise produced by Blue Sky Studios began in 2002 with the film "Ice Age" which introduced us to a gang of prehistoric mammals friends during the Paleolithic Ice Age. They were a talkative sloth named Sid (John Leguizamo), a cautious mammoth named Manny (Ray Romano) and a smart saber-toothed tiger named Diego (Denis Leary). Since then, there had been three more films in 2006 ("The Meltdown"), 2009 ("Dawn of the Dinosaurs") and 2012 ("Continental Drift"). I was surprised that there was actually a fifth sequel this year, this time subtitled "Collision Course".
Scrat the squirrel was still in hot pursuit of his elusive acorn but this time the absurdity of the situation went too far. Unbeknownst to Scrat, the acorn was stuck to the steering wheel of a space ship. Scrat's desperate pulling of the acorn actually launches the flying saucer into outer space causing various cosmic accidents that sent an asteroid hurtling towards Earth.
Meanwhile, Manny and Ellie (Queen Latifah) are trying to deal with their daughter Peaches (Keke Palmer), who was already thinking of marrying her beau Julian (Adam DeVine). When the threat of the falling asteroid becomes apparent, the three friends and their families, along with the renegade weasel Buck (Simon Pegg) and the beautiful sloth Brooke (Jessie J), a new acquaintance from the enchanted crystal land of eternal youth Geotropia, quickly try to figure out a way to reverse the cataclysmic event in order to avert the end of the world.
With the fourth installment, I was already feeling that each subsequent film was stretching the franchise too long already. I confirmed this feeling while I was watching this new episode. Yes, the wacky interactive comedy from the original characters we know well are still there and were still the best parts. However, I felt that quite a number of the new characters and their jokes did not entirely fly.
I thought the Shangri Llama (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) turned to be a dud. He was not funny. He did not even look like a llama at all because of his curved horns like a ram. Those scenes where Buck was cradling and talking to a pumpkin as if it were a baby were very corny. The characterization of Julian was not too well done. I was not sure if he was really inept or trying hard to be cool. That family of ugly dino birds were supposed to be the antagonists, but their odd look made them seem out of place. The presence of a spacecraft in this movie about the Paleolithic age was even more out of place.
Overall, this movie was okay for a family bonding activity for a lazy rainy afternoon. However, it cannot be denied that this franchise is already showing signs of fatigue. The new elements they have introduced could not reinvigorate the freshness of the original concept that has now gone stale over the years. This one could have simply gone straight to home video and it would not have been that great of a loss. 5/10.
July 9, 2016
Brilliante Mendoza's latest opus "Ma' Rosa" again made it into competition at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival earlier this year. What made it memorable was the unprecedented win of Ms. Jaclyn Jose as Best Actress. Fortunately, it did not take long that this film was given a commercial run locally, almost right after its highly-publicized campaign in Cannes.
Nestor and Rosa Reyes were a middle-aged couple who ran a small variety store in the slum area where they lived. One night, they were busted by police for possessing illegal drugs. The corrupt police officials were willing to let them go if the Reyes's can cough up P50,000 to pay for their way out. Their three grown kids, Jackson, Kerwin and Raquel, had to come up with the formidable amount by fair means or foul.
As you can read in the synopsis above, the story of "Ma' Rosa" is not new. It is in fact a very familiar tale, oft told in several films and tv dramas in several variations. By the time I saw the actors playing the police officers (stereotypically bad boy actors Mark Anthony Fernandez, Mon Confiado and Baron Geisler), their crooked intentions were apparent even before they brought it up. Story is not really the strongest or most original aspect of this film.
The story may be old-hat, but the performances were not. Each member of the Reyes family had at least one scene that grabbed attention -- Nestor (Julio Diaz) wearing an old police t-shirt, Jackson (Felix Roco) carrying the television around, Kerwin (Jomari Angeles) throwing back the money, Raquel (Andi Eigenmann) slipping on the wet path. Cannes red carpet scene-stealer Maria Isabel Lopez only had one scene as the Nestor's vindictive sister Tilde, and she made sure it was memorable. And then of course, there was Jaclyn Jose and her award-winning performance as Rosa.
I guess most people come to watch "Ma' Rosa" in order to see how and why Jaclyn Jose won Best Actress at Cannes, so did I. She gave such a controlled performance. There was no big, typically award-bait hysterical scene. In fact, her best scenes were wordless. Ms. Jose did very mundane things here, like carrying groceries in the rain, mopping the floor at the station, pawning a cheap cellphone. Ms. Jose imbued these seemingly ordinary scenes with uncommonly deep and passionate underlying emotion so well-communicated by her eyes. She even made eating fishballs at a roadside stall an extraordinary acting highlight which eventually led to her historic victory. She raised the commonplace and prosaic to a higher level, and with her, up went the rest of the film.
I remembered when I watched Mr. Mendoza's 2012 film "Captive" (My Review). I was so dizzy from shaky-cam that I could not look at the screen anymore. I felt the same here, though not as much. I have to accept by now that my constitution really finds it difficult to tolerate his signature shaky-cam. I wish Mendoza did not have to resort to such vertiginous gimmicks to evoke the sense of gritty realism. It is not necessary. His well-chosen images already realistically establish the squalor, the apathy, the greed and the desperation in which his film was set and where his characters wallow. 8/10.
July 5, 2016
The 3rd World Premieres Film Festival (WPFF) is currently running from June 29 to July 10, 2016, organized by the Film Development Council Philippines in cooperation with the Cinematheque Centre Manila. It has a Filipino New Cinema showcasing contemporary indie films screened in select cinemas all over the metro (Cinematheque Centre Manila, Uptown Cinema, SM North Edsa, SM Megamall, Greenbelt 3, and Shang Cineplex).
The six entries in competition vied for awards which were presented last Sunday night. The winner for Best Picture is Alvin Yapan's "EDSA", which I hope I can still catch. However, I did get to watch the Second Best Picture "Ringgo, the Dog Shooter", which also won Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Screenplay. Despite this acclaim, I saw some pretty harsh ratings for "Ringgo" in social media (including a 0/5), and this made me even more curious to go see it for myself.
Ringgo (Sandino Martin) is a 16 year-old apprentice dog-shooter, a person who facilitates the mating of two dogs to assure a good chance of conception. When his master Mang Willy (Bodgie Pascua) suddenly fell ill, Ringgo took over his job. His luck changed when he was hired full time as a pet caretaker by Bong (Janice de Belen), a butch lesbian who kept various breeds of dogs in her home.
Their love for dogs, particularly for an abused Doberman named Inca, bonded the two closely as they faced their own personal problems. Ringgo had to deal with his Uncle Frank (Bembol Roco, Jr.), an adoptive father for whom he owed a lifelong debt of gratitude despite being an abusive alcoholic. Bong had to deal with her own father issues, as well as her relationship with her life partner, the beautiful vet Dr. Alva (Liza Dino Seguerra).
Sandino Martin initially had to play a tough, stoic street urchin, a boy abandoned by his drug addict mother. Martin had a difficult challenge to show the slow process of healing his broken character experiences. He was able to deliver very well in a some well-crafted dramatic scenes, one with Inca and a couple of scenes with Bong, to highlight this to us. He was not an easy person to like at first, with ugly hairstyle, uncouth manners and annoying attitude. He eventually does make us feel for his plight later as the film went on.
Even if the title role belonged to Martin, the showier role belonged to Ms. Janice de Belen. She was really convincing as the masculine Bong, in her short-cropped hair, tattooed arms, muscle t-shirts and her love scenes with Alva. Her confrontation scene with Bembol Roco, Jr. may have seemed extreme and out of place, but she pulled that off gutsily. There was no denying that she deserved that Best Actress Award for this transformative performance like we have never seen her before, as well as for those tenderly maternal scenes with Ringgo.
With a background theme like dog-shooting (an occupation I only learned about today), there was a preponderance of scenes and references of a sexual nature that pervaded this film. These sex scenes may have given this film some cause for controversy, but for me they did not seem entirely necessary to build up its central message of healing. On the other hand, they even detracted from this message by sending confusing signals.
That side plot about Ringgo's affair with a flirty neighborhood beauty Emily (Micha Oteyza) felt extraneous. It could have been cut out entirely without affecting the story. The same is true with that side plot about Alex (Manuel Chua Jr.), the sex pervert stalker of Alva. In fact, that Alex story ended in a climactic bloody scene which turned out unintentionally hilarious, nearly ruining the whole film.
With this film, director Rahyan Carlos and veteran screenwriter Ricky Lee convey a most reassuring message of how healing can happen even to the most damaged among us, and this healing can come from the people who may not even be related by blood. This core essence was effectively delivered mainly because we all saw how the close relationship that developed and forged between Ringgo and Bong (as very well-portrayed by Martin and de Belen) which led to their respective healing and redemption. 6/10.
July 3, 2016
The poster looked eerie and its tagline sounds interesting. Even if there was hardly any publicity for this film and the lead actors were not exactly top-tier, I am always game for a good horror film, so I still went to watch this one.
Jessie (Kate Bosworth) and Mark (Thomas Jane) Hobson are a couple still recovering from the loss of their little boy Sean who died in a freak bathtub accident. To help them move on, they decided to adopt a foster child, Cody (Jacob Tremblay). Eventually, they realize that when Cody dreams of something, it becomes a reality. At first, these dreams were all pleasant and wondrous. Later on, they would take a turn for the ghastly and deadly.
It was a most welcome surprise that the kid playing the foster child Cody was portrayed by none other than Jacob Tremblay, the wonder boy who impressed us all with his performance in the Oscar-nominated indie film "Room." I personally thought that Tremblay should have been at least nominated for an Oscar himself for portraying and pulling off such a challenging role. In this follow-up film, he was again the center of story. Tremblay was able to successfully tread that delicate line between innocence and menace his character had.
It was good to see Kate Bosworth on the big screen again. Like Brandon Routh, her career seemed to have stalled after the ill-fated "Superman Returns" (2006) where she played Lois Lane. Since then, I have not really heard anything of note about her, until I saw her here again (which is not to say that this film is of any great note). Her performance was solid here as the grieving mother Jessie, who still longed for her dead son, a portrayal you can empathize with.
The Thomas Jane I saw here was a shadow of the Thomas Jane who we remember best as "The Punisher" (2004). He seemed to just be coasting along here, with nothing distinctly remarkable about his performance as the father Mark. Annabeth Gish I remember as Agent Monica Reyes on the forgettable Season 10 of "The X-Files". She played the social worker who facilitated Cody's adoption with the Hobsons. Her limited role did not really give her any dramatic opportunities.
This film had been sold as a horror film when it was more of a dramatic film. The "horror" lay in some disturbing scenes, nothing really terrifying. There were not even any true jump scares. However, an effectively creepy atmosphere had been created to make the dramatic storyline more compelling and unique. The fear and foreboding factor is heightened because the story involves young children, a familiar trope in many horror films. The very first time we see Cody's dreams turn from whimsical to ghoulish would count as the scariest scene.
Writer-director-editor Mike Flanagan had to also tread a line between tenderness and dread which his story called for. He was able to do so with effective performances by Tremblay and Bosworth, aided by appropriate visual effects, both delicate and nightmarish. Overall though, it succeeds more as a drama than as horror. 6/10.
July 2, 2016
When I learned that there will be yet another Tarzan movie this year, I was really puzzled why Hollywood keeps retelling this story and rebooting this character over and over again. I thought I will never go watch it. However when I saw the trailer, it looked so beautifully-made, so I became excited to watch it. The initial reviews I read had been bad, but the stunning visuals I saw in the trailer had greater weight on my decision to go judge this film myself.
It has been several years after Tarzan a.k.a. John Clayton III (Alexander Skarsgard) had returned to England and reclaimed the title of Lord Greystoke. One day, he was convinced by an American activist George Washington Williams (Samuel L. Jackson) to lead an expedition to investigate the reports that King Leopold of Belgium was enslaving the natives of the Congo to gain control over its precious gemstone mines via the ruthlessly cruel Capt. Leon Rom (Christoph Waltz).
While going back to Africa with Jane (Margot Robbie) on this new adventure was the main story, the film would also flashback into the past recounting the oft-told legend of Tarzan we are already quite familiar with. We see here yet again how the baby Tarzan was adopted by the female ape Kala and how he struggled growing up with the apes. We also get to see another version of how Tarzan met Jane Porter, among other memories, both good and bad.
The tall (1.94 m) Swedish actor Alexander Skarsgard bulked up for four months to achieve the Tarzan physique he proudly displayed in most of this film. His Tarzan is the epitome of the strong silent male, an unemotional man of action not words. He looked gracefully animalistic in his action scenes, be it running, fighting, or swinging on the vines. His Tarzan effectively struck an romantic chord in his scenes with his beautiful Jane.
Because the central character Tarzan was so stoic, it was up to the characters around him to liven up the scenes with their more colorful characterizations. Margot Robbie was a spirited Jane who did not allow herself to be a damsel in distress, even when she was already in chains. Samuel L. Jackson provided most of the comic relief as a smart-aleck sidekick character who never seemed to lose his way in the jungle even if he could hardly keep with Tarzan. Christoph Waltz is already so stereotyped in these European villain roles that he seems to just be playing the same role over and over, but he does them so well.
The storytelling might be a tad slow for a such a predictable storyline with some cheesy dialog, but I did not really mind. I thought director David Yates (who also directed those fantastic last four Harry Potter films) did well in executing this film with his vital sense of imagery. While several scenes with the great apes gave a palpably hostile atmosphere of peril, those gentle scenes showing Tarzan interact with his old animal friends were a welcome respite.
The cinematography of the jungle was mesmerizing. The film editing and visual effects of the action scenes were exciting and spectacular. The visuals were excellent as the trailer promised. The 3D looked so good, definitely giving the action sequences that extra punch. It is fair to note though that the CG animals of the recent "The Jungle Book" movie still looked better than the animals here.
Anyhow, this film had my attention and I was entertained. I thought the iconic character of Tarzan was successfully rebooted for the modern generation in this film. Do catch this one on the big screen to fully appreciate its visual grandeur. 8/10.
June 29, 2016
To place things into proper context in terms of expectations, it is important to note that "The Young Messiah" was NOT based on biblical text. It is a fictional account of how Jesus was as a child. It was adapted from a novel entitled "Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt" which was surprisingly written by Anne Rice, an author more known for her vampire novels. Expect literary artistic license here, not theology.
When news of King Herod's death was revealed to him, the carpenter Joseph decided to bring his wife Mary and child Jesus, together with some other relatives from Egypt back to Nazareth. Jesus was just seven years old then. Lately he had been discovering some new supernatural abilities he could do and this puzzled him. His parents though it was not yet the right time to answer his questions.In the meantime, the new King Herod Jr. got wind of the miraculous boy. Like his father before him, the jealous king ordered the chief Centurion Severus to go find the boy and kill him.
The child actor Adam Greaves-Neal played the child Jesus aptly with convincing innocence, curiosity and confusion as his character was written. Sara Lazzaro looked right as the compassionate Mother Mary. Her shining moment was that climactic scene when she finally revealed to her son his divinity. This for me was the best scene of the whole film that saves it and made it worth the time spent watching this. Vincent Walsh played a very capable Joseph, defining him as the father figure we knew very little about.
As the Demon, Rory Keenan looked awkwardly out of place with his modern look. Jonathan Bailey continues to portray Herod Jr. as the effeminate yet ruthless Jewish king, as his father had commonly been portrayed in previous biblical films. The most recognizable actor in the cast is good old Sean Bean (best known as Ned Stark on "Game of Thrones"). Physically, he looked miscast as the Roman centurion Severus. However, he somehow gave the "bad guy" some empathy with his strangely benign portrayal of a poorly-written character.
As Catholics, we believe that the first public miracle of Jesus was at the Wedding at Cana. However in this movie, we see Jesus perform major miracles even at the young age of seven. We are told that the child Jesus was not aware of his divine origins and great powers at all. These are very contentious issues which some Christians may hold against this work. However, personally I felt these matters were handled by director/writer Cyrus Nowrasteh with deep respect, as he mixed these fictional anecdotes with biblical context.
On the debit side, I felt that this directorial respect for the material may have also caused the pace of the storytelling to be too slow, becoming unengaging at many points. For me, it picked up only in the last thirty minutes, and this was a rather lengthy one hour and fifty minute film. A cynical non-believer would probably have tuned out before then. However, viewers of religious films like this will most likely watch with a sense of faith, and this faith will give them the patience to watch this all the way through. In return, they will be rewarded with a most satisfying ending. 7/10.
June 23, 2016
When he was in high school, Calvin Joyner is the Golden Jet, an A-student, star athlete, prom king, voted most likely to succeed. 20 years later, Joyner (Kevin Hart) is stuck in a dead-end accounting job and is having marital problems. Because of his dissatisfaction and embarrassment on how his life turned out, he is not too excited to attend their 20th anniversary high-school reunion.
On the other hand, when Robbie Wierdicht was in high school, he was an overweight nerdy guy who was the butt of bullies' cruel pranks. 20 years later, Wierdicht's baby fat have turned into the rock hard muscle of Bob Stone (Dwayne Johnson). He reconnects with Joyner whom he considered his only friend. Secretly, he was actually a CIA operative who has gone rogue, needing to crack a case involving satellites and terrorists in order to clear his name.
The unexpected novel gimmick in this film is that it is Johnson who does the comic role, while Hart does the straight man role.
Aside from his usual macho fight scenes, Johnson does so many embarrassing gags here, with a decidedly cheesy effeminate bent most unlikely of him. Imagine the Rock wearing a baby lavender t-shirt with a unicorn design on it, or singing along and dancing to En Vogue or talking about his favorite film of all time "Sixteen Candles". Hilarious stuff.
Hart, on the other hand, does well reacting as any nervous civilian caught in a crime caper would do, in his signature shrill motormouth way. His role is basically reactionary to the wild shenanigans of Johnson's character, so Hart relies on his exaggerated funny faces and awkward pratfalls to get the laughs, and he does.
Acclaimed actors Amy Ryan ("Gone Baby Gone") and Aaron Paul ("Breaking Bad") give effective supporting performances. Keep your eye out for uncredited cameo appearances of a couple of current comedy stars which were surprising. There were also some very funny candid outtakes shown during the end credits.
Of course, we can't really expect the script of a crazy film like this to be completely logical nor believable. However, because of Hart and Johnson's effectively comical "bromantic" partnership, audiences will easily give these funny scenes a pass and just enjoy them as they are. This movie does not aspire for Oscars, and nor should we expect too much when we watch this type of obviously shallow entertainment. Just sit back and LOL! 7/10
June 23, 2016
The first "Independence Day" (1996) was a sci-fi alien-invasion disaster film which was also the #1 film of 1996. It presently still remains to be among the 60 biggest box-office hits of all time. It won an Oscar for its Visual Effects, the most memorable of which was the explosive destruction of the White House by a beam from gigantic spaceship hovering above it.
While the effects of ID 1 were really spectacular by 90s standards, I honestly did not really like the film's paper-thin plot and one-dimensional characters portrayed by a cast led by Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman. Anyhow, 20 long years later, filmmakers decide to resurrect this film's storyline and produce a sequel which was in essence a rehash of the same paper-thin plot (but with updated technology) and one-dimensional characters (only older or their next generation).
In 1996, 20 years ago, the defeated alien forces were able to send a distress signal to their home planet to send for reinforcements. In 2016, 20 years hence, even as the people of the earth had already united to form an international space defense corp, bigger and stronger alien forces once again threatened the earth with total annihilation by sucking out the very inner core of our planet.
Characters from the first film still living now, like ex-President Thomas J. Whitmore (Bill Pullman), computer expert David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum), his father Julius (Judd Hirsch), and the nerdy researcher Dr. Brackish Okun (Brent Spiner) gear up to face the resurgent alien threat. The younger generation of fighter pilots are represented by Dylan Hiller (son of Capt. Steven Hiller - Will Smith's character in the first film, played by Jessie T. Usher), Patricia Whitmore (daughter of the ex-president, played by Maika Monroe) and Jake Morrison (Liam Hemsworth).
The visual effects in this new film are not really as groundbreaking anymore for this day's standards, as they were back then in the first film. Destruction of world landmarks have been done many times over in various films since then. Several action sequences have the feel of amusement game rides, such as we saw in the Transformers, Spider-Man and Harry Potter rides in Universal Studios. I was still impressed though with the sequence showing the destruction of Singapore (you can see the Marina Bay Sands) and the Petronas Towers were dumped on Tower Bridge in London, but that is just one extended scene.
As directed by the original director Roland Emmerich, it felt like it was still the 90s when you are watching this film given its throwback style of choreographed action and corny humor (care of Spiner, Goldblum and Hirsch). The aerial jet fights echoed "Star Wars" in its execution. The pacing tended to be leaden in the build up. The climactic fight with the Alien Queen had the all the breaks obviously favoring the human heroes. Neither Usher nor Hemsworth could match Will Smith's charisma. It was disappointing that the 20 years that passed for this sequel to come out did not really improve at all on the original. 5/10.
June 20, 2016
"Finding Nemo" (2003) was one of my top three favorite Pixar films. It was a tale of dedicated fatherhood following the harrowing adventures of an overprotective clownfish named Marlin who swam all the way from the Great Barrier Reef to Sydney to recover his only son Nemo. One of my favorite characters of that film was Dory, a sprightly Blue Tang with short-term memory loss, Marlin's unlikely ally in his quest. Now 13 years later, a sequel was released with Dory as the central character, and I was excited to see it.
Dory begins to have fragments of vague memories from her childhood and she longed to look for her parents back in California. Marlin and Nemo sought the help of Crush and the sea turtles to bring them there. However, they lose each other and Dory finds herself caught by volunteers from the Marine Life Institute. With the help of her new friends she meets inside, namely Hank the cantankerous Octopus, Destiny the myopic baby Whale Shark and Bailey, the insecure Beluga, Dory tries to piece together the pieces of the puzzle as she persists in her seemingly impossible quest.
From the first film to this sequel, the voice work of Ellen Degeneres remained to be so memorable with its innocent energy. It was also just as touching in the emotional scenes. Those perfectly-written lines as Dory dropped in and out of memories were given life with such verve and pathos by Degeneres. This poor friendly creature was suffering from an unenviable condition which robbed her of her memories just as soon as they are formed, and her voice just makes me want to reach out to help her. The effect of her voice is just emotionally electric for me.
I think one important message the film is for the youth to develop compassion for people with disabilities, like most of the flawed characters in this film. The treatment of the various disabilities in this film tended to tread a fine line between depiction and parody. This may be misconstrued by some kids as making fun of them, so parental guidance is important here.
The film also took a stab at the marine institutions and marine parks, and how these places may be actually be hurting the very creatures they were supposed to help. This is a mature topic which may disturb young kids. Kids were even shown as the "bad guys" in the hands-on Touch Pool exhibit scenes, so kids in the audience may get confused, again requiring parental guidance. Marine pollution was also addressed in some distressing scenes. I hope these serious messages sink in with the young audiences.
I felt there were too many scenes in murky waters which I guess were there to represent how Dory was completely in the dark about what she was doing most of the time. However, these scenes were not too engaging to watch. When I watched this in 3D, the glasses made the dim screen look even duller which did not help those scenes.
The scenes with the misleading concepts of echolocation, and about the truck being driven by a most unlikely driver did not sit too well with me. I know this is an animated feature which meant that anything the writers think of can go. However, for me this one was a major out-of-this-world leap of imagination that I did not like. This is not to say though that those scenes could not be exciting and cute at the same time.
While "Finding Dory" is an excellent film on its own, for me it does not exactly reach the high standard set by "Finding Nemo" overall, though not by much. I rate "Finding Nemo" as solid 10/10. "Finding Dory" is a 9/10.
