April 28, 2010

• Continuing my series of Better Late Than Never updates…

  L>N Part 3: A Good Year for Sci-Fi

  Usually I’ve tried to do movie reviews, especially during the summer season, as they come out. Unfortunately I just didn’t get around to a lot in 2009, and even neglected to ‘review’ some of my absolute favorites. So let me make up for it now…

  To keep this manageable, I’m going to focus my favorite genre, science fiction. My favorite aspect of sci-fi has always been its ability to examine aspects of humanity in new and interesting ways by changing the background and context, and developing a story from there. (Ray Bradbury is one of my favorite authors for his ability to do this.) In a genre where, admittedly, there’s a lot of crap, 2009 had a pretty good success rate: there were some good movies, some great movies , and one incredibly amazing movie.

  I’m going to go in order of my favorite-to-least of 2009. First to summarize:
  District 9 – best movie of the year
  Zombieland – great
  Inglorious Basterds – great
  Avatar – great
  Star Trek – great
  Terminator: Salvation – good
  9 – disappointing

  District 9
  Overall: sci-fi at its best, and brilliant on all counts

   

   

  Every now and then, a film comes along that really reinvents a genre. District 9 is one. Without exaggeration, it’s my favorite science fiction film I’ve ever seen. Objectively speaking, it’s on-par with Alien(s), the Terminator series, and the original Star Wars trilogy. I honestly believe that Neill Blomkamp is the next James Cameron or Ridley Scott. Specifically, District 9 encompasses all the best aspects of sci-fi. It explores how humanity reacts to an incredible event, both positively and negatively, drawing in part on how we’ve reacted to similar circumstances before. And the awesome effects and fight sequences on a small budget of only $30m was a nice bonus, too.

   

   

  The setup: A broken-down alien ship arrives in Johannesburg (not New York, not Tokyo, but Jo’burg). After months of the ship hovering over the city, the government breaks in only to find over one million malnourished, listless nonhumans. Over the next two decades, the aliens are confined to a pseudo-permanent refugee camp, their movements and actions restricted. And like any large group of refugees, their presence has attracted growing resentment from the local population, organized crime, and violent protest. Now, MNU, the security corporation charged with nonhuman administration, has the task of moving the now two million refugees from the camp to another, permanent settlement, segregated from the city.

   

   

  The effect: The story of the nonhumans closely and intentionally follows apartheid. Blomkamp first wrote the story in the early 90s, before the end of apartheid, and thus drew a rather different conclusion of how humans would be likely to treat a mass influx of alien visitors. While the usual take on ‘first contact’ stories (cf. Star Trek, V) envisions us welcoming alien life with open arms, Blomkamp takes it to a logical extension by pointing out that all too often we’re not very warm towards a mass influx of people–human or otherwise (it takes some of the best aspects of Alien Nation in this respect). In fact, I found the way that we as humans were portrayed in District 9 a lot more believable than any other first contact story.

   

   

  On that note, the characterization was fantastic. The main character, Wikus Van Der Merwe, strikes me as the archetypal “suit-and-tie” racist, the David Duke sort who can smile and act polite while joking about ‘aborting alien eggs’ and ‘stupid prawns’. Yes, he does develop much differently through the course of the film, but you should see it yourself to find out more. The nonhumans, particularly Christopher, were cast in such a way as to make them “alien” enough to be unfamiliar, but “human-like” enough to even sympathize with.

  Anyway, I’ve gone on long enough. Suffice it to say, District 9 is absolutely incredible, and one of the best science fiction movies to have come along in ages. I really look forward to Neill Blomkamp’s future movies, as I’m certain they’ll be similarly awesome. Not to mention I like the idea of South Africa becoming another movie powerhouse, and the venturing of African cinema into the realm of sci-fi.

  I encourage you to take a look at some of Blomkamp’s short films, just so you understand where I’m coming from when I say I’m already a huge fan:

  Alive in Jo’burg (the inspiration behind District 9)
  

  Yellow (similar concept to Blade Runner)
  

  Tetra Vaal (third-world Robocop)
  

  Citeron C4 commercial (old, and an advert, but… it’s awesome!)
  

  Zombieland
  Overall: most fun and enjoyable zombie movie since Shawn of the Dead

   

   

  Admittedly, I initially dismissed Zombieland as just mimicking the other great zombie comedy, Shawn of the Dead. But really, it’s a very different style of zombie horror, and a very different style of comedy, and I’m really glad I got over my initial judgment and went ahead and watched it. While Shawn is more about silliness during an outbreak, Zombieland is more about trying to find some measure of happiness in a post-apocalyptic scenario. There’s more focus on the central two characters, ‘Columbus’ and ‘Tallahassee’, their interaction with one another, and their interaction with the rest of the zombie-infested world. It’s a more quotable movie, with ‘Columbus’s list for survival (“Rule #31, Check the Back Seat”, “Rule #32, Enjoy the Little Things”) and Tallahassee’s lines (“Here’s the deal… I’m not easy to get along with and I’m sensing you’re a bit of a bitch.”), and… Well, just to sum it up, it’s something like the American counterpart to Shawn of the Dead, equally funny, and surprisingly refreshing.

  Inglorious Basterds
  Overall: top-notch Tarantino, with tons of tension

  I won’t say too much about Basterds, since historical revenge fantasy is a bit out of step with the rest of the post. But, suffice it to say, it’s more of Tarantino doing some of what he does best: building up a ton of tension, way past the boiling point, and then letting it go. While the story is less of a focus than the individual scenes, and some might find the individuals scenes rather slow, they’re nonetheless superbly acted and presented, and they left me on the edge through most of the movie. The mad orgy of violence at the end in the theater was, admittedly, over the top… but hey, it is a revenge fantasy.

  Avatar
  Overall: very fun and visually stunning, worth seeing

   

   

  James Cameron’s Avatar got a lot of attention, which is quite obviously a massive understatement. But, it’s still a great movie–not the best of the year, but a great movie nonetheless. The highlight was, of course, the visuals. Even if it’s just in 2D, the way the alien world was constructed is just incredibly gorgeous–and the contrast between the human outpost, with its bland metallic shades, and the world outside, just underscored this. The design of the characters, animals, and plantlife really showed a lot of forethought.

  On the note of 2D versus 3D… I personally don’t like 3D; I don’t care for wearing the additional headgear, and 2D does just fine for me. But, if ever a movie did 3D right, this was it. The 3D effects added to the story without overpowering it. They brought to life the visuals, but still let them be background to the story.

  The story, though, was its main weak point. It’s a “colonial” story, where human corporations are there to take resources from the natives, who then fight back. I mean you can tell what’s coming, so the plotline doesn’t offer a lot of surprises. But, I’ve always felt really strongly that unpredictability is extremely overrated. I don’t care for being unable to predict the ending; I’m there to enjoy the movie, not predict what’ll happen next. The weak story then doesn’t add anything, but it certainly doesn’t detract either.

  On account of the visual beauty, Avatar I’d label as a great movie.

  Star Trek
  Overall: thrilling, enjoyable, and worthwhile for anyone–fan or no

  This is another one I already reviewed when it came out. Link here.

  Also for the record, Star Trek falls under the category of a great movie.

  Terminator: Salvation
  Overall: satisfying post-apocalyptic action, better than T3, not as good as T2

  This is one I already reviewed when it came out. Link here.

  For the record, Terminator: Salvation falls under the category of an okay movie.

  9

  Overall: disappointing… it acts epic, but falls flat

   

   

  I won’t spend much time on this. I had some high hopes for 9, seeing as I like post-apocalyptic sci-fi. When the story involves the mass-extinction of humanity as a precursor, you sort of hope there’s a grand story behind it all. Instead, we’re treated to a generic save-the-whatsit plot, a few flat characters, and nothing more.

  The story begins with the main character waking up in this world, not knowing what happened, and suddenly thrust into the middle of it all. This could have been a great opportunity to let the audience learn about the world through his eyes; instead, for some reason the protagonist instantly understands everything inside of ten minutes, and the story rushes along to get you to the action sequences. I suppose I was hoping for something a little more epic, but instead I only got the generic.

  9 goes on record as a disappointing movie. Sorry…

  Conclusion

  There you have it. I didn’t include every movie I saw in 2009 on here, and not even some of the best ones. In fact, most of the reason for this update was because I neglected to make any mention of District 9, and had to rectify that somehow. So, now that that’s done, I can look forward to the rest of this year in cinema. KF

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