Those Weird and Wonderful Wachowskis

We are now just about one week out from the opening of Jupiter Ascending, an original science fiction film starring Mila Kunis and Channing Tatum. The film’s release is big news for a few reasons. First of all, it was considerably delayed from a would-be cushy summer 2014 release date to the dregs of winter, causing wild speculation about the film’s production. Secondly, Jupiter Ascending is a big budget original science fiction film, the likes of which we only get every so often. These films are often massive failures (Gravity and Interstellar being two recent examples to the contrary). But the biggest reason why Jupiter Ascending interests me so much is that it was directed by the Wachowskis, the brother/sister directing team responsible for some of the most interesting films in Hollywood of the past 15 years.

The two broke onto the scene in 1996 with Bound, a crime drama starring Gina Gershon and Meg Tilly. Though the film failed to gross back its 6 million dollar budget, it was well regarded and a critical hit (scoring a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes). The directing duo obviously became best known for their sophomore effort, the 1999 Keanu Reeves-starring science fiction masterpiece The Matrix. It cannot be understated how important and influential The Matrix was (and still is) to both science fiction and action movies. Itself influenced by Japanese anime and manga (in the years leading up to the “Cool Japan” fad), The Matrix went on to become a sleeper hit and spawn a multimedia franchise while also probably earning Warner Bros. several billion dollars in revenue.

It is approximately at this point where the Wachowskis promptly went insane, never to make a coherent movie ever again. I say this in both good and bad terms. The sequels to The Matrix, subtitled Reloaded and Revolutions, were both hits (more so Reloaded, a film that still holds several records for an R-rated release), but were also critically derided and met with intense scorn from fans online. I personally love Reloaded even if it is a giant mess. The atrocious cave-rave scene is ludicrous and bad, but that highway action scene is one of the most amazing sequences captured on film, and it was shot in 2001. I have to imagine the sting of the ultimate failure of these films hurt the Wachowskis credibility, however, because the two did not direct a film again until 2008, five odd years after their perceived follies.

It was that 2008 film, Speed Racer, that nearly put the final nail in their coffins. Speed Racer was positioned as a summer tentpole release by Warner Bros. This did not go super well. The $120 million dollar film was a huge bomb, grossing only $93 million dollars worldwide. The film failed critically as well, scoring an aggregate 39% on Rotten Tomatoes. Despite some positive notices for acting, the film was trashed by critics and ignored by audiences. In addition to being a critical and commercial disaster, Speed Racer was embarrassingly surrounded by product tie-ins that almost immediately entered bargain bins at retailers. The film has, however, seen a bit of a critical revival in recent years, with many now appreciating what the Wachowskis did with the product.

It would be another four years before the Wachowskis would make another film, this time a collaboration with German director Tom Tykwer. That film, Cloud Atlas, disappointed upon release in late 2012. A would-be awards contender, Cloud Atlas left critics cold and flopped with audiences, grossing only slightly more than its $102 million dollar production budget. For what it’s worth, I really liked Cloud Atlas, wild ambition and all. It was, however, the fourth boondoggle in a row for the Wachowskis. Even if it seemed they were making ambitious and interesting films, it also seemed as if no one save for a few people were interested anymore. I have to imagine a lot of their older fans remained frustrated or just moved on completely.

That leads us to Jupiter Ascending, their aforementioned latest science fiction film. The film was recently screened at Sundance for a surprise audience, who did not seem to like it that much. Sundance is admittedly not the best audience for a $175 million dollar science fiction epic, but this is still not a good sign. In a world where the release schedule goes something like Marvel movie, young adult adaptation, Marvel movie, awful horror franchise, young adult adaption, the Wachowskis are providing some interesting and fresh content here. I just want it to be good so much. While I enjoyed Cloud Atlas, I would still rather have something akin to The Matrix. It remains to be seen whether Jupiter Ascending will fit that bill, and though I like the Wachowskis, I have my doubts.

-Z-

I saw Europa Report

I know – I’ve been meaning to write this review for months. I’ve been promising and promising, and now nearly half a year after seeing it, I am finally reviewing the science-fiction film Europa Report. Directed by Sebastian Cordero, Europa Report is a non-linear found footage film starring, among others, Christian Camargo (Showtime’s Dexter), Sharlto Copley (The A-Team), and Embeth Davidtz (Schindler’s List). The film follows the fictional Europa One voyage, a privately funded space mission to Jupiter’s moon Europa. Davidtz plays Dr. Unger, the CEO of Europa Ventures, who narrates the film, explaining the events that take place on the ship and offering insight into the characters and the mission itself.

Europa Report’s non-linear story structure is both interesting and unique, setting it apart somewhat from other found footage films of the past few years. This is a genre I was tired of about five minutes after it began, but Europa Report is interesting as well in that it is a science fiction feature, whereas a majority of found footage films are in the horror genre, where diminishing returns are much higher. Europa Report also features great production design and camera work. Actually, much of the technical work behind the film is pretty solid, especially for something that cost less than ten million dollars to make.

Acting isn’t the film’s strong suit, but Copley stands out amongst the crowd of typically cast astronauts as the strongest member of the cast. Davidtz does fine as the film’s narrator, offering structure to the story. Comedy actor Dan Fogler shows up in a small role as a scientist and does fine as well. How this guy doesn’t get more consistent work is a mystery to me. The rest of the film’s cast, including the aforementioned Camargo, are mostly fine I guess, if somewhat nondescript. Part of the problem is that the script doesn’t exactly give the audience much of a reason to care about these characters outside of Copley’s family man.

The big problem I have with Europa Report is in its ending. The last act of the film, quite frankly, pretty much craps the bed. Europa Report is set up as a fairly serious and straightforward hard science fiction film, but its ending goes too far over the top for my liking. Without spoiling anything, the film veers into unfortunate sci-fi silliness, losing its more realistic edge. It would be like if Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity ended with Sandra Bullock being eaten by a space monster out of nowhere. Everything up until the ending felt like it was building toward something neat, but then things just got weird.

I find it hard to recommend Europa Report despite the awesome production design and great Copley performance. The film is fairly well-directed and it’s pretty incredible that a film this cheap looks so good, but the script just isn’t all that good. There has been a glut of found footage movies released in the past five or so years, and Europa Report is one of the better ones out there despite its last act problems. So I imagine if you like this tired subgenre of film, you might enjoy this movie. Sci-fi fans might also be interested, but like I said, be aware that the last act has its fair share of issues.

-Z-

I saw Gravity

When Gravity was delayed from fall 2012 to fall 2013 in order to spend more time polishing the massive amount of special effects work, it was just another piece of bad luck in a long line of bad luck for the somewhat troubled production. Back in 2010, several actresses in the running for the lead dropped out, including Angelina Jolie, who left the production to work on her first feature film as a director instead. Robert Downey, Jr. was slated to co-star as the male lead, but ultimately left the project as well (to star in a Shawn Levy movie that never ended up being made, no less). Universal Pictures, flustered with the production issues, eventually dumped the rights to the film to Warner Bros. after several false starts and the notable lack of leads. I imagine Universal execs are kicking themselves right about now.

When Sandra Bullock and George Clooney eventually signed on to play the lead roles in Gravity, the 100 million dollar budgeted feature (a rather modest budget for a contemporary sci-fi pic) quickly became interesting again. Hot off of Oscar success (Bullock won in early ’10 for The Blind Side and Clooney was nominated the same year for Up in the Air), the two almost immediately lent an air of credibility to the production that it had lacked since Jolie bowed out of the project. Director Alfonso Cuaron, who no doubt saw Gravity as a sort of passion project (it would be his first feature film directing credit since 06’s Children of Men), no doubt now had the prospect of commercial success as well as a welcoming critical reception in his sights. When the film finally debuted a few weeks back on October 4^th, it comfortably found both.

Disaster films rarely have too complicated plots, and Gravity is no exception (in a good way, mind you). Tasked with servicing a broken-down Hubble Space Telescope, Dr. Ryan Stone (Bullock, expertly playing a flawed character) and veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski (Clooney, charming as ever as the second lead) are informed by Mission Control that rogue space debris, the remains of a recently destroyed Russian satellite, are heading toward them at an alarming rate. Unable to get back to the shuttle Explorer in time, the two barely survive a cataclysmic accident that causes catastrophic damage. The Explorer itself is damaged beyond repair, the rest of the crew is dead, and Stone and Kowalski are left on their own to survive in the deep, empty vacuum of outer space, low on oxygen and with few precious resources.

Gravity is an interesting film to say the least. Exploring themes like isolation, faith, helplessness, and family, Gravity is a sort of lost at sea-style disaster film meets a grand, science fiction special effects extravaganza. There have been films that have fit this criteria in the past (notably 2001: A Space Odyssey, perhaps the benchmark by which all cerebral sci-fi is judged), and the screenplay isn’t exactly superbly polished by any stretch, but Gravity is a stunning and gripping film with two impeccable performances, astonishing special effects, the best use of 3D since Avatar (I know that phrase gets overused but its true this time), as well as an edge-of-your-seat thrill ride. There isn’t a single boring or un-beautiful shot in the entire movie. Cuaron’s science fiction disaster film is pretty amazing.

If there is weakness to be found, it is definitely in the film’s script. The screenplay doesn’t always hit the heights of the acting, directing, and special effects. There’s a lot of “I’ve got a bad feeling about this” as well as “Houston, we have a problem” going on, which is just a bit too clichéd (even if it’s done somewhat tongue-in-cheek at moments) for a space movie at this point. Fortunately, Clooney and Bullock bring their characters to life in the absolute best acting so far this year. It will be a shame if Bullock doesn’t win her second Oscar for her performance in particular. There is a notable scene of Bullock alone, on a Soyuz capsule, speaking over radio with an unknown man who communicates via foreign language she cannot understand. The moment so perfectly captures Dr. Stone’s isolation, fear, and frustration and it is a beautifully acted moment of, if not happiness, then temporary relief for Bullock’s character. Moments like these in the acting overcome the shortcomings of some of the dialogue in the end.

Gravity is a damn near flawless science fiction film in almost every category, but especially in terms of its directing and special effects. The visuals are simply eye-popping. This is one of the few films worth the extra IMAX admission cost. Though Gravity started as a troubled production, the end result is a huge critical and commercial success for Warner Bros., who now have a worldwide hit on their hands. I have to imagine the film will be nominated for numerous end of year awards, and I sincerely hope that Cuaron, a fantastic working director, is afforded more opportunities to be experimental with his direction and special effects in future projects. Bullock and Clooney shine in their roles as well, with Bullock giving perhaps the year’s best performance in a film by a female lead. Gravity is a pretty amazing film, and one of the best science fiction films to be released in years.

-Z-

Leftover Questions: Elysium Edition

At its worst, Elysium is a clumsy, heavy-handed political allegory disguised as a futuristic action film. That’s not to say that such a thing couldn’t be good (most sci-fi products are rooted in politics), but the film is done in such a way that it renders the message of the movie essentially meaningless. This isn’t really an article designed to point out the political idiocy of Elysium’s dumb message (which simply boils down to giving everyone exactly what they want at all times). No, I don’t hate Elysium as a film at all, but it is a film absolutely riddled with plot holes, logical inconsistencies, and characters acting a certain way because the plot demands them to. These are my leftover questions for the film – questions I have been thinking about for a few days now.

Warning: Constant Spoilers! Be warned!

What purpose does the president of Elysium serve when it seems Jodie Foster’s character has total control over everything on Elysium? Is he just a figurehead? If so, why does he even attempt to reprimand Foster if his words basically serve no consequence?

Elysium is the only place that has access to high-tech “med-pods,” medical bays that can heal essentially any human ailment. Why would not one single hospital on earth have access to these med-pods? Wouldn’t medical departments of prestigious universities have them as well? Where are the med-pods built and assembled? Could thieves not simply target the med-pod factories instead of basically killing themselves trying to get to Elysium over and over again?

How is Jodie Foster able to keep a covert team of maniacs (Kruger and his men) on Elyisum’s payroll for so long without the other important rich people on Elysium knowing about them? How is Foster even introduced to Kruger in the first place. I can’t imagine they have all that much in common considering Foster is a rich megalomaniac and Kruger is an insane military veteran.

When Kruger and his men shoot down the ship carrying the illegal immigrants at the beginning of the movie, it is referenced as being one occurrence out of many. Why would Jodie Foster be reprimanded over this if she has already ordered it to happen many times in the past? It is clear from past behavior that Foster has no empathy for the plight of the immigrants. Taking her to task for something she has already done a considerable amount of times in the past basically serves no purpose whatsoever.

Jodie Foster’s big plot reveal is that she asks William Fichtner’s sniveling character to provide her with a reboot of Elysium’s system. Why would Jodie Foster expect a reboot of the system to even work in the first place? Hasn’t anyone on Elysium ever had to reboot their computer in the past? It is literally as easy as holding the power button down for four seconds. How could Foster possibly think she could seize power simply by doing this?

To that end, even if the reboot sequence had a “virus” in it or whatever (something brought up by the character Spider but never properly explained), does Elysium not have a single computer/software engineer on hand to deal with that? Do they not have tech support for the complicated programs run on Elysium just to keep things like the atmosphere and the oxygen levels in check? Does Norton Antivirus not exist in the future?

Furthermore, how much more control over Elysium does Foster even need? It is quite clear that she is one of the most powerful people, if not the most powerful person, to live there. Could she have not simply used the power she already has to have the president of Elysium overthrown in a manner that would have made considerably more sense (especially since it is already established that the president is basically a figurehead)?

Matt Damon is exposed to a highly lethal level of radiation and is given five days time to live. How can this even be accurately predicted whatsoever? Even if you explain away that it’s the future, it is already established that the best medical technology to ever exist is only available on Elysium. The generic “5 days to live” bullshit is nothing more than a conceit of the script.

Matt Damon’s powered armor/exoskeleton suit also makes no sense whatsoever, considering his character’s recent health circumstances. He has only days to live, but he wastes valuable time having this suit grafted onto his body. How could his body have possibly been strong enough to withstand such abuse?

Also, one of his primary goals is to reach a med-pod and have his radiation sickness cured. But now he has this metal suit grafted to his skeleton like he’s fucking Wolverine or something. Would the med-pod not freak out and attempt to heal his body in addition to the radiation already poisoning him? The gangsters who installed his exo-skeleton (yeah, that’s right – med-pods don’t exist on earth, but gangsters perform complex surgeries) basically chopped up his bones and drilled into his skull. There’s no way he would have healed by the time he reached Elysium.

How is Matt Damon even remotely capable of controlling his new suit? It gives him super strength and looks complicated as hell, but he is not once ever given any instructions on how to utilize the suit to any kind of potential. He looks clumsy in battle and basically wings it throughout the rest of the movie, which means that it …

… makes no sense whatsoever when he’s able to so adequately fight with and eventually overpower three combat-hardened, grizzled security agents of Elysium who have far more experience, technical and tactical training, and firepower than he does. This is, ladies and gentleman, what we refer to as complete bullshit.

Speaking of the security agents, why would Jodie Foster continue to employ them after they make it quite clear that they are reckless, dangerous, and too stupid to live? Kruger himself gets his face blown off foolishly, and one of his men attempts to sexually assault Alice Braga’s character while she’s detained and it is clear that a pissed-off Matt Damon is coming to rescue her.

The high-tech weaponry on Elysium is pretty cool, but why is there an entire armory full of it when there seems to be only three security agents for the entire system? Also, these agents primarily live *on earth* which means an armory on Elysium makes little sense. It is true that there are droids that protect Elysium, but a high tech rail-weapon in the hands of a droid on a peaceful habitat also makes no sense, especially considering it isn’t established in the movie that droids ever even use projectile-weaponry (remember when one used a billy-club to break Damon’s arm?).

After Jodie Foster dies, why would Kruger even continue to fight against Damon? What is in it for him if he succeeds now that his boss, who had apparently promised him wealth or something I guess, is now dead? Kruger is basically fighting against Damon at this point because the script demands it.

Why would Elysium have an ambulance service with dozens of med-pods on it when seemingly every single home on Elysium is already equipped with a med-pod? Each ambulance looks like it has about 30 or so med-pods on it, but each house already has its own pod. In what circumstance whatsoever is this a viable use of the technology, let alone the pricey resources needed to manufacture and maintain that technology?

When the ambulances land on earth at the very end of the movie, would rioting amongst the massively over-populated cities of earth not occur over who gets to use the med-pods first? People in our own society start to get agitated over waiting in line at the supermarket for longer than ten minutes. A violent, massively crowded populace trying to get to what basically amounts to a medical miracle seems like a recipe for absolute disaster.

What are your leftover questions for Elysium?

-Z-

I Saw Elysium

Neill Blomkamp’s 2009 breakthrough directorial feature District 9 was an innovative, critically-acclaimed science fiction film made on a reasonable budget with an unknown cast. The film grossed over a hundred million dollars in the U.S. and went on to earn a surprise Best Picture nomination at the Academy Awards. The strange little gem of a movie basically had three things in its favor which largely contributed to its success: 1) A unique guerilla marketing campaign, mostly made up of interesting video clips intended to go viral. 2) A “documentary” style that helped give the film its unique look, fostering interest in the project and differentiating it from typical summer fare. 3) The name “Peter Jackson” on the project certainly didn’t do any harm to the film, showing audiences that a popular filmmaker believed in the project. Unfortunately, after a four year wait, Blomkamp’s follow-up film Elysium doesn’t really have anything similar going for it.

Set just far enough in the future to seem somewhat plausible (2154), Elysium is the story of Max Da Costa (an unbelievably miscast Matt Damon), a factory laborer and ex-criminal who dreams of living on Elysium, a lavish habitat designed solely for the rich floating just above the earth’s atmosphere and visible from a downtrodden, over-populated Los Angeles, as if taunting the dregs of society still stuck on earth. On Elysium, the rich can do all kinds of things, such as stepping into a futuristic healing chamber (an idea explored somewhat in 2012’s Prometheus and 2013’s recent The Wolverine) and heal their wounds/diseases/illnesses almost instantly. Elysium is largely ruled over by Secretary of Defense Delacourt (a befuddingly-accented Jodie Foster), and she rules it with an iron fist, shooting down illegals who attempt to enter the restricted paradise on a regular interval. When Max is exposed to a lethal dose of radiation, he needs to get to Elysium to cure himself. His plans are complicated when he is asked by long lost friend Frey (Alice Braga) to take her daughter along with him, who is suffering from leukemia.

Elysium strives to feel as important of a film as District 9, but it just doesn’t carry the weight of that film. District 9 was a haunting film in a lot of ways because how realistic it felt. The documentary aspect certainly added a level of realism, as did the script, mined from Blomkamp’s personal experiences in South Africa. It also helped that actors in the film were largely unknown to American audiences, making them seem much more like real people (Copley’s portrayal of Wikus deserved an Academy nom). In Elysium, Jodie Foster and Matt Damon just look like Jodie Foster and Matt Damon (except with a ridiculous accent in Foster’s case and a ridiculous shaved-head/tattoo look in Damon’s case). Elysium looks somewhat like District 9, just without the documentary angle. It is gritty, dirty, filthy, and at least kind of realistic to look at. The technology seems like it could be plausible in 2154, and that is kind of neat. The film, unfortunately, just isn’t as good as Blomkamp’s predecessor, never reaching the heights of that amazing film.

For starters, there isn’t all that much to the script. The script is, in fact, kind of cliche and dumb. At the beginning of the film, it is revealed that Max and Frey are both orphans (of course they are) and that a nun has told Max that he will one day do something special (of course he will). Max grows up to be a hardened criminal attempting to go straight, but he is thwarted at every end by either the police (who have been replaced by terrifying but awesome-looking droids in the future) or his bosses (one of whom is played by an incredibly sleazy and spineless William Fichtner). Max never comes off as particularly likeable, even though we’re obviously supposed to feel bad for him. I was much more interested by what was going on with Jodie Foster’s character up on Elysium, but despite the film being titled Elysium very little time is actually spent in the damn place. After Max is accidentally exposed to the lethal dose of radiation, he must first plan a heist, then run and hide from the police, and then finally take a ship to the utopia in search of the medical pod. An interminable hour and ten minutes must probably go by before he gets up there, not that things get particularly better once he sets foot there anyway.

The best aspects of Elysium, other than the special effects and set design (which rival Pacific Rim as the summer’s most interesting), are the supporting performances. Despite a ludicrous accent (as well as occasionally speaking in German for some reason), Jodie Foster’s Secretary Delacourt is an interesting character. She has personal motivation for the decisions she makes, at least. She also employs Agent Kruger (a maniacal Sharlto Copley, who is both excellent and seems to be acting in a better, much more interesting movie) and his two mercenary associates. Kruger is the absolute best character in the movie, but he doesn’t get all too much screen time unfortunately. He and his merc buddies are also not written particularly well (another weakness in the script — ultimately why should Kruger care if Max gets to Elysium?), but the three come to life based solely on the actors’ performances. It helps that Kruger and his men look absolutely bad-ass, using high tech weaponry and other cool gadgets throughout the film.

Elysium has the makings of a good movie hidden in various places throughout its running time. The special effects, set design, and supporting characters are all interesting. The action choreography and overall direction isn’t bad at all. Damon, however, is somewhat of a non-entity, and I’ve just never been able to buy him as an action hero. In Elysium, we’re expected to buy him as both an action hero *and* a hardened ex-criminal, which just stretches the levels of credulity I can allow within a movie a bit too much. Blomkamp’s debut directorial feature District 9 is one of the best science fiction films of the past 10 years (and maybe more). His follow-up, Elysium, isn’t nearly as good. It’s ideas aren’t as fresh or developed, it’s characters aren’t nearly as interesting, and it doesn’t have the heart of District 9 whatsoever. I still believe that Blomkamp has it in him to make really entertaining, thought-provoking science fiction films. Elysium just doesn’t quite get there, despite a few good ideas spread throughout.

-Z-