science fiction
The 4x Academy Award nominated (including for Best Picture) District 9, directed by South African-born Neil Blomkamp, is thrilling, thoughtful and difficult to watch. Each element of the critically acclaimed film showcases Blomkamp’s precision as a director/writer and confident command of visuals, pacing and tone. From the gnarly body horror elements that would make David Cronenberg blush to the distinctive movements of the second-class citizen alien prawns, it all comes together into one of the best action/sci-fi/horror mash-ups of all time. The fantastically realized prawns and their relationship with humans serve as an unsettlingly raw allegory for the real-life history of apartheid in South Africa. The documentary style of the film never overstays its welcome and undercuts the true tragedy of District 9: its realism. It is increasingly easy to imagine how the films depiction of casual xenophobia, mercenaries for hire, and a military industrial complex hellbent on acquiring alien technology would play out similarly in real life. Films touching on such sensitive and charged topics typically provide the viewer with an easily relatable protagonist to latch onto. Not so with District 9. Our main character, played by newcomer-at-the-time Sharlto Copley, is a cog in the bureaucratic machine and hardly blameless in furthering the film’s exploration of hate and fear for “the other.” We still find ourselves rooting for him as the physical transformation (to put it lightly) he experiences is the stuff of nightmares and the emotional suffering of losing his wife and connection to humanity is no less impactful. The film is a modern science fiction classic. Just as with standard bearers Aliensand T2, every action beat and conflict stems from a complex but clearly laid out story with character motivations and actions that always make total sense. There is no action just for the sake of action. District 9 is a genre film that escapes the orbit of its own genre roots and has great appeal even for those that don’t typically turn to science fiction. The VFX, actor performances, “ripped from the headlines” story and synapse shattering direction from Blomkamp combine to create a film that is a delight to re-visit.
I don’t give out too many 10’s. District 9 earns it. With the notable exception of its problematic portrayal of Nigerians as mystical cannibals, it may be a perfect film.
The Aliens franchise is in a weird place. Most would agree that 2012’s Prometheus was a crowning achievement in cinematography, set design, VFX and overall an unmistakable illustration of the superlative visual storytelling we’ve come to expect from director Ridley Scott. The complaints with that film boil down to the sprawling philosophical and religious questions it poses…and then doesn’t answer. All set-up and no payoff, as the saying goes. My position is that Prometheus is an amazing film that makes a slight misstep in assuming that viewers are willing to either fill in blanks with their imagination and/or look to the expanded universe (books/comics, video games, blu-ray commentary tracks, etc.) for answers. Alien: Covenant, the follow up to Prometheus, represents the diametric opposite of its predecessor, presenting to us a fairly rote action romp with simple “don’t die” stakes. While no one in their right mind would place Alien: Covenant in the same quality orbit as either of the two original Alien films, the plot is on its face a fairly uncomplicated tale of survival - just like Alien and Aliens. It’s almost as if Ridley Scott has grown tired of aliens. He tips his hand to a keen interest in the narrative theme of “synthetic beings with seemingly human traits” (if you aren’t watching HBO Max’s Raised by Wolves, produced by Ridley Scott with an assist from his son, you should be) by shifting the focus onto Michael Fassbender’s dual role of androids David and Walter. The scenes between David and Walter are the most compelling and as is standard for Fassbender, he elevates any film in which he appears. I’m still hopeful we might one day get that Magneto origins film 20th Century Fox teased us with before X-Men Origins: Wolverine bombed (that film gets more hate than it deserves). Alien: Covenant might always be known as the Alien film that feels “dumb” compared to Prometheus. That’s certainly how I view it. Let’s see in what direction they go with the recently announced Alien 5. Can’t be any worse than 2018’s The Predator.
Alien: Covenant receives a score of 7/10 for general audiences and an 8/10 for genre fans who understand that Ridley Scott is the Bill Belichick of filmmaking (even when he fails, he’s still the best thing going and you’d rather have him on your team than not).
Pitch Black, starring Vin Diesel at his Vin Diesel-y peak is a science-fiction/horror/action genre mash-up that tells a small story with a large impact. There’s nothing novel about light averse, toothy creatures that attack when it’s dark, but Pitch Black leaves an impression on the strength of atmosphere, pacing, sound/creature/set design, and Diesel’s comic book character come to life portrayal of anti-hero Riddick. While subsequent sequels The Chronicles of Riddick and the simply titled Riddick each have merit, neither approach the white-knuckle energy and tension of the original offering. Both Diesel’s Riddick and Radha Mitchell’s Carolyn Fry experience surprisingly nuanced and satisfying character arcs but the most memorable aspect of this film is the creatures. Colloquially known as “bioraptors” (they are never formally named in the film), the creatures can only be described as lovecraftian nightmare fuel with no discernible connection to earth-bound predators outside of their translucent, dagger-like teeth. If you asked Pablo Picasso to draw a bloodthirsty demon, this is what he might come back with. Similarly to the classic xenomorph, the bioraptors are beautiful in their own right and fully adapted to aggressively ending the life of anyone or anything in the blink of an eye. While Pitch Black utilizes practical creatures from John Cox’s Creature Workshop for some shots, the bioraptors represent the somewhat rare case of a mostly computer generated creature still coming off as extremely menacing and dangerous. The film is over 20 years old and the bioraptor’s uniquely terrifying design holds up. Pitch Black spawned the two aforementioned sequels, two critically acclaimed video games and an animated movie (The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury). None place the spotlight back on the bioraptors. Seems like a missed opportunity.
Pitch Black receives a 7/10 for general audiences and an 8.5/10 for genre fans. It is a turn of the millennium cult classic that is always worth a return visit.
The Predator tests the validity of the common film industry saying that “no one sets out to make a bad movie.” The film is head-scratchingly awful and completely misguided in presentation and execution. It didn’t have to be. Director/co-writer Shane Black was a cast member of the original 1987 classic. He was literally there. He gave us hope that he might rescue the franchise from itself. Fans like myself came to the reasonable conclusion that his close connection and experience with the best iteration of the franchise meant we could expect The Predator to at minimum give us some recognizable elements. It wasn’t that we were expecting another Predator, it’s that we were imagining a Black-led sequel as something that would feel like it came from the same universe. We would come to find that this is a Predator film in name only. The tone, pace, and story combine to create a film that feels dreamt up by someone who’s never seen a Predator film and doesn’t have a clue as to why the franchise has endured for so long. Say what you want about Robert Rodriguez’s 2010 Predators film or even the nigh universally forgotten AVP films (I know that’s a reach, stay with me) but at least they attempted to maintain their focus and didn’t give us nonsensical broad comedy throughout their runtimes. Have you ever watched the deleted scenes/outtakes/gag reels from a serious film and thought to yourself “I completely understand why these takes were left on the cutting room floor”? The Predator uses those takes. Please Mr. Black, explain why you felt The Predator needed to be an extended Saturday Night Live sketch. The good? The visual effects are great and the classic predator looks more or less like the classic predator. The uber-predator looks like he was created in a computer because he was. We learn at the films conclusion that the MacGuffin is a technological device that transforms an ordinary human into a predator-hunter. This had the potential to be an interesting take and direction for the mythology. Perhaps we’ll find out in 2022 when they make Predator versus Batman.
The Predator gets a 2/10 for general audiences and a 3/10 for franchise die-hards. The score for the die-hards is largely irrelevant as we’ve all seen it by now.
Predators is one of those harmless and nondescript sequels that inspires casual indifference. Virtually no one truly hates the film but you'll rarely see it recommended. Directed by Nimrod Antal, It attempts to present familiar setting and story beats to the original film while introducing ideas that expand the mythology of the predators (Yautja, to the initiated) without crapping all over the existing canon. It doesn’t fully succeed, but it’s also not a complete and utter failure. Armed with the knowledge of how far the 2018 Predator sequel would stray from the source, it would not be a stretch to say this film is comparatively quite good. Produced (and depending on who you ask, partially directed) by Robert Rodriguez, Predators leans the hardest of any of the sequels into reminding us of why we love the 1987 original. We appreciate it for that. It’s the reason you rarely bump into anyone who out and out hates the film. Adrien Brody, bulked up and playing against type, is fine and wholly believable as a beleaguered mercenary ready for retirement. The general consensus on the internet is he didn’t have the screen presence to take up the Schwarzenegger/Glover mantle. I disagree. He brought his own more cerebral gravitas and it worked. The idea of a more aggressively dangerous and less honorable group of predators warring with the classic predators also works. It makes complete sense that in any social group you might have those that don’t follow norms. It was also smart to introduce specialized Yautja. The Falconer and his shoulder-mounted deployable scout/spy drone stand out as logical evolutions of predator tech even if the designs of the new masks were a bit busy for my taste. The simplest predator masks always look the best. Predators is a fun watch and ages well. Seeing the OG jungle predator strung up to a tree and presented as a sympathetic character is more interesting than anything Predator-related on the big screen since.
Predators receives a score of 6.5/10 for general audiences and a 7.5/10 for Predator/genre fans. The only really good Predator stuff since is in the comics.
Terminator Salvation attempts admirably to take the franchise in a bold new direction, missing the mark ever so slightly. While director McG is known for comparatively lighter fare including the early-2000’s Charlie’s Angels films and 2017’s The Babysitter and its sequel (yes, The Babysitter got a sequel), Salvation has a grimy quality well suited to the terminator universe. It is arguably the best and most visually interesting big screen adaptation of terminator outside of T1/T2. 2019’s Terminator: Dark Fate is a better film than it gets credit for, but opening with John Connor’s death and giving the most famous terminator a day job are at best curious story choices. Terminator Salvation is set entirely during the throes of the human-robot war previously glimpsed only in flashback. The decision is an inspired one and the Book of Eli-like post-apocalyptic setting – the two films debuted within a year of one another - comes across as suitably sparse and treacherous. The film is a feast for the eyes if nothing else. It can’t be overstated how the cinematography, tone and overall look of Terminator Salvation are its strengths and likely why the film almost doubled its $200 million budget. It falters however with a meandering story and muddled script, both of which lack the heart, cohesion and focus of the first two films. We should probably move on from expecting these terminator sequels to reach T2 levels of quality and resign ourselves to appreciating those that chart their own path and don’t insult our intelligence. With that in mind, I can confidently state that Terminator Salvation is a fun and lively watch, especially across the first two acts. Its an ambitious attempt to move the story forward with a look that stands out from the pack. Both the hydrobot and terminator motorcycle are outstanding additions to the franchise that don’t get their fair due.
Terminator Salvation receives a score of 6/10 for general audiences and a 7/10 for sci-fi wonks/cinematography stalwarts.
It’s a pop culture in-joke that anytime a film series runs out of ideas, you set the next installment in space. But what if the whole fuss started in space, as with Alien? Send in the clones. You would be hard-pressed to make a case that Alien: Resurrection is not an entertaining experience for anyone willing to accept the bizarre tonal shift relative to Alien, Aliens and Alien 3. It’s visually dynamic, updates the Alien mythology in some creative if questionable respects, and gives us the last (hopefully not final) appearance of Sigourney Weaver as the iconic and previously academy award nominated Ellen Ripley. This version of Ripley behaves quite differently and has more of a predatory instinct than the one we know…because clones. Clones are imperfect, right? The film is bonkers in comparison to anything Alien that precedes it, a result of its neon color palette, less serious casting choices, and a semi-humorous script by Joss Whedon of Avengers and Justice League (pre-Snyder Cut) fame that Whedon himself claims was “executed in such a ghastly fashion as to render it almost unwatchable.” We might need to note the source and table the salt in this case as Whedon has developed quite the toxic reputation in Hollywood. Speaking of the script, I always found the choice to dive deeper into “aliens as a bioweapon” and the specifics of how we would harvest said weapons to be the logical canvas for the next iteration of the franchise. The execution is far from perfect but after watching the trailer we all knew this was to be a different kind of Aliens movie. In the pantheon of the franchise, it might always be known as the sequel that feels like Aliens on acid. That doesn’t sound terrible to me.
Aliens: Resurrection receives a score of 6.5/10 for general audiences and a 7.5/10 for die-hard fans of the franchise. It is no great secret that Winona Ryder was terribly miscast. She seems to be acting in a different film.