ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

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Source Code (2011) is a remarkable movie that I loved so much the first time I saw it, I watched Netflix DVD again the next day. Then I sent it back . . . and bought it from Amazon.

Sucker Punch (2011) is a movie that The Spike loved so much he ignores the personal ridicule he gets for being a fan.

And Gojira tai Mekagojira (1974) is a movie I’m sure somebody likes, but I doubt I’ll ever meet him.


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Source Code (2011)

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Source Code is directed by Duncan Jones and written by Ben Ripley. It stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga and Jeffrey Wright. Music is by Chris P. Bacon and cinematography by Don Burgess.

U.S. Military helicopter pilot Colter Stevens (Gyllenhaal) repeatedly relives the eight minutes leading up to a terrorist train bombing in the hope of finding the bomber.

With his excellent first film, Moon (2009), Duncan Jones got himself noticed to the point that many sci-fi fans have been eagerly awaiting his next foray into the sci-fi realm.

So, some pressure is on Source Code to make good on that early promise. Leaving space, Jones is this time on Earth tackling a sub-genre that has had many an installment over the years — the time travel thinker. How wonderful to report that Jones and his sparkling team have crafted one of the better efforts to tackle the subject.

Right off the bat it has to be said that it's easy to draw comparisons to a number of movies that Source Code leans on. Be it the continuous comedy time loop of Groundhog Day, the techno mind meld of Dejah Vu, and thematic snatches from the likes of The Matrix and Frequency, Jones' film is not about to herald a new dawn of sci-fi.

Yet all these things have amazingly come together to create one large intellectually satisfying whole. Sprinkle on some action adrenaline rushes, ease in some suspense, some heart tugging, and a romantic thread that actually belongs! Well, you've got yourself a very tasty piece of pie.

That Jones is able to blend all this without halting the flow of his picture marks him as one who is ready for the big league.

We are after all dealing with a film that for 90% of its run time is replaying an 8 minute train ride. But each 8 minutes brings more to the plot. Tension mounts, clues are dangled, characters come alive, and yet we know that this train still goes kaboom!

The hopeless feel that accompanies the destiny of Colter and the train passengers adds another critical element to why Source Code is top stuff; namely is it possible for Colter to go against the laws of quantum physics? He believes so, and he desperately wants to save everyone on that train. But logic and his superiors tells him, and us, otherwise.

None of this would work if the casting wasn't so astute. Having to carry the film firmly on his shoulders, Gyllenhaal is fantastic, showing a vast range with every 8 minute section of that train ride. From the confusion that brings out neurosis in the early parts, to the manic and steely determination to succeed in the latter stages, he nails it as a flawed, scared, soldier of hope.

Michelle Monaghan's natural attractiveness and earthy appeal really serves her character well, making it easy for us to not want her blown to bits again and again, but also to believe that Colter can save her.

Vera Farmiga is in a small role (arguably just a plot set up), and mostly in close ups via a screen, but she makes good as the icy stickler for orders who begins to melt with Colter's desperate situation.

The liability is Jeffrey Wright, who seems to be pitching his role as the Source Code creator between evil genius and pompous prat! I've no idea what accent he is trying to do, and he blatantly tries to steal the film in every scene he is in. You have to think that had someone like Ridley Scott or James Cameron been directing, such thick ham slicing would have been reined in. Directpr Duncan Jones will learn, one would think.

Chris Bacon's (conductor/I Am Legend) score is suitably Hitchcockian, Don Burgess' (Contact/Spider-Man/The Book of Eli) photography is genre compliant and it's nice to see some Illinois land marks feature. All that and there's even a very notable (homage) voice cameo in there as well.

Even paying off on further viewings, Source Code is a must see for the genre fan. A thriller with heart, a sci-fi with brains, and an action film as well. 9/10 ____________________________________________________________________

Sucker Punch (2011)



Steampunk a go go!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0978764/reference

Snyder pushing buttons for polarizing results.

Off the bat I'd have to say I'm over thirty years older than the critics have claimed is the demographic for this one.

Sucker Punch, as reviews attest, is not for everyone. It has been called any number of things in derogatory fashion — which, since I enjoyed the film, would seem to mean I'm a misogynist fetishist gamer.

However, to the best of my knowledge, that is not true.

Sucker Punch is loud, full of visual orgasms, musically adroit, exciting, clever, and very sexy. Snyder has made no secret of his fetish leanings when making this piece, but it hardly constitutes a dark seedy mind at work.

It can easily be argued that the film is very much pro women. The story itself — in amongst the explosive thunder of the fantastical action — is tender and beautiful, complete with emotional kickers. Perhaps it's in the eye of the beholder. But I see a strong female-led action movie, with shifting fantasy realms.

Love it or hate it, Snyder has pushed buttons with this exercise. Better that than another cash cow sequel or another remake, re-imaging, or rebirth. 7/10 ____________________________________________________________________

Gojira tai Mekagojira (1974) aka Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla

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Okinawa Oblivion.

Gojira tai Mekagojira is directed by Jun Fukuda and Fukuda co-writes the screenplay with Hiroyasu Yamamura. It stars Masaaki Daimon, Kazuya Aoyama, Akihiko Hirata and Hiroshi Koizumi. Music is by Masaru Sato and cinematography by Yuzuru Aizawa.

Toho introduce us to Mechagodzilla for the first time, a giant robotic Godzilla fashioned by aliens. Cue monster smack-downs and the Earth in peril wrapped in a completely bonkers story.

Godzilla's 20th anniversary celebrations brought us this venture, a strange affair, where it's very easy to warm to, and it's enjoyable for sure — if a tad too cheap and cheesy to be a high point of the original series wave.

The human aspects play like an odd ball spy caper, one that comes with glorious prophecies of monster doom for mankind. Sure enough, it's not long before chaos is brought down upon the city of Okinawa.

Along with the two titular Godzilla's we also get a bit of Angorus, whose actions and part in the story is a great set up.

And here's a newbie joining the fray, King Caesar. Caesar is Okinawa's monster God, officially from Komainu lore in features, but actually looking like some rabid nuclear canine. However, it's still great fun as Caesar and Godzilla try and repel the might of the supremely cool and lethal Mechagodzilla.

Sato's musical score is not for me, it's too cartoon-like in patches and it feels at odds with the perilous sci-fi vibe so associated with the series.

The production designs are a mixed bag, as usual. Most annoying is that the Godzilla costume looks dreadfully cheap, but elsewhere there's great and nifty model and camera work. They exude a love for the series that's rather warming.

The ending sort of fizzles out, a shame since the pyrotechnics of the final battle are glorious. Which leaves us with a Godzilla film that sits somewhere in the middle tier of the rankings. But it earns mighty respect, if only for introducing us to the awesome Mecahgodzilla for the first time. 6.5/10
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)