The purpose of “Secret Origins” is two fold. What with DC Comics finally putting their characters on the fast track to big budget films in the box office, this ninety minute documentary is meant to school new audiences that might be interested in learning about characters they’re only vaguely familiar with. If you’ll notice, the only characters spotlighted in this documentary are those that have had movies in theaters or have big budget movies coming to them, thus we get to explore Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Watchmen and The Flash, all the while this is meant as a promotional tool for the magic and wonder that is DC Comics. The documentary is really just a recounting of the creations of classic iconic superheroes from their company and there’s never really an exploration in to the darker side of the company.
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010)
“Scott, if your life had a face, I’d punch it.” – Kim Pine
The stellar Edgar Wright has finally made it to the American shores by way of a cult series of graphic novels and in typical Wright-fashion, he’s not prone to just making any movie that would appeal to an audience of the PG-13 sector. “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World” is self aware. It’s so self-aware it’s aware that it’s self-aware and makes its audience aware of its self-awareness by reminding us of its self-awareness with an often self-aware sense of humor that very few will get. Leave it up to Wright to make a broad mainstream teen film that will only appeal to a cult audience as “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World” is basically about the modern generation. It’s pure unadulterated pop culture overload with ideals that are simplified and set to the tune of classic video games.
Serenity: The Shepherd's Tale
Shepherd Book is one of the greatest male characters of the Whedonverse, one who is bound by his strict sense of morality and religious beliefs, but one who isn’t at all overbearing. He uses his religion as an instrument to help and guide folks, he never uses it as a means of clubbing non-believers over the head. When we see him in the first episode of “Firefly” he meets a band of wicked sinners and criminals, but he never judges. He lives and lets live and that’s likely why he’s become such a beloved fixture of the “Firefly” universe for such a long time. He’s not only the heart of the crew, but he’s also the wise father everyone on the ship needs. By the time we reach “Serenity” and the crew are on their last options against the operative, even Mal has realized that Book is the man he needs in times of great stress who can offer wisdom, knowledge, and strategy where everyone clearly lacks it.
The Red Hours (2009)
Invoking much of the grindhouse elements, director John Fallon’s experimental short thriller is something of a royal mind fuck, one that excels in being about surreal as it possibly can while squeezing in nods to some classic films during the duration of its story. Director Fallon goes against the conventions of formula storytelling with “The Red Hours” a movie constantly blurring the realms of fantasy and reality when a club goer on a night out takes some hallucinogens to spite an ex he sees across the club canoodling with a girlfriend of hers.
TRON (1982)
“Tron,” even decades after it release is still an incredible and astonishing movie. It is one that pre-dates computer generated science fiction blockbusters like “Avatar” and is somewhat of a precursor to “The Matrix.” Comprised mainly of special effects, animation, and newborn CGI technology, also celebrating the entertainment of the video game world that later became a cult all on its own. “Tron” has been an admirably influential science fiction epic, in spite of its poor box office grosses, spawning many knock offs like “Arcade” and “Spy Kids 3D,” also managing to outlive most special effects motivated films from the eighties.
That’s because “Tron” has a real heart to it, which is astounding considering it’s primarily set in the confines of the video game world where intelligence and emotions are artificial. “Tron” was just too ahead of its time, and oddly prophetic. It is a futuristic science fiction epic now just being appreciated as a potential property for an epic narrative and a breeding ground for new characters and stories. “Tron” is one of the first movies to appreciate the magic of the video game mixing the blossoming craze of computers and turning it in to a world, where programs are taken prisoner and turned in to gladiators fighting against pre-programmed menaces from the Master Computer.
The villainous Master Computer is a gradually growing artificial intelligence planning to dominate the world‘s computer systems while sapping the memory of many rival programs and users. Kevin Flynn, as played by Jeff Bridges, is a hotshot cocky computer programmer and hacker who takes to breaking in to the computer systems of his ex-company ENCOM. ENCOM is a corporation that abandoned him after inventing a revolutionary computer program leaving him penniless and running an arcade. After Flynn convinces his friends Lora and Alan to break in to ENCOM to corrupt the Master Computer, now running its user Dillinger blackmailing him and manipulating him, Flynn is zapped in to the mainframe.
Now he, as a user and player, is forced to play the MCP’s series of games along with the other individual programs struggling to survive in this new world. All of whom are at the clutches of this intelligent supreme being. Bridges is fantastic as gamer Flynn, a loud mouthed slick nerd and gamer who takes to this world with ease and skill. He engages in (still) harrowing action scenes involving light cycles, and memory disk combat all the while becoming a hero among the programs who turn to him for help against the MCP when they discover he’s much more than a program in this world.
Flynn, after quickly learning the intricacies of the vehicles and machines of the world, meets Tron and Yori (program representations of Alan and Lora) where he helps them bring down the MCP and free the programs from its clutches. With the use of rotoscoping, animation, and computer effects, “Tron” is still a wildly visual and imaginative science fiction adventure with a great sense of excitement. It conceives this amazing innovative technological world with a bold vision that warrants exploring. And while “Tron” is primarily a Disney film, the narrative is much more complex beyond action and romance. It’s often present with themes of religion and the dangers of artificial intelligence.
As well it draws the classic tropes of the genre with a new hero dominating a foreign land, and being the one key to helping mankind as well as this world before him. Lisberger directs a masterful and bold vision with vast possibilities and it’s a unique action film that deserves its cult audience.
Monsters (2010)
Gareth Edwards science fiction horror flick is a grim picture, and one nowhere near intent on offering a positive look on humanity and a new world. What he instead does is spotlight a new world where one side has learned to co-exist with a new breed of creatures that crash landed on Earth, while the more privileged side of the world is so intent on refusing to admit the inevitable that they’ve built possibly the largest wall to separate them from the rest of society. Edwards’ genre offering while essentially a monster movie with carnage and shocks is also a thought provoking piece on society and two views on it looking down at two characters who see more than they ever have in a matter of forty eight hours.
Piranha 3D (2010)
Alexandre Aja’s latest remake feels so utterly lazy and muddled and idiotic that it seems like the studio just threw a few million dollars his way and asked him to just throw as much blood and guts to the screen as humanly possible. And I imagine it was the easiest payday this man ever saw. From minute one Aja’s film wants to be taken on so many levels. It wants to be a political commentary, a schlock cult film, and a satire of schlock films, it doesn’t take itself seriously, but it depicts violence so realistically.