It takes a real out of the box thinker like director James Gunn to really approach “Guardians of the Galaxy” with a fresh sense of vision that doesn’t make it feel like a stock space epic. Truly, “Guardians of the Galaxy” is the most complete Marvel movie since “The Avengers.” It adopts the quirks and flash of the Marvel universe, while also introducing us to a group of complex and truly interesting rejects that become saviors of the universe thanks to colliding fates and unusual circumstances. Suffice it to say “Guardians of the Galaxy” is a near masterpiece, and one with an amazing soundtrack. Rather than sidestepping everything from the comic, director James Gunn embraces the fun of the diverse alien bunch, while also injecting his own demented dark comedy.
Tag Archives: Science Fiction
Batman: Assault on Arkham (2014) [Blu-Ray/DVD/Digital]
It’s about time we return to the basics with Batman and “Assault on Arkham” gets down to the nitty gritty. Batman is a bad ass lone wolf not chasing after a snot nosed brat, his villains are vicious thugs, and the Joker is terrifying. “Assault on Arkham” is an admirably rough and tumble action film focusing on the baddies of the Batman universe, and less on the dark knight. There’s just something about the Suicide Squad I’ve always liked. I enjoyed “Assault on Arkham” mainly because of its sleek and simple storytelling and ode to “The Dirty Dozen.” It also focuses on the demented somewhat perverse nature of Batman’s rogues, all of whom have to work together or die under a clandestine government.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
I may not be the biggest fan of James Cameron, but when he approaches sequels, he hits the ground running and aims for the throat. First with “Aliens,” and then with “Terminator 2” in which a full fledged horror science fiction movie, becomes an action horror film with a wider scope and explorations of time paradoxes and the like. While I much prefer the original mainly for its tone and sense of urgency, “Judgment Day” is quite excellent. I saw it in theaters when it arrived, and years later, it’s still a stellar science fiction film from James Cameron.
Set years after the original movie, Sarah Connor raised John Connor to become an apocalyptic warrior. But after the confrontation with the T-800 cyborg at the bomb factory, she’s arrested and placed in a mental health facility. John is raised by his dysfunctional aunt and uncle and is mostly a wayward youth. The evil Skynet is once again intent on ending the war before it starts, sending a new advanced cyborg back in time to assassinate John Connor. Branded the T-1000, this new cyborg is made of liquid metal that can imitate anything it touches.
Just then, a new model of the T-800 is sent back in time, but this time its mission is to find and protect John and Sarah Connor at all costs. Now with the T-800, John races against the clock to find his mother and avoid every clever assassination attempt by the advanced new cyborg that will stop at nothing to end the Connor bloodline. Skynet also plans to initiate a Judgment day by unleashing a nuclear warhead that will destroy humanity and unleash a robotic rule on the planet. Sarah decides the best cause of action is to murder Miles Dyson, a Cyberdyne Systems engineer whose new computer processor will become the template for Skynet.
Where as the original movie was more centered on a behemoth rampaging through civilization to murder Sarah Connor, this time around Cameron opts for a sleeker new villain that really does pose an even more vicious threat to our heroes. B movie actor Robert Patrick gives a fantastic performance as the seemingly inconspicuous T-1000 whose façade of an average beat cop helps him blend in to civilization and infiltrate any strong hold. He’s made even deadlier with his ability to form massive blades, and sharp objects with his constantly shifting metallic body. Arnold Schwarzenneger shifts his title character in to the hero role, now becoming a protector who also gradually learns about humanity and emotions.
Linda Hamilton is also a welcome face as she reprises her role as the iconic Sarah Connor, whose welfare is of great importance to the fate of the world. Cameron approaches the continuation of his storyline well but never quite as seamless as he thinks. One thing that always bothered me is if they can create a robot made of pure metal that can become anything it touches, why not wait a few years and build a robot that can become a weapon of mass destruction? That way it can appear in John Connor’s general vicinity and blow itself up, thus ending the war? And if the robots can’t grasp concepts like emotions and feelings, why can they understand existential ideas of fate and inevitability? While Cameron never quite masters the ideas of time paradoxes, or time travel in general, “Terminator 2” still succeeds in being a raucous, beautifully directed action epic.
The Purge: Anarchy (2014)
I really appreciate how director James DeMonaco has a second chance to fully embrace his absurd premise of the Purge a year later, and now seems to finally get it. The only way a film like “The Purge” could be any kind of fun is if it embraces its exploitation and darkly comic roots, and “Anarchy” achieves just that. DeMonaco also makes a case in the opening that you really don’t need to see the first movie to understand what the film is aiming for. Truthfully, unless you have a real weakness for home invasion films, “The Purge” can be skipped entirely. Director James DeMonaco blames a lot of the first film’s problems on budget constraints and really gets to explore his premise more with a wider scope, and better grasp of his own idea this time around.
Robot Ninja (1989)
J.R. Bookwalter‘s movie about a comic book artist that becomes a superhero seems to have had a budget of fifty bucks. Because of that much of the movie’s elements are sacrificed. This includes common sense, continuity, logic, a coherent story, tolerable acting, and even the most fundamental special effects. Somewhere embedded in the seams of this nearly unwatchable farce is a good movie. But the director spends more time trying to get mileage out of the cameos by Linnea Quigley and Burt Ward, than he does trying to elicit a genuinely good narrative. Who can blame him when the movie garners a cast of terrible unknowns? I’m surprised Ron Jeremy doesn’t pop up at some point.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)
It’s surprising that for a movie about anthropomorphic talking turtles that director Steve Barron takes the premise with as much seriousness as possible. Director Barron just seems to get the appeal of the Ninja Turtles, walking the line between the mainstream versions and the original Eastman and Laird R rated comic book. The turtles here have a hard edge, but are entertaining sympathetic heroes, and they’re the center of what is still a damn good action film about family, revenge, unity.
Divergent (2014) (DVD/Digital)
Ultimately the adaptation of “Divergent” is a mixed bag that left me conflicted toward the level of quality presented. The film is almost two and half hours in length that does nothing but set up the premise for future events, and yet I found the world unfolding to be pretty fascinating. When it tries to be anything other than simple science fiction fodder, it clubs us over the head with on the nose clunky metaphor and social commentary. When it stopped trying for profundity, it actually managed to entertain and kept me very engrossed in the events that unfolded. It’s not at all as intelligent as it thinks it is, but it’s a pretty solid epic all things considered.