Short Reviews #47
Avatar (3D) (2009)
It’s been 12 years since we’ve had a James Cameron feature and with over $500 million spent on his return to Hollywood, does he maintain the crown of ‘King of the World?’ You bet he does! Cameron is back and delivers exactly what he always does – reinvents epic Hollywood filmmaking, gives the audience a huge sense of awe and gives us cliché after cliché of dialogue. But despite the screenplay being clumsy and at times laughable, he gives us a vision we’ve never seen on screen before. He borrows story elements from Dances with Wolves and even his own films such as Aliens sure but it’s his abilities as a filmmaker and knowing how to deliver to an audience that adrenaline rush that makes Avatar such an accomplishment. His use of 3D IS revolutionary from the little subtleties such as the leaves in the forest or the insanely realistic close-ups of the Na’vi. When you enter Pandora, you are there and the border between live-action and CGI is inching ever so close. Cameron has blended it so well, you never feel like you are watching CGI characters moving across screen. The human characters are typical Cameron fodder and using Sigourney is a nice touch. Worthington does a good enough job although he falls in and out of accent a fair bit. Stephen Lang plays the one dimensional Colonel as good as any army character in Cameron’s Aliens. However it’s the character of Neytiri, played by Zoe Saldana, that is so life-like and expressive. She steal the show and rightly so. Cameron again uses the uber strong female archetype to give us a truly great lead character. In the end though, Avatar misses the mark in terms of cinematic classic status due to the script and I just wish he’d fleshed out the characters a little more and given us a more compelling script. In terms of a business decision and selling a film to a wide audience, I know WHY he delivered the script the way he did but yeah. Enough of the review already – just go see it in 3D, preferably in IMAX and sit back and be swept away.
Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
Just like Cameron, you have to give director Spike Jonze credit for realizing his vision on the big screen and no-one else’s. Sure Jonze based his on the classic Maurice Sendak book, but he has made this his own and given us perhaps the best cinematic representation of the book one could hope for. The Wild Things themselves are wonderfully realized, an excellent blend of Jim Henson’s creature shop design and CGI. He also cast Max Records as Max who could have easily slipped into cheese and emotional manipulation but never falters. My main problem with the film and perhaps the book is there isn’t much that happens. Max is crying for attention within his family, sets sail to the magical world of Where the Wild Things Are and essentially plays with them for the rest of the movie until he has to go back home. There isn’t really a huge range of cinematic ‘moments’ that take place. I’m not sure if really young kids will have the patience with this one either. It probably runs 20 or so minutes long. However, despite the film outstaying its welcome ever so slightly, Jonze gives us perhaps one of the best cinematic representations of what is it to be a lonely child. The isolation, the anger you feel when you want to connect with the world but people think you’re being silly or stupid. Oh and the soundtrack by Karen O and the Kids works fine but compared to the trailers with Arcade Fire, it never gave me goosebumps.
The Hurt Locker (2008)
There is no film this year that has kept me on edge as much as Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker. Easily her best film (she gave us Point Break and Near Dark by the way), her examination of an American bomb squad unit in Iraq is so gripping, you will find it very hard to look away despite biting all of your finger nails down to the very nub. There are a few notable actors appearing in the film including Guy Pierce, Ralph Fiennes and David Morse but they only turn in extended cameos really. The real stars are the central three bomb squad members – Jeremy Renner as the fearless bomb disposal leader, and Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty offering cover. Watching this reminded me of HBO’s Generation Kill, another excellent piece of work on the effects of the Iraq war on soldiers. However The Hurt Locker doesn’t offer any political messages. It’s just two hours of raw nerve filmmaking at its very best. There is a side plot in the film which feels a little unnecessary but this is still one of the best war films made this decade.
Extract (2009)
It’s easy to embrace Mike Judge comedies since he gave us the now classic Office Space and the under-appreciated Idiocracy. Extract isn’t the return to Office Space form as much as I had hoped but it’s still one of the better comedies of the year. Jason Bateman again plays the straight man, Mila Kunis his object of desire (although she is rather underused), Kristen Wiig is his wife (playing it straighter than normal) and J.K Simmons as his business partner. That cast alone and Mike Judge would assume hilarity from beginning to end but it doesn’t quite get there. The biggest surprise is Ben Affleck as the mellow bartender friend of Bateman’s. He’s actually very funny and probably shares the funniest scenes in the movie. The film also reminded me of Burn After Reading in a sense but isn’t as successful or clever as a whole. As with all Judge films though, this may improve with age and probably become a cult favourite with Judge fans.
Halloween II (2009)
Oh man. Well, if you want to know the worst film of the year or in fact of all time, then look no further than Rob Zombie’s uber disaster Halloween II. This is a complete train wreck of a film that Zombie wrote and directed himself. I wasn’t a fan at all of his ‘reimagining’ of Carpenter’s original classic but compared to his, that 2007 film looks like a modern masterpiece. This time, Zombie wanted to separate from the existing universe completely and he does succeed in that. However, why not make a completely separate film rather than using the Halloween name? I would hope Zombie didn’t want to make this film at all and as a result, decided to just make a complete pile of dog turd to piss off the producers so he would never have to make another Halloween film again. I mean, the film doesn’t have the signature music theme at all, Michael’s white trash (ugh!) mum turns up as a ghostly figure with a white horse (seriously wtf) informing him to kill everyone and if you thought the dialogue for Avatar was terrible, then just watch five minutes of this and re-assess your thoughts. Scout Taylor-Compton is truly awful, Michael walks around like a hobo for the entire film and there isn’t one single, likeable character to be found anywhere. Zombie gives us the worst of all Halloween films (and that is saying A LOT!). I know this franchise will never die but please producers, let Zombie go and hire someone who at least loses the hillbilly, Manson hard-on styling’s of Zombie’s work and give us a protagonist who is likeable and keep Michael a mystery!
6 Responses to “Short Reviews #47”
Avatar was freaking incredible. I saw it at IMAX and it did take a while to get used to the 3D (maybe 30-45 mins) but once my eyes became accustomed to it I was completely lost. Best CG ever – totally convincing. The performance capture is unimpeachable.
Cameron still knows his way around an action sequence better than anyone else though the sequences here may be lacking just a little of his trademark suspense/tension beats.
The dialogue was pretty lame but it never bothered me. I was so busy trying to process what I was seeing that quite often I didn’t even take in what was being said. I think it had to be a simple straight forward story given how complex the film is visually – it might have been too much otherwise.
Just saw it again today – this time on the Hoyts eX-treme screen. Gotta say I found this experience preferable to the IMAX. The picture was reframed for a scope ratio (contradicting Cameron’s preferred 1.78:1 ratio for the 3D presentation) and I found it far more enveloping. Despite having great seats at IMAX the screen felt a little small to me and the 3D less than mind-blowing. On the massive Hoyts screen (they seemed to be using digital projection but not sure) the 3D was razor sharp from the get go and the wider image took in more of my peripheral vision. Glad to have seen it un-cropped at IMAX though.
In short – a visual masterpiece and yes, a game changer. Despite what some people are saying on the net, the CG rendering is pretty much photo-real. There are many, many shots/sequences that are simply gobsmacking and unlike anything I’ve seen before.
One of Cameron’s best – right up there with his other films that start with an ‘A’.
Pardon my blissful ignorance, but what is “game changer”?
I was very interested in what you cinephiles thought. My opinion on AVATAR meshes with Nick’s and James’ dead-on appraisals.
I also thought the IMAX framing was enjoyable but, ah, tight…it was windowboxed up the wahzoo, perhaps to cope with the limited field of view of the IMAX 3D glasses? Dunno. I had room to spare, and I don’t mind panning my scone to capture the action (sit a 3rd or more toward the front and that’s the norm).
I also thought MOON was superb. It’s a film that is still growing on me after two viewings, whereas AVATAR is waning. My next viewing will be in a 2.35:1 multiplex, perhaps in Brisylvania over XXXmas. What I loved most about AVATAR was the virtual reality / astral travelling effect it had on me and my friend Bogan. Seriously, we had trouble finding the loos and escalators upon leaving the auditorium. Up was down, left was right….how marvelous.
Hope the whole Hoover gang is well. Miss yas heaps.
I’m probably going to check it out again in January at the Hoyts eX-treme screen.
I saw it in Dolby 3D in a regular cinema but it was pretty damn good. Probably could’ve been slightly sharper I guess.
I’ll be keen to see those top 10 (or 5 in my case) films of the year lists from you gentlemen as well.
I’ll put together a list. When will the Hoovey lists be up?
I may well catch Avatar for a 3rd time at some point. Although it’s deficiencies in character and plot were even more apparent on a second viewing – what a ride!
It just occurred to me that the last time I saw something three times in theaters was that other little film Cameron made called Titanic (one of his “T” films – no one counts the “P” one do they?). Those repeat viewing were again to take in and comprehend the spectacle and had nothing to do with Kate Winslet.
Sure sure mate! hahaha
My annual top 5’s go up New Year’s Eve. I’ve yet to see Samson and Delilah so there’s a possibility it could make the film list.
The last time I saw multiple cinema screenings was the LOTRs films, including the extended editions when they screened them for a couple of weeks. Speaking of which, I wish Jacko could have released the extended editions on blu-ray before xmas. Ah well, I guess we’ll have to wait closer to The Hobbit release.
Also film geeks, be sure to check /Film’s 81st podcast where they totally geek out on Avatar. Don’t think it’s out just yet but I just went back and listened The Dark Knight podcast and man… uberfilmgeek goodness!
My last repeat cinema title was WATCHMEN (x2).
Before that it was TITANIC (x6).