Month: December 2011
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
The fourth instalment in the 15 year spy series, leading man Tom Cruise brings back the action with spectacular flair. Balls-to-the-wall from start to finish, this spy adventure delivers the thrills, especially on the big screen. Watch this film, and enjoy.
Paul
As for Paul, I’ll keep the review brief then share a few thoughts about what stuck with me after the movie. A short history: Paul is the result of yet another collaboration (the third, I believe) between Nick Frost and Simon Pegg – although it is not counted in their ‘Blood and Ice-cream trilogy’ alongside Sean Of The Dead and Hot Fuzz. This is probably appropriate, as it doesn’t appear to have garnered such high praise and classic status as those films. This may not be entirely their fault; reportedly there was some heavy studio intervention during pre-production on this film, in an effort to make it more ‘mainstream’, possibly to justify the cost of the CGI. The end result, however, still seems aimed squarely at a narrow audience of sci-fi nerds. The film is, essentially, a love letter to geekdom. And that’s probably how it was originally intended.
Sadly, the film is just above average – with hints of potential greatness in some of it’s ideas. It’s funny, but I never laughed out loud (granted, I watched it alone). It drags a bit in the middle, although the last 20 minutes suddenly get very exciting. It’s loaded to bursting with references to science fiction and pop culture, at least half of which went straight over my head. The way the alien is integrated into the the world of the story is extremely clever – in such a way that leaves the filmmakers free to rip off any alien movies they like, and have it make absolute sense. The concept is so great, and the execution is mostly adequate but there’s something just a little off… I think Roger Ebert summed it up best: the problem lies in the character of Paul; he is, essentially, Seth Rogan with green skin.
SPOILERS FOLLOW:
Ok, so the main thing that resonated with me in the film was the subplot involving Ruth, the stereotypical naive fundamentalist christian girl, suddenly encountering this alien, and absorbing his knowledge in a faith-shattering experience. As a Christian, it’s a little disappointing to see my faith on screen being represented as reprehensible, unlikable, unagreeable, narrow minded… The sort of things atheists accuse Christians of being over the internet, when they’re more interested in stirring up a fight than having an actual argument. I’m not saying that all Christians are above this, but it’s frustrating to see such deep and important issues reduced to Straw Man and Ad Hominim arguments (look them up).
This film has an overtly atheistic slant, poking fun at the extremity and hypocrisy of some christian sects (Jesus shooting Darwin??) and more generally poking fun at the idea of God, in a universe clearly driven by naturalistic mechanisms that have produced life separately, on more than one planet; Paul himself being the clearest evidence for this.
So my first reaction was just to be annoyed. Later, I found myself wondering about the themes of the film. Risk might be one of them; Paul encourages Graeme to ‘roll the dice’; to take a chance. I thought it kind of surprising that Paul turns out to be… exactly who he says he is. Graeme puts his trust in him at the start – for no real reason other than to take that chance – and in the end finds his trust rewarded. His faith rewarded. That was it, this movie is about faith. That got me thinking.
Take the character of Paul; a being from another world, who imparts knowledge and demonstrates fantastic powers. He heals the blind, and sets the girl free from her confined life. He’s persecuted by authorities, trusted by a few friends. Ultimately, he puts his life on the line in order to save his friend from death and ascends from earth… Need I go on? He’s a perfect Jesus allegory! Down to the point that Ruth paraphrases the Bible, saying “Now I see”. She means this literally in that her eye has been healed (Jesus reference) and metaphorically in that he has opened her mind to the reality of the universe, delivering her from the set ways of her old religion and, dare I say, freeing her from sin.
But I get the feeling that’s not what they were going for. In bringing up God and aliens, though, it seems the film was going for a discussion of faith. These two nerds have a religion of their own, and Paul appears to them like a saviour. I’m sorry! Enough with the allegory. If we just examine the idea of faith from this film, what we see the ‘true’ faith of the nerds is rewarded completely. Paul is everything he claims to be, and becomes a great friend as well as a cool guy to hang out with. And it’s this that makes the film, as almost every reviewer has called it, a ‘sweet’ film. There’s no deception, there’s no bitterness or cynicism; just a couple of dudes hanging out, with this other dude with green skin. This is about faith gone completely right. It may be overtly anti-religion, but underneath it seems to carry a different message; sometimes it pays to just have faith.
Batman Begins and The Dark Knight
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I’ll start with the big issues of Batman. Justice, for one, is laboured upon heavily in Begins, with the League of Shadows representing an absolute system of justice and punishment, while Batman forges his own path of compassion, intended to inspire redemption of the city. The second film focuses on the role of the hero – as times change, people begin to rise up against the corruption of their city (inspired by Batman), but begin to look to others, such as Harvey, to be the hero.
It is fascinating to see the transformation that goes on in Bruces’ mind from grand idealism (in childhood, following his father) to mere vengeance (wanting to kill his parents murderers) to seeking justice (training with the League) to finding a balance between justice and compassion (inspired by Rachel, and in opposition to the League). In TDK he gets even further from his initial concept of justice, leaning more and more towards compassion for the people of Gotham. Eventually he sacrifices his own reputation in order to save that of Harvey Dents’. Jesus parallels abound, and the final montage of TDK sums up his position perfectly: people deserve to have their faith rewarded. Bruce realises that justice is not about revenge, not about balance, not even about himself, the hero, but the thing he started out to create; an idea. Batman symbolised the beginning of the end of corruption in the city, but could not see it through. He had to set aside his lone hero persona, in order to let Gotham save itself.
Initially, it seems, Harvey goes on a similar journey to Bruce Wayne; from the sweeping idealism of the political hero, the good man in the spotlight; to suddenly losing it all, and thirsting for revenge. Who knows, if given time and the right influence, maybe Two-face could have become more like Batman. But Gotham no longer needs Batman; they need a White Knight. And because Batman has taken responsibility for his crimes, Harvey is immortalised in the minds of the people as the ideal; the public face that they can aspire to be.
One scene in TDK reminds me of a video game. It’s a shot that spins around the trio of Gordon, Harvey and Batman – in a way that’s stylish and effective at presenting them as the three pillars of good in the city – but somehow feels a little like the cutscene right before a mission in a game. Gordon and Harvey argue, while the Batman silently watches; the player character. After some exposition, some character moments, some conflict, the pair of them turn to Batman as if to say ‘we’ve laid it out for you, now go play the level.’ Batman of course says yes, because that’s always the answer video game heroes give. He then proceeds to Level 10: Hong Kong, where we witness our next action set piece. That’s not a criticism, just an observation. Perhaps indicative of the way video games rely on the ‘hero’ concept for almost every story they tell.
But The Dark Knight shows us Batman as the perfect hero, in a way that most games, and most movies for that matter, don’t. Batman is the perfect hero because when it comes time for him to step aside, he does so. More than that, he takes on a heavier burden to allow other people to continue what he started. He set his goals in Batman Begins – to become a symbol and to inspire people to stand against injustice – and stayed true to them to the point of self sacrifice. For most heroes, if it came down to something like that, their pride would get in the way.
It occurs to me now, I’ve pretty well finished my raving, I haven’t said a thing about The Dark Knight Rises. Well, I have high hopes for the film. And having just watched these two, I’m all the more excited. I’ve heard talk about the idea that Batman may die at the end of the next film. I honestly can’t tell whether or not that’s something that Christopher Nolan might do! Or something he might want to do, but the studio would never allow. In any case, I feel like that ending would be (on the one hand) appropriate, to completely round out the story, carry the themes of justice and sacrifice, and bring a real gravity to the film. That is, of course, if it is executed well… doubtless it will be though. On the other hand, Batman is a character who should endure. The appropriate ending to a Batman movie is one like the other two we’ve received; the Dark Knight overcomes all obstacles and ends up standing on a rooftop, surveying his city, which he will continue to defend. Of course, the discussion of Batman passing on his mantle in TDK casts some doubt on that ending, and TDKs ending itself carried some implications for Batman that are bound to make the next film completely and utterly unique, even amongst these two already different films.
In sum: I don’t know what’s coming, but I sure look forward to it. Batman has lived long enough to see himself become the villain… and don’t we all want to know what he’ll do next!