All By Kevin Mei

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District 9: I, For One, Welcome Our New Prawn Overlord.

Wow.

Just… wow.

After a summer of lukewarm movies, we’re finally getting something worthwhile. And it’s in the form of an alien film that reflects the South African apartheid. Since it is his first time acting in a feature film, Neill Blomkamp succeeds in all aspects with this movie. The acting was really good. Many of the scenes were just jaw dropping. And the special effects were purely astonishing for a $30 million budget. All of it is just breathtaking and I hope to be seeing more of Blomkamp’s work in the future.

As for the plot, the trailers are just barely scratching the surface. In 1982, a giant saucer appears in Johannesburg, South Africa. People go inside and discover a mysterious race of aliens that they call “Prawns”. The aliens are then sent to live in a slum known as District 9. In the present day, the MNU, the company taking care of the aliens and the main antagonist, decides to send them to District 10. A man named Wikus is sent to lead the relocations. But due to an incident that mutates his body, Wikus starts to uncover some horrible secrets behind the MNU.

Also, the film gives a very good and thoughtful message. When dealing with anything alien, people can do such awful, putrid things in the name of science or superstition. The film shows things like aliens being killed and devoured by African gangsters and shamans, an incubation site being burned down (one of the main characters makes a joke about the eggs popping), a soldier shooting a surrendering alien at point-blank range, and much more. With the right amount of money and morale, the average man can do as much damage as any Adolf Hitler or Pol Pot can do. And the humans of District 9 epitomize this

Rating: 10/10

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Ponyo on a Cliff by the Sea: She Likes Rain.  She Likes Ham.  She Likes You.

Hayao Miyazaki, renowned for such films as Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, returns to direct this little film. A fish comes to the land and finds kinship within a boy named Sosuke. The fish, now known as Ponyo, decides to let go of her fins in exchange for feet. However, trouble brews as Ponyo’s misanthropic father Fujimoto comes and tries to reclaim his daughter. And eventually, the balance of nature itself is at stake. And yes, it is a very loose adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid.

For those who have been keeping up with Miyazaki’s work, this film is a return to his lighter creations like My Neighbor Totoro. Like all of his movies, there’s the theme of environmentalism and how humans are corrupting it. And with all Miyazaki villains, Fujimoto is pretty ambiguous. Another subject is how the parents are shown. There are a couple of articles saying that Miyazaki made the film as a way to reconcile with his estranged son, and it shows. Sosuke’s dad is shown as wanting to be reunited with his family, but unable to due to work. And with Fujimoto, he’s shown as trying to control his daughter while being unable to understand what she wants. On the other hand, the mothers of the two main characters are shown to be caring and understanding about their kids. Therefore, the portrayal of the parents could easily be seen to reflect what Miyazaki views in his role as a father.

And like all Miyazaki films, the art and animation are wonderful. It’s pretty refreshing to see hand-drawn animation in a time where CGI reigns. Some of the scenes in the ocean are just beautiful to watch. I loved the detail on the sea creatures. On the whole, it’s a fine kids’ movie.

Rating: 8/10

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Where the Wild Things Are

For those who have never read the original book by Maurice Sendak, it’s about an unruly boy named Max who’s sent to a land full of monsters. He becomes their king and dances in the wild rumpus. Eventually, he gets lonely and decides to go back home. It’s a simple story, but it managed to latch itself onto the hearts and minds of generations. Now in 2009, we have a feature-length adaptation helmed by Spike Jonze of Being John Malkovich fame.

The beginning of this film has this indie feel going for it. The story has been expanded to show Max’s home life. He’s shown as this troubled kid who just wants people to pay attention to him. It has a tone that disconcertingly resembles films such as L.I.E., The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things, Mysterious Skin, and Transamerica. But then the wild things appear, and the movie transforms into an imaginative style reminiscent of Labyrinth or The Dark Crystal. After that, most of the whimsy disappears and the film just becomes subdued. The tone is just dark. Despite this, it retains the book’s overall theme of growing up and how children should handle their feelings.

Unlike the book, the film gives the wild things distinctive personalities. For example, there is this monster named Carol who pretty much represents the Id of Max’s mind by being chaotic and by always needing satisfaction. We have Ira and Judith, who are a couple of downers. There’s Alexander, who constantly craves attention. There’s Douglas, who acts as kind of second-in-command to Carol. And then there’s KW, who’s the mellowest of them.

The film made me feel depressed, yet nostalgic. The cinematography and soundtrack are amazing. All of the monsters were astonishing, with KW being my favorite. Max Records was absolutely great at playing Max. While the film may be inaccessible to some viewers, it is certainly a fantastic experience for those who long for the days of childhood.

Rating: 9/10

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Zombieland: Pits The Dead Against The Living In A Struggle For Survival… and Twinkies!

If you haven’t seen a zombie movie in your life, there is something wrong with you. From cheap thrills to brutal critiques on society, the zombie genre has thrived for decades. And at this point, we’ve definitely seen it take a more comedic route. In 2004, Britain gave us the hilarious Shaun of the Dead. In 2006, Canada released the slightly amusing Fido. And in 2009, the United States makes its own zombie comedy in the form of Zombieland.Fresh from his role in Adventureland, Jesse Eisenberg stars as one of the last humans struggling against the zombie apocalypse. Unlike other survivors, he’s genre savvy and follows a bunch of rules for zombie survival. Eventually, he meets someone called Tallahassee who’s on a quest to search for the last remaining Twinkies. Then, they meet two girls seeking sanctuary in an amusement park. Also, there’s a cameo of Bill Murray.

Unlike most zombie comedies, the film relies more on the characters when it comes to the gags. The zombies are just part of the setting. Tallahasse is just a gold mine when it comes to the jokes, like his running gag about Twinkies and his senseless love of carnage. The way in which Columbus tries to overcome the zombies by making up rules for himself is pretty funny. Really, all of this helps subvert the whole apocalyptic mood of most zombie movies to create something action-packed and comical.

Overall, this movie is just pure madness. With the constant gore and chaos, everything’s cranked up to eleven here. It’s not as good as Shaun of the Dead, but it’s still worth it as far as zombie movies go.

Rating: 8/10

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Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Ever since the 80s, Transformers has been around to show Autobots wage their battle to destroy the evil forces of the Decepticons. With the 2007 film becoming a blockbuster, it was pretty much inevitable that a sequel would emerge. After the events of the previous film, the Autobots are now part of a military organization designed to hunt down what’s left of Megatron’s forces. Around that time, Sam Witwicky starts hallucinating about ancient symbols and something known as “the Fallen”. Because of these disturbing visions, he has to reunite with Optimus Prime and try to uncover the mystery. However, what they find out could possibly destroy the world.

The fight scenes were well-done and the CGI was outstanding. However, those are about the only good things I can say about the movie. Otherwise, the film was uneven and had little plot. It’s laden with plot holes and unanswered questions such as “What happened to the All-Spark?”, “How did the events of the previous film get hidden from the general public?”, and “Wait, wasn’t Bumblebee able to talk at the end of the first film?” All of the characters were bland and hardly developed throughout the film. Therefore, it’s the poster child of “style over substance”.

Also, some of the new robots are rather disappointing. Soundwave, while having a pivotal role in aiding the Decepticons, always hides in the background and merely appears as a satellite. Arcee appears in the form of three Autobots for some reason, and yet she still gets shoved into the background. Wheelie was just annoying. Despite being named in the title, the Fallen seemed rather unnecessary due to Megatron already being around, and the fact that his involvement in the climax was anticlimactic. The less said about Skids and Mudflap, the better. On the other hand, I liked Jetfire for adding a shade of gray to the conflicts between the Transformers. Also, Devastator was pretty cool.

So, Transformers is essentially the kind of film where you have turn your brain off, sit back, and watch the CGI eye-candy come right at you. Otherwise, it’s a pretty bad film. The characters have a complete lack of depth. The plot holes are so big that Unicron could fit through them. And all of the gags, one of which shows more of John Turturro than the world will ever need to see, are just cringe-worthy and laden with bad toilet humor. If you want a good story, please don’t watch this film. But if you want truckloads of CGI and explosions thrown right at you, then enjoy.

Rating: 4/10