Masterpiece of Horror Theatre- Lifeforce

    Before I talk about this film, I need to discuss the production company behind it, Cannon Films. Founded as a studio for low-budget independent films in 1967 (note that term carried a lot less prestige to it back then), it was bought by Israeli cousins Menachem Golan and Yeram Globus in 1979, who expanded the company's purview, churning low-budget blockbusters at a very fast rate during the 80's (some good, some successful, most neither). They are notable for the Death Wish series starring Charles Bronson,for introducing Chuck Norris as an action star, and for producing the fourth Superman film (the one with Nuclear Man). There is a fascinating documentary, Electric Boogalo (named for one of its most famous features, Breakin' II: Electric Boogalo), that details the insanity produced at Cannon, both on and off screen, that is, as of this writing, available on Netflix. In 1980, they managed to obtain the rights to Colin Wilson's 1976 novel The Space Vampires. The book was one of Wilson's riffs on Lovecraftian horror, one of a trilogy of sorts on the topic after Lovecraft's de facto estate executor August Derelith challenged Wilson (who had been critical of the late writer) to write a Lovecraftian novel. After years of trying to get the film made, they finally found a director when they signed Tobe Hopper on for three pictures in 1984. Hopper had recently come off  directing Poltergeist with producer Stephen Spielberg, but there was a massive controversy over who actually directed most of the film (most observers said that Spielberg had taken over directing duties from Hopper). Having little interest in Hollywood, Hopper signed on with Cannon, who, at least with big name directors, allowed them a degree of leeway with their works (hence, why John Cassavetes and Norman Mailer were among the directors who did films for them). Cannon had hoped this would be their breakout hit, pouring $25 million, higher than their usual. They also had the name changed to Lifeforce , as Space Vampires was too similar to the low-budget fare they normally produced. The screenplay was written by Dan O'Bannon, co-writer of Alien, and Don Jakoby who wrote... uh, Blue Thunder, the story to the Philadelphia Experiment, Death Wish 3, Double Team (that 90's movie with Dennis Rodman and Jean-Claude Van Damme.), and a bunch of other films you've never heard of. Though, theirs was the last of 8 drafts, and Hopper changed elements of it, including adding Halley's Comet (which was about to make its appearance on Earth in 1986), and moving the time setting accordingly (from the late 21st Century to the present). Hopper's 128 minute final cut was shopped down to 116 minutes for international audiences and 108 minutes for US audiences. The film opened to negative reviews and disappointing box office, but had a minor cult following, and a 67% on Rotten Tomatoes.

       The international shuttle Churchill (powered by a NERVA engine, which, as a space nerd, was a nice detail) is exploring Halley's Comet during its sojourn towards Earth, when it comes across a strange object that is 2 miles in length, that is orbiting the comet. The crew go inside the object, where they find thousands of strange bat-like creatures seemingly dead, before heading to a crystal room, where three humanoid creatures (Matilda May, Chris Jagger, and Bill Malin) are seeming in stasis. However, when they return, mission control is unable to make contact with the crew. The Columbia (which may or may not be the real life space shuttle) is sent to intercept the ship, and find the three humanoid creatures intact, but the crew seemingly dead. They are transferred to the European Space Research Center in London, where they are kept under the supervision of Dr. Hans Fallada (Frank Finlay) and Col. Colin Caine (Peter Firth). However, during the examination, the female humanoid comes to life, and escapes, sucking a strange substance (which Dr. Fallada calls the Lifeforce) from some of the guards. During the autopsy of one of those guards, he briefly comes back to life, and sucks the lifeforce from one of the morticians. When isolated, the guard disintegrates, showing that the vampires need a steady stream of this to stay alive. At the same time, the survivor of the Churchill mission , American Col. Tom Carlsen (Steve Railsback) lands in Texas in an escape pod, and is brought to London to brief on the situation. We learn that the crew gradually died as they transported the humanoids back, leaving him, and forcing him to flee. With the female vampire on the loose, Caine and Carlsen must find the vampire, and prevent them from killing more people.

     The first thing that popped out about this film was the score. Henry Mancini (famous for composing the score for Breakfast at Tiffany's and the theme to The Pink Panther) managed to create a score that evokes the mood for every scene. It helps set the mood for the film, and gives more emotion to it. Plus, it works in its own right. Look up the trailer for this film, and you get the idea for how intense this score is. The production design is also well-done. The alien ship around Halley is distinct and memorable in appearance. Some of the visuals and scares are very evocative. The plot has that sort of urgency that makes sci-fi B-Movies very enjoyable. Hopper said that he had wanted to make a "70 mm Hammer Film", and the largest influence I can see is the Quatermass series. As a fan of that series (Quatermass and the Pit is one of my favorite horror films), I appreciated how much this movie set out to emulate it, not only in the more methodical way the protagonists approach the problem, but the large scale disaster event which feels big and dangerous, even to the viewer at home. It also has the Gothic feel of many of Hammer's other films, which sets it apart from other science fiction horror films. It feels like a large-scale science fiction film, that just happens to have vampires in it.

     Like I said, this film was cut down, and it shows. There are plot holes on occasion, and it gets confusing, with characters occasionally appearing or disappearing from the film. The Lifeforce and space vampire also feel underexplained as concepts. There is enough there that the plot could be understood, but I felt a little more could've clarified certain scenes (including the ending). It also suffers from "middle syndrome", where it drags a little towards the middle of the film. Granted, not that much, but enough that it felt a little boring.

     Earlier this year, I watched a film called Life. It was a simple creature feature, but seemed to think itself as more thoughtful explorative film about extraterrestrial life. I felt then and now that film could've done what this film had done. This is a B-movie, and it knows that it's a B-Movie. Instead of running away from that, however, it embraces that label, and takes full advantage of its wonky premise. That's what makes it such an enjoyable film. It is campy enough that you are aware of its absurdity, but not so campy that you can't take it seriously. Thus, I highly recommend it to anyone wanting an enjoyable experience. It is also a legitimately good science fiction film, so if you like science fiction (and it's not really that scary, so you don't need to be a horror fan), this would be an interesting (if not good) watch.

   Next time, I continue with Hopper's three movie deal with Cannon with his remake of Invaders from Mars.

Masterpieces of Horror Theatre- The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

     Welcome back to Masterpieces of Horror Theatre. Let me first talk a little on the unexpected direction this took. I was already going to look at four Tobe Hopper films since at least last December. There were several reasons, including their relative infamy in his filmography. His tragic death a few weeks ago was unexpected in this regard. So, given my already set plans, I decided to make this look a tribute to the late director and his works. I will do the same to another director that died this year, and I was already planning on looking at some of his works. So, to begin this year off, let's look at The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. 

     Texas Chainsaw was the brainchild of Tobe Hopper, a filmmaker working at the University of Texas at Austin. He had based on the concept on the sensationalist material that local San Antonio news had been reporting on at the time, the Ed Gein murders (notably also the inspiration for Psycho), and the general aftermath of the Watergate Scandal.  He and associate Kim Hinkel wrote the script, and created "Vortex, inc." to produce the film. Hopper cast unknown local actors or friends (including a young John Larroquette to do the narration at the beginning). With a budget of around $60,000, the shoot was marked with difficulties, having to film in the hot Texas summer, and dealing with problems with the effects, which caused many of the actors literal pain (Edwin Neal stated filming was worse than his tour in Vietnam). When it was finally finished, the editing took an additional 80,000. The budget eventually came to $300,000. The film was distributed by Bryston Distribution, a New York based company with... shady connections. The film turned out to be a massive success, earning 10x it's initial budget. While received with mixed reviews initially, it has come to be seen as one of the scariest horror films ever made, and started off a franchise that continues to this day (with Leatherface to be released in late October this year, and no, I will not be covering it).

     The film opens with a text crawl stating that it is based on a true story (it isn't), before showing two propped up corpses being photographed while news coverage blares out, discussing a grave robber in the area. Five friends, Sally Hardesty (Marilyn Burns), her paraplegic brother Franklin (Paul A. Pertain), Jerry (Allan Danzinger), Pam (Teri McMinn), and Kirk (William Vail) are traveling to the grave of Sally grandfather to ensure that his grave wasn't disturbed. They continue on to the old Hardesty homestead, when they pick up a hitchhiker(Edwin Neal) near an old slaughterhouse. The hitchhiker acts very strangely, graphically recalling the process by which cows were killed, and cutting himself. The hitchhiker than cuts Franklin, prompting his ejection from the car. They try to stop for gas afterwards, but the attendant (Jim Siedow) states that there won't be gas until morning. They decide to stay at the homestead until the gas comes. Jerry and Pam head out in search of a water hole Franklin told them about, and comes across a home with a generator. When Jerry tries to get ahold of the resident, he finds a strange assortment of cow and human skulls on the wall. When he tries to get a closer look, the resident, Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen) kills him. Pam goes inside as well, and finds the bone motif extends to the furniture. Leatherface kills her as well. The remaining friends soon find themselves at the mercy of Leatherface, and find there are more horror to this strange Texas backdrop than meets the eye.

     This film is about violence. It is about how deeply ingrained violence is in American culture, without us realizing.  From the background news broadcasts in some scenes to the depictions of slaughterhouse killings, the film connects the violence promoted by the media and the actions of Leatherface. It asks if these murders are entirely surprising, given this climate. The violence in this film isn't actually that graphic (more implied than anything else),  because the film is more about the culture surrounding it. It helps that the setting is isolated and barran. The kind of place that you might see on a road trip, but never stop at. It underscores how ingrained this sort of violence is, even without the media. The setting also provides an almost dreamlike reality, warped and distant, which only increases the terror of the situation. What also makes this film effective in its horror is Leatherface. The sheer terror of his killings is offset by his childlike demeanor. It seems that he isn't entirely cognizant of his actions, which makes him scarier. He is like a more proactive Norman Bates. The acting is solid the whole way through, and the twist is probably the worst kind (I mean that in a good way)

    It's short. Only an hour and 23 minutes. While it gets the most effective scares out of that time, it feels like more could've been put in. The ending feels rushed. It's harrowing, sure, but it feels abrupt. The final dispatch of Leatherface feels like a letdown. I was expecting something more memorable than what actually happens. There are a couple of moments I felt needed a little more explanation.

    I can say that I can agree with most: this is one of the great horror films. You can see how it changed the genre, made a more visceral experience than most were used to. It also is an interesting film in itself, exploring how violence and culture are intertwined. If you like horror, this will not disappoint, but it is also an interesting cultural touchstone of the 1970's. It is rarely brought up as one of those social commentary films of that era, which is a shame, because its themes have a sort of resonance even to this day.

   Next time we jump forward to the mid-80's as we look at Tobe Hopper's space epic Lifeforce.

Current Movie Review- Kingsman: The Golden Circle

    I heard a lot of bad press for this film. Mainly, what I had heard was that, in comparison to the first one, it was a disappointment. Some even hating it. So, I had trepidations going into this. I had hoped that it would be another John Wick, Chapter II. Another sequel that takes what worked about the original, and expands on it. However, the film many compared this to was Men in Black II. Another sequel which took the fresh original (also based on an independent comic), and alternated between repeating it and contradicting it in order to repeat it. (As Rick Sanchez said, it was a "soulless cash-grab") Having now watched it, The Men in Black II  comparison is the most appropriate. It's not as bad as MiB II or III, but yeah, in comparison to the first one, this was disappointing.

      Based on characters from Mark Millar's and Dave Gibbon's  The Secret Service (which didn't have a sequel), a year has passed since the events of the first one, and Gary "Eggsy" Unwin (Taron Edgerton) is now a bone fide Kingsman, still working alongside Roxie (Sophie Cookson) and Merlin (Mark Strong), and dating Swedish Princess Tilde (Hanna Alstrom) . The film opens with the James Franco look-alike from the first one, Charlie (Edward Holcroft) attacking him, having lost his arm (somehow) during the events of the first one. After an extended action scene in a taxi, he manages to escape. However, the robotic arm manages to hack the Kingsman's database. Charlie goes to his new benefactor Poppy (Julianne Moore), a drug lord obsessed with the 70's version of the 1950's (and keeps Elton John (Reginald Dwight) around as entertainment). Poppy has been sending tainted drugs in order to force full drug legaization across the world. She uses the info Charlie retrieved to launch an all-out offensive, leading to the destruction of the Kingsmen. Only Eggsy and Merlin survived the onslaught. However, when they drink a whiskey they had retrieved for such an occasion, they are alerted to the "Statesmen", a similar organization from across the pond. After a terse meeting with Tequila (Channing Tatum), they meet the American version of Merlin, Ginger Ale (Halle Berry), agent Whiskey (Pedro Pascal) and the Statesmen leader, Champagne (Jeff Bridge) (Get it?) Biggest of all, they find the Statesmen had retrieved Harry Hart (Colin Firth) after his death in the first one. Poppy's demand illicits an opposite response from POTUS (Bruce Greenwood) who wants to kill off all the drug users to gain some political points. Between people slowly falling victim to Poppy's drugs and the President herding them to force their death, the Kingsmen and Statesmen must team up to find the antidote.

      I'll give it this: like the first one, the actors are clearly having a good time, either hamming it up or indulging wholescale in the action. (Spoiler) One of the characters dies singing John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads (The second time this year I've heard that song in a film) Some of the action scenes are good (I'll get back to that). Elton John was enjoyable in his supporting role. Most people got annoyed by him, but I found his presence funny (plus, he plays one of his most enjoyable songs "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting"). The set design is good. The action set pieces are well-established, if contrived. The action is also toned down significantly from the first one (though it still has some gruesome moments, they feel less intrusive.  The fact that POTUS turns out to be a minor villain was a nice touch, (especially since it pokes fun at both extremes of the drug debate)

    The first fight scene in this film was hard to engage with. The problem was that it was so heavily CGI'd, which would be fine if it weren't so fake-looking. It set the tone for some of the action, which felt less innovative than the first one. It tries to top the first one, but it feels subpar. Sometimes, it wouldn't make sense. I mentioned MiB II earlier, and it feels most apt when talking about Eggsy. Like Will Smith in MiBII, it feels like the character has been stuck where he was in the last film. It never really shows any sort of growth for his character. Not that he is back to where he was at the beginning of the first film, but he doesn't really have anywhere to go. Taron Edgerton still gives an excellent performance, but the character felt running in place. The plot is engaging, but it doesn't feel organic and more contrived. It also feels like it goes on for too long, because they needed to wrap up everything. That goes with individual scenes as well, which sometimes take longer than they should. Some actors are wasted. Despite their prominence in the trailer, Channing Tatum and Jeff Bridges are basically cameoing. Julianne Moore's villain (aside from her opening scene) doesn't feel particularly disturbing or threatening. They outright killed Roxy (one of the best parts of the first one) after only one scene.

    So, yeah, this was not another John Wick, Chapter II. If you liked the first one, maybe you'll enjoy this, but it won't really exceed it. If you haven't seen the first one, don't bother. Go watch It, that was a good adreneline rush film, or stay home and watch the first one. I had fun in this, and I liked it more than other people, but I agree it wasn't as good as the first one, and I do see why people dislike.

   Tomorrow, I will start the next chapter of Masterpiece of Horror Theatre, with the late Tobe Hopper's Texas Chainsaw Massacre. 

Current Film Review- Spider-Man: Homecoming

      Let me start with this: I don't care about Venom, unless Spider-Man is involved. I don't care about any of Spidey's villains, unless Spider-Man is there. The point I'm trying to convey is that I have no interest in movies that have Spider-Man's rogues gallery in them, but not Spider-Man.  Kraven the Hunter is not interesting unless he has Spider-Man around as a good counterpoint. (Plus, they could reenact "Kraven's Last Hunt", which is a classic story in and of itself.) Chameleon and Mysterio are not inherently interesting unless Spider-Man is fighting them. So, Sony, stop trying to recoup the resources that you wasted back when you thought The Amazing Spider-Man franchise was going somewhere. And if they do make these movies, I'm not going to watch them. Once again, what is interesting about these characters when Spider-Man is taken out of the equation? Anyway, let's talk about a film that has Spider-Man in it.


       Set shortly after the events of Civil War, Our Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, aka Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is eagerly anticipating his next assignment from Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.), and constantly annoys his bodyguard Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) with his eagerness. At the same time, Peter (as always) lives with his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei, playing a radically different version of the character), and attends high school (though, in this incarnation, it appears to be a polytechnic institute), and has his shares of non-superpowered problems, from his arch-rival Flash Thompson (Tony Revolori) to his crush on Liz (Laura Herrier) to his interactions with his friend Ned (Jacob Batalon), He manages to get some heroing in here or there. However, there is a new threat that has emerged. Adrian Toomes (Michael Keaton), a former construction worker cleaning up after the events of the Avengers, is laid off with his staff by more advanced workers. They decide to take the leftover alien tech, and form a criminal enterprise. Toomes now dons a pair of advanced wings to help him with his crimes. When Spidey expresses concerns to Tony, Tony tells him to lay low. However, undainted, he soon takes on Toomes and his armed and dangerous criminals.

       First, Tom Holland does a good job as Spider-Man. He manages to take the best parts of his predecessors, and make it his own. He plays the inexperienced hero particularly well, constantly trying to prove himself, only to fail (the standard default for Peter Parker's life).His performance definitely helps display his personality and mindset, and also shows how Peter's continual disappointments in life continue to frustrate him. The rest of the cast does great as well. Michael Keaton in particular seems to be having fun, playing a menacing, but somewhat charming version of the Vulture.Robert Downey, Jr. does great as Iron Man (as usual), but doesn't intrude in the movie unless he needs to.  I said before in my Civil War review, but I love Spidey's new outfit. I always had affection for the Ditko design, and it is brought into realistic fashion here. The effects are pretty good. There was one very suspenceful scene on a famous building I won't spoil, but made me nervous in the theater. There are some great comedic scenes, and there is a good number of references and homages to the Spider-Man comics. The story is pretty good, with a well-executed twist, which comics fan will definitely not see coming.

     Ned Leeds was a fine character, but his presence was completely pointless. Yes, he helps Peter at points in the story, but he really didn't serve any purpose other than to give Peter essentially a sidekick to talk to. While the action was good most of the time, I feel that some scenes should've had better, more exciting action. The final fight scene, while having a good ending, was a bit lacking in particular. Not to say it was all bad, the big boat scene (not a spoiler, since you could see it in the trailer) was a highlight.


    As a longtime Spider-Man fan who was very disappointed with The Amazing Spider-Man 2  (The worst film I saw that year),  this helped bring the character back to his roots, while not being an origin story (another breath of fresh air). This film is definitely better than the Amazing duology, but is not as good as the first two Raimi films. (It's better than 3). So, if you enjoy the MCU and/or Spider-Man, I highly recommend this film.

Current Movie Review: Baby Driver

        I apologize for my lack of updates. I've been dealing with personal matters, and I stalled for too long on writing a Wonder Woman review. Sorry about that. But Wonder Woman did well, so me singing its praises (it was really that great, and better than it could've been) would likely have not had any effect. So, I might do a film some may have heard of, but are on the fence on watching. I was excited for this film, because I was a big Edgar Wright fan. The Cornetto Trilogy is great (Hot Fuzz is my favorite comedy), and Scott Pilgrim vs the World is something of a modern classic, so I was excited to see him do more straight action. And it doesn't disappoint.

        Baby (Ansel Elgort) is the getaway driver of a group of bank robber, including unstable Batts (Jamie Foxx) and Griff (Jon Bernthal), and lovers Jason (Jon Hamm) and Darling (Eiza Gonzalez), led by crime lord Doc (Kevin Spacey). After a childhood car accident which killed his parents, he has a constant drone in his ear, which he drowns out with a rather eclectic soundtrack. He lives with his deaf adoptive father Joseph (CJ Jones), and spends his time hiding the money and mixing various recordings he makes into jams. He is close to repaying a debt he owes to Doc, just one more job. However, he becomes close to Debora (Lily James), a waitress at a diner he frequents, with their shared love of music. He seems to have paid his debts to Doc, and tries to develop his relationship with Debora. However, it turns out that leaving his life of crime is a lot harder than it seems.

       This is a film where the soundtrack is an integral part of the film. The movie sometimes syncs up to the music being played, with action scenes even matching up to various stops and beats. Given that the main character is constantly listening to music throughout the film, it helps bring the audience into the mindset of its lead hero, and how he seem to "hear" the world around him, and how he perceives it. I did appreciate that, as someone who occasionally tries to link up random sounds around me with songs I listen to. The songs are also very obscure. While known artists have their songs in there (Queen, the Beach Boys), they aren't those artists most popular songs, and the rest of the songs are much less well-known.. Speaking of the action, it is fantastic. While retaining some of his directorial trademarks (i.e, quick shots) in some scenes, Wright uses a different approach more akin to car chase films, which has longer shots and slower zooming to help visualize the chase. There are not just car chases either, but frequent action scenes using cars and on foot chase scenes. It makes for an engrossing watching experience, especially . The acting is good around the board. Ansel Elgort is a particular stand-out, his performance relying heavily on making up for his lack of dialogue with various physical tics or impromptu dancing or  sign-language scenes with his adoptive father,. Jon Hamm gives a great performance, which would require spoiling to detail why. Oh, and even though it isn't a comedy, it actually does have some great laughs in it (the trailer kind of spoiled probably one of them)

    These flaws are mostly nitpicks. I won't spoil what it is, but the impetus for the climax seemed underexplained. I could kind of see why it happened, based on what happened before, but I felt some explanation was needed. I felt the romance could've had some more scenes dedicated to it. It's not like it's sidelined or anything, and it is focused on enough to make the audience care, but I felt it could've been a little bit more developed.

   This is one of the best films I've seen this year. Dynamic, fun, engrossing, it has all the best elements needed for a great film. If you're a fan of the director (or like any of his previous films), or just want a fun little movie to see, I would highly recommend this feature. 

Current Movie Reviews- Ghost in the Shell

      To prepare for the viewing of this film, I re-watched the original 1994 anime, because, while I enjoyed the movie back when I watched it several years ago, I didn't quite remember the plot (This movie had an entirely different plot anyway, so that was unnecessary). I still enjoyed it as a philosophical cyberpunk story on the nature of technology, humanity, and life. In this franchise, I've only seen the first movie, and not anything else (the anime, the manga, the second movie). I know that several elements of this film were derived from those sources, but as I am unfamiliar with them, I can't comment on them or state their fidelity to the source material. I only have the first film to compare it to. So, I essentially went in with a moderate knowledge of this franchise, not really knowing whether it would actually be good. This movie has been in production for many years, and it has been cited as a prominent example of a live-action anime adaptation being stalled. Having now seen the film, perhaps they should've kept in there longer.

    Based on the manga Mobile Armored Riot Police (or Ghost in the Shell over here in the states) by  Masamune Shirow and the media franchise that spawned from it, the story is set in futuristic Japan, where people have reached such a point in transhumanist and cybernetic augmentations, where they could now create whole bodies which could work from the human brain. Mira Killian (Scarlett Johansson), the lone survivor of a plane, is one of those people now stuck in a robotic body. Despite the protests of the attending scientist to her creation, Dr. Ouelet (Juliette Binoche), Cutter (Peter Ferdinando), CEO of dystopian megacorp Hanka Robotics decides to utilize her as a solider. Sure enough, a year later, she is working with government anti-terrorist unit Section 9, along with Batou (Pilou Asbæk). She foils a terrorist plot at a Hanka building by disarming a geisha bot (apparently an element from the second film). She learns that the geisha was hacked remotely by a mysterious figure called Kuze (Michael Pitt), who is attempting to take down Hanka Robotics. As she and Batou investigate this terrorist, she begins to question her own identity, as her memories are at best incomplete, and her investigation will turn up some stunning implications for both her and everyone around her.

     This film looks stunning. It captures the look of the anime setting very well, and uses the strong influence Blade Runner had on the original to great effect. It is a great visual film, and has an interesting soundtrack, which also stems from the original 1994 film. (which actually was also a problem, as I'll explain later). The people who created this movie clearly love the source material, and try to bring it to live-action to the best of their ability. It also flirts with some of the more cerebral ideas that the anime dealt with in terms of memory, AI, the relationship between humans and machines,and how far we can lose ourselves into the machine. The fact that the 1994 film went on to heavily influence films like The Matrix was actually less distracting than I thought, and it doesn't really feel like it's directly ripping off any other film in particular.

    This is my main problem with this movie: It is incredibly boring. I normally don't feel drowsy or distracted during a movie, but I almost fell asleep in the seat watching this film, and I kept checking my phone. It's really monotonous and slow. I'm fine with slow movies. My favorite film of all time is 2001: A Space Odyssey. But this is slow without the weight to justify it. In the good parts, I said "flirts with", because aside from bringing it up, it never really delves into the ideas of the original, or utilizes it well in the context of the story. It's merely hinted at, rather than explored in detail, and the movie doesn't really make you think the way the original did. The action scenes feel less energetic and dull compared to the fight scenes in the original movie, where they have a lot of tension and suspense. It also inserts music, which also lowers the tension, and makes it into a generic action movie scene. The acting is uninvolved from everyone involved. Only Michael Pitt (seeming to be doing his interpretation of  "James Franco as Max Headroom") is trying, and even his performance doesn't really illicit any real emotion from me.  I was debating whether to address the issue of Johansson's casting in this film. Having seen the film now, (and this is a minor spoiler), when we learn more about Major, the fact that the actress wasn't Japanese is actually egregious, and is very distracting once you learn this fact.

    Even taking the original film out of the equation, it's still a mostly tedious, pretentious film, which fails to have much impact or memorable elements to it for the audience. If you've only seen the first movie, like I have, you might not get much out of this as you had the original. You won't get much even you've never seen the first one or just want an action romp. Bigger fans of the franchise have said they disliked this movie for botching up the parts of the franchise which made it work. So, by all accounts, I can't recommend this movie. Not awful, but could've been much better.

A Major Announcement

This is a very important message























I'm having oatmeal right now.