Oblivion
This mid-April release stars Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman, Olga Kurylenko, and Andrea Riseborough.
The premise of the film is that Tom Cruise is a drone-repair technician on Earth, sixty years after the planet had been evacuated during a war in 2017. As one of the last people on Earth, Cruise's character, Jack Harper, has an unobstructed view of the world left in ruins.
From the trailers, Oblivion, may look like any other futuristic action movie with an aging star, such as Colin Farrell's film Total Recall (2012), but it proved to be a far more thought-provoking story.
In Jack's mission to repair drones on the abandoned planet, he begins to wonder about his memories formed before being sent on this task. In a slightly-cheesy, but mostly tasteful foreshadowing, he envisions himself at the top of the Empire State Building with a woman. Suddenly, on one of his repair visits, he finds a ship of humans in stasis that has crashed onto the planet from its suspension in space, but there is no coincidence that the woman from his memory is one of the people he discovers.
Oblivion, though it looks like it could be another Prometheus, is a film worth watching in theaters. Don't let the trailers fool you, it is more than just action and violence, it is a story about identity, love, bravery, and hope in the most discouraging conditions.
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Monday, April 8, 2013
G.I. Joe: Retaliation
G.I. Joe: Retaliation
When going into most sequels, it's (typically) hard not to feel somewhat skeptical about what you're about to watch. As a sequel to G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra (2009), if you found that you liked the action scenes in the first part of the series (or in any action movie, really), this film was at least 70 percent action and suspense scenes.
What really made it worth while and immersive was the 3D functionality that was weaved into the plot and cinematography. With a majority of popular action movies, there is always a fair share of rapid gunfire and that is where the 3D aspect really came into play, bullets flying off of the big screen so fast and so real that it may be hard not to protectively cover your face with your hand or jump a bit in your seat. It was exciting!
Something else that was surprisingly decent about this movie was the acting of Bruce Willis and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Willis played retired General Colton and Johnson played lead character, "Roadblock" of the G.I. Joe squad (a part of the U.S. military). From start to finish, Johnson's acting gave a feeling of safety, despite all of the horrific things that go on in a film about villains taking over the government. Willis, on the other hand, was a bit stereotypical at the beginning of his presence in the film (pompous ex-military man, sure of his superiority), but as the film moved on his character really started to evolve.
One feature of this film that was really endearing was the way that the female lead, Lady Jaye (played by Adrianne Palicki) was portrayed. As an actress who could really be used as just a trophy figure, with her stunning good looks and physique, her acting and the writing for the role were both very impressive.
All in all, though the story was a bit lacking in terms of complexity or emotional depth, the action did not disappoint and the writers and actors illustrated the meaning of the word suspense at times.
When going into most sequels, it's (typically) hard not to feel somewhat skeptical about what you're about to watch. As a sequel to G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra (2009), if you found that you liked the action scenes in the first part of the series (or in any action movie, really), this film was at least 70 percent action and suspense scenes.
What really made it worth while and immersive was the 3D functionality that was weaved into the plot and cinematography. With a majority of popular action movies, there is always a fair share of rapid gunfire and that is where the 3D aspect really came into play, bullets flying off of the big screen so fast and so real that it may be hard not to protectively cover your face with your hand or jump a bit in your seat. It was exciting!
Something else that was surprisingly decent about this movie was the acting of Bruce Willis and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Willis played retired General Colton and Johnson played lead character, "Roadblock" of the G.I. Joe squad (a part of the U.S. military). From start to finish, Johnson's acting gave a feeling of safety, despite all of the horrific things that go on in a film about villains taking over the government. Willis, on the other hand, was a bit stereotypical at the beginning of his presence in the film (pompous ex-military man, sure of his superiority), but as the film moved on his character really started to evolve.
One feature of this film that was really endearing was the way that the female lead, Lady Jaye (played by Adrianne Palicki) was portrayed. As an actress who could really be used as just a trophy figure, with her stunning good looks and physique, her acting and the writing for the role were both very impressive.
All in all, though the story was a bit lacking in terms of complexity or emotional depth, the action did not disappoint and the writers and actors illustrated the meaning of the word suspense at times.
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