[At the Movie] Sci-Fi Edition

Why, yes, I’m a bit late to comment on these titles, but since I had the time to watch them just recently, bear with me for awhile. This is my belated Sci-fi edition of the movies. I’ve teamed up with Rotten Tomatoes to bring you want critics say and what I say.

‘Surrogates’

Summary: FBI agents (Bruce Willis, Radha Mitchell) investigate the mysterious murder of a college student linked to the man who helped create a high-tech surrogate phenomenon that allows people to purchase unflawed robotic versions of themselves – fit, good looking remotely controlled machines that ultimately assume their life roles – enabling people to experience life vicariously from the comfort and safety of their own homes. The murder spawns a quest for answers: in a world of masks, who’s real and who can you trust?

Rotten Tomatoes Ratting: 40% [rotten]

Do I agree?: The short answer is yes. The long answer will state that I would’ve given it tops around 50%, but otherwise I am not impressed. While I agree that concept-wise this movie is outstanding, the potential it has was weeded out and replaced by the common mechanism of every single cop movie Willis has ever filmed. The twists and turns were interesting as people and I occasionally wondered, which person operated whose Surrogate and created confusion, which added a bit flair to the flick. Otherwise, we have Willis as a stoic cop with a past tragic event that has him scarred. He has to play the lone wolf, who also acts as savior for the whole human race, and spoils all the schemes, which even tweaked to work for this world’s vision, carry the same level of predictability. Instead of really becoming a sci-fi movie to explore the significant social event that people prefer to lead their lives through machines, Surrogates is watered down to being a run-of-the-mill cop movie. But even so, I had a fun time with it. The cast was relatively strong and the newness of the world offered plenty of moments to be enthralled completely.

‘Terminator Salvation’

Summary: In the highly anticipated new installment of The Terminator film franchise, set in post-apocalyptic 2018, Christian Bale stars as John Connor, the man fated to lead the human resistance against Skynet and its army of Terminators. But the future Connor was raised to believe in is altered in part by the appearance of Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a stranger whose last memory is of being on death row. Connor must decide whether Marcus has been sent from the future, or rescued from the past. As Skynet prepares its final onslaught, Connor and Marcus both embark on an odyssey that takes them into the heart of Skynet's operations, where they uncover the terrible secret behind the possible annihilation of mankind.

Rotten Tomatoes Ratting: 31% [rotten]

Do I agree?: I am not sure whether I will be lynched or hanged for commenting here without being an actual fan. I hated Arnie and I hoped that every other T would finally grind him to bits. The big plus is that we do not have Arnie here, but we do have Christian Bale, whom I have a small problem watching in any movie after that whole outburst. In ‘Salvation’ he was a bit loony as well, though I am not sure whether that was because of the script or the man had some inklings or aftershocks of a meltdown. As far as the older Connor thread in the movie goes, I agree that it didn’t make me raise an eyebrow in appreciation. However we do Marcus, the brilliant new T, who believes he is human and must come to terms with his nature. I had a more compelling time with Sam Worthington, who I think did a good job at it. Of course there was also great CGI, action, gun fights and Helena Bonham Carter as a face of Skynet. Not the best movie I have ever seen, but it had its moments. What bothers me is that Hollywood had to reboot yet another franchise, when it is obvious that it wouldn’t work. The tendencies with sequels, reboots and remakes are that they become worse and not better. Batman is an unusual exception to the rule, which otherwise is universal.

‘District 9’

Epic Summary: Director Neill Blomkamp teams with producer Peter Jackson for this tale of extraterrestrial refugees stuck in contemporary South Africa. It's been 28 years since the aliens made first contact, but there was never any attack from the skies, nor any profound technological revelation capable of advancing our society. Instead, the aliens were treated as refugees. They were the last of their kind, and in order to accommodate them, the government of South Africa set up a makeshift home in District 9 as politicians and world leaders debated how to handle the situation. As the humans begin to grow wary of the unwelcome intruders, a private company called Multi-National United (MNU) is assigned the task of controlling the aliens. But MNU is less interested in the aliens' welfare than attempting to understand how their weaponry works. Should they manage to make that breakthrough, they will receive tremendous profits to fund their research. Unfortunately, the highly advanced weaponry requires alien DNA in order to be activated. When MNU field operative Wikus van der Merwe (Sharlto Copley) is exposed to biotechnology that causes his DNA to mutate, the tensions between the aliens and the humans intensifies. Wikus is the key to unlocking the alien's technology, and he quickly becomes the most wanted man on the planet. Ostracized and isolated, Wikus retreats to District 9 in a desperate bid to shake his dogged pursuers.

Rotten Tomatoes Ratting: 90% [fresh]

Do I agree?: Yes, I sure do. I think that this one was potentially the best movie in the genre I had the opportunity to watch. Sure, we are presented a bit as bastards in this all, but humans, despite all illusions to be actually better than animals, are predators. As such we like to exert power and claim our territory with whatever means possible. So I am not surprised that we do the things we do in this movie. It was a delight to watch how aliens [just a select few though] were the good guys, instead of the Alien and Predator variety. The alien technology rocked, the deaths were colorful, the action plenty and the movie was, at times, a bit uncomfortable to watch. All good criteria, if you ask me. I am recommending this, because for me it really stole the show with a surprisingly professional and skilled cast, great concept and plot lines that I cannot say are completely innovative for the genre, but offer a shade that is not really well represented in the movie palette.