Keeping It Reel

The Cost of Living Forever

Michael Bay has earned his spot with me of one of the directors whose products I'll always have to check out.  How could he not be when he made one of my all-time favorite flicks with "Armageddon"?  This is the same cat who also gave us "The Rock" and the upcoming "Tranformers" movie.  So even when one of his pieces isn't critically acclaimed, I still have to check it out because of his proven track record.

"The Island" is yet another one that I've had in my collection for a LONG time.  I was watching my show "World Series of Pop Culture" when Scarlett Johannson was one of the answers and it reminded me I hadn't yet seen it.

If you're watching it without knowing anything about it, there is a bit of a twist to it.  Personally, I was a little lost at first trying to figure out what was going on then cheated and read the box.  It's basically a group of "people" at a hi-tech compound who are clones of people in he real world.  They are bred there for their real-life counterpart for farming so that if something ever goes wrong with the real person, they can use the clone's body parts. 

This movie could have almost been called "Attack of the Clones".  When the clones find out they're being used for farming, naturally, they're pretty hot.  And the way they present clone breeding is pretty interesting, but I like the way it was done in the actual "Attack of the Clones" better.

I like Ewan McGregor's work; however Amistad (Djimon Honsou) does the best work here, playing a mercenary with a heart.  The more I think about it, it was all three of them that made this worth watching (Obi Wan, Amistad and Scarlett).

This won't be quite the classic that some of Bay's other movies are with me.  And as with all of his action movies, there are a couple of scenes of ridiculously over the top action.  Nevertheless, it was a fun ride that I enjoyed.  It's making me even more anxious for the eventual "Transformers" release.

My rating:  B

Convoluted Flux

The MTV cartoon always looked intriguing because of it's gritty animation and the futuristic look to it.  It also looked a little confusing so I never took the time to sit down and watch it.  Maybe I should have watched some of the "Aeon Flux" episodes before trying to embark on watching the movie.  For a simple caveman like me, the storyline and plot weren't the easiest to follow.

Essentially, "Aeon Flux" is your typical end of the world, few survivors left story.  99 percent of the world's population is killed thru industrial disease and the survivors live in a utopian city that, of course, isn't all it's cracked up to me.  Aeon is part of a rebellious movement out to expose the truth and bring about a revolution.

The one problem I had was they send Aeon to kill the leader of of the council that governs the city, Trevor Goodchild but she can't do it because it turns out they have history.  With all the advance intelligence that the rebels were given, shouldn't they have known something like that?

I will give them this though, as with a lot of sci-fi movies, the characters will often be sporting some FLY gear.  Why can't the designers put actual outfits like that on the market today?

Usually with sci-fi movies, I can figure out what's going on after watching it a while.  This one was an hour into it before there was any clarification as to what was going on.  Fans of the series that were more familiar with the backstory probably won't take as long to catch on.  Evidently the movie was geared toward them.  For us simple folk, it was a bit of challenge, even with Charlize Theron.

My rating:  B-

A River Runs Thru It

It's getting hard to find a good sci-fi movie these days.  The problem is that folks making them concentrate so much on the effects part of it that the story will suffer or even the character development.  Yes, I enjoy watching the special effects that make it look realistic.  However, that's only one portion of the appeal.  "Star Wars" was both a blessing and a curse when it came out because it had the effects that catapulted the imagination into new realms; at the same time, it also had an engaging storyline and characters that everyone was drawn to. 

When I was in Kansas City, Earl had asked me if I had a chance to check out "Serenity" yet.  It was another movie that I've had for some time but had never got around to watch.  He's an even bigger sci-fi addict than me so for him to tell me that I had to watch it, I knew it would be worth the effort.

"Serenity" is the story of a crew of renegades fleeing from the Big Brother of this movie known as The Alliance who are after their most treasured cargo, River.  River's a reader (which I've gathered is what they call mindreaders) who is also pretty lethal in combat.  The movie is based loosely on the television series "Firefly" that I've also never seen.  After watching this, I might have to give that show a second chance.

The first ten minutes of this movie alone are better than the entire body of most sci-fi movies that are out there.  We're introduced to The Operative character played brilliantly by Chiwetel Ejiofor, who's already proved his acting chops in "Inside Man".  For me, his presence makes this whole movie.

This flick reminded me of "Fifth Element" meets "Star Wars" meets "Land of the Dead".  Fifth Element in the sense that everyone's after this girl who supposedly has all the answers.  Stars Wars--meaning the first one, not the entire trilogy -- in the sense that there's the mighty power in the universe with rebels against it.  Land of the Dead by the race of creatures known as the Reavers who turn out to be a more integral part of the master plan than originally thought.

"Serenity" had the benefit of having amazing special effects that good sci-fi movies should have.  It had the plus of having characters that are worth watching, even though it may have been due largely in part that they were based on established characters from its television series.  It was an entertaining journey throughout.  For any other sci-fi fan out there, don't make the same mistake I did and put off watching this any longer than you already have.

My rating:  A-