The Thing

The Thing - Dir. Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. (2011)

Until recently, John Carpenter had been persona non grata since the abysmal Ghosts of Mars, a sci-fi version of his earlier action flick, Assault on Precinct 13. For a while, he seemed content with collecting royalty checks as Hollywood studios churned out big-budget remakes of his beloved cult classics. Assault was remade along with The Fog and Halloween. A remake of Escape from New York has long been in development and there have been rumblings of a new version of They Live. Now, Universal Studios brings us The Thing, which will make Carpenter fans pray nobody decides to remake Big Trouble in Little China.

The 2011 Thing isn't a straight remake. In fact, the filmmakers even stated that remaking Carpenter's film would be akin to drawing a mustache on the Mona Lisa. Makes you wonder why they did it anyway. No, this is more of a prequel and a loose remake using its predecessor as a template. Carpenter's movie was a more faithful adaptation of John W. Campbell's 1938 novella, Who Goes There?, which was originally turned into a film by Howard Hawks. That 1951 version, The Thing From Another World, had more in common with Invasion of the Body Snatchers than it did the source material.

Carpenter's 1982 movie begins at an American research base in Antarctica as its inhabitants witness the strange sight of a pair of Norwegians trying to shoot a sled dog. Unbeknownst to anyone there, the dog is actually an alien creature that can take the form of any person or animal it kills. The prequel delves into the tragic events that befell the scientists at the other base and how the alien was set loose.

At the nearby Thule base, the Norwegian researchers have discovered a massive alien spacecraft hidden underneath the snow for centuries. They've also discovered a dormant biological being frozen in the ice. Head scientist Dr. Sander Halvorson (Ulrich Thomsen) is extremely excited about the notoriety that will surely follow. Halvorson and his assistant, Adam Finch (Eric Christian Olsen), recruit paleontologist Dr. Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) to assist in the excavation of the alien. Of course, the thing breaks loose and picks the humans off one by one with the survivors never sure of who is really who.

The rest of the cast includes: Joel Edgerton and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as gruff American pilots and an assortment of Norwegian actors that aren't likely known outside their home country.

The 2011 version was directed by newcomer Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. and written by Eric Heisserer, who also penned Final Destination 5 and the remake of The Nightmare on Elm Street. Whereas the Carpenter and Hawks films were allegories of Cold War paranoia, neither van Heijningen nor Heisserer are particularly interested in subtext or parables. Their Thing is a straightforward and pedestrian horror movie. While Carpenter's Thing relied on the gruesome practical effects by Rob Bottin, the prequel gleefully trots out a heavy amount of CGI. The old axion of "Less is more," applies here as the more we see of these computer effects, the less convincing they are.

The prequel also breaks up the sausage fest that was the Carpenter version by introducing female characters. Mary Elizabeth Winstead is cast as a tough female protagonist modeled after Ellen Ripley. There is something cool and arousing about seeing Winstead forcefully wielding a flamethrower to battle the beast. Sadly, she doesn't get much to work with and doesn't display half the charm she did as Ramona Flowers in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. None of the other characters are fleshed out either and are simply there to increase the body count. It also hurts that they don't have someone with a strong screen presence like Kurt Russell and Keith David in the original. They also don't have Wilford Brimley, another huge strike against it.

The Thing pales in comparison to the John Carpenter cult classic. It's proof that just because you have more money and better toys, doesn't mean you'll make a better picture. Despite its mediocrity, The Thing might serve as a decent appetizer for a double feature with the Carpenter version as the main course.

Rating: ** (*****)

Warrior

Warrior - Dir. Gavin O'Connor (2011)

Gavin O'Connor delved into family dysfunction with his previous picture, the crime drama Pride and Glory. Before that, he directed 2004's Miracle, a rousing underdog story about the USA's Olympic hockey team and their victory over the heavily-favored Russians. In Warrior, O'Connor and co-writers Anthony Tambakis and Cliff Dorfman combine both themes for a tear jerking story capitalizing on the rise in popularity of MMA and the current economic crisis.

Warrior takes the classic Rocky formula and splits it two ways. The protagonists are estranged brothers, Brendan (Joel Edgerton) and Tommy (Tom Hardy), who were raised by a drunken and abusive father in Paddy Conlon (Nick Nolte). The rift between siblings began when Tommy finally convinced their mother to leave with him for California where she later succumbed to cancer. Brendan chose to stay behind and marry his high school sweetheart, Tess (Jennifer Morrison), with whom he has two beautiful daughters.

Fourteen years later, Tommy returns to the family home in Pittsburgh to find his father is now a recovering alcoholic closing in on a thousand days of sobriety and full of regret. Tommy has been overseas after a tour in the Middle East with the Marines and clearly traumatized about his combat experiences. While working out at a local gym, he becomes a YouTube sensation after pulverizing one of the top welterweight fights in the country during a sparring match. Tommy, an undefeated amateur wrestler in his youth, asks his father to train him once again, but makes it clear there will be no personal connection between the two.

Meanwhile, Brendan has become a high school physics teacher who is in desperate need of money after falling behind on his mortgage. He gets an old friend, Frank Campana (Frank Grillo), to train him for an Atlantic City tournament known as Sparta, where the grand prize is $5 million. Tommy too has entered the contest for his own reason.

Anyone with a firm grasp of basic Hollywood story structure will see where the film is going from the opening minutes. Tess doesn't want her husband becoming a fighter again nor does she wish to see any of his fights. Yet, she will inevitably appear in the front row to support Brendan at a climactic moment. It also shouldn't be much of a spoiler (especially since it's in the trailer) that the brothers will meet in the tournament finals to finally settle the score inside the caged octagon. O'Connor keeps both Brendan and Tommy on an even keel so that the audience's sympathy isn't strongly in favor of one or the other. While the moment is played as a triumphant victory, there is an underlying sense of tragedy that the siblings can only solve their problems by beating the crap out of each other.

There's nothing subtle about Warrior. The movie hammers the viewer with soap opera subplots like a fighter reins down fists on a prone opponent caught in a rear mount. There's Paddy's attempt to remain sober and reconnect with Tommy and Brendan, who was ignored due to the younger's superior athletic achievements. In a ham-fisted attempt at allegory, Paddy listens to Moby Dick on tape with his own white whale being the forgiveness of his sons. Toss in Tommy's need to overcome his harsh life and Brendan's efforts to provide for his family. Oh, and Brendan's youngest daughter has had health problems which required extensive medical attention and insurmountable hospital bills. Each man's fighting style mirrors their own inner turmoil. Tommy is blunt force trauma, destroying his opponents and leaving the ring without fanfare before the official decision is even read. Brendan, on the other hand, takes a great deal of punishment before staging his comeback. O'Connor makes sure no stone is unturned when it comes to milking every conceivable emotion. At an almost inexcusable two hours and twenty minutes, he gets plenty of opportunity to do so.

Warrior mainly succeeds because of its talented ensemble. Don't expect minimalistic performances here, this is acting that draws attention to itself. However, it works hand in hand with the tone O'Connor goes for, that of a testosterone fueled weepie. It's hard to imagine that the two working class boys at the center of the film are played by an Aussie and a Brit. Edgerton does a solid job, but he's outshined by the showier performances by Nick Nolte and Tom Hardy. Nolte is perfectly cast as the world weary burnout with an unshakeable sadness about him. Hardy has risen to a whole new level as an actor following brilliant turns in Nicholas Winding Refn's Bronson and Christopher Nolan's Inception. Here, Hardy plays a brooding time bomb of seething frustration and hostility. His portrayal of Tommy is reminiscent of a young Marlon Brando and his iconic role in On the Waterfront.

The obligatory montage training sequences are present in Warrior though they are sadly not set to 1980's power ballads.

Warrior drifts too frequently into schmaltzy territory and is about twenty minutes too long. Still, it is an effective melodrama for men. This is one of those movies where it's okay for a guy to cry.

Rating: *** (*****)

Legend of the Guardians

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole - Dir. Zack Snyder (2010)

Legend of the Guardians could be considered Watership Down with owls instead of rabbits. Though it may be an animated film with talking animals, it's hardly a shiny happy movie for kids. Guardians is a little darker and a little more violent than your normal children's fare.

Soren (Jim Sturgess) and Kludd (Ryan Kwanten) are brothers still learning how to fly. Kludd is jealous of the attention his family heaps on Soren, an idealistic dreamer fascinated with bedtime stories about the heroic Guardians of Ga'Hoole. After falling out of their tree one night, the brothers are snatched away and press-ganged into the army of Metalbeak (Joel Edgerton) and his queen Nyra (Helen Mirren). Calling themselves the Pure Ones, Metalbeak and Nyra ready their forces to attack other owl kingdoms to weed out the weak. In addition to their soldiers, the Pure Ones have slaves called pickers whose task is to gather large amounts of metal flecks. When accumulated, they generate a magnetic field that interferes with an owl's ability to fly.

Soren and an Elf Owl named Gylfie (Emily Barclay) manage to escape and traverse long, arduous distances to seek out the legendary Guardians who live in an ancient, Avatar-looking tree. After finding the Guardians, Soren is taken under the wing (pun slightly intended) of a grizzled old war veteran voiced by Geoffrey Rush. Meanwhile, Kludd willingly chooses to stay with Nyra, becoming a loyal warrior to their supremacist cause.

Guardians is based off the first three volumes of the fifteen book series, Guardians of Ga'Hoole, written by Kathryn Lasky. The film was directed by Zack Snyder and it is both his first animated movie and his first non-R-rated picture. Guardians is packed with the Snyder's trademark flourishes, mainly slow motion shots. Similar looking owls swoop at one another like WWII fighter planes. The slow motion actually helps since the action tend to look like undulating blobs of feathers. Despite that, the animation by Animal Logic (Happy Feet) is well done and the images are breathtaking.

Snyder's production is strong in visuals, but weak in story. The plot is a Cliff Notes version of the familiar hero's journey seen in countless other adventures. Snyder's desire for a darker film doesn't mesh with the studio's desire for a more family friendly tone. Serious themes of enslavement and genetic cleansing clash with scenes featuring comic relief sidekicks. Guardians simply lacks the deeper emotional resonance that Pixar has been able to capture time and time again.

Rating: * ½

Animal Kingdom

Animal Kingdom - Dir. David Michod (2010)


Animal Kingdom is the grimy, blue collar reflection of the Godfather-style sprawling crime drama, coming to us from the Land Down Under. The film is loosely based on an actual case.

Writer/Director David Michod (who makes his feature-length directorial debut) sets the mood immediately with the introduction of Joshua "J" Cody (James Frecheville) sitting on the couch next to his comatose mother. EMTs arrive and we learn the mother has OD'd on heroin. J's attention drifts in between their futile attempts to revive her and an episode of Deal or No Deal on the TV.

J is sent to live with his mom's estranged family who she tried hard to stay far away from. J comes from a family of bank robbers. His eldest uncle, Pope (Ben Mendelsohn), is in hiding from the corrupt Armed Robbery division who shoot first and ask questions later. The middle brother, Craig (Sullivan Stapleton), is strung out on coke while the youngest, Darren (Luke Ford), follows the others like a lost puppy. He's so close to age with J that he refuses to be called Uncle Darren. The Cody brothers work with Barry Brown (Joel Edgerton who also co-wrote and starred in The Square), a stable family man looking to get out of the business. The matriarch of the Cody family is Janine (Jacki Weaver), a petite woman with arching eyebrows who plants prolonged kisses on the lips of her sons. She's Florence Henderson on the outside, but we soon learn she's black as night on the inside.

When Barry is gunned down by the gung-ho cops, Pope and Craig hatch a plan to get even by murdering two patrolmen. Darren and J are dragged into the muck with them. The investigating officer, Det. Leckie (Guy Pearce, sporting a goofy mustache), seems to genuinely be concerned about J, but has no problem using him to drive a wedge within the family. J finds himself caught between the law and his amoral relatives.

As the title suggests, the film is all about a pecking order with J at the bottom of the food chain. The passive protagonist is forced to become predator or prey. Michod is economic in his focus on the familial relationships. He never shows the Cody clan in action nor does he take us into the courtroom drama that unfolds during the third act. They aren't needed. However, Michod stumbles when he overplays his hand. He underlines the movie with unnecessary voiceover narration by J as he explains themes and story elements that are transparent. Animal Kingdom becomes excessively dour to the point of self-parody. Pope's increasing instability is summed up in a scene where he broods menacingly to the tune of "All Out of Love" by Air Supply. As the passive lead, J is only as interesting as the more compelling characters he's surrounded by. Once he becomes the center of the film, his innate inertia isn't enough to carry the picture.

Rating: **

The Square

The Square - Dir. Nash Edgerton (2008)


Everytime I think of Australia, I think of that episode of The Simpsons. However, the Aussies have more to offer the world than bootings, Crocodile Dundee, and Yahoo Serious. They’ve given us film noir down under-style with The Square. Directed by actor/stuntman Nash Edgerton, the screenplay was co-written by brother Joel and Matthew Dabner. The Edgerton’s work has already drawn comparisons to the Coen Brothers and their debut film, Blood Simple.

The Square follows the classic noir formula of films like The Postman Always Rings Twice and Double Indemnity. The formula centers on a man who thinks with his dick instead of his head, commiting an ever escalating series of crimes all for the love of a woman. In this case, The Square follows Raymond Yale (David Roberts), a construction foreman who is engaged in an affair with his neighbor, Carla Smith (Claire van der Boom), who is married to a low-rent, white trash crook named Smithy (Anthony Hayes). How white trash is he? He has a mullet.

Raymond takes kickbacks on the job in order to save enough money for the two to run away together. Carla grows impatient by the day. The answer to her prayers comes one fateful day when she spies Smithy stashing away a duffel bag full of cash. Carla convinces Raymond to steal the money. The originally reluctant Raymond hires an arsonist (Joel Edgerton) to burn the house down to cover up the theft. A serious of unfortunate events leads to the arsonist burning the house down with Smithy’s mother asleep inside. The web of deceit is pulled in tighter when Ray begins receiving blackmail letters. Suspicion grows on all sides building and building to a tragic conclusion.

The Edgertons offer nothing new to the genre. The characters are one-dimensional and unsympathetic and the story familiar. What the Edgertons have done well is create the mood. The dark happenings of the plot are set against the backdrop of a seemingly sleepy suburban neighborhood built along the banks of a river that’s possibly shark infested. The tension mounts with the passing of every scene keeping the characters and the audience on their toes.

Rating: ***