Mama

Mama - Dir. Andres Muschietti (2012)

2011 was the breakout year for Jessica Chastain. She earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role in "The Help" and won critical acclaim for her performances in Tree of Life and Take Shelter. That doesn't include strong turns in Wilde Salome, Coriolanus, The Debt, and Texas Killing Fields, which were all released the same calendar year. While her work hasn't been as prolific since then, Chastain did start off 2013 with a bang as the star of the number one and number two box office toppers during the weekend of January 18. I'm speaking of Zero Dark Thirty and Mama, both of which remained in the top five for the following two weeks.

Chastain replaced her fiery red hair for a short black hairdo ala Joan Jett for this creepy horror flick. Mama opens in 2008 when white collar worker Jeffrey Desange (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) loses a fortune and his marbles. Desange shoots his business partners and murders his wife before making off his with daughters, Lilly (Isabelle Nelisse) and Victoria (Megan Charpentier). Desange loses control of his speeding car on a snowy road and crashes into the woods. He seeks sanctuary inside an abandoned cabin, which is never a good idea. Before the desperate Desange can do the unthinkable, he is killed by a misshapen spirit the girls eventually refer to as 'Mama.'

Five years later, Lilly and Victoria are found by a search party. Filthy and feral, the girls are reunited with their uncle Lucas (also Coster-Waldau) and his new girlfriend, Annabel Moore (Chastain). With guidance from their psychiatrist Dr. Dreyfuss (Daniel Kash), Lucas and Annabel move from their cramped apartment to a quiet home in the suburbs to help acclimate the little ones back into society. However, Annabel is no happy homemaker. She's plays bass in a rock band and bristles at the idea of children. The older girl, Victoria, returns to civility more easily whereas the younger Lilly remains animalistic. She sleeps under the bed, screams at people who come near her, and eats bugs. Throughout the ordeal, Dr. Dreyfuss believes the 'Mama' the girls refer to was an imaginary being they created as an idealized protector.

Mama was directed by Andrés Muschietti, who co-wrote the screenplay with his sister Barbara and Neil Cross, whose credits include the BBC series Luther and Doctor Who. Muschietti initially shot Mama as a short film back in 2008 to drum up interest for the feature-length script. It worked as Muschietti impressed Guillermo Del Toro, who quickly signed on as executive producer. Mama has a lot in common with The Orphanage and Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, two other horror projects Del Toro helped shepherd. This is a dark and gothic ghost story that relies on old school scares rather than blood and guts. In true haunted house fashion, the scares come from knowing that there is something under the bed or in the closet as the characters cautiously (and foolishly) take a peek.

Mama herself is a mix of practical and CG effects with the tangled, black hair familiar to fans of Asian horror. Muschietti follows the Jaws formula of keeping Mama relatively hidden and only shown in short bursts until the final act.

Chastain turns in a solid performance, a far cry from her Oscar nominated turn as the grim CIA agent in Zero Dark Thirty. Game of Thrones fans will enjoy seeing Jamie Lannister in the dual role of Jeffrey and Lucas. The best performances in Mama belong to the young actresses who are utterly convincing as the lost sisters.

Mama isn't as balls-out insane as Cabin in the Woods, but it is one of the better horror flicks produced in recent years. It is well directed with several stylish flourishes by Muschietti that help to build a spooky atmosphere.

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

Oblivion

Oblivion - Dir. Joseph Kosinski (2013)

The year is 2077 and Earth has been ravaged by a war with an alien race known as the Scavengers. The invaders struck the first blow by destroying the moon and devastating the planet's climate. The humans deployed nuclear weapons to defeat the Scavs, but at the cost of rendering Earth nearly inhospitable. The remnants of humanity are migrating to the Saturn moon of Titan. This is all explained with painstaking detail in the opening narration of Oblivion.

Tom Cruise stars as the live-action version of Wall-E, Jack Harper, not to be confused with Jack Reacher. Harper and his partner/lover Vika (Andrea Riseborough) have stayed behind to be the "mop-up crew." They are tasked with repairing robotic drones that hunt down Scav stragglers and protect massive machines converting Earth's seawater into energy for the new colony. Both Harper and Vika have had their memories wiped as a security measure lest they be captured by the Scavs. Yet, Harper is plagued by dreams of a life before with a teeming New York City and a beautiful woman (Olga Kurylenko). Unlike his dutiful partner, Harper waxes nostalgic about old Earth and ventures off his usual patrol route. He's found a tranquil getaway within a hidden valley where he shoots hoops and listens to vinyl records.

During another routine repair, Harper finds a crashed ship that is decades old and carrying several human passengers in stasis. One of them happens to be Julia, the woman from his dreams. When the drones open fire on them, Harper embarks on a quest to discover the truth about the war and his own identity.

Oblivion is the second feature film from Joseph Kosinski, who previously directed Tron: Legacy. Kosinski has proven to be capable of creating stylish sci-fi worlds though he has a weaker handling on story. Oblivion transplants many of those same new age ideas with a stronger screenplay by Kosinski, William Monahan, Karl Gajdusek, and Michael Arndt. However, it is no less derivative. The story is full of Twilight Zone-style twists while paying homage to a laundry list of classic sci-fi films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, Silent Running, The Omega Man, along with recent releases like Moon. Harper and Vika operate in the ruined remains of the Big Apple with the Statue of Liberty sticking out of the ground ala Planet of the Apes. Morgan Freeman appears in an outfit he apparently borrowed from Laurence Fishburne's Matrix wardrobe. And much like Morpheus, Freeman seeks to open Harper's eyes to the truth. Even the superb score by French electronic band M83 is reminiscent of Daft Punk's soundtrack for Tron: Legacy.

The movie progresses at a casual pace after a bloated opening overloaded with exposition. This allows the viewer to feast in the sumptuous visuals crafted by Kosinski, cinematographer Claudio Miranda, and their special effects team. Oblivion was filmed in Iceland and they've captured the natural beauty of the pristine landscapes. Though it isn't a rip-roaring action flick, Oblivion does feature a few well-executed set pieces, one of which sees Cruise flying his sleek airship through a canyon with drones hot on his tail.

It's no coincidence that Cruise once again takes on the role of a skilled pilot. His Jack Harper isn't too different from the characters he's portrayed in Top Gun, Minority Report, or Mission: Impossible. He's the loyal trooper who eventually bucks authority when it conflicts with his beliefs. Cruise is strong, but doesn't make much of an impression. Morgan Freeman would have to have a really bad day to turn in a weak performance while Game of Thrones' Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Zoe Bell are underutilized as his followers. Acting accolades should definitely go to Andrea Riseborough who portrays Vika with a heartbreaking vulnerability along with a stern iciness. She's the best thing in an otherwise lackluster picture, just as she was in Madonna's half-baked W.E. Melissa Leo has some fun as Sally, Harper and Vika's command officer, who only appears as a face on a screen. There's something obviously sinister about Sally's sunny, down-home disposition.

Oblivion is certainly worth catching on the big screen (or at least on Blu-ray) for the eye candy and the aural feast of M83's score. However, the story is far too familiar to be wholly satisfying.

Rating: ** (*****)