My Review: Aliens (8/10)

¨We'd better get back, 'cause it'll be dark soon, and they mostly come at night¨

Many people consider Aliens to be better or at least at the same level as its predecessor, Alien, but I found it an inferior film in many ways. In my opinion Alien is a perfect film, while Aliens despite being very entertaining is not nearly as scary and has its flaws. This sequel was directed by James Cameron and his trademarks are all over this film. Ridley Scott had managed to direct a small psychological science fiction horror flick, while Cameron made a much larger film, with many aliens, more characters, and a lot more action. This is more of a blockbuster movie than anything else. I`ve always been a fan of much quieter films that focus on psychological scares than big budget action movies so that may be one of the reasons why I liked Alien much more than Aliens. There is no doubt about Cameron`s ability to direct these big budget movies and he always delivers spectacular visual effects, but story wise his films are sometimes lacking in quality. The characters are many times one dimensional and that is exactly the case in Aliens. The only character I really liked in this film and that has depth is Sigourney Weaver`s Ripley. Unlike in Alien where the main character seemed to be the alien despite not showing up much on screen; in Aliens we have plenty of screen time for the aliens, but I never felt like they were a main character. It`s as if so much overexposure to them made me care less about the aliens and more about Ripley. So in conclusion Alien was the creature`s movie, while Aliens is Weaver`s film. She has a very strong role and her presence is what has made this film so successful. She carries the film and in a way makes us forget about the rest of the one dimensional characters. 

The story continues right where the original left off with Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) in the Nostromo shuttle in hypersleep along with her cat. She is awaken by a salvage team that has found her vessel drifting through space. Burke (Paul Reiser), who works for the same company that the original crew members worked for, informs Ripley that she has been asleep for 57 years. The company briefs Ripley as to what happened with the ship and the rest of the members, and don’t believe her story. They say that if her story were true then the colony of over 60 families that has been living on the planet where she claims to have seen the derailed ship would have encountered the aliens by now. The colony has been there for over twenty years without experiencing difficulties, and Ripley is discharged as a space pilot. Some time later, when the company loses contact with the colony, Burke asks Ripley to come along with them as a consultant. The company sends a military team to find out what has happened to the colonists and Ripley is offered to come along with them reinstating her if she does so. This is just an excuse for Cameron to get the crew in the same planet as the aliens and have much more action. Ripley decides to travel with the team which consists of Lt. Gorman (William Hope), the android Bishop (Lance Henriksen), Cpl. Hicks (Michael Biehn), Pvt. Vasquez (Jenette Goldstein), Pvt. Hudson (Bill Paxton), Cpl. Ferro (Colette Hiller), among many other soldiers who are heavily armed and qualified. Once they reach the planet they find no sign of any colonists, except for a ten year old girl named Newt (Carrie Henn) who has managed to survive and tells them that monsters have killed the rest, and that they will come for them as well.

This film marked a breakthrough in action films, but isn’t really as scary as the original movie. The suspense and psychological horror is replaced with action packed shootouts and explosions. There are many more characters and a lot more aliens so there are a lot of things happening. This is what makes Aliens more entertaining for some people. Cameron had recently come from directing The Terminator so he was already making a name for himself and was able to work with a good budget. He is among the best when it comes to visuals and special effects and many of the visuals in this movie still look great today. Aliens won two Oscars for this reason. I`m not a huge fan of Cameron`s work, although I have to admit Terminator 2 is one of the best action movies ever and definitely my favorite James Cameron film. The screenplay was also written by Cameron along with the help of screenwriters David Giler and Walter Hill, and I had small issues with it, although the spectacular action sequences saved it. This is Sigourney Weaver`s film and she truly broke out as an A-list actress with this movie. She shines as a true female action hero who`s strong and emotional at the same time. Aliens is a good film, just not as perfect as Alien.

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My Review: Sanctum (2/10)

¨The only way out is down.¨

I know it is still early in the year to say this, but Sanctum is the frontrunner on my list for the worst movie of 2011 so far. Honestly, I can`t see any other movie topping this (at least one that I`ll watch). Sanctum could have worked a lot better if director Alister Grierson (who also directed Kokoda) would have made a documentary instead of an action/adventure flick. The visuals are stunning because we get to see one of the largest cave systems in the world: the South Pacific Esa-ala caves in New Guinea, and they are truly beautiful. It’s a unique place and one very few people have had the chance to experience, and Grierson would have done us all a favor if he just filmed a group of real life explorers entering the caves without all the make belief drama and one dimensional characters that were made up by writers Andrew Wight (an Australian underwater explorer) and John Gavin (another experienced diver who actually based one of the characters on himself in order to act in the movie). The dialogue in the film is horrendous, the characters are forgettable and really annoying, and the father-son issues that the movie deals with are just laughable. The film claims to be based on a true story, but I think the only true thing about it are the caves and the explorers, the rest is just all make belief. The most interesting character in Sanctum is the cave itself, but we have all these other annoying characters blocking the view and distracting us from the beauty of nature. The cave is relegated to just the background so we have to sit through this two hour film listening to these people ramble on and on making one bad decision after another in this doomed exploration.

Frank McGuire (played by Richard Roxburgh) is a master diver who specializes in exploring unexplored caves around the world. He`s been leading an expedition in the Esa-ala caves, the largest cave system on Earth, for the past several months. The caves are truly an underwater labyrinth and the divers still haven`t reached the bottom of it or have any idea as to how deep it goes. McGuire`s team is being financed by Carl Hurley (played by Ioan Gruffudd from the Fantastic Four), an adventurous man himself who has no problem parachuting into the caves. Carl decides to visit the Esa-ala caves along with his girlfriend, Victoria (Alice Parkinson), and see what new discoveries his team has made. In New Guinea, they are received by Josh (Rhys Wakefield), Frank`s 17 year old son, and he leads them to the caves were they catch up with the rest of the team. While the divers are exploring a new cave system they have recently discovered something goes wrong and one of them dies. McGuire was informed that a tropical storm was coming their way and that they needed to leave the caves as soon as possible, but the accident put them behind schedule and the team soon finds themselves trapped in the darkness of the cave after their exit is cut off in the flood. Now they will be forced to find a new way out, but in order to do so they will have to find an unknown escape route to the sea.

The film was marketed as a James Cameron picture, but he`s only the Executive Producer of Sanctum. I`m not a huge Cameron fan, but still this movie really puts a stain on all his great work. He should have at least hired a better writer for the script because the dialogue in this movie is awful. He was probably more concerned with the visual aspect which was quite remarkable, but he probably didn`t consider that the script would ruin the visuals. I really hated the way they dealt with the father-son issue between Frank and Josh. It felt too dramatic and didn`t work. I also had a problem with the acting. I didn`t like any of the characters or even cared for what happened to them. It`s a major problem in a thriller when we could care less if they survive or not because it takes away the emotion and suspense. Since the movie takes place almost entirely deep in the caves it also gets dark and dim after a while and the characters can`t do anything to brighten it either. All these factors put together contribute to make Sanctum the worst movie of the year so far in my opinion. I wouldn`t watch this movie again even if they pay me to do it. I love caves, but I wouldn`t want to get near one for a while, not out of fear, but because it would remind me of this painful movie.

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My Review: Avatar (6/10)

¨They`ve sent us a message...that they can take whatever they want. Well we will send them a message. That this...this is our land¨

(6/10) James Cameron`s Avatar is a film that took 15 years in the making. It was a project that was really close to Cameron and he waited for the right time to be able to release this movie. He payed close attention to every detail and perfected the way we see movies in 3D. The effort was not cheap as this film is reported to be the most expensive movie ever made. Avatar will mark a before and after in film history for special effects and 3D. All the critics agree that this film is visually stunning and there is no doubt it will win several awards for special effects and art direction. I don´t think it will win as much awards as Titanic (Cameron´s last film) did or even match it´s record breaking box office, but it will be remembered for all the technical and visual breakthroughs. One thing is for sure, it will not win any acting awards. James Cameron has proved in Hollywood that he is a great director and that he is on par with Spielberg when it comes to special effects. He has directed several blockbuster movies such as Aliens, Terminator, Titanic, and now Avatar is becoming a hit worldwide. Visually speaking this movie deserves ten stars, but the story is not up to par with the visuals. Moviegoers who enjoy great special effects and visuals will be blown away by this movie, but fans who enjoy good storytelling and writing will leave unimpressed by Cameron`s effort. I am more into the storytelling so for me this movie dragged for long periods of times and the plot was very predictable. I felt like I was at an art museum looking at all these famous masterpieces, but I wasn´t entertained throughout the two and a half hours. I felt good about the visuals and they were truely remarcable, but I didn´t walk out of the theater impressed. I remember when Speilberg´s Jurrasic Park came out and that experience was much more breathtaking than this one. I guess I wasn´t blown away by Avatar and I would find it dificult to sit through two and a half hours to watch this movie again.

As far as the story goes, Avatar takes place in the future (2154 to be exact) in a planet named Pandora. Pandora has a rich and extensive fauna and the natives that inhabit it (known as the Na`vis) are very connected to this nature and even worship the mother tree as their god. Humans have set a military base in the planet because it is rich in a new type of mineral or chemical element, a grey rock which happens to sell for 200 million a kilo. This mineral happens to be under the surface where the Na`vis live so a group of scientists have tried to fit in with the natives by creating avatars which are alien bodies controlled through human minds (an approach we have seen before similar to The Matrix or Surrogates). These avatars are controlled by Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver who has already worked with Cameron in Aliens), Jake Sully (Sam Worthington, the Australian actor who starred in this year`s Terminator film), and Norm Spellman (Joel Moore who is known for his comedic role in Dodgeball). Jake Sully, a paraplegic ex marine, is accepted by the tribe and begins to learn from their culture thanks in most part to the beautiful Neytiri (Zoe Saldana who had a role in this year´s Star Trek) the tribe chief`s daughter who teaches him how to connect with the environment and all he needs to know in order to survive in the jungle`s of Pandora. Jake begins to have mixed feelings towards the natives and towards his commanders, Col. Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang, Public Enemies) who has promised to give him the money for the spinal surgery for the exchange of information, and Parker Selfridge (Giovanni Ribisi) the greedy corporate boss in charge of the mission. From this point on one cannot help but compare the plot to Pocahontas. It is just an alien version of the New World. Avatar becomes very predictable and we know what is going to happen, but fans are not into this for the plot, the audience is here for the visual spectacle.

The film might be disapointing plotwise, but the special effects make up for it. As I said before, those film buffs that are into movies for the storytelling will probably be a little unhappy with Avatar like I was, but those who are into the visuals and special effects will leave this film with a huge smile on their faces. There is no doubt James Cameron has spent the money wisely and created an entire new world with a beautiful scenary and some cool creatures. The first hour and a half dragged a little, but once we get to the last hour with the battle scenes the movie really picks up. The final battle is one of the greatest action sequences in film on par with the Star Wars saga, or The Lord of The Ring franchise, or even the Matrix trilogy. However, Avatar took a little too long to get to this point as it had to introduce us to this new planet. Don`t get me wrong, Avatar is a good movie, but I think there are other films that are much better than this one to be considered in my top 10 list of 2009. I was a little dissapointed because all of the hype this movie was receiving.