THE MARTIAN

THE MARTIAN

Film Review by Fiore 

 The Hollywood genre of the lone man surviving impossible odds with nothing but his own resources, is a favorite in Tinsletown, even though it has met with mixed results.  While Richard Harris’ MAN IN THE WILDERNESS was a success, Robert Redford’s JEREMIAH JOHNSON was not.  Redford even tried it a second time in ALL IS LOST, which garnered him critical acclaim (though not from this critic), but nothing else.  Several years back, the man alone theme was altered to include women with Sandra Bullock in GRAVITY.  Now, Matt Damon tries his hand at the man against the odds in THE MARTIAN.

Technically, this film stretches the genre more than a tad.  While the film centers around a single space crew member stranded on Mars, there’s plenty of cut-in scenes to his family, friends and mostly, the folk at NASA orchestrating the incident’s spin.  This allows extended cameo appearances from Jessica Chastain, Jeff Daniels, Michael Pena, Sean Bean, Donald Glover, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kate Mara and Kristen Wiig.

Damon plays Mark Watney.  His Mars exploration space trek is cut short by an unexpected super storm on the planet’s surface.  While the NASA team retreats to the ship, Watney is impaled by an antenna, and knocked unconscious by its satellite dish.  The accident damages his life reading circuits, so the crew believes him dead and begins their long ride home.  But, Watney is not dead, and he begins an impossible adventure to remain alive on a hostile planet until a rescue mission can be mounted.

KEY SCENES TO LOOK FOR:

1.      The Iron-Man impression   

2.      The crew reunion    

3.      The video diary entrees  

Cinematography stalwart Dariusz Wolski provides exquisite shots, on the planet, in space and in character close-ups.  The SFX team, headed by Richard Stammers, presents simplistic, yet realistic space sequences.  Director Ridley Scott certainly knows a thing or two about space movies.  He holds the claim on one of the best space adventures with ALIEN.  THE MARTIAN is not as thrilling, nor as epic as the Sigourney Weaver vs. monster oeuvre, but it will satiate the realists who like space, but don’t like aliens, predators nor King Ghidorah.  

THE MARTIAN, as a whole, is a bit much to take.  It appears to be wrapping up, when suddenly, a new twist is added and a solid 45 minutes is added to a film that already reached its tolerance level.  Pietro Scalia, ACE, is not totally to blame.  It not that there is unnecessary scenes, it’s that the story, penned by Drew Goddard, is simply too long.   Adapted from Andy Weir’s novel, Goddard just tries to put too much in the allotted movie time.  At 141 minutes, without an alien to keep things moving, the film lags.  An intermission would have helped this endeavor incredibly.  Maybe Scott should have talked to Quentin Tarantino.

THE GRADE FOR THE MARTIAN = C.

LONDON HAS FALLEN - review

LONDON HAS FALLEN 

Film Review by Fiore 

Ready for a movie seeped in conservative American values?  If so, London Has Fallen, much like its predecessor Olympus Has Fallen, will certainly fit the bill of fare.  This movie paints Muslim terrorists as America’s enemy, which is true; as cold-blooded, barbaric scheming murderers, which is also true; and as manipulators of media and public relations ploys, which can be verified by reading liberal postings on social media, or watching MSNBC, CNN or CBS.  

The old gang is back for this second go-round.  Gerard Butler returns as Mike Banning, the President’s personal bodyguard.  He is a one-man wrecking crew, fighting vigilantly to defend America and the American way; which is rather ironic because Butler is not American.  In fact, the two top action heroes in film are not American; Butler is Scottish and Jason Statham is British.  This is because we are still dealing with a generation of American actors who were born during what The Arnold calls ‘the girlie man generation” and can only pose as action stars through extreme close-ups and quick cut editing. Butler wears the mantel well, thanks to excellent fight choreography by Trayan Milenov-Troy (the hyphen doesn’t save him from being a three-named gnome) and stunt work by Tim Connolly.  

Banning is still protecting President Benjamin Asher, once again played by Aaron Eckhart.  One thing is certain – Eckhart should never be elected President.  Terrorists just love torturing this guy.  They went after him with a vengeance in both movies. Better him, though, than our current president.  He would simply bow to the jihadist ruler and declare Muslim people are the backbone of American society.  End of movie, with no action or excitement.  (Any similarity to this scenario and real life is purely coincidental.)

The British Prime Minister dies. As is political custom, all the leaders of the Free World are attending the funeral.  It is at this moment the Muslims opt to attack,  in an effort to change the face of the world. Director Babak Najafi, ironically an Iranian, appears to understand American sentiment more than the collected minds of the Democratic Party.  He applies actor look-a-likes for the world leaders: Nancy Baldwin has a striking resemblance to German Chancellor Angela Merkel; Phillip Delancy looks like Nicolas Sarkozy, who was a stronger, more dynamic leader than Francois Hollande; and Alex Giannini looks more like Silvio Berlusconi, whom the Italians, far too late, wish was still in charge of their country.  Ironically, it’s the Italian premiere who escapes the devastation at the funeral because he is having an obvious affair with a young lady who looks like Gina Lollobrigida.  It’s stereotypical, but if the shoe fits…When President  Asher escapes the bloodbath, thanks to Manning rearranging the time schedule, Aamir Barkawi, played by  Alon Aboutboul is determined to find the president and kill him slowly over social media.  He claims it’s justified due to the death of his daughter, but everyone, except those who drink the Kool-Aid of liberalism, knows this is simply an evil man, who needs no alibi to sow chaos and destruction.

KEY SCENES TO LOOK FOR:

1.      The assault on the terrorist base 

2.      The car chase     

3.      The conversation with Cameron    

                                                                                   

There’s plenty of action in London Has Fallen.  Since it is a sequel, scriptwriter Creighton Rothenberger spends a minimum of time reestablishing the main characters and then starts the roller coaster ride to the final reel.  Editors Michael Duthie and Paul Martin Smith (a dreaded three-name gnome) know this is the template viewers saw in Olympus Has Fallen, so they do not brow-beat nor pontificate dialogue scenes.  The movie is the perfect length of 90 minutes.  Finally, there is a rousing score from Trevor Morris sure to start the red, white and blue flowing in the veins as the action unfolds.  

I’ve not seen a movie so capture the true nature of our current conflict since Kurt Russell and Steven Seagal starred in EXECUTIVE DECISION.  When Banning slowly kills a terrorist while issuing threats to the Muslim stronghold, President Asher asks: “Was that absolutely necessary?”  Banning looks at him and says: “No.” then walks away.  The preview audience erupted in applause.  This scene captures the overwhelming sentiment of the American people, who are tired of being whipping posts for a Neanderthal ideology.  It has not been evident in movies since Lee Marvin and Chuck Norris volleyed one-liners in Delta Force.

Butler is unique here, for rarely does an actor release two films in consecutive box office weekends.  Check my earlier review for The Gods of Egypt where I detail how, and why Hollywood attempted to destroy the movie before it was released.  Headlines in the trade magazines, questioned whether Butler “could redeem himself for Gods of Egypt with London Has Fallen.  This is further example of the movers and shakers trying to destroy the former film.  Butler is the actor, with no control over editing, shooting or scripting.  It does not fall on his shoulders to redeem anything.  The only actor I know who sits in the editing room and dictates cuts to the crew is Steven Seagal.  It’s just another pitiful swipe by social engineers heading the studios.  Unfortunately, most viewers are oblivious to these ruses.  

London Has Fallen provides plenty of popcorn pleasure.  It’s chock full of American patriotism and action. Olympus Has Fallen set the tone, and London Has Fallen is a worthy follow up.  The themes in this film are sure to have liberals looking for almost anything else to watch in the suburban multiplexes. 

THE GRADE FOR LONDON HAS FALLEN = B

GODS OF EGYPT

GODS OF EGYPT 

Film Review by Fiore 

When Hollywood wants to destroy a movie, it can be more brutal than Michael Myers.  Months before its scheduled release, GODS OF EGYPT was the victim of activists who were outraged for the lack of diversity casting in the film.  This was the harbinger for the same complaint over the Best Actor category of the Academy Awards.  The noise makers were so loud, Hollywood PR and trade publications began bashing the film weeks before its actual release.  The trade magazines were filled with reports of doom for the multi-million-dollar endeavor.  Box office reports, as early as Thursday, before opening day Friday, related the film’s bad preview outtake, in an effort to frighten patrons away from the movie.  The opening weekend tallies, which wrap up at midnight, left coast time, were ignored for reports on how abysmal GODS OF EGYPT fared.  

Why would Hollywood so vociferously attack one of its own?  Well, first, GODS OF EGYPT is British, so technically, it’s not a Hollywood project.  The cry of a lack of diversity is bogus.  The film boasts an eclectic cast, with minorities in prominent roles, including the God of Wisdom, who is not only black in race, but homosexual in mien.  The main stars are British, not too surprising since it’s a British made film.  So what was the problem?  Perhaps the noise makers wanted more Egyptians in the roles.  If so, the Egyptians should have made the movie – not the British.  Is the Arab lobby so strong in Tinseltown they can command this type of knee-jerk reaction?  A better question is why is anyone with an IQ above a shoe-size listening to them?  CLASH OF THE TITANS (both versions) and WRATH OF THE TITANS, both excellent mythology movies, were made without benefit of Greek casts, yet they were still quite enjoyable. 

So, what about the movie.  It’s a fine action thriller in the form of a mashup.  Screenwriter Matt Sazama abandons the traditional tale of the Egyptian gods in favor of a blending with modern schemes and idioms, much like Kevin Sorbo's rendition of HERCULES.  As such, parts of it are a bit difficult to take.  For example:  Ra, played by Geoffrey Rush, rides in space on an orbital ship fending off a demon spirit determined to destroy Earth.  This whole scenario  really only makes sense if one is familiar with the fictional myths of Zechariah Sitchin.   Without the reference, this entire subplot loses perspective.  Egypt is portrayed as a Shangri-La, where value is measured by life’s deeds, until Set takes over and reverts to a taxation system.  Perhaps, therein, lies the true reason for Hollywood’s hatred of this film.  It proposes corporal works of mercy in place of an over lording government taxing its citizens to death.  That theme certainly would irritate the H3L.

Gerard Butler plays Set.  He is angry he was banned to lord over the desert, while his brother Osiris, played by Bryan Brown, rules Egypt proper.  He attacks his brother, begins to destroy any other gods who align with him and takes command of Egypt, instituting the dreaded tax system so the people can buy their way into the netherworld upon death.  The only one standing in Set’s path is Osiris’ son Horus, played by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, one of the dreaded three-name people.  Meanwhile, Horus becomes dependent on a mere mortal, Bek, played by Brenton Thwaites, who wants nothing more than to experience sexual bliss with Courtney Eaton who plays Zaya.   (Actually, can’t say I blame him as Eaton is smoking hot in this role)

 

KEY SCENES TO LOOK FOR:

1.      The fire-breathing cobras.  

2.      The opening battle with Set   

3.      The Riddle of the Sphinx   

GODS OF EGYPT is paced well.  Credit Editor Richard Learoyd fo the film’s flow.  Peter Menzies definitely shot this movie with the 3D experience in mind.  In standard view, the movie loses much of its panache.  In 3D, many of the scenes that look hokey take on a new dimension.

GODS OF EGYPT is worth a view.  Butler who plays the hero well in movies like OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN and the coming LONDON HAS FALLEN, makes a most noble villain.  Elodie Yung, as Hathor and Eaton are delightful eye candy, especially clad in veiled bikinis and Geoffrey Rush and Rufus Sewell in supporting roles, provide enough thrills for this popcorn flick.

THE GRADE FOR GODS OF EGYPT = C, 

GRADE =

B IN 3D.