Death Race 3: Inferno

But while I'm at it, I might as well simply make some comments on all three films - yes, thats right. The title was correct - they have made Death Race 1, 2, and 3. Or maybe more correctly, they made the first, which I believe was a remake of an earlier cult film, then made the second one twice.

The first one was interesting, and to my way of thinking, the best of the three. Instead of a continuous barrage of blood, gore, and explosions like the latest two, there was an actual real story, and applicable characters that appeared in the first movie. "Frankenstein's" origins were never precisely explained, other than that there was always a Frankenstein, and eventually, that Jason Statham had been framed to replace him.

The second was more of a blood bath, but followed the lines of the first closer than the third managed (or even tried) to. Both brought in enough plot holes and miscellaneous characters that you could make swiss cheese out of the film, and both went well beyond the pale of "suspension of disbelief", turning a wild series of coincidences and contrived actions into something like a plot.

The third... I really dont know what they were thinking. At the same time, the only things I could think about this movie were simultaneously "Why would they do this?" and "Why the hell not?". I will admit that it actually appeared to have surprisingly good production values for a released to DVD/ Netflix film, however - it did not run into the problem that you generally see where their effects look either as though they were done by a toddler with editing software, or as though someone was cheesily faking the effects, and making a flying saucer out of a pie pan.

They took even more wild coincidences, plot holes, random characters, and used them, but then added clones of characters that were killed off in the first two movies, and called it a day. To top that off, unless I'm very much mistaken, they changed actors for the two main characters between the second and third movies. Now I could be wrong, or it could be tricks of light and makeup... but "Frankenstein", aka Carl Lukas, and his navigator Katrina hardly looked the same as in the second film in the third. I did find it interesting that they created the second movie almost entirely to give the back story of the "Frankenstein Racer", but one movie was frankly enough. Two prequel sequels was going a bit overboard.

All in all, I like the series, and the third film was reasonably amusing, but it wasnt that good. A contrived plot added to plot holes large enough to drive some of the death race cars through, like switching shots showing which driver was driving each car, made it something of a trial to simply watch. Great fodder for riffing, though. Watch it with a group.

Iron Sky

I have to say out front - I did not expect to enjoy this movie as much as I did. The premise was to say the least campy - a group of Nazi party soldiers, scientists, and civilians in a moon colony for fifty years or more, waiting for the chance to attack and take control of the world as an Aryan nation. If you go just by that plot, then you'll be disappointed in your expectations, methinks. I would gauge it along with the best semi-comedic films - taking itself only serious enough that there were a few lines that weren't made hilarious by the semi sincerity of them. My wildest expectations didn't stretch further than the amount of pleasure I derived from Cowboys and Aliens, which to me was one of the greater disappointments I've had in a recently made film, blockbuster film, especially one starring Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig. Both gave me the feeling before watching of "this looks too cheesy not to be amusing."

And that was true. But to a degree that I was wholly unsuspecting of upon my initial reaction to the film. The dialogue was well written, the sets and CGI were extremely well done, and everything down to lighting, sound, costuming, props, and background fit nearly perfectly.

About the only real complaint that I could possibly have about the film was the prevalence of subtitles, but while slightly annoying, that was frankly necessary. It wouldn't make sense for a group of Nazi remnants and descendants in a Fourth Reich to be speaking English on a constant basis, and the majority of the audience would not understand German. So all in all, a fantastic, funny movie, made with enough seriousness in its makeup that it could really carry the inherent comedy it created. I highly recommend it as a fun movie to be consumed with others, most likely for mutual enjoyment and riffing opportunities. And most likely with beer. I have to say, that wouldn't hurt.

Memento

Fan - Fucking- Tastic. I cannot properly express my glee at the quality of this film, and I cannot fully elocute how impressed I was with the progression of the film. We-the-viewers were transported inside of the  mind of the protagonist more deeply than in almost any other film that I can think of. The single, closest comparison that I can come up with, both for degree of translocation of the viewer and for absolutely stunning plot twists is Shutter Island, and it was absolutely blown away by the complexity of the sheer mind fuck that was Memento. 

Even with the inherent confusion that goes with such an unusual format as Memento was made in, that complexity of editing and construction was what absolutely made the film. The interplay of reversed scenes playing in contrast to the usual order gave a great deal more credence to the scenes playing in forward chronological order. 

I admit, at the time I was watching it, I was somewhat annoyed by the element of repetition that snuck in as the time codes matched back up in the course of the film and repeated a moment here or there. But after a while to reflect upon it, without those moments of repetition, it would have been much more difficult to match the time codes together, and you would have had something closer to an impressionist film that a cohesive story. 

The plot twist that the end brought was absolutely fantastic, coming out of left field like a Semi flattening a Smart Car. The film maker had been leading up to it a bit, and giving the clues necessary for the viewer to tie together and begin to recognize key plot elements that are being noted by the other characters of the film that aren't explicitly noted to the audience. An idea of what will happen, has happened, and is actually going on is conferred upon the audience, but even the hints don't quite reveal all they have in store for you. 

I absolutely loved it. I havent read the short story that it was based off of yet, but I will. It leaves me curious to see how similar it is to the precursor that inspired it, as I suspect it inspired Shutter Island in some way, no mater how small.

Repo Men

Forest Whittaker and Jude Law. Dark, gritty, well put together, and imaginatively done. And with a hell of a twist ending - and not in the Shyamalan sense of a plot twist, either. I have to say that its refreshing to see a film with a legitimately unexpected ending pulling a complete 180 from where it had been going. I wont spoil it for anyone reading this, but it was certainly well done. The film itself was well shot, well cast, and made very human characters despite the plot being fairly linear, and if not predictable, somewhat unsurprising.

For my part, I prefer the film Repo: The Genetic Opera, which preceeded Repo Men by two years. That preference may come down to my own propensity for dark comedy, especially because of the addition of musical numbers to it. A musical or operatic style can make even the darkest, bloodiest topics funny. Both films have the same general premise, of a short time in the future where organ transplants and replacements have become the province of capitalistic mega corporations entirely. If you can afford the payments, then you get to live. But if you can't, and you default on the payment plans, then the Repo men come out to play, and then its up to you. They can be polite about it, at least - they are legally required to ask if you want an ambulance called to be on standby. That doesn't change the fact that without the organ that's being repossessed, you probably wont survive until the ambulance arrives, but it is nice of them to give the option (Sort of).

But as the Repossessions continues, the Repo men themselves find themselves in the position of having to repossess someone too close to themselves to cut what they need away from them. In The Genetic Opera, its his daughter. In Repo Men, its one of the Repo Men himself, after an on-the-job accident caused him to require the services of his own corporation. The genetic Opera came first, and seems to be much of the source for the plot of the second but the similarities are somewhat interesting.

Altogether, it was a pretty good movie. Good characters interspersed with good action scenes, well shot and well put together. Bloody, I warn you, though that's not at all unexpected. But altogether, pretty good.

Drive Angry

Nicholas Cage... what exactly do you think that you are doing? Has Ghost Rider gone to your head completely? Drive Angry appears to be his latest attempt to return to being a well regarded actor... and I can't say that he's done anything new in this one, either. At least he hasn't gone running around shouting "I'm a Vampire" this time... just that he escaped from hell, and was riding around in a car that was on fire most of the film seeking vengeance on those who have committed terrible deeds, as well as vengeance and justice for the agents of the Devil. All that he would need was a burning skull and empty eyes for this to have been another Ghost Rider sequel.

All this is not precisely to say that its a bad film... quite. It's not to say that its a good film, either. The film was reasonably well shot, with a number of incredibly cool shots with some impressive artistry behind them. However, the plot was pretty contrived - Nick Cage escapes from Hell, goes to avenge his daughter by killing the satanic cult that killed her and stole her child, all while being chased by and Agent of Hell - The Accountant - sent to bring him back.

But then, a movie like Drive Angry - title and all - is not one you are likely going to watch for the stimulating camera angles and the heart wrenching plot - its a film you're going to watch because A) You like Nick Cage (for some reason), or B) You want to see pretty explosions, gun battles, and sex scenes - in this film, all of them at once, in some scenes. All in all, its a fairly standard action movie. Things blow up, gun battles start and end, and nudity shows up here and there just to make sure you are paying attention.

In the end, its a reasonably interesting film, probably watched best with a beer, a bucket of popcorn, and some other people around so you can properly make fun of Nicholas Cage.

Film reviews for the random soul

I started to talk about this in my introduction, possibly covered up a bit by the trappings of randomness therein as well. In general, I've always liked film. The medium is a beautiful way for art to be created and conveyed, and I started studying film as a minor reached through my Media and Communications major. I love to watch, critique, and comment on movies, as my own hobby for the fun of it. Rifftrax and Mystery Science Theater 3000 are incredibly fun, as the creators parody films that are fantastic, terrible, or taking themselves too seriously. 

Multiple times, several people have told me that I should start a blog, start actually writing down reviews of films rather than simply verbally lambasting them as I watch. Hell, I did an ethnography on the cultural stimuli and norms of the Riff Club at my college, because I'm as interested in the people who enjoy critique and commentating on films as much as the act itself. So, I figured now that i find myself with a bit of time on my hands, I might as well go ahead and start one, write down some of those views, critiques, and comments that always come to mind when I watch films, and get them out there for others to see.