First Look Review: Aliens: Fireteam Elite

by Perry Chicos

Aliens: Fireteam Elite is a mix of classic team co-op campaign multiplayer and action-packed first-person shooter all set in the Alien Franchise universe. From the very beginning you can tell Cold Iron put a lot of attention into detail and the ability to customize everything. You can literally customize your character down to the type of magazine you reload into your M41A Pulse Rifle. On top of that, the Aliens references are everywhere. If you’re a fan of nostalgia, you are going to love this game.

The gameplay within the missions is very similar to Gears of War. Almost exactly the same, except you’re killing xenos, and lots of them. I specifically played as the Gunner and Demolition Marines. I love heavy guns, and the smart gun is going to be your best friend if you’re not great at shooting. If you’re a fan of James Cameron’s Aliens you are going to feel right at home with this one. Only downfall is you can’t play cross console, so if you have some buddies who want to play with you make sure you’re all on the same console. Aliens: Fireteam Elite is very entertaining and most fun to play with friends. I am looking forward to playing through all the missions. Hope everyone enjoys!

Review: ALIEN #1 (Marvel Comics)

Marvel’s Opening Alien Salvo Is a Breath of Fresh Air

by Patrick Greene

Art by Salvador Larroca and Guru-eFX

It’s hard to overstate how significant Alien #1 is; no matter how you look at it, it represents something big.

In terms of comics, this is the first official non-Dark Horse Alien book in this format since Archie Goodwin and Walt Simonson’s Alien: The Illustrated Story in 1979.

In terms of the film industry, this is the first tangible product of Disney’s acquisition of the Alien IP (which became official in March of 2019).

And in terms of fandom, this is a huge step into a new future. A future without 20th Century Fox, without Dark Horse, without Ripley—without a lot of the things we think of when we think “Alien.”

But for all the big things this represents, at the end of the day it’s also something quite small: a single issue of a new comic series, featuring xenomorphs and facehuggers and Weyland-Yutani. A story that feels familiar and yet distinctly new. A story, we’re told in the opening panels, about darkness.

Any good comic writer knows you don’t get a second chance at a first issue. It’s an opportunity to say “this is what these characters are about, to me.” And with writer/Alien superfan (seriously, check out his recent PO interview) Phillip Kennedy Johnson at the helm, we find out early on that darkness—the kind of darkness beyond the absence of light, the sort of darkness we sometimes feel tugging at the edges of a nightmare—is key to this new series.

Johnson, who is also writing Superman and Action Comics at DC, introduces us to a new lead character: Gabriel Cruz, retiring Security Chief of a Weyland-Yutani installation called Epsilon Station. We get glimpses into Cruz’s past—time in the Marines, flashes of hive sequences, therapy sessions—but much of Alien #1 is spent in an unusually familiar present. A present that includes retirement parties, swanky Earth neighborhoods, father/son tension, and reminiscences about grocery stores.

It’s not our actual present-day, of course: Johnson’s story is set in 2200. Twenty-one years after Hadley’s Hope and Ripley’s death, and seventy-eight years after the events onboard Nostromo. Cruz, a middle-aged retiree, was almost certainly in the Colonial Marines during the events that unfolded during Aliens. We see a photo of his platoon with a Bishop model. We get a sense of lived history without being told much.

We knew going in (from our conversations with Phillip Kennedy Johnson as well as periodic teases from Marvel) that this was going to be a story “inside” Weyland-Yutani—inside the megacorp pulling the strings of the Alien saga like a ghastly puppeteer from the very beginning. I cracked open this issue expecting some sort of industrial espionage (a la the latter Brian Woods Dark Horse series) with a clear-cut hero to fight the faceless mega-villain. But what I found, instead, was something considerably more nuanced than that.

In the films, Weyland-Yutani is seen only in fleeting glimpses. Other than the board room scene in Aliens, WY is almost exclusively something talked about but never actually seen. For most of us, other than the brief debriefing sequence in Aliens, our direct experience of Weyland-Yutani has been mostly through masked commandos at the end of Alien 3, deleted Hadley’s Hope material restored in the Special Edition of Aliens, or lines of green text on a black screen in Alien.

Art by Salvador Larroca and Guru-eFX

But in this first issue, we see something different: humans. We see that Weyland-Yutani is a massive employer of thousands, if not millions, of people. People with dreams, aspirations, personal lives. People who can’t wait to get home to see their families. The corporation perpetrates acts of terrible evil—but don’t the corporations we interact with every day in our world do the same things, in different ways? Look at Nestle. Look at Monsanto.

What’s more, our protagonist—or at least the character with the most page-time—is a Weyland-Yutani pro so good at his job they say there will be a wing of Epsilon Station named in his honor after he’s gone. An absentee father, dealing with a mysterious illness, waking up with nightmares and visions of strange shapes.

And the characters fighting Weyland-Yutani—the characters every single Alien fan will start the issue rooting for—are quickly shown to be more problematic than we initially think. More violent. Not idealized crusaders against a faceless evil; people with guns and zip ties, dehumanizing their enemy by constantly reminding themselves that they’re “the good guys.”

Many of you will know Salvador Larroca through his majestic work on Marvel’s Doctor Doom series, which I HIGHLY recommend. Larroca is a terrific visual storyteller. There are glimpses of this talent in Alien #1, but on the whole I want the art to be edgier. To be pushed a little. For Larroca to let loose and scare us. The art in this issue is very good—and completely on par with what most fans will expect—but knowing what Larroca is capable of, I feel he’s holding back a little here. The colors, by Guru-eFX, are stunning and every bit the polished Marvel product any comic reader will recognize. Again, maybe a little too polished for my liking—a little too vibrant, a little too perfect—but maybe that’s just something I need to get used to.

Nothing about Alien #1 is simple. It’s a story I truly encourage you to read twice before coming to a conclusion on whether or not you’re onboard with this new Marvel series. It isn’t what you are expecting.

And that’s exactly why it’s so necessary.

Score: 8/10

REVIEW: Sputnik (2020) A Compelling Tale That Feels Like It Belongs in the Stranger Things Universe

(Six out of Ten Stars)

Egor Abramenko’s directorial debut, Sputnik (2020) is at the very least a bold story of science fiction.

“Set in 1983, Sputnik stars Oksana Akinshina as a young doctor who is recruited by the military to assess a cosmonaut who survived a mysterious space accident and returned to Earth with a dangerous organism living inside him.[1] Alongside Akinshina, the film's cast includes Pyotr Fyodorov and Fyodor Bondarchuk.”  - Wikipedia. 

The first comparisons to be made when seeing the trailer for the film would be Ridley Scotts seminal film, ALIEN (1979). The trailer for Sputnik is heavy on mood and body horror with a parasitical creature attaching itself to humans.  The tone and content of the trailer sat me up straight. There’s a slow building dread, which is right out of the playbook of Alien. As a fan of the (Alien) series and a sci-fi nut, I am fully aware of the fact that good science fiction is hard to come by. The trailer for Sputnik seemed to suggest that we might be receiving something special. 

The film did not disappoint, and yet, it wasn’t the scary dark thriller I had hoped it would be. Sputnik feels like it could belong in the Stranger Things universe, helped in no small part by the creature design and CG effects which are painfully familiar. The film is richly photographed, with deep blacks and cool greens set within a quiet and unnerving pace. Any good monster film has a very human story interwoven within the narrative. Sputnik is no exception.

I would give Sputnik a solid six out of ten stars. It’s entertaining, thoughtful, well acted and atmospheric. Where the film falters is the creature design and the Duffer Brothers-eque storytelling. Endings (in anything) are notoriously hard to land. I’m not so sure Sputnik lands it, despite its best attempts. It is a worthy film. The critiques I have for it do not outweigh the experience of the film. It is Not to be missed. 

Jaime Prater for Perfect Organism Podcast

@soundgoasunder

REVIEW: 1917(2020)

By Ryan Zeid

1917 (9 out of 10)

It’s certainly not an earth-shattering revelation, but when you think about it, everyone’s life is done in one take. Until time travel is invented, there’s no chance for us to go back in time and correct past mistakes, make different choices, etc. Of course, many people are fortunate enough to get “second chances” to try to make amends for past wrongdoings, or to change destructive behaviors and get sober and clean. But the reality is that we don’t get multiple takes to get each choice right, we just have to live with the consequences and hope that they build our character in a positive way.

With film, however, that’s not the case. While some directors prefer to do only a couple of takes and move on (i.e. Clint Eastwood), while others prefer dozens if not hundreds (i.e. Stanley Kubrick), actors and filmmakers are generally given as many tries as they want to get each scene just right. There are examples, however, of directors trying to get whole scenes and sequences in film done in one take, with some early examples coming from filmmaking legends like Alfred Hitchcock and Orson Welles. It’s not a perfect example, as the directors may still reshoot those scenes if something is off, and can also use camera tricks to hide cuts, but it’s still quite a technical achievement to do a sequence in one whole take. I can’t think of any film, however, where the filmmakers did the entire movie in one long take, at least not until seeing “1917,” a phenomenal and near impeccably made war film from director Sam Mendes (Revolutionary Road, Skyfall, Spectre).

Besides the seemingly one-take achievement (although I’m sure camera tricks and cgi were used to cover up edits), it’s a technical marvel, with immersive sound design, top notch direction from Mendes, and stunning cinematography courtesy of Roger Deakins. But it’s really the characters, the strong performances, and the incredibly tense and engrossing story that really sets this film in the masterpiece stratosphere. Dean-Charles Chapman and especially George MacKay are the real standouts as the main leads of the film, taking the audience on their characters’ harrowing but inspiring journey to save the lives of 1600 British soldiers during World War I. Even the secondary characters and the fun cameos are performed with aplomb and contribute to the overall enjoyment of the film.

If you enjoy films, particularly war films, that pull you right into the story nearly from the outset and don’t let go until the credits role, then I highly recommend you go see 1917. It’s really no surprise to me that it’s getting a lot of awards consideration this year; it’s extremely well deserved. This is one take you won’t want to miss. I give 1917 a 9 out of 10.

Review: Underwater (2020)

by Ryan Zeid

Underwater (5.5 out of 10)

I think it’s fairly well known that January tends to be a month for movie studios to dump off films they believe will make little impact both critically and commercially. Being a bit too late for Oscar consideration for that same year, but far too early to be much remembered for the following year’s Academy Awards, movies released in January are generally left to die a quick death.

It also doesn’t help when a film that is released in January has also been sitting on the studio’s shelf for over two years. That’s what we get with 20th Century Fox’s latest sci-fi action film, Underwater. While replete with strong production values and a serviceable cast, Underwater is so derivative of other, better films, especially Fox’s own Alien and Aliens, that it carries almost no identity of its own, and is sure to be quickly forgotten, as is the case with most January films. In fact, if a drinking game were made regarding all the homages, references, and almost direct lifts from the Alien franchise (along with The Abyss), even an Irishman might have a tough time making to the end. That’s not to say it’s not nice to look at, and Kristen Stewart is decent enough in the lead role, while T.J. Miller provides a few moments of comic relief, but her and the other actors are given almost no character development and little to work with, and it lessens the impact of the film, especially a couple of sequences that should’ve been a lot more intense and immersive.

Underwater is unfortunately the typical January action film. Competently made and produced, but lacking engagement, characters you can connect with, and bringing something, or anything, new and fresh for filmgoers. There are worse ways you could spend 90 minutes of your time, but better to stay afloat at home. I give Underwater a 5.5 out of 10.

- Ryan Zeid

Our Greatest Challenge Is Ourselves: Reviewing James Gray's Magnum Opus Ad Astra

To The Stars.

Like all great science fiction films of our time, Ad Astra is the story of one person’s journey to confront what is always mankind’s greatest challenge. Ourselves. 

On the outset, Astra, written and directed by James Gray, and starring Brad Pitt begins in an unspecified future. Mankind has colonized the moon and Mars. Brad Pitt plays an astronaut who’s lost his father to a mission that’s been shrouded in mystery since. Energy surges are putting the earth, mars and the moon in peril. These surges seem to originate from the planet Neptune, the last place Pitt’s character Troy McGuire’s father, (played note perfect by Tommy Lee Jones) was seen. McGuire is dispatched by a secret branch of the American military government to send a message to his father. 

I knew Astra would be heady and heavy going in. This wasn’t going to be an action-packed summer sci-fi movie. At the heart of the story is a character coming to terms with his successes in life at the cost of actually living. As Pitt journeys to find his father, his real journey is to discover himself and what’s held him back. It’s a familiar yet timeless tale that should speak to anyone who’s brave enough to listen.

This film comes to me at a particularly emotionally fraught time in my life. I’ve also realized while on my own journey the fears that have surrounded my every waking moment, keeping me from living better, fuller. Astra is that call to all of us to live. Live without ceasing, cast off your fears. There is only this life. We must live it beautifully and fearlessly.

Jaime M Prater

jaimeprater@gmail.com

REVIEW: Aliens: Rescue #1

Dark Horse’s Latest Brian Wood Outing Will Be a Lot of Fun If It’s Given Room to Breathe

LOOK AT MY FANCY HELMET. Image: Dark Horse Comics

by Patrick Greene

I’ll come right out and say it: I thought Aliens: Resistance was awful. I found the visuals inconsistent and confounding, the storytelling rushed and a little bit stupid, the characters interchangeable and uninteresting.

Which was borderline shocking to me, coming on the heels of Brian Wood’s previous outing (the excellent Defiance, which you can grab in two nicely priced collected volumes).

Aliens: Rescue, whose first issue dropped earlier this month, is off to a technically solid (if slightly uninspired) start. Picking up years after the events of Resistance (did I mention I didn’t like that one?), Rescue centers on Alec Brand—a minor character, er … rescued by Zula Hendricks and Amanda Ripley during the events of Resistance.

SOMETHING’S WRONG WITH MY FACE. Image: Dark Horse Comics

He’s grown into a Man With a Tough Looking Haircut, and as such he’s been brought into the fold of the Colonial Marines. He appears to miss/appreciate Amanda and Zula, and to have been scarred by the events of his childhood. He also has an interesting backstory, which is unfortunately glossed over in a handful of panels (wonderfully colored by Dan Jackson) instead of being given time to unspool.

And that brings me to my main complaint with these limited arcs: why do they have to be so short? Why was Dust to Dust compressed to four issues? Why was Dead Orbit (my favorite Dark Horse title in years) squeezed into four issues? And how did James Stokoe manage to pull that format off?

And why did Aliens: Resistance, which, again, was awful, try to fit two or three movies’ worth of exposition into four issues?

Aliens: Rescue, which isn’t bad by any means, is already having to race along just to fit the plot into a tiny bucket. Fox, Dark Horse, et al. are clearly trying to make us invest in this new generation of characters. And I love that idea, because Zula is wonderful, Amanda (at least in Isolation) is great, and Alec is … something? But give us time with them. Time that isn’t purely expositional. The best parts of Aliens: Rescue #1 are psychological: Alec remembering his childhood on Earth, and the Marines fighting a horde of (nicely designed) creatures while Alec deals with PTSD.

Give us time to appreciate that. Give us time to get to know them.

Brian Wood clearly knows what he’s doing. He can tell a great story, and he’s proven as much with Defiance (which breathed over a much longer arc). Kieran McKeown, whom I’ve never heard of before but whose art I like quite a bit, brings a nicely solid skillset to the title. It’s not particularly expressive (or particularly interesting), but it tells a cohesive story in a way that’s easy to follow and enjoyable to look at.

The feel of Rescue is similar to the feel of Resistance: these are NOT horror titles. This isn’t James Stokoe. These are action sci-fi comics. What I like about Rescue is that it feels more aware of that fact and more at home with that aesthetic. It reads like a slightly more involved version of those mini-comics that came with Kenner figures in the nineties.

And that isn’t a bad thing at all. It’s just a thing, and as such it needs to inform decisions about tone and pace etc. If Aliens: Rescue wants to succeed, it needs to embrace what it is and enjoy itself.

Give us action. Give us colorful space adventures with the Colonial Marines. Give us a protagonist with a backstory that means something, and give us an arc that can buttress and tie back around to what we’ve had from Wood and Co. over the past few years.

Aliens: Rescue #1 isn’t a masterpiece, but it’s a step in a direction I can get onboard with.

Rating: 3/5

Review: Blade Runner 2019 #1 (spoiler-free)

Titan’s New Entry Into the Blade Runner Universe Is Gritty, Compelling, and Worthy of Its Name

by Patrick Greene, with input from Jaime Prater and Dan Ferlito

PHOTO: TITAN COMICS

If you’ve seen Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner—you have, right?—you’ve undoubtedly been struck by the density of the world-building. The story focuses on a relatively small cast of characters, but the Los Angeles they inhabit is a phantasmagoric dystopia that seems at once incomprehensibly large and impossibly crowded.

Watching the film, you might’ve found yourself wondering: What’s happening just out of frame? What other stories are taking place behind those grimy windows, backlit by neon and underscored by an ocean of Cityspeak?

Lucky for you—and for us—David Leach, Senior Creative Editor at Titan Comics, wondered the same thing. And that’s where the vision behind Blade Runner 2019 emerged.

AS NOIR AS IT GETS

PHOTO: TITAN COMICS

We’re quickly introduced to our protagonist, Aahna Ashina (“Ash”), an LAPD Blade Runner so good at her job she’s running out of work. While she waits for her next bounty assignment, she’s tasked with a missing persons case: a billionaire’s wife and daughter have vanished, and there are concerns Replicants might be involved.

Ash is a compelling character from the get-go. Almost preternaturally good at her job, she’s more of a Sherlock Holmes than a Rick Deckard. She’s full of quirks: she never takes her coat off, and her spinner almost never leaves the ground.

She also, we find out early on in a particularly gruesome (and thematically poetic) scene, has no moral reservations retiring Replicants.

One of the eternal debates in Blade Runner fandom centers around the use of voiceover in the early cuts of the film. Whether you love it or hate it (there might not be a middle ground on this), the voiceover adds significantly to the noir feel of the theatrical release. Blade Runner 2019 brings the voiceover back in a big way, and it works. It’s sparing, it’s beautiful, and it makes the comic feel like a classic noir tale.

MORE HUMAN THAN HUMAN

From the very start, it’s clear that this is a comic created by people with tremendous reverence for the source material. The attention to detail, the tone, the Easter eggs—it’s all organically brought together in a way that feels made by fans. Fans who happen to be extremely talented.

Michael Green needs no introduction (he’s the Academy Award-nominated cowriter of Blade Runner 2049), but it’s worth pointing out what a masterful turn it was having him onboard for this story. There’s a real tonal continuity to the films. It’s more aesthetically aligned to the first Blade Runner film, but the language feels like a bridge between the two.

His writing partner, Mike Johnson, brings a wealth of comic-industry experience to the project (interesting factoid: he’s scripted more Star Trek comics than any other writer). I can’t emphasize how important this is: comics are a unique medium, and some of the best novelists and screenwriters have tried and failed to cross over in the past. Johnson and Green make a hell of a team.

Speaking of people who understand comics: Andres Guinaldo is a PERFECT fit for the artwork. He’s got a very analog, almost nineties style; hand-drawn (or at least looking like it), with tremendous detail and dynamic, confident inks. Paired with Marco Lesko’s vibrant colors, it feels beautifully uncommercial. It feels labored over. It feels loved. It feels very human, which is part of why we love Blade Runner in the first place.

MORE LIFE

It’s almost impossible to overstate how important these comics are for our fandom. They are canon sequels, just as 2049 is a canon sequel to Blade Runner. They’re co-written by the man who, with Hampton Fancher, gave us one of the great sequels of our time. They’re produced in direct collaboration with Alcon. They feature art (variant covers and design inspiration) by Syd Mead.

These are real, and they are permanent additions to our fandom. And if the rest of them are anything like issue one, we are very, very lucky.

Blade Runner 2019 #1 goes on sale July 17. Call your local comic shop and ask them to set one aside for you, or order your copy online.

Shoulder of Orion rating: 4.5/5

Patrick: 5/5

Jaime: 3.5/5

Dan: 5/5

Review: TV: George R. R. Martin’s Nightflyers

GOOD LOOKING MEDIOCRE SCIENCE FICTION

by JM Prater

Science fiction is a notoriously difficult genre to get right. It would be a fair assessment to say that a larger portion of films, books, and media fail to successfully realize a believable world and believable characters. No more is this apparent than in SyFy’s TV series adaptation of George R R. Martin’s novella, Nightflyers. 

Nightflyers is based on a short story written in 1980 and later expanded in 1981. While doing press interviews for the show, Martin talked about the gauntlet that had been laid down in terms of horror and science fiction being mutually exclusive, or so he was told. Nightflyers is Martin’s answer to that challenge. 

The setup for Nighflyers finds several human characters onboard a ship headed towards a craft of extraterrestrial origin. The first episode opens with what appears to be the ending. *Spoiler Warning* A woman is desperate to send a message while being hunted, by a fellow crewman with an axe, bent on her demise. Moments before she takes her own life she successfully (but just barely) sends out a warning to all who might come looking to stay away from the Nightflyer. 

Nightflyers is described as a haunted house in space, with a lot of Event Horizon, ALIEN (1979) and a little X-Men thrown in. The production values are top notch. Everything else falls short, way short. From a convoluted plot, to characterless characters, SyFy has managed to create a show that’s barely passable, and not memorable. Nightflyer’s biggest flaws fall on the tropes and devices on display ad nauseum with a pace that doesn’t allow anything or anyone to breathe. The cast is good-looking, but the acting is B level. There are points when you can see the actors visibly struggling to find their character.

When Nightflyers was being promoted I had high hopes, especially with the attachment of master world-builder George R R. Martin as the creator. The final product is big on ideas, and that’s it. Nightflyers had a good promotion and some spellbinding trailers. Unfortunately, the promotion was the best thing going for it. 

Review: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

Sony Pictures Animation

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is a towering achievement that represents a watershed moment in animated storytelling

by Patrick Greene

We all see movies for different reasons. Some of us want to escape. Some of us want to learn. Some of us want to laugh, to cry, to question. To feel part of a shared moment. To feel more alive. To feel like kids again.

Every once in a while, a film comes along that manages to do all of those things. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is one of those films. But what's perhaps most remarkable about Spider-Verse is that it accomplishes all of this while being insanely audacious.

Nothing about Spider-Verse is typical. The animation style—full of contrasting screentones, textures, expressionistic colors, and dimensionality—is overwhelming to behold. Inspired by the comic work of Sara Pichelli, the artist who (along with legendary writer Brian Michael Bendis) created Miles Morales (Spider-Verse's protagonist) back in 2011, the visual language of this film is unlike anything else I've ever seen on a movie screen. I've heard it described as "a comic book come to life," but it's really so much more than that. It's like the constituent components of a comic book's art—the linework, the CMYK printing, the digital textures, etc.—are constantly dancing with each other. It's like the essence of a comic is coming to life on screen. It's just absurdly cool.

The story, too, is anything but expected. In the comics, Miles Morales exists in the Ultimate universe—a parallel but distinct dimension from the mainstream Marvel comics. His story begins with the death of Peter Parker in the Ultimate continuity; from there, his journey unfolds in a distinct but familiar fashion. He's bitten by a radioactive spider. He loses a loved one. He's a nerdy outsider, but he has heart and he's brave and he always gets up.

But Morales has become a beloved character in Spidey fandom because his story brings so much newness to the mythos while feeling completely of a part with it. He's Afro-Latino. His dad's a police officer and his mom is a hospital administrator. He listens to hip hop and loves graffiti art. He doesn't tie his shoes. His powers are similar to Peter's, but with some twists (used to great effect in Spider-Verse). 

So in making Spider-Verse, Sony could've easily chosen to create a safer movie by setting this in a parallel continuity and just sort of ignoring the Peter Parker storyline altogether. But instead, they decided to embrace the strangeness of these parallel comic universes completely and wholeheartedly, and that's how we end up with a film where five or six universes collide and coexist.

And that collision is wonderfully liberating, because the filmmakers are able to tell a story unencumbered by audience expectation.

I first became aware of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller when I saw 21 Jump Street back in 2012 and laughed so hard I nearly passed out in the theater. Then again, in 2014, The Lego Movie had me completely in stitches—but also walking away feeling like I'd witnessed a genuinely deep artistic statement. In Into the Spider-Verse, we see the real fruits of what this pair can do with a story. It is so funny, so quick, and so full of life that you almost don't realize how profound it is until it's over and you lay in bed thinking about it. The screenplay, by Lord and Rodney Rothman (the latter served as co-director, alongside Peter Ramsey and Bob Persichetti), is just a complete triumph. Even though the realities of creating a film with a realistic duration (and budget) means that some of the multiverse characters are relegated to glorified cameos, they all have moments to shine. You won't forget them. 

And the score. Oh, the score!! Experience it in a theater with the absolute best sound system you can find. It weaves seamlessly between heart-thumping hip hop beats and orchestral grandeur. A lot of films that try to integrate hip hop sound like manufactured garbage. Spider-Verse—somehow even more than Black Panther—is a completely wholistic musical experience. You're able to appreciate where these genres merge and diverge. You get to hear real hip hop and real orchestral soundtrack music (by the gifted Daniel Pemberton) and both feel completely honest and ravishing. 

The fact that I have to wait another two weeks until this officially releases to see it again is killing me. It's already one of my favorites.

It might be the best superhero movie I've ever seen.

Review: Venom (2018)

Sony Pictures Releasing

by Patrick Greene

Before I get into the meat (eyes … lungs … pancreas) of this review, I want to be up front about a few things.

My love affair with comics started with a love affair with Venom. When I was eight, I snagged a copy of The Amazing Spider-Man #378 with my allowance money. It was the third issue in the massive awesome-fest that was Maximum Carnage, and it starts with Eddie Brock returning to New York City to team up with Spider-Man to defeat Carnage.

Venom wasn’t supposed to be a hero. We all know the story by this point: Spidey comes back from Secret Wars wearing a crazy badass black symbiote. He realizes the suit is a) alive and b) not exactly trustworthy and ditches it with help from the Fantastic Four, whereupon Eddie Brock, disgraced reporter (and ex-Peter Parker colleague), encounters it during a dark night of the soul. United in their hatred for Spider-Man and Peter Parker, the two outcasts merge together and become almost unstoppably powerful.

Marvel

But things start to change during the Maximum Carnage-palooza, and suddenly Spider-Man and Venom are reluctant allies. Venom starts moonlighting as a vigilante. He gets his own limited series, which I absolutely love and upon which the film is loosely based, titled Lethal Protector. Venom becomes a (ruthlessly violent and sadistic) champion of the downtrodden and disenfranchised. And before you know it, Venom goes from villain to antihero to straight-up hero. But a hero who still looks like a monster and has no problem gleefully disemboweling bad people.

At the heart of all this is something very simple and very important: Venom is, and always has been, a love story. Eddie Brock and the Venom symbiote are two rejects who found each other across vast reaches of space and realized they were soulmates. The best Venom stories have always put that relationship front and center (including the wonderful First Host limited series by Mike Costa and the ongoing horrifying/beautiful/insane rebooted series helmed by Donny Cates).

And this humble Venom fan is happy to say that Sony’s Venom absolutely nails that love story.

Directed by Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland) and starring Tom Hardy (Mad Max: Fury Road), Venom is the first installment in “Sony’s Marvel Universe.” To be completely honest, I don’t really have any idea what that means at this point—I know Sony is creating a shared universe for its Marvel properties to inhabit that runs parallel to the juggernaut that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and that the thoroughly delightful Spider-Man: Homecoming is in a liminal third category wherein Spider-Man is part of the MCU but also still owned by Sony, so he could theoretically appear in an upcoming Venom sequel (or this Venom could appear in a future Spider-Man film).

I don't know, it’s complicated.

This was something of a source of stress in the Spider-Man/Venom fan communities leading up to the release. The lack of a chest symbol, the absence of apparent ties to the world of Homecoming, confusion over the symbiote’s origins, etc. were all discussed ad nauseam. Then there was the trailer where Jenny Slate’s Dr. Dora Skirth says “sym-BAI-ote.” Then the news that the expected “R” rating was dropped to “PG-13.” Then the Tom Hardy interview where he says his favorite 40 minutes were cut from the film. Then the bizarre controversy with A Star Is Born. Then the alarming Rotten Tomatoes score. Then the doomsday prophesiers announcing the film would have to gross a highly-unlikely $200 million to turn any sort of profit.

And then we saw the movie. And it was absolutely wonderful.

I don’t normally deviate from critics’ scores as much as I have on this one, so part of me wonders if my love for this movie stems from the experience of being a Venom fan since my childhood. It’s possible that I’m overlooking serious cinematic flaws because some fundamental things were done so right. But you know what? I’m not a professional movie critic, and I’m going to be subjective as hell. So buckle up.

Sony Pictures Releasing

It’s impossible to talk about this film without talking about Tom Hardy. He just completely owns this thing from top to bottom. His portrayal of Eddie Brock is crazy. I mean that in the best possible way. I have no idea how he came up with this characterization. He’s so full of tics and idiosyncrasies that you just can’t take your eyes off of him; yet he’s such a gifted actor—and has such insight into who Eddie really is—that you never lose sight of the actual character underneath. Even before things turn to shit, he is just a complete mess. Shuffling around with slumped shoulders, mumbling with a genuinely strange accent, stop-starting every time he tries to string a thought together. And yet these qualities make him a brilliant investigative journalist. He’s able to become unassuming. He comes across like a child. You don’t notice his intellect or his athleticism. And then, when the moment is right, he pounces.

But Eddie’s got some pretty deep character flaws. He’s not a bad person—his Lethal Protector arc, the one that basically redefined him as a hero in the nineties, hinges on him saving a community of homeless people—but he’s not always a great one. He wants to do the right thing, but he can’t always figure out how to.

But after the shit hits the fan, Hardy’s performance goes from a ten into This Is Spinal Tap 11. It is just bonkers. And so much fun. I don’t want to give much away, but I’ll say that I’ll never look at tater tots the same way again.

The rest of cast is largely set-dressing, but it’s not their fault. And it’s also not a problem. This is Eddie’s story, and Eddie’s story has never really been about other people. Eddie sucks with people. Eddie makes the wrong decisions. He’s divorced. He can’t keep a job.

Eddie’s story is about his relationship with the symbiote.

And in Venom, the symbiote is PITCH-PERFECT. By turns hilarious and utterly menacing, the Venom symbiote shines as its own complex, flawed character. We understand why Eddie falls in love with it. It’s not just a monster costume; it’s an animal. An animal stranded on the wrong planet who is literally just a sentient puddle in the absence of a host. And in Eddie, he finds the perfect partner. They are mirrors of each other—two failures who come together to become something special. Hardy’s vocal performance as the symbiote is wonderful: even with all the garbled (but very effective) processing, he brings out layers of depth in the character.

Think for a second about how impressive that is. He is playing an alien parasite communicating internally with himself. And in the midst of that, the parasite manages to be both reminiscent of Eddie (since he’s bonded to him, after all) and yet its own entity. The symbiote’s booming lines are just fantastic. You’ll remember them after you leave the theater.

Sony Pictures Releasing

But to touch on the rest of the cast: Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn) plays Anne Weying (who goes on to become She-Venom in the comics), Eddie’s ex-fiancee (ex-wife in the comics); Riz Ahmed (Rogue One) plays Carlton Drake, CEO of the Life Foundation and basically this universe’s Thanos; and then there are a bunch of other people doing some things.

No one’s bad. Williams and Ahmed do fine jobs in their roles, even if the roles themselves are a little dopey. They’re both committed, and they both bring out the best in the material. But again, the material makes no illusions that it’s about anyone but Eddie.

And I think if you aren’t watching the movie through that lens, you’ll be a bit let down.

Fleischer turned out to be a great fit as a director. There’s a difficult tonal balance you have to pull off with Venom to make the character work: you have to set up a paradigm in which your hero gleefully bites the heads off security personnel and the audience laughs and recoils and still likes him. That’s genuinely tough.

And for the most part, Fleischer walks that tonal tightrope and succeeds. There are some pacing issues: the beginning is a little slow-fast-slow, and the climax comes and goes a bit quickly. In a movie about Venom, you need to really understand Eddie first—and if you don’t like Eddie, you will probably hate the first third of the movie. But if you’re open to embracing him as a distinct (and distinctly weird) character, by the time he joins up with the symbiote it’s just a tremendously gratifying thrill ride all the way to the end.

Matthew Libatique (Black Swan), best known for his (incredible) collaborations with Darren Aronofsky, shot the film; Ludwig Göransson (Black Panther) scored it. Both turn in solid—if perhaps a little underwhelming—work here. Venom’s theme is pretty freakin’ badass, though, and I look forward to hearing more of it if they manage to get a sequel made.

Speaking of which: stay through the credits. Trust me. There are a couple of scenes back there, and both will make you squeal with joy if you’re a Spidey fan.

Again, critical reviews of the film have been largely awful. I honestly don’t understand why, but I’m assuming a lot of it has to do with what kind of movie you go in expecting. Is it a horror film? No. Is it a sci-fi thriller? Not really. Is it a super hero movie? I guess it sort of eventually becomes one, but not really. Is it a Deadpool-style comedy? It’s frequently hilarious, but it’s not built around the idea of being self-aware and risqué.

So what is it?

It’s a love story.

Rating: 4 Klyntars (out of 5)

Had this stupid grin on my face the entire freaking movie.

Review: The Predator (2018)

20th Century Fox

by Conar Murdoch

 I can’t talk about the latest release in the Predator franchise without first going back to the original movie that spawned it all. The 1987 original spends nearly half its runtime in the guise of your typical 80’s action movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, there’s explosions, gunfire and nearly everything that’s uttered from the Austrian movie star is instantly quotable. Then it turned into something completely unexpected, a bloody, mesmerising and wonderfully tense sci fi thriller. Fast forward to the present and the first man to ever be killed by a Predator is in the director’s and writer’s chair for the 4th movie in the series.

You wouldn’t be wrong to believe that because Shane Black was present in the beginning of the franchise that he would recognize the power and awe that the original creature could still convey to audiences three decades later. With the Fugitive Predator he does achieve this apart from a certain ‘thumbs up’ scene, though the lab escape was excellent and definitely the best part of the movie in my opinion. The Fugitive Predator looked incredible and moved with such an athletic pace and brutal purpose it was awesome to behold.

Unfortunately that respect is smashed into the roof of a car as Black takes the ‘Bigger is Better’ approach with the Upgrade Predator and for the most part it’s completely unnecessary and damaging to the film. The direction of the lore also takes the same damaging approach, the predators apparently don’t take the spines of their greatest kills for trophies. Instead they take them to harvest the spinal fluids so they can genetically upgrade themselves with aspects of the most dangerous species in the galaxy. They’re goddamn Predators! They live for the challenge of hunting something that has every chance to kill them.

As for the cast I have to admit I thoroughly enjoyed everyone’s performance. The comedic ensemble of the Loonies were the highlight of the movie for me with their humour. While the comedy might not be everyone’s cup of tea this is a genuinely funny movie and there was quite a few moments that had me bursting with laughter. Yet the heavy emphasis on comedy burdens the movie with an identity crisis as it doesn’t know whether to be funny or a tense and gory sci fi action movie.

You can definitely feel the effect of the screen tests and reshoots in the flow of the movie. The scenes feel like they’re all stitched together awkwardly and the film loses its sense of cohesiveness but at the same time I never felt bored watching the movie but it was jarring nonetheless. It’s at it’s worst in the second act where the pacing feels the most chopped up and awkwardly edited.

Perhaps my views on the movie wouldn’t be so negative if the ending didn’t exist at all. The reveal of what I call the ‘Iron Predator’ was something so damning that I was groaning in pain and utter disbelief. It was the kind of thing you’d see from a teenager who grew up watching the Marvel Cinematic Universe, watched Predator once. Then decided to write a crossover fan fiction where he saves the human race from a predator invasion because Tony Stark built him an Iron Man suit with dreadlocks and plasma casters the size of tank cannons.

Honestly I’ve never felt more conflicted about a movie in my entire life. There were aspects I seriously enjoyed but there were others (the Upgrade Predator and the divisive lore expansion) that never should’ve made it past the first script draft. All in all it was a great popcorn action movie and filled with good laughs. It’s worth a view in the cinema but I just couldn’t ignore the flaws in the story and clashing tones. We waited four long years for this movie and I curse myself for not seeing this disappointment coming. I’m giving The Predator a regrettable 5 out of 10.

-Conar

Perfect Organism Reviews

Tomb Raider (6 out of 10)

"The fate of humanity is now in your hands"

    If you're going to make an action-adventure film, one of the most important characteristics it needs to have is a sense of fun.  No matter what the premise or plot, if the film doesn't incorporate a lot of humor, wonder, and many other moments that put a smile on your face, it failed to do what it should have done.  Two of the best examples of this are actually in the same franchise: "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade."  Without a doubt, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas realized that in order for their films of the adventurous archaeologist to be the most successful, they had to be a rollicking good time for the audience, and they were.  Both critically and commercially, they were smash successes and forever ingrained in pop culture.  All adventure films since then are therefore inevitably compared to them, especially Raiders, which has essentially become a template for the adventure genre, and not just for films, but also through other mediums, such as video games.  One game that owes a great deal to the Indy films is Tomb Raider.  First arriving in the mid-1990's, Tomb Raider told the story of the tomb hunting adventurer Lara Croft.  While it had some unique twists on the genre (the most obvious being an overly sexualized, female lead character), it was essentially another variation on the Indiana Jones formula.  After finding great success in the video game market, it spawned two films in the early 2000s with Angelina Jolie in the lead role.  While the first one was moderately successful, the second one failed both critically and commercially, and the film series was canned.  The video games franchise continued on, however, and essentially was rebooted in 2013 in order to give Lara a new backstory and also served to somewhat de-sexualize the character from her earlier incarnations.  The game was a smash hit, and led to the recent release of a film adaptation.

    Essentially a reboot of the film franchise as well, Tomb Raider has plenty of action and adventure elements, with big stunt sequences, chases, gun (and bow and arrow) fights, puzzles, etc.  It also has a solid (if a bit unmemorable) performance by Alicia Vikander in the lead role.  Unfortunately, what it doesn't have is what it needed the most: a fun and entertaining atmosphere.  Taking itself way too seriously, I left Tomb Raider realizing I barely cracked a smile, or even internally got any real enjoyment out of the film.  While well-made and solidly produced, it was a very by-the-numbers, stale exercise in action-adventure film tropes.  In fact, the whole third act was a series of rehashed "Raiders" and "The Last Crusade" sequences, emulating the scenes while jettisoning much of the enjoyment those scenes brought.  It does try at times, for brief moments, to be fun, but stays mainly in its all too serious state.  Because of that, and because it doesn't offer anything remotely new or interesting, it's a film you'll leave and forget about 10 seconds after you leave the theater.  It's a shame, because it had potential, but maybe this is a franchise better left to the video game medium.  As for films, stick to those Dr. Jones classics.  Never awful, but seldom fun or enjoyable, I give Tomb Raider a 6 out of 10.

- Ryan Zeid

Perfect Organism Reviews

Annihilation (7.5 out of 10)

“It’s not destroying.......it’s making something new.”

    When it comes to any narrative, whether told through short stories, novels, television shows, films, or any other medium, there tend to be a number of moments throughout the story that the audience (i.e. reader, viewer, etc.) is likely to recall.  There could be a thrilling opening sequence that gets things immediately rolling, a key dramatic monologue at the story’s mid-point or, more likely, an action-packed climax.  But, more often than not, and for better or worse, what the the audience remembers the most is the ending.  Sometimes the story ends with a huge surprise twist, or sometimes it ends with an ambiguous ending to stir the intellect and get the audience member thinking long after the story has ended.  For some, the ending may have worked beautifully and on numerous levels, while for others, it may have been a bit of a letdown and hurt what was otherwise a terrifically told story.

    With Alex Garland’s sci-fi thriller, “Annihilation,” I found myself leaning more towards the latter.  Now, that's not to say I didn't enjoy the film on the whole.  Annihilation is a beautiful film with a number of very effective thrills (and a couple truly terrifying and chilling sequences), many thematic layers to stimulate the intellect for those who love heady sci-fi, and some solid to great performances (including what might be one of my favorite performances by Natalie Portman).  On top of that, there is a climactic scene near the end that is altogether mesmerizing, beautiful, and unnerving, and a narrative with a healthy dose of ambiguity to keep you guessing right up until the end.  

    It's that end, though, that I found to be the most problematic part of the film.  While there were parts of Annihilation that I felt were a bit derivative of some much older, sci-fi classics, without giving anything away, I'll say the end left me literally saying, "So, it's basically another __________.  Hmm, that's pretty lame."  I know there will be many who disagree with me and feel the climax and conclusion of Annihilation are the icing on the masterpiece cake, and it does get you thinking a lot about what transpired before, but for me, it was a very good and, at times, brilliant film that ended with a bit of a disappointing thud.  For some viewers, and for better or worse, that is the part that they'll remember most.  I give Annihilation a 7.5 out of 10.

- Ryan Zeid  

Perfect Organism Reviews

Black Panther (8 out of 10)

"Only you can decide what kind of king you want to be."

    I think it's fair to say that I don't know the first thing about what it feels like to face racism and racial injustice.  While I'm technically only half-white (I'm half Palestinian), I'd give Snow White a run for her money as the fairest of them all.  So, I understand that I really have no clue about what life must be like for someone of color on a daily basis.  From everything ranging from subtle looks to overtly derogatory language and even physical violence, racism is an evil and dark part of humanity that unfortunately lives on with, sadly, no signs of fading away or being eradicated.  One group that faces some of the most vicious racism here in the United States is the black community, and despite the efforts over the decades of the likes of Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., and many others to overcome racism and racial barriers of the black community, its a people group that unfortunately has not had a lot of heroes to look up to, and that goes for both those real, or even fictional, such as superheroes.  While there are some fictional, black superheroes scattered throughout Marvel and DC comic books and films, I can't think of very many that are the front and center stars, and someone for the black community, and people of color in general, to look up to.

    Thankfully, with the release of Marvel's "Black Panther," that will hopefully be a thing of the past.  Featuring a charismatic and inspiring performance by Chadwick Bozeman as the title character, an excellent (and predominantly black) cast, and some of the more fun and exciting moments in any MCU film, Black Panther gives people of all races a thrilling, entertaining, and exciting entry into the superhero genre, while also (hopefully) breaking down racial barriers and divides.  It's not just Bozeman T'Challa/Black Panther who does a stellar job in the titular role, however.  Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright, and Lupita Nyong'o as his sidekick, sister, and love interest, respectfully, give standout and oftentimes scene-stealing performances to compliment Bozeman and the film as a whole.  The narrative itself is well-written and constructed, introducing T'Challa without resorting to the usual origin story tropes, and the film features some excellent and suspenseful action scenes to keep the audience on the edge of their seats.  The only issues I had with the film were that it was a bit too long and could've used a little trimming, it had some Marvel/Disney cheesiness (particularly during the final battle scene), and it featured a somewhat underwhelming and unconvincing performance from Michael B. Jordan as the villain (with a corny name) Erik Killmonger.  Jordan has proved to be a very talented actor in other roles, and while he certainly looks great in the part as the villain, and has a very good and moving backstory that makes you feel quite a bit of sympathy for his character, his performance just felt a bit off and forced to me.

    Those are minor qualms, however, as Black Panther excels far more than it fails.  Being a bright spot in an otherwise dull time of the year for feature films, while also transcending the typical big budget superhero film by pushing social and racial boundaries, Black Panther is a great film for the whole family.  It introduces a lead superhero of color, along with other characters who can be looked up to and inspire children and adults around the world to believe in themselves and what they can accomplish, no matter their race or color of skin.  I give Black Panther an 8 out of 10.  

- Ryan Zeid

Perfect Organism Reviews

Maze Runner: The Death Cure (6.5 out of 10)

“You’re so close to the truth.  Don’t you want to know why this all happened?”

    In my experience, one key aspect of almost every great film I’ve seen is that it is memorable.  No matter what the genre is, if the film has me thinking about it for minutes, hours, and even days after seeing it, the odds are it was a great film, at least in my eyes.  Recent films such as Interstellar, Blade Runner 2049, and Predestination are prime examples for me.  But, having said that, there are some exceptions.  For example, 2012’s Prometheus had me thinking about it quite often after seeing it, but it’s a film that has also left me with plenty of mixed feelings about it.  Maybe because it’s so closely tied into the Alien series (and acts as a prequel of sorts to those films), it had me pondering its many ideas and possibilities for quite awhile afterward, yet it also left me frustrated with what I felt were its numerous failings.  On the other hand, there are films like the first live-action Transformers that I thought was really fun, solid escapist entertainment, but I didn’t think one iota about it after leaving the cinema.

    Maze Runner: The Death Cure seems to be one that will fall more into the latter category.  As the third film entry of the “Young-Adult (YA) fiction series, Death Cure provides plenty of solid action and entertainment, some good performances, emotional moments (especially near the end), and a mostly nice, albeit far too long wrap-up to the series.  But, much like the first two in the series, it’s a film that I haven’t given one though about since I saw it.  Despite the good performances, I didn’t care that much about the characters, and didn’t feel very invested in them (although I did a bit more toward the end).  Dylan O’Brien does a solid job in the lead role, and the other actors are mostly fine as well, but maybe it’s just a symptom of being inundated with so many different YA film franchises (Twilight, The Hunger Games, Divergent, etc.) over the last decade, with different settings and plots but carbon copy characters, that has led me to grow a bit detached from them.  Similarly, the action scenes are handled well (with one fairly elaborate scenario involving a bus), but I found myself, much like with the characters, not very engaged with them either.

    That’s not to say, of course, that I don’t recommend seeing The Death Cure.  Despite my criticisms, it may actually be my favorite of the series, at least on par with the first one, and concludes the trilogy on a solid note.  It also offers a few subtle homages to the classic 1986 film Aliens, which was a very unexpected but pleasant surprise.  Really, if you’re looking for solid, escapist entertainment, you could do a lot worse than The Death Cure.  But, if you’re looking for a film to stick with you and make you think about it long after it is over, you may want to save those memory banks for a different film.  I give Maze Runner: The Death Cure a 6.5 out of 10.

- Ryan Zeid

Perfect Organism Reviews

The Post (7.5 out of 10)

“If we live in a world where the United States government tells you what we can and cannot print, the Washington Post has already ceased to exist.”

    I oftentimes miss the Golden Age of Steven Spielberg movies, when he directed films that inspired awe, wonder, suspense, and a feeling of adventure.  From his late 70’s classics such as Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, to his 80’s hits such as the Indiana Jones films and E.T., and into the early 90’s with Hook and Jurassic Park, Steven Spielberg captured audiences world-wide with his mesmerizing and engrossing directorial style.  It was sometime after 1993’s Schindler’s List, though, that Spielberg began to move away from his earlier fare, and focused more on “mature” films with heavier political and social commentary, such as Amistad, Saving Private Ryan, The Terminal, Munich, Lincoln, and Bridge of Spies.  That’s not to say that they were lesser films by any means, as many of them were among the best films of the 1990’s and the new millennium (with Saving Private Ryan still being one of my favorite war films of all time).  That’s also not to say that he hasn’t tried to capture the wonder and awe of his early efforts, with offerings such as A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Minority Report, War of the Worlds, but his focus has clearly shifted as he’s gotten older, and he has moved away from his earlier work that I gravitated more toward.

    Nevertheless, whenever I hear about a new Steven Spielberg movie coming out, I’m still instantly intrigued and want to see it, regardless of most subject matter, because I know that I will be watching a film by a master auteur; one of the greatest filmmakers of all time.  So when I heard about his new film “The Post,” and especially when I heard the rave reviews from critics and audiences alike, I knew I wanted to see it as soon as possible.  Sure, it’s more along the lines of his political/social commentary films that I’m not as into, but I figured it would at least be deftly directed and extremely well made.  Thankfully, The Post is all those things and more, a very good, and at times great film that tells the true story of the Washington Post releasing stories in the early 70’s about confidential government documents regarding the Vietnam War that put the U.S. in a very negative light.  While it started slow and took me a bit to really get into it (probably because it felt more like a stage play early on than a film), the movie picks up the pace and the tension as it goes along.  It doesn’t hurt that it has Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep in leading roles, with the two delivering stellar performances with some great lines and dialogue, and really working well together in each scene.  It also benefits from having a strong supporting cast, as they are good-to-great all around as well.  The production values are top-notch, and frequent Spielberg cinematographer Janusz Kaminski does a masterful job of effectively capturing each set piece and scene.  Also, the story’s message is as applicable now, if not more so, than it was 45 years ago, making the film feel even more relevant today.

    While it might not be along the lines of his earlier, and my more favored offerings, The Post is a very solid film that starts off slow but gets better as it goes along, building suspense and tension right up until the end (which is quite difficult to do for a true story when the audience already knows the outcome).  It shows that, given nearly any subject matter, Steven Spielberg can deliver a very good and oftentimes great film, as he has a talent for making movies that is nearly unparalleled in the history of filmmaking.  Maybe that, in and of itself, should inspire more awe and wonder.  I give The Post a 7.5 out of 10.

- Ryan Zeid

Perfect Organism Reviews

The Commuter (5 out of 10)

“What kind of person are you?”

    I honestly didn’t even want to write a review for this film.  It’s not because it is awful, because it really isn’t.  Actually, it was mildly entertaining and had some decent action sequences.  No, the reason I didn’t want to write a review for this film is because it’s really just another Liam Neeson action film.  Ever since Neeson’s career was reinvigorated with the smash success of 2008’s “Taken,” he’s had no problem being typecast in a bunch of wannabe, Taken-like films.  I guess it pays the bills, but it also has heavily diluted his brand and drained every last ounce of creativity from the scripts he receives, and that trend continues with “The Commuter,” Neeson’s fourth outing with director Jaume Collet-Serra, previously working with him on 2011’s “Unknown,” 2014’s “Non-Stop,” and 2015’s “Run All Night.”  Of those films, The Commuter is most like Non-Stop.  In that film, Neeson played an air-marshal trying to solve a mystery/conspiracy while on an airplane, with plenty of fighting and action sequences along the way.  In the commuter, Neeson plays a former NYPD officer turned life insurance salesman who is suddenly fired, and on the train home, he is thrust into figuring out a mystery/conspiracy while on a train with, you guessed it, plenty of fighting and action sequences along the way.

    The only semi-creative twist I can think of for this film is that Neeson isn’t nearly as good of a fighter as he is in his other action films.  Unlike his Brian Mills character in Taken, Neeson gets battered, bruised, and beaten to a pulp by multiple people while he tries to defend himself, often unsuccessfully (but of course he just kept chugging along).  Were there any other interesting parts to the film?  Sure, Vera Farmiga (seen only briefly but heard throughout the film) is very interesting as the mysterious woman who offers Neeson’s character a nice sum of money if he can find the passenger on the train who “doesn’t belong.”  Also, some of the other supporting characters do a decent job of bringing some tension to scenes, even if most of them are nothing but red herrings.  But none of those things, plus the fighting and action sequences, do much to alleviate the boredom and the “been there, seen that” feel I got throughout the film.  The fight scenes are fairly brief and rather banal, and the action pieces, specifically the climactic train derailment, are so over-the-top and poorly rendered that they became laughable.  Also, Collet-Serra tried to be creative with some of his camera work, but those moments came across as forced and rather unnecessary directorial flourishes that didn’t do his film any favors.

    I wish I could say that this film brought something new to the table, or even just made old material feel fresh and exciting, the way I felt when I watched Taken, but alas, it does not.  While it certainly had some potential, and Vera Farmiga could’ve been a very interesting villain if given more time to develop, the film is, ultimately, just another mediocre Liam Neeson action movie.  I give The Commuter a 5 out of 10.

- Ryan Zeid

Perfect Organism Reviews

The Greatest Showman (8 out of 10)

“No one ever made a difference by being like everyone else.”

    I’ve always had a strong love and affinity toward music.  I took singing and guitar lessons for a short time, and at one time I (very briefly) went to a college in Nashville, Tennessee to pursue a career in the music business.  While nothing has ever really materialized in my brief musical endeavors (relegated to singing loudly in my car nowadays), my love for music has remained.  Give me music with a great melody, regardless of almost any genre, and you’ve got me: hook, line, and sinker.  That also goes for music within films.  Whether it’s individual songs on the soundtrack or the film composer’s score, if a film has music I really connect with, I’m much more likely to enjoy the film (notwithstanding good acting, story, etc.).  Despite all of that, for longest time, I had never considered myself much of a fan of film musicals.  Maybe it had a bit to do with not seeing a lot of great musicals, or seeing mostly old black-and-white ones with good but archaic songs that I just didn’t connect with.  It wasn’t until I saw “Moulin Rouge” back in 2001 that I realized I really could love and enjoy a musical film.  While the first 15 or so minutes of that film were a bit jarring, once the first duet with Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman began, I fell head over heels for the film.  Since then, I’ve been far more open to seeing musicals and embracing them as a genre of film I can thoroughly enjoy.

    When I heard there was a new musical called “The Greatest Showman” coming out toward the end of 2017, starring Hugh Jackman, I was very excited to see it.  Not only because I’m a big Hugh Jackman fan (who also happens to be an accomplished singer, showman, and stage actor himself), but also because some of the same people who worked on it also worked on the excellent musical “La La Land” that came out just a year previously.  Well, I’m happy to say that “The Greatest Showman” is another excellent entry into the musical genre.  Featuring fantastic song-and-dance numbers, with beautiful choreography, a solid story with great acting, and an inspiring message about not being ashamed for being different than others, but using that difference in a positive way to bring joy to people, The Great Showman should garner some nominations and maybe a few victories during the movie award season.  Hugh Jackman is great playing P.T. Barnum, the originator of the long running (but now recently defunct) “Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus.”  This is the kind of film Hugh is clearly comfortable being the lead in, and it shows.  It doesn’t hurt that the rest of the supporting cast around him is excellent as well, especially Zac Efron as Barnum’s reluctant business partner, Phillip Carlyle.  Efron, a veteran of the High School Musical films, shows he’s still very in touch with his song and dance background.  He also has a huge part in my favorite scene in the film, a duet midway through with Zendaya’s trapeze artist character, Anne Wheeler.  The song, the choreography, pretty much every part of the scene is executed brilliantly.  There really isn’t much not to like about the film.  The only minor complaint I had is, if you go in expecting a very in-depth biographical film about P.T. Barnum, this is certainly not it.  The film is a very surface-level, sensationalized look at Barnum.  To be fair, I don’t believe the filmmakers intended to make a film like that anyway, and instead wanted to capture the essence and feel of what Barnum tried to accomplish through his circus and theatrical endeavors.  Nevertheless, if you’re looking for more details on the life of P.T. Barnum, I’m sure there are far more detailed accounts in books than what you will see in this film.

    But, if you go into the film expecting a fun, inspiring, well-acted, well-choreographed musical with terrific song and dance numbers, you can’t do much better than “The Greatest Showman.”  While it is a very surface-level look into the life of P.T. Barnum and how he began his long-running circus show, it does capture much of what Barnum was looking to accomplish with his shows: bringing awe, wonder, joy, and happiness to millions of people around the world.  As Barnum himself once said, “The noblest art is that of making others happy.”  I give “The Greatest Showman” and 8 out of 10.

- Ryan Zeid

Perfect Organism Reviews

Star Wars - Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (8 out of 10)

"I need someone to show me my place in all of this."

    I can't think of too many products of any kind that have been as iconic, prolific, and ingrained in popular culture as Star Wars.  When the first Star Wars film debuted way back in 1977, a lot of people, including some of the cast, thought it was just a ridiculous sci-fi film created by some young, relatively unknown filmmaker named George Lucas.  Alec Guinness, who played Obi Wan Kenobi, was pretty open about his dislike of the script and the "bloody awful, banal lines."  Little did he or anyone else know, Star Wars would go on to become a multi-billion dollar, multi-media, mega-franchise, spawning two sequels over the next six years, along with numerous books, games, toys, etc. over the next few decades.  Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Han Solo, among many other iconic characters, became a part of the public conscious.  Despite the many other products and forms of media released after 1983's after Return of the Jedi, fans still thirsted for more films, and George Lucas was inspired to bring to life a prequel series that told the story of how things led up to the original film.  So in 1999, Lucas released Episode I: The Phantom Menace, along with Episode II: Attack of the Clones, and Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, over the next six years.  Despite making millions of dollars, the prequel series was largely panned and loathed by audiences and critics alike, relying too much on CGI, poorly written characters, bad acting, and a lack of the genuine spirit of the original trilogy.  The franchise, despite still being insanely popular, was at a crossroads of sorts.  That is, until the Walt Disney Company bought Lucasfilm for over $4 billion dollars in 2012 and immediately announced the development of a new film trilogy, that would tell the story of what happened after Return of the Jedi.  In 2015, Disney and Lucasfilm released Episode VII: The Force Awakens.  Despite its flaws and the very safe writing and direction by J.J. Abrams, The Force Awakens brought back much of the fun, joy, spirit, and great characters of the original trilogy, and made nearly $1 billion in the U.S. alone.  Star Wars, as a film franchise, was back in high gear.  The following year brought the first of the Star Wars Anthology films, Rogue One, a telling of the events leading right up to the beginning of the first film.  Rogue One was also very successful and largely praised by fans and critics alike.

    Once again, a year later, Disney and Lucasfilm bring us back to the main Skywalker storyline with Episode VIII: The Last Jedi.  Following soon after the events of The Force Awakens, TLJ continues the story of Rey, Poe, Finn, while also bringing back Carrie Fisher's Leia and Mark Hamill's Luke Skywalker.  Directed and written by the relatively unknown Rian Johnson, TLJ is in many ways a departure from the Star Wars films we've seen before, and it works, oftentimes incredibly well.  Featuring numerous twists and turns, surprises, a large dose of humor that (mostly) works, and many crowd-pleasing moments, The Last Jedi is a breath of fresh air for many who found The Force Awakens to be, while fun and enjoyable, a bit too derivative of the original trilogy.  Johnson takes chances in this film, and largely succeeds.  It doesn't hurt that the cast is stellar once again, especially Mark Hamill (giving quite a different take on Luke Skywalker this time around).  His moments on screen are among the best in the film.  The rest of the cast, including Daisy Ridley as Rey and Adam Driver as Kylo Ren, are fantastic as well.  The story certainly kept me on my toes and guessing as to what would happen next, something I didn't experience with The Force Awakens, or most of the other Star Wars films.  Rian Johnson brought creativity that, while some might find polarizing, I found to be much-needed for the franchise.  Yet while there are numerous, positive aspects to the film, I did have some mild criticisms.  First of all, I felt the film went on far too long.  Clocking in at two and a half hours, TLJ could have used some more time in the editing room, as I felt quite a few scenes could've been trimmed, particularly one scene about halfway through the film involving a casino-like resort.  Also, while it looks great in many ways, there are several moments in the film where the special effects were distractingly poor, especially for Industrial Light and Magic, who usually put out stellar work. 

    That being said, these are minor flaws in what is another stellar entry into the Star Wars film franchise.  Continuing the fun and enjoyment of what made Star Wars the monster franchise that it is, while bringing something new to the table thanks to Rian Johnson's clever, surprising script, The Last Jedi is sure to please many hardcore Star Wars fans and plenty of casual moviegoers as well.  Disney certainly has the franchise heading in the right direction, and has me excited about what's next.  I give Star Wars - Episode VIII: The Last Jedi an 8 out of 10.

- Ryan Zeid