kojiro_james

Saw it yesterday. I have to say, I really like what J.J. Abrams is doing with these Alternate Universe movies. The film felt like a classic Trek episode beefed up for modern audiences. And I'm convinced that Zachary Quinto and Karl Urban are the clones of Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley respectively; they're just so spot on in their performances. Good, good films so far. I'll even say that I believe Into Darkness is a better film than the first Abrams Trek.
Also, remember when Bad Robot said that Khan wouldn't be the villain?

Go watch it if you haven't already!

So, yesterday I went to see Iron Man 3 and while it is a good film (it really is) the thing with the Mandarin partially ruined it for me. It felt kind of like Barakapool all over again, like a kick to the crotch. People, Iron Man does not have the best rogues gallery out there. A lot of his villains are seriously lame. Only the Mandarin and Madame Masque really come to mind as far as decent villains go. So to see the Mandarin, Iron Man's arch-nemesis, reduced to being a joke for a cheap laugh felt like a real betrayal, especially after each of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films have been really faithful adaptations of the source material.
Yeah, I get why they did it. There are few like me who can understand the political commentary on the War on Terror that was made by having Iron Man 3's equivalent of Osama bin Laden be nothing more than an actor. It's just that, it felt so unnecessary. It was pretty much obvious that Aldrich Killian, the "real" Mandarin, was behind everything. The drug-addled actor didn't seem to add anything to the story. Or maybe I've just seen too much of the Man-behind-the-Man stuff to really appreciate this fiasco. It just felt like the film was trying too hard for it to feel like the Ra's al Ghul reveal in Batman Begins.

Thirty-one years and nothing to show for it....

Yesterday I saw Oblivion. It's beautiful science fiction film, in fact it was the epitome of science fiction. It made wonderful use of familiar sci-fi tropes while even giving a number of shout-outs to classic sci-fi films that have come before. As usual, I won't spoil the film (and it's pretty much mandatory to go to watch Oblivion unspoiled) but despite the middling reviews it's receiving, I believe this one is set to become a classic.
Do not believe the negative reviews, and trust only the positive reviews wholeheartedly. This movie explores a lot of themes and in fact plays out a bit like a Philip K. Dick novel. If you understood that comparison as an exploration of what is reality, then you're very much correct. Furthermore, with as few spoiler-free points as possible, I will comment on the movie's themes. Jack and Victoria's life in the tower represent the fake, plastic lives that Western civilization seems to be trapped in. Furthermore, you should rapidly recognize the significance of the drone warfare depicted. Jack is also seen as a dutiful soldier who's "only following orders" and is supposed to not ask any questions. And even further, the persistent war over resources and the destruction of the film's Big Bad via suicide attack rounds out the entire commentary on the War on Terror. These are extremely important themes to keep in mind and part of why science fiction is such an important genre: It discusses the only problems that matter.