Source Code

A smart, thought provoking Sci-fi thriller that really challenges our ideas of time and for the most part you have no idea where it’s going. Directed by sci-fi fan and son of singer David Bowie, the promising young Duncan Jones, whose directorial debut film was the excellent Moon (2009) lives up to his reputation here as a director of films with heart.

The concept is a mix of time travel/parallel reality and elements of Avatar (2009). A soldier’s injured body is kept alive and his brain is hooked up to an experimental computer program called the ‘Source Code’ used by the military to occupy someone else’s body during the last eight minutes of his life to discover a future terrorist bombing threat. The soldier, whose consciousness is being used to change the future, must learn in only eight minutes where the bomb is planted, disarm it and identify the bomber so that a future dirty bomb can be prevented from going off in downtown Chicago.

I saw this film just after Bin Laden had been killed so the topic of terrorism seemed very timely. There is a surprise ending which took me a little while to figure out what had happened but the ending is very satisfying. There is enough action, humor and surprises to keep the movie moving along and it’s never boring despite the repetition of the eight minutes that Mr. Gyllenhaal is forced to relive over and over while he figures out what is going on.

Jake Gyllenhaal, recently from Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010) and Love and Other Drugs (2010), gives a very convincing performance and keeps us captivated by his character’s, marine captain Colter Stevens, dilemma. We also get an excellent performance by Vera Farmiga, recently from Up in the Air (2009), who plays Colleen Goodwin, the military coach who talks our hero through what he thinks is a training exercise simulation for a new mission.

There are elements in Source Code that are similar to Moon. The movie takes place in very confined spaces, both movies deal with corporate miss use of their employees and there is an unraveling puzzle solving element in both. In fact it was Jake Gyllenhaal who recommended Duncan Jones to direct the film after having seen and loved his earlier work Moon.

Colter Stevens learns more information each time he goes through the ‘source code’, which takes place on a commuter train, so that the events are slightly different each time as he is changing them. The movie is also about making big changes in our lives when we are frustrated by the rut of our daily routine and that we shouldn’t take for granted the beauty and potential that exists all around us.

This movie, like The Adjustment Bureau (2011), has a message but tells it in a very entertaining and sometimes humorous way. Russell Peters, the Canadian comedian, has a small role and most of the cast and crew are Canadian. It will be interesting to see what this promising young director will end up doing next but whatever it is you can be sure it will be another thought provoking Sci-fi action film with heart.

JP

Battle: Los Angeles

Battle: LA is actually an excellent war movie along the same lines as Black Hawk Down (2001) and Green Zone (2010) but here the Marines are fighting aliens during an earth invasion. Unlike other alien invasion films like War of the Worlds (2005), Cloverfield (2008) and District 9 (2009), which are told from the POV of civilians, Battle: LA is unique in that it takes a soldier’s POV and is an all-out war film.  Here we have the best of two of my favorite genres in one film.

A military Sci-fi film, Battle LA has more in common with Terminator Salvation (2009) in terms of its visual style and pacing. Excellent visual effects combined with exciting non-stop action and realistic characters make this a pulse pounding adrenaline rush. Aaron Eckart, recently from The Dark Knight (2008) and Rabbit Hole (2010), gives a very human, vulnerable and compelling performance. His performance as Staff Sergeant Nantz, a decorated soldier who has just retired from the Marines but is pressed back into service when a new world crisis is revealed, keeps us hooked into the story throughout the duration of the film while it literally throws everything possible at us.

We follow a ragtag group of soldiers, who are a mix of survivors from different platoons, much like what would happen and did happen in real war situations against a superior enemy about who they and we the audience know nothing. We learn, as they do, about the enemy as we go. It is easy to see why Eckart was so enthusiastic about his role and the movie during press promotions. I remember him saying how he really got into his role and it shows.

This is a big budget Hollywood film that has lots of visual style and spares no expense on the visual effects. The cast is mostly unknown except for Aaron Eckart and Michelle Rodriquez, recently from Avatar and Machete, which adds to the authentic feel of the film. The hand held documentary style photography covers the action from every angle and gives a ‘you are there’ feel, adding to the realism.

I was excited about the Trailer for this film when I first saw it and when I finally saw the movie I was not disappointed. It delivered what I had expected and more. Although the aliens are not as advanced as I would have liked, the battle is messy and there is a lot of on-the-ground man-to-alien fighting which looked great, think Terminator Salvation, but I would have liked to see more in the air dog fights. Some of the best scenes are with CH-46 and Huey helicopters in the air transporting our soldiers to the battle front while the battle rages below and above. In fact the movie opens with just such a scene.

This movie easily holds up to such war films as Black Hawk Down and Green Zone as well as such alien invasion films as War of the Worlds, Cloverfield and District 9, in fact you get a great mix of both in this movie. Well worth seeing if you’re a fan of those genres.

JP

The Adjustment Bureau

Another film adapted from the great American science fiction novelist Philip K. Dick whose novels have been the inspiration for such films as Blade Runner (1982), Total Recall (1990), Screamers (1995), Minority Report (2002), Paycheck (2003), A Scanner Darkly (2006), and Next (2007). This time the movie The Adjustment Bureau (2011) is based on a Philip Dick short story called The Adjustment Team.

The movie is an alternate reality sci-fi film that is accessible to everyone even if you’re not a fan of the genre because the movie doesn’t look sci-fi or Matrixy. It’s about a mysterious group of men (The Bureau) who are like guardian angels called 'case officers' but look more like special government agents with special powers that adjust our destinies by subtly nudging or encouraging us in directions that are according to a grand plan. We are told that this was deemed necessary because whenever we were left on our own, with free will, we almost destroyed the planet. For example Dark Ages, World War I, Fascism, World War II, Holocaust, and Cuban missile crisis. One of the funny lines in the film is when the Matt Damon character David Norris says to a Bureau agent called Thompson, played by Terence Stamp, ‘If you’re in control of the important things then your incompetent because when I look around these days the world still seems a pretty screwed up place?’ to which the answer is ‘It’s still here. If we’d left things in your hands, it wouldn’t be.’

When a New York politician David Norris (Matt Damon), recently from Hereafter (2010) and Green Zone (2010), and a Dancer in a ballet company Elise Sellas (Emily Blunt), recently from The Wolfman (2010) and The Devil Wears Prada (2006), get together and fall in love accidentally despite plans that they should not meet, the grand plan is disrupted and the special agents go to work to fix the potential damage by keeping them apart. We later learn that there is a reason that these two have such strong feelings for each other and they will not give up trying to be together.

It’s a fascinating and original concept and the story is well thought out. What makes this film even better is that the performances and chemistry between Matt Damon and Emily Blunt are genuine. Besides being a mix of action thriller, love story and sci-fi/alternate reality, it also has a great message. You come out at the end of the film thinking about philosophical questions of our fates and how much are we in control of our own fates and how much is chance. How much free will do we really have and how willing are we to break away from our pre-determined destinies and follow the path of our passions and beliefs? These are very big and difficult questions to answer but this movie is not afraid to ask the big questions in an entertaining way. This exposes the viewer to entertain the idea of opening his mind to new possibilities which so few movies do anymore.

It’s a great movie to take your girlfriend or spouse to see. It reminded me in many ways of the 1998 movie Pleasantville with Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspoon which also asked big questions using an entertaining alternate reality that was accessible to everyone even if you’re not a fan of the genre. It's more of a romantic comedy but has great performances by an excellent cast just like The Adjustment Bureau and both projects are labors of love. These two movies make for a great double bill of back to back viewing.

JP