District 9 (2009) Review

SYNOPSIS:

DISTRICT 9 depicts a fictional world where extraterrestrials have become refugees in South Africa.

District 9 is a hodgepodge of science fiction, action and politics set in Johannesburg, South Africa dealing with the oppression of a stranded alien race whose mothership is incapable of leaving Earth's orbit. As a result of fear and misunderstanding, human's have wrangled up the surviving aliens and given them their own slum, dubbed "District 9," just outside of the city.

It is in District 9 the refugee aliens trade weaponry with local Nigerian voodoo militants in exchange for cat food, are derogatorily referred to as "prawns" and are now being rounded up and moved to an even less impressive fenced in environment one would be hard-pressed not to call a concentration camp. To say the film's political setting and subject matter mirrors the Apartheid in South Africa is such a "no duh" statement it hardly bears mentioning, but when it comes down to it District 9's real world parallels help greatly with the story's intrigue. This isn't to say it's all roses as the second act gets quite boring and the plot is filled with several holes, but the film's third act is likely to have audiences walking out raving as it makes up for any moments of tedium in-between.

Why do the aliens trade weapons instead of using them? How does the mothership hover over Earth if it has no power? Why are human weapons at all effective against superior alien weaponry? Don't worry about it, is the message I got, but they are all valid questions as this film dwells in reality with an opening reflecting a documentary approach to the story and extraordinary CGI proving $30 million can go a long way if used effectively.

At the center of the story is Wikus van der Merwe (Sharlto Copley), a likable employee placed in charge of the alien relocation. Copley, like writer/director Neill Blomkamp, is new to the world of feature films with District 9 serving as his first as an actor just as this is Blomkamp's first feature film as a director based on his 2005 short Alive in Joburg. My complaints about plot holes aside, Blomkamp does show talent as an action director considering once things get started they really get started. A break-in sequence midway through the film and the entire climax is outstanding. Among the only distractions are the previously mentioned Nigerian gangsters and the clichéd head of military that snarls his way through the entire feature.

Copley's performance as Wikus is an interesting one, and draws your attention and scrutiny scene after scene. He comes off as an innocent and caring family man until he sets out to evict the aliens. He serves the eviction notices without compassion, refers to them as "prawns" without a second thought and even when he's witness to all the secrets to District 9 his motivations are ultimately self-centered until there is no other choice. Audiences will find themselves torn as to whom to cheer for as the film shifts from one scene to the next, which comes as a result of an excellent performance by Copley as well as quality alien special effects, with particular attention paid to the eyes of the main alien protagonist.

An emotional connection to the aliens is imperative to the story, just as is the insensitive buffoonery of Wikus, but the development of each serve as the most boring part of the story. Blomkamp dedicates far too much time to the oppression of the aliens long after the audience is in on the details, but fortunately he makes up for it with action sequences filled with alien technology and exploding human beings that will have you walking away satisfied.

District 9, for what it's worth, is a breath of fresh air. It's an intriguing science fiction with originality and thought behind it, but not as entirely unique as it may first appear. While it does utilize spectacular effects, it does it on a minimal budget and it doesn't rely solely on said effects to tell its story. The story itself isn't altogether perfect, but it shows thought, which is more than I can say for other films of its sort. When it comes to big budget summer films, it's interesting to see the one that carried a modest $30 million price tag showing the greatest effort to tell an actual story. Now if we could just get the $250 million films to follow suit.

DISTRICT 9 (2009)

Starring: Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, David James, Mandla Gaduka, William Allen Young

Director: Neill Blomkamp

Studio: Screen Gems

Rating: R (For bloody violence and pervasive language.)

Genre: Sci-Fi / Action

Release Date: August 14, 2009

Official Site: http://district9movie.com/

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009) Review

SYNOPSIS:

Paramount Pictures and Hasbro, whose previous collaboration was the worldwide blockbuster "Transformers," join forces with Spyglass Entertainment for another extraordinary action-adventure "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra." From the Egyptian desert to deep below the polar ice caps, the elite G.I. JOE team uses the latest in next-generation spy and military equipment to fight the corrupt arms dealer Destro and the growing threat of the mysterious Cobra organization to prevent them from plunging the world into chaos. "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra." is directed by Stephen Sommers ("The Mummy," "The Mummy Returns").

Playing with action figures when I was a child, G.I. Joe toys (known to me then as Action Force) were one of my favourites. Special weapons for each character ranging from oversized guns to futuristic devices and all manner of vehicles, buildings and bases to go with them meant the fun was almost endless. Along with comics and an animated series it was a world you could immerse your hyperactive imagination in. Bringing such a well-loved franchise to the big screen could only be done in summer blockbuster form, and Stephen Sommers has done a Michael Bay by tossing aside plot logic in favour of an almost constant barrage of action set pieces which might entertain the kids, but adult fans might feel hard done by.

For the uninitiated, G. I. Joe is an elite military force made up of the best soldiers from across the globe and led by General Hawk (Quaid). Among his top troops are a mute ninja Snake Eyes (Park), weapons expert Heavy Duty (Akinnuoye-Agbaje), foxy smart girl Scarlett' O'Hara (Nichols) and technical whiz Breaker (Taghmaoui). They are called into action when a NATO convoy runs into trouble transporting a new warhead capable of mass destruction. The two sole survivors are soldiers Duke (Tatum) and RipCord (Wayans) who request to join G. I. Joe to help track down the mysterious assailants who attacked them in transit, including a woman named The Baroness (Miller) who seems to have some history with Duke. Some 15 minutes in, the good guys have been identified and a glut of bad guys are introduced including a rival ninja called Storm Shadow (Lee), arms dealer McCullen (Eccleston) and a mad scientist called The Doctor (Gordon-Levitt) and all that’s left to do is put them into numerous situations where their high tech gizmos cause explosions, crashes and general mayhem across the globe.

Credit to Stephen Sommers, his last two summer movies The Mummy Returns and Van Helsing were disappointing. The former suffered from losing the fresh appeal of The Mummy amid a misplaced family issues subplot while Van Helsing got tied up in its own backstory behind the various monsters featured. For G. I. Joe he sustains a breakneck pace by keeping explanations to a minimum and squeezing in the occasional flashbacks to add a bit of weight to the histories of the characters which don’t hang around too long. He’s far more interested in giving us vast, James Bond-like bases for heroes and villains alike, then blowing them up with gleeful abandon. A Paris-set chase sequence sees cars thrown in every direction and a devastating attack on a famous landmark halfway through the movie but it is at this point G. I. Joe seems to have already had its cake, eaten it and then gone back for about three more.

Despite clocking in at less than two hours, G. I. Joe simply doesn’t know when to tone down the global domination talk or the cheesy all-American military strike action to save the day. You’ll give up wondering how the right gizmos show up at the right time or why guns which once stopped helicopters accurately in mid-flight suddenly seem less effective when main characters are involved, while the showdowns between the two ninjas are poorly edited and confused further by special effects. Performances range from the over-the-top Eccleston and Gordon-Levitt while Tatum, Wayans, Nichols and Miller are there to show off their bodies and little more: you'll know the words to come out of their mouths before they say them.

If G. I. Joe was a Saturday morning television cartoon lasting 45 minutes it would be far more palatable, but as a full-length feature film it’s too much of a no-brainer. The twists come at the end to set up a sequel in which the Cobra force will raise its ugly head, though it’ll probably be the younger members of the audience calling out for more as the adults think back to the days when it was just them and their toys.

G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA (2009)

Starring: Sienna Miller, Ray Park, Rachel Nichols, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agabaje, Said Taghmaoui, Marlon Wayans, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Channing Tatum, Arnold Vosloo, Dennis Quaid, Christopher Eccleston, Jonathan Pryce, Kevin J. O'Connor

Director: Stephen Sommers

Studio: Paramount Pictures

Rating: PG-13 (For strong sequences of action violence and mayhem throughout.)

Genre: Action / Adventure

Release Date: August 7, 2009

Official Site: http://www.gijoemovie.com/

Biography for Duke (Character) from G.I. Joe: The Movie (1987)

***CONRAD "DUKE" HAUSER***
Specialty: Field Cammander
Preferred M2X1 Suppressive Fire
Weapon: Heavy Machine Gun with Grenade Launcher
Strong, Determined, Loyal; A Natural Leader.

While General Hawk is generally the commander of the GI Joe counter-terrorist team, the man codenamed Duke is the field leader, the guy who most often gets it done at the sharp end. He may actually be outranked by a lot of the men he commands, but he’s still unquestionably the guy in charge.

Duke holds the official rank of master sergeant in the Army – he considers it a point of pride that he’s never been promoted into the officers’ ranks. In his opinion, more often than not an officer is the type that claims credit when things go right and dodges the blame whenever things go wrong. Duke’s willing to shoulder the load no matter what happens, although with him in charge missions typically go pretty smoothly.

In a couple of different versions of the GI Joe continuity, Duke is romantically linked with Scarlett, one of the other members of the team (although, more often, she and Snake Eyes are a couple). GI Joe: The Movie and later stories also introduced his younger half-brother, the not-quite-as-reliable Lieutenant Falcon.

In the 2009 G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra live-action Movie, Duke is played by Channing Tatum. There, he’s a young special-operations veteran tapped to lead GI Joe in the field. This particular Duke, aside from having served with some of the other members of the squad, also has some history with the masked rogue operative now known as Cobra Commander.

Biography for Scarlett (Character) from "G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero" (1983)

***SHANA "SCARLETT" O'HARA***
Specialty: Intelligence Officer
Preferred 15P Laser-guided
Weapon: Solid-Alloy Compound Crossbow with Scope
Dangerous in Battle, with High-Tech Crossbow and Martial Arts Moves.

Yes, she’s the girl. Or she was when Hasbro first created the GI Joe mythos – Scarlett was the first female member of the team, although she eventually proved to be far from the last.

The roles she filled were many and varied. In the field, she’s a counterintelligence specialist, trained for infiltration and close combat. Her favored weapon is a small one-handed crossbow, although she’s also an expert martial artist. Back home, she’s the team’s hand-to-hand combat instructor – male or female, there are very few members of GI Joe who can beat her in a fair fight.

In the GI Joe comic-book stories, writer Larry Hama created a long and complex storyline revolving around a romantic relationship between Scarlett and Snake Eyes, the mute ninja member of the GI Joe team. On the other hand, the GI Joe cartoons paired Scarlett and Duke, the team’s leader, which has led to a certain amount of inevitable fannish debate over exactly who Scarlett really has a thing for.

The 2009 G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra Movie looks to be sticking with the former interpretation, at least to a degree – the live-action movie Scarlett, played by Rachel Nichols, is an old friend of Snake Eyes, who trained her in the martial arts. While she can break heads with the best of them, her primary post is at the team’s headquarters, The Pit, where she serves as GI Joe’s intelligence officer.

Biography for Ripcord (Character) from "G.I. Joe" (1985)

***WALLACE "RIPCORD" WEEMS***
Specialty: Pilot
Preferred 820 Selective-Fire
Weapon: Long-Range Fully Automatic Assault Rifle
Moves Fast, Cracks Jokes and Lives for Danger.

Nearly all of the characters in the live-action G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra Movie are based on familiar characters from the long-running Hasbro toy line. Some of them are more than 25 years old, hailing from the original series of action figures released way back in 1982.

Ripcord, played by Marlon Wayons, is probably the furthest from his original inspiration. The action-figure Ripcord, as the name suggests, was a paratrooper, specializing in “HALO” (High Altitude, Low Opening) parachute jumps. The movie version of Ripcord, however, is one of the front-line troops newly recruited into the GI Joe team.

Before joining the squad, he and Conrad Hauser – who would later pick up the code name Duke – were members of an Army Special Forces team. The two of them were among the few survivors of a deadly ambush, along with the man who would eventually become Cobra Commander.

Although Rise of Cobra takes a distinctly grittier tack in comparison to earlier incarnations of the GI Joe franchise, Ripcord is apparently set to be one source of a little comic relief amid all the grimacing and all-black outfits. Wayans was reportedly chosen for the role on the strength of his dramatic performance in Requiem for a Dream, though, so he’s probably only going to get so many chances to be funny.

Biography for Snake Eyes (Character) from G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009)

***SNAKE EYES***
Specialty: Ninja Master
Preferred Hand-Forged Steel
Weapon: Heirloom Katana Sword
Silent, Mysterious, Lethal in Battle.

Bad guys wear black, according to the old saying, but GI Joe has it the other way around. Snake Eyes, the black-clad ninja commando of the GI Joe team, is (usually) on the side of truth, justice, and the American way, while his nemesis Storm Shadow (the one in white) works for Cobra.

Underneath the black costume and eyeless visor, he’s actually an American, a veteran of the Vietnam war. He and the man who would later become Storm Shadow served in the same elite reconnaissance unit, and later traveled together to Japan, where they were inducted into the Arashikage ninja clan.

There, they grew apart – while Snake Eyes resisted the temptation to become a hardened killer, Storm Shadow honed his assassination skills in every way possible. He eventually betrayed the group’s leaders, abandoning the Arashikage to sell his skills to the rising Cobra terrorist army. In the wake of his betrayal, Snake Eyes returned to America and lived in seclusion for several years (with no company except for his faithful wolf Timber) until General Hawk, an old comrade from his days in Vietnam, tracked him down to recruit him into GI Joe.

He’s adept with any number of weapons or none at all, having been trained in many unarmed fighting systems. Typically he favors a long Japanese sword, or compact, concealable machine pistols. While he doesn’t suffer from any physical speech impediment, he is almost completely mute by choice, and never reveals his face if he can help it.

In the 2009 G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra Movie, Snake Eyes is played by Ray Park, who dons a faceless black costume very similar to earlier incarnations of the character. As before, he’s a former member of the Arashikage ninja group, and he shares a past with Cobra operative Storm Shadow.

Biography for Baroness (Character) from "G.I. Joe" (1985)

***ANASTASIA DeCOBRAY***
Specialty: Intelligence Officer
Preferred M.A.R.S. Industries
Weapon: D57-A Extreme Environment Tactical Rifle
Dangerous, Beautiful, A Deadly Spy!

Is she the baroness of anywhere or in particular? Maybe, or maybe she just thought it sounded cool. Her arrogant attitude and expensive tastes suggest an aristocratic background, but the Baroness has a very fluid identity, befitting her role as Cobra Commander’s leading intelligence operative.

She oversees Cobra’s network of spies around the world, and often goes into the field on her own – among other organizations, she’s personally infiltrated the ranks of GI Joe on various occasions. (She once spent a long stretch with the squad masquerading as Juanita Hoover, supposedly a budgeting auditor.) When not working incognito somewhere, she’s very near the top of the Cobra hierarchy, on an equal footing with Destro and answering directly to the Commander.

Her relationship with those two is often rocky. Cobra Commander is sometimes a bit too crazy for her tastes, while she and Destro seem to alternate between romance and rivalry, depending how the wind happens to be blowing at any given time. Ultimately, though, her only loyalty is to her own interests – she’s calm, calculating, and never fails to look out for number one. Sentimentality is not among her long suits.

In the 2009 G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra Movie, Sienna Miller plays the Baroness, who as usual fills the role of undercover spy and femme fatale for the Cobra organization.

Biography for Storm Shadow (Character) from "G.I. Joe" (1985)

***STORM SHADOW***
Specialty: Ninja Mercenary
Preferred Hand-Forged Steel
Weapon: Heirloom Katana Sword
The Sworn Enemy of Former Sword Brother Snake Eyes!

Back in the ‘80s, ninja were fairly cutting-edge as pop-cultural mythology objects go, which is perhaps why they played such a large role in the GI Joe comics and cartoons. Perhaps the most famous ninja of the bunch is still Storm Shadow, the white-clad assassin employed by Cobra.

In the most popular version of his origin, told in Marvel’s comic-book series, Storm Shadow was a Japanese-American soldier, who served in Vietnam alongside his future comrade and rival Snake Eyes. After their tours in southeast Asia were over, he took Snake Eyes with him to Japan, where they became two of the most accomplished students of the Arashikage ninja clan.

Eventually, Storm Shadow betrayed the group, choosing to take his skills with him to the rising Cobra terrorist organization. (The codename “Storm Shadow” is a literal translation of “Arashikage,” an ironic memento of his former loyalties.) There, he became one of Cobra Commander’s most dangerous agents, as both the Commander’s personal bodyguard and the first choice for any difficult assassination assignment.

In 2009’s G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra Movie, Storm Shadow is played by Korean actor Byung-Hun Lee, in his Hollywood debut. Like earlier versions of the character, he’s a rogue former member of the Arashikage ninja clan, with a long-standing grudge against Snake Eyes.