Weekly Review -- Hiding in darkness

Grave Encounters (2010) -- One would be hard pressed to find a more tongue-in-cheek titled horror film than this indie. Coming from the aptly monickered Vicious Brothers, the found-footage chiller is a fun and terrifying novelty, if a little derivative.

A paranormal phenomena reality show crew arrives at the abandoned Collingwood Psychiatric Hospital. Led by self-professed ghost hunter Lance Preston (Sean Rogerson), the group settles in, setting up equipment and discussing possible sightings. As the night drags on, bizarre events start occurring, making the crew realize that they might be in too deep this time around...

The main problem with Grave Encounters is that it borrows generously from other similarly themed films, namely House on Haunted Hill and The Blair Witch Project. The narrative offers nothing that we have not seen before. Stock skeptics? Check. Demented psychiatrists? Check. Asylum rebellion? Check. Cackles and howls instead of silence? Check. Sure, we jump here and there, but the story could have used more ingenuity and not relied on the aforementioned efforts to this extent. Cinematic pilfering aside, I have always maintained that the isolation of dark forests and the gloomy quality of run-down asylums provided the best ambiance for horror films. Anticipation is the name of the game in this tale and the decrepit location is indisputably menacing -- for example, the too literal writing-on-the-wall sequence is one of the best moments. In fact, I found the intensely oppressive atmosphere a lot scarier than the apparitions themselves, which were the most predictable aspect of the piece. Not knowing what is chasing you is truly worse than actually seeing it.  

The acting is competent, though there are no standouts to speak of; then again, in a film that mostly counts on quick thrills to entertain, any acting skills will get lost in the shuffle. Rogerson is appropriately cocky as Lance, whose know-it-all attitude slowly gives way to pure, disbelieving panic. Ashleigh Gryzko renders a sensible portrayal of Sasha Parker, an occult aficionado and first crew member to suspect that the hospital is responsible for more than bad therapy. There is good chemistry between the actors, with the highlights being a few comical touches in the beginning and some notable reactions to the haunting.

The fact that Grave Encounters is not a genre breakthrough does not translate into a lack of harmless fun. Judging by the joy that they take in exploring and exploiting fear, The Vicious Brothers are creating a work from the fans and for the fans. Sly and prank-oriented, they are yelling "boo" and loving it, and why not? If you do not expect too much originality and are a horror enthusiast, you will enjoy this film.

6/10

Weekly Review -- A new normal

Monsters (2010) -- A lyrical, poetic film about the existence of aliens in the neighborhood? Yes, please! It might have been marketed as an action thriller, but Gareth Edwards' feature is anything but. In fact, it might just be the philosophical opposite of any preconceived notions we may hold regarding films dealing with extra-terrestrials.

Six years after aliens invaded Earth, our planet's residents are dealing with the newly minted inhabitants as though they were pests, marking territories inhabited by the largely unfamiliar creatures as infected. In Costa Rica, jaded journalist Andrew (Scoot McNairy) is tasked with bringing  his publisher's daughter Samantha (Whitney Able) back to the States through the infected zone of Mexico. On the road, the unlikely pair come across numerous obstacles, while truth after truth is revealed...
 
There have been too many comparisons between Monsters and District 9 for my liking and yes, the raw aesthetics of Edwards' depictions could very well parallel the Neill Blomkamp film. Still, with its emphasis on subtleties and moments that speak volumes, I would prefer comparing this piece to Wenders' post-utopian elegy Until the End of the World, if one  needed to make an analogy at all. Like Wenders' film, Monsters is a moody reflection on a drastic change in the human condition. The characters are on a journey of self-discovery, whether they realize it or not. The very nature of this odyssey comes from Andrew and Samantha's respective life spheres -- he is a well-meaning cynic who has been around the block and back again, while she is sheltered and almost cocooned in her vulnerability. As we watch them navigate the new normal, we can slowly and clearly see each one of them reaching out to the other, looking for a friend in an insulating milieu where only the strongest survive. They are brought together by circumstances beyond their control and, paradoxically, are brought out of their shells and back into the collective consciousness of humanity through the presence of creatures that are not of our world.

The landscape plays a huge role in the story's objectives. I do not imagine that the narrative would work in an urban environment; furthermore, it is unrealistic to imagine cities as intact following an alien invasion. The damp, grainy ambiance of Monsters' Central America is as unpredictable as it is mysterious. The fact that we can spot mere glimpses of the creatures here and there, that we can only hear an occasional cry through the ominous dusk of the jungle... these are the tricks that Edwards uses to maximum effect. I would have loved to see more about the aliens' origins and their arrival, but that aspect would have had no impact on the context of this particular story, so I am guessing it is something that might be explored in the upcoming sequel.
    
The acting is organic and spontaneous, evoking a documentary rather than a feature. McNairy portrays Andrew with a hint of frailty lurking underneath the tough exterior, while Able gives a complex performance as Samantha, a woman seemingly trapped in her own life. The screenplay revolves around these two characters, and the actors' chemistry boasts a rare and mellow playfulness, contributing to the viewer's experience of the on-screen reality. 

When all the cinematic gloss is stripped, when acting becomes living, the essential grit of the human existence remains. This is the stuff of Monsters, a film that plays upon our fear of the unknown as much as it shows how the unknown can forever remain in the role of the Other. Within its thrills and chills lies a tale of instincts that drive us to live, the desire to keep feeding our curiosity and, above all, the sense that we are not alone.      

9/10

Summer Review #4 -- The Dark Knight Rises

A trilogy's final act should play out like the ending to a symphony, a boisterous triumph of the melody that had captured our imagination and kept us unable to tear away from the music. The Dark Knight Rises, Christopher Nolan's conclusion to his incredible Batman series, is such a film.

**THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS**

After an eight-year long exile, Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) is a broken man. Having accepted responsibility for Harvey Dent's crimes under the guise of Batman, he has been a recluse since, with his alter ego not far from turning into a reviled urban legend on Gotham City's streets. With his city's pulse revived and his life at a standstill, Wayne is lost, seeing no purpose to his existence anymore and unable to look beyond Batman to find his identity.

Then another brand of evil decides to rear its masked head. A sinewy, ruthless aggressor named Bane (Tom Hardy) has arrived to start a revolution among the already embittered Gotham denizens. Seeing no other way to defend his city, Wayne knows that he must go back to Batman. With the assistance of loyal butler Alfred (Michael Caine) and inventor Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), Wayne transforms into the fiery vigilante again, all the while playing cat-and-mouse games with burglar Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway) and cooperating with old ally Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman). But Bane might be Batman's -- and Wayne's -- toughest opponent yet...

Nolan's trilogy feels like the cosmic life cycle of a superhero. If Batman Begins was the birth and The Dark Knight the chaos and demise, then The Dark Knight Rises is certainly the resurrection. The elements of film noir that Nolan has introduced to his opus are more evident here than in the two previous parts, particularly with the hero's predicament and the addition of new love interests. This time, the hero must prove himself again to the city he had once defended, but he is dealing with different jurisprudence challenges than the last time around, all of them creating the perfect storm for the new force rushing in. Nolan does not hold back on the blood, sweat and tears accompanying these transitions. Both literally and metaphorically, he freely keeps pounding and pummeling Batman and his allies, placing the violence in a definitive context. The film's barbarities are certainly delineated by its themes, which range from good versus evil to social justice, and which are too coincidental to be seen as such in the first place. Intentionally or not, the goings-on evoke the beginnings of the Occupy Wall Street movement and the issues brought forth by the 2008 recession, with the villain's machinations creating an atmosphere of utter desolation. In the end, The Dark Knight Rises is perhaps more political than it wants to be, which only makes its grittiness more palpable and its hero a more stalwart figure to root for -- a resurrection indeed.

The film does have its share of problems, though. The various fight scenes occasionally overwhelm the narrative, bringing bare action and not the screenplay to the forefront. Some of the characters, like Gordon and Fox, are not given much to do, particularly considering how crucial they were to Batman's birth. Depicted as rather intriguing, Catwoman is a nearly one-dimensional sketch, which is a shame. The resolution to the nuclear danger also leaves a lot to be desired -- was the bomb really detonated far enough for the city not to experience any consequences? I would not feel too safe if I was actually able to SEE an atomic explosion.

As in the two earlier films, the acting is in a league of its own. Bale was born to play Wayne, showing the character's duality as the one thing in the world that can either empower or destroy him at this point. Caine is fantastic as Alfred and I wish the new facets of the two characters' relationship had been examined further. There are other stellar supporting turns as well, including those from Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Marion Cotillard.

The best performances, however, come from two of the new additions to the cast, Hathaway and Hardy. At first I was not sure about the prospect of Hathaway playing the iconic femme fatale, but I am happy to say that my doubt was misplaced. The actor goes effortlessly from light to dark, from perky to ominous. She also projects vulnerability, a quality that eludes the usually campy incarnations of the infamous thief and one that gives a new aspect to the character. Her Catwoman is not only a lethal beauty, she is a flawed human being, a woman who has mastered the art of survival long ago and whose preservation instincts match Wayne's own. The character's potential makes me yearn for the part to have been expanded.

Hardy, on the other hand, radiates mayhem. His Bane is the dark prince of urban anarchy, a hulking threat waiting to strike at any and every opportunity, an extremist tactician that lets his combat skills speak on his behalf. The actor's physicality is essential to the part and he embraces it with relish, bringing unexpected nuances to the table. Rare is the actor that manages to provoke both hatred and empathy in the role of a fanatical villain and Hardy achieves this task, his acting tools constrained to his eyes and body, instruments he utilizes to full advantage. Some villains are sadists, some are psychotic and others are desperate cowards. Bane is neither of these things, serving instead as a human assault, a brute with a strategist's mind. His encounters with Batman are the epitome of violence, but he is armed with something more than mere strength and malevolence -- he has a cause that whips his belief into a frenzy, a purpose that makes him unstoppable.   

With The Dark Knight Rises, Christopher Nolan concludes a trilogy that has presented the Batman universe from a new and daring angle. Although some of the threequel's elements could have used fine-tuning, the film succeeds in raising the stakes for the principal characters and transporting them into our everyday vernacular. Through its exploration of subjects like family, freedom and enslavement, the film proves to be an effective view of Batman's ultimate quandary, an entertaining ride from start to finish and an ending worthy of the franchise's beginning.

9/10