Rio Rancho Film Reviews: Tim Burton

Films of the Decade: Science-Fiction

Thursday, March 25, 2010

It hasn’t been a particularly great decade for science fiction. The Star Wars series limped along, the Matrix trilogy imploded and both Star Trek and Avatar were colossal disappointments. Despite this, a few films came along to brighten the gloomy skies.

Top Five Sci-Fi Films

5. District 9

The first half of District 9 is an interesting take on racism and intolerance and the second half is a no holds barred action movie. The two sides of the movie could have perhaps been blended together better (a la RoboCop), but it’s still a wonderfully realised movie.

4. Moon

A fantastic old-fashioned science fiction film that brings back memories of films like 2001, Silent Running and Alien. The film has a very real, physical feel. It’s a world that you can reach out and touch – it’s a great move to use lots of physical effects. It’s also a film that plugs into corporate and technological paranoia. Will technology set us free or will it enslave us? The ending is perhaps too glib but it’s an amazingly powerful and thoughtful film.

3. A.I.: Artificial Intelligence

Up until the final sequence, A.I. is an excellent movie – dark and strange, it has the heart that is sometimes lacking in science fiction films. But the final few minutes descend into sludge. However, this is easily forgotten when you can enjoy the exploits of sex bots and suicidal boy robots. The scene where the mother abandons her android child in favour of her toolish son is wonderfully done.

2. Sunshine

If it weren’t for the highly formulaic final act, Sunshine would actually be one of the best sci-fi films of all time, instead of just one of the best of the decade. What precedes it is so imaginative and so gripping that you can’t help but be disappointed to see it turn into some horror nonsense. But the scene where the astronauts have to fix the heat shield is easily one of the best of the decade.

1. Children of Men

A gritty apocalyptic science fiction fable about the collapse of civilisation after the female population becomes infertile. Filmed in long takes and with lots of sudden violence, it’s a scary look at a slow rot of an apocalypse. Humanity here will not destroy itself over night. It’ll just violently limp on for a few decades before going out with a whimper. Of course the right place to set this film is Britain. Only us British could try and establish some sort of normality and order in the face of humanity’s extinction. Right to the end we shall be moaning and queuing. But Theo’s heroic, selfless effort to preserve a single piece of hope and innocence in this apocalyptic wasteland gives the film its power and beauty.

Five Worst Sci-Fi Films

5. Signs

The creepy atmosphere that’s generated is immediately ruined by the fact that a bunch of aliens who are allergic to water decide to invade a planet rich with the stuff and not wear suits. Never mind a glass of water, what would have happened if it had rained? ‘We’re baddasses! We’re badasses! Wait a minute, what’s that? Oh, bugger, I knew I’d forgotten something…’ Plus would the existence of psycho aliens really help you rediscover your faith in god? It’s doubtful.

4. Planet of the Apes

A bland hero. An ending that defies logic. Burton’s film is a colossal failure. The only bright spot in an otherwise dismal film is the make-up, but that’s hardly a reason to watch it.

3. Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith

Attack of the Clones was a piece of shit, but Revenge of the Sith was even worse. Basically we find out that Vader didn’t become evil because of some sort of complicated inner conflict. No, he became bad because he was a weak-minded emo. ‘How could this happen to me? I’ve made my mistakes. Got nowhere to run, the night goes on.’ Noooooooooo!

2. AVP: Aliens vs. Predator

As a teenager I thought there would be nothing cooler than an Aliens vs. Predator film. How wrong I was. Paul W.S. Anderson manages to both piss and shit in the mouth of two science fiction franchises. Well done, sir!

1. Mission to Mars

An incompetent attempt at making a modern 2001. It removes the mystery and complexity of Kubrick’s film and adds boring action sequences and awful CGI – the Martians look ridiculous. Plus Gary Sinise goes through the whole film seemingly wearing eyeliner, making him look like a square-jawed, pointy-eared Robert Smith.

Christopher Walken

Batman Returns

Sunday, December 23, 2007

There’s no doubt in my mind that Batman Returns is better than Tim Burton’s first stab at making a film about the dark knight. Batman Returns is sharper, tighter, darker and, most importantly, more entertaining than its predecessor. In every regard it trumps the previous film.

Now some people would say, ‘well, what about the Joker? Surely he’s better than the villains in this film?’ Well, I’d have to disagree. As enjoyable as Jack’s performance is in that film, DeVito and Pfeiffer surpass him. Hell, even Christopher Walken as Max Shreck is better. And that’s because the script in this film is more playful than the one in the first movie. The actors get more meat to sink their teeth into. In comparison, Nicholson’s performance is just grandstanding. Sure its highly entertaining grandstanding, but it still has quite a hollow ring.

One of things that surprises me about Batman Returns is that none of the villains is entirely evil. Of course it’s nothing new to have the tragic villain, but often films are quite heavy-handed in their attempt to garner sympathy for their antagonists. But here the film’s villains are almost overwhelmingly wicked. They’re greedy, they’re murderous and they’re power hungry. But yet weirdly, each one has a touch of humanity. Shreck, the immoral businessman, the man who’s probably the most wicked of them all, sacrifices himself so that his square-jawed son won’t die. Of course, this is probably out of a narcissistic desire to ensure that his seed doesn’t disappear in the ether, but nonetheless he still performs a selfless act. Then there’s The Penguin. He blackmails, he murders and he even plans to drown lots of children, but yet you feel he has a right to be angry. He’s been betrayed and thrown away like he’s a piece of shit by his parents – no wonder he’s fucked up. And of course Catwoman has lots of shades of grey.

And it’s perhaps Catwoman who is the most interesting character. Here you have a woman who is a doormat. Every man in her life walks all over her. The reason for this seems to be her repressed sexuality – her apartment is full of dollhouses, pink t-shirts with kittens on them and cuddly toys. She seems almost sexless. No wonder no one looks at her when she expresses herself in such an infantile way. But once Catwoman is born, all of those things are thrown away and destroyed. And the scene where she does this is one of the best in the film. It’s filmed with complete rage – she’s violently discovering herself and her sexuality, and all the childlike accoutrements of the past are smashed into pieces. She’s no longer going to be walked on. She’s no longer going to be treated like a child.

And for the rest of the film she schizophrenically alternates between good and evil. She helps a mugging victim but then berates her, she helps concoct a plot to frame Batman but then momentarily baulks when someone gets killed, and she wants to pursue a relationship with Bruce Wayne but can’t accept the idea of a happy ending. She can’t reconcile the two parts of her personality – her sexual needs and her need to be happy and content.

A character who is less conflicted about his sexuality is The Penguin. I love the way he’s portrayed as an oversexed lech. In one scene he eagerly pins a button to a young woman’s blouse, leering at her breasts and in another he leers at a campaign worker’s arse, saying that he’d like to fill her void. It’s wonderfully perverted. And then there’s the way that Max Shreck convinces The Penguin to become Mayor. He promises him unlimited poontang. Everything else fails to fire The Penguin’s imagination, but this changes his mind. And then there’s the moment where he meets Catwoman. ‘Just the pussy I’ve been looking for.’ The film is incredibly oversexed.

But the film is all the better for it. After all, two of the main characters dress in rubber and vinyl respectively. They’re bound to be a bit kinky. And the scenes between Catwoman and Batman are superb. Here you have two freaks who are perfect for one another. Their fighting is just a substitute for fucking. But they’re so screwed up that anything resembling a normal relationship is beyond them.

And it’s telling that even though Bruce Wayne and Batman get comparatively little screen time, his scenes in this film are much more interesting than those in the first film. I mean, his relationship with Vicki Vale was uninteresting in the extreme, but there’s actually something weirdly tragic about his relationship with Selina Kyle/Catwoman. Both know that they’ll never be content. But although this all sounds pretty heavy, there’s also some wonderful humour. There’s a great little scene in Bruce Wayne’s mansion when Selina asks that Alfred the butler think of a dirty limerick to tell Bruce – she doesn’t want Bruce to think that she’s rejecting him. ‘One has just sprung to mind,’ is Alfred’s response.

But all of the humour in the film is gloriously black. One of my favourite lines occurs when Max Shreck is threatening Selina – he’s caught her going through his protected files. ‘It’s not like you can just kill me,’ she says. ‘Actually, it’s a lot like that,’ Shreck replies. And then he plays with her, by going to kiss her and then laughing before pushing her out of the window. The film has a black heart, and I personally think that’s great.

But as black as the film’s heart is, there are also a couple of beautiful moments. I personally love The Penguin’s death. He rises from the water like a monster and then with a glorious cue from Danny Elfman, he goes to kill Batman and accidentally picks a cute umbrella instead of a deadly one. He then collapses flat on his face and dies. And then if that isn’t enough, a group of penguins emerge and tenderly lead him to a watery grave. No attempt is made to water the character down, to make him more likable, but you still can’t help but feel for him, which is kind of an extraordinary feat for the filmmakers.

The other moment I really love is when Batman is called at the start. The Bat sign shines bright through Bruce Wayne’s mansion, casting light on his dark study. It’s a very economical way of showing that this is all that gives his life meaning – before the sign shines through his window he’s motionless in the dark. So while people accuse Burton’s Batman films of being shallow (I certainly think that’s the case when it comes to the first one), it’s a less valid criticism of the sequel. As well as the beautiful production design and cinematography, there’s plenty to get your teeth into. You can’t just expect it to be handed to you on a plate.

Jack Nicholson

Batman

Sunday, December 23, 2007

I can remember as a kid that Batman was supposedly going to traumatise an entire generation of children. It was going to be so dark, so scary and so downright evil that youngsters nationwide were going to shit themselves in unison. Hell, the BBFC even came up with a 12 rating to keep the little blighters out of cinemas. But when you look at it now, and when you compare it to Batman Begins where characters trip their tits off on hallucinogenic drugs and see all kinds of fucked up things, it seems rather tame.

One of the offending scenes was when we see the scarring on Jerry Hall's face. According to newspaper reports and playground rumour, the sight was going to be so terrifying that your heart was going to spontaneously explode in your chest. But in reality it just looks like she's been lying on a pillow for forty-eight hours and her face has got marked from excessive snoozing. The other scene that was supposedly going to leave skidmarks was when the Joker fries a man with an electric buzzer. This was going to be so hardcore that you'd run from the cinema and seek out that lovely Gary Glitter chap for protection and support. But instead it's just funny. I imagine that kids, little bastards that they are, loved it. Man gets burnt to a crisp? Wicked! And anyway, as far scaring the bejesus out of children, Batman can't really compare to Raiders of the Lost Ark. Melting faces and snakes crawling out of the mouths of skeletons? Mummy, I need a change of underwear! (And that got a PG rating. Go figure.)

But how does the film hold up eighteen years on? Pretty well, actually. Although I do have to say that it pales in comparison to Batman Begins. This Batman lacks any real depth and none of the characters have more than two dimensions. This Batman is all about surfaces. But what surfaces they are. Burton's Gotham is a weird and wonderful place. It's like an unholy ménage-a-trois between the 40s, the 80s and German Expressionism. You've got to love that.

The best piece of production design in the film has to be the cathedral. Architecturally it makes no sense whatsoever – it looks more like a skyscraper than a place of worship – but who cares? It looks absolutely stunning. And I also love the Axis Chemical Factory. It's as beautifully ugly as a factory should be.

I also love the atmosphere of the film. The woods, in particular, when Batman is taking Vicki Vale to the Bat Cave, look great. They look genuinely creepy. And I love the way that Batman is introduced. Two criminals mug a family and then as they're counting their spoils you see Batman descend in the distance. It's a wonderful visual. And Keaton's "I'm Batman" moment is even better than Bale's. Sure Bale's got that cool growl, but Keaton gets to dangle a criminal off the edge of a building while staring with those manic eyes of his. He really does look psychotic.

But unfortunately the film never really delves into Wayne's character. You get brief flashes of his madness, his social unease and you get a flashback explaining his parents' death, but it's rather tokenistic. I mean, Jack Napier is made his parents killer just so that the final confrontation can be made personal. And Wayne's relationship with Vicki Vale is also uninteresting. They get drunk, have sex and fall out. Plus she screams a lot - a whole fucking lot. However, her character is redeemed in one act. Near the end, in a cunning ruse, she distracts the Joker from Batman by kissing him. Then she slowly goes downstairs. Of course Batman pops up before anything happens, but you've got to like a woman with a mind like that.

But of course it's the Joker that makes the film so much fun. With his arched eyebrows and manic grin, Nicholson was born to play the part. One of my favourite bits has to be when he invades the art gallery and swats a bronze statue away with his hand. The joy on his face is priceless and I love that it doesn't cause him serious pain. And the Joker commercial, the hand buzzer killing and the Grissom murder are wonderful too. But he's also great as Jack Napier. I love the little scene with Jerry Hall: "You look fine." "I didn't ask." And he looks utterly deranged in his scenes with Eckhardt. If anything, Nicholson is more threatening as Napier.

But what also makes the film is the music. It's a fantastic score. I especially like the title march and the cues in the woods and the piece just before Napier shoots Eckhardt. It's just a bit of a shame then that you also have Prince music in the film. But it's not too objectionable, I guess. And it's appropriately used.

A few more observations about the film: Michael Gough is great as Alfred (although it causes me physical pain to remember him in Batman & Robin), the Mayor bears an uncanny resemblance to Ken Livingstone, I can remember the script almost word for word because I've seen it so many times ("He hung up!"..."Bob, gun."..."This is Renee on the newsfloor."..."Never rub another man's rhubarb!"), I fancied the pants off Kim Basinger as a kid (even if all that hair was a little intimidating) and flimsy pieces of tin apparently can stop bullets. But here's something else I noticed. The Joker is poisoning products, so people stop using anything that might have been contaminated – cosmetics, health and hygiene products etc. As a result everyone looks like crap – especially the news reporters. However, in the next scene you cut to Harvey Dent, played by Billy Dee Williams. Billy Dee looks like a million bucks. He's groomed within an inch of his life. No damn Joker is going to stop Lando Calrissian from looking fine.

Films of the Decade: Science-Fiction

Batman Returns

Batman

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