Movie Review: Star Trek Beyond (2016)

Copyright: Paramount Pictures

This film has the drive, the familiarity and it has just enough unique charm to make it a great family adventure set in the Star Trek universe. Jason Lin, its director, must have a very in-depth knowledge of the popcorn genre and how the same can be rehashed to seem new and exciting.

But, Lin is not a snake oil salesman and there are no cheap gimmicks in the film. Simon Pegg and Doug Jung wrote the film as if they made a very long episode of the original TV show, making the plot simple and self-contained. Star Trek Beyond begins when a lonely shuttle reaches the Federation�s newest and biggest space station Yorktown. Its single crew member pleads with the authorities to come to the rescue of the stranded ship and the captain and the crew of the Enterprise takes up this challenge.

When they arrive at their destination, a very cruel fate awaits them. Just like that, Lin takes Enterprise and does horrible things with it, making the process of the ship breaking apart a very visceral feeling. The Enterprise goes down and the crew scatters across the unknown planet. In a TV show, this would be one of those episodes where the crewmembers are left stranded on some strange and dangerous world, but here, there are no cheap locations here. Instead, the full force of AAA production is there to support the film and all of its glorious action scenes.

The casualty of this approach is the loss of the contemplative nature of Star Trek, but to be honest, J.J. Abrams is the surgeon who removed that part when the reboot began. The same is true when it comes to the ever-important (at least to Trekkies) lore. Now, there are just a couple of throwback moments referencing the original cast and practically nothing more.

The film ends as a satisfying blockbuster experience which went nowhere in terms of any intellectual or emotional ideas. At the completion of the story, the actors might have very well taken out bottles of Coca-Cola and revealed that the entire film is one giant commercial. But, Lin did the film in such a splendid manner that the lack of any substance really does not make a huge difference to the overall fun experience it provides.

Coming (Not So) Soon: Kong: Skull Island

Kong: Skull Island is not going to be hitting the movie theaters anytime soon (the release date is in 2017), but the film does look both impressive and kind of idiotic at the same time. So far, it looks like the producers decided to combine the notion of King Kong with the first part of the Predator series and then put in a big chunk of Aliens from 1986, mainly with the current military aspect of the film. This will make the film either pretty fun or intensely bad.

Check out Kong: Skull Island trailer below.

Film Review: High-Rise (2015)

Copyright: StudioCanal

Ben Wheatley knows films. His Hit List is a marvelous noir movie, developed and executed in a manner that should have made Wheatley rich and famous in a more just world. After it came out in 2011, this relatively young writer, director, and producer continued working on edgy films that only rare individuals thought they completely understood.

Now, he has branched out to the domain of big budgets and celebrity actors, while at the same time hooking a chain tied to a great literary name to his film. High-Rise is to Wheatley what The Brothers Bloom was for Rian Johnson and Godzilla was for Gareth Edwards. All of these directors showed immense talent and ability to make small films where they attained a huge level of control. Their first film on an AAA budget, however, ended up as something not exactly spectacular. 

In High-Rise, Wheatley had to fight expectations, but also a story by J. G. Ballard, one of the best writers of the 20th century and a man who is righteously adored by millions of smart people. The tale is a metaphor for the social divisions that were boiling up in the 1970�s UK and the film follows the same narrative. In it, the main character is Dr. Robert Laing, played by Tom Hiddleston, who arrives at an ultra-modern, self-sustained (regarding regular modern needs like schools and supermarkets) residential tower. He begins his new life there, but soon the structure of both the tower and the tenants begins to splinter towards a horrific end.

Wheatley went for the Stanley Kubrick approach, shooting the High-Rise using very sterile shots that were meticulously set up. His cast works well with the environment, especially the main actor and Luke Evans as his violent and volatile counterpart. But, like the shots, the film remains strangely sterile as well, working like a clock mechanism but lacking its Cuckoo bird or something else to give it either some flavor or some edge.

Unlike his other equally strange films, the director tried to use the idea of decadence as the main emotional hook. But, this concept is very troublesome for the centerpiece element of any movie, mainly because a setting needs to be shown as true initially and then slowly slide into its dark corners. Here, all of the characters are repulsive from the get-go and get very little sympathy from the audience. This might be intentional, but it makes the transition as something the audience cares little about. A social message, if there is any, wasn�t really adapted for the time 40 years after the novel was written.

It�s good to know that Wheatley broke into the big league, but the High-Rise is not something that will provide him with many impressed fans, while Ballard aficionado can only be modestly happy that this film got made. If Johnson and Edwards are a good reference point for his future, Wheatley migth soon be getting his first offers to begin working in the Star Wars franchise.

Coming Soon: Incarnation

An independent film from Serbia, incarnation looks like an interesting psychological thriller, mixed with some lo-fi science fiction. The plot sees a young man who he is somehow forced to revisit the same moment in time in a city he does not recognize. Here, he is chased by four men in masks who are determined to kill him every time, while on the other side of reality, he finds himself in a hospital as a patient with no memory about who he is. 

The film was directed by Filip Kovacevic as his first film and hopefully, Incarnation will get some kind of a distribution deal. Check out its trailer below. 

Crowdfunding Push: Custodian

The domain of crowdfunding provides incredible opportunities for artists, but also, sometimes, nightmare scenarios. Scott Storm, a US-based writer, director, and animator recently experienced something similar when a funded project of his got a sum of $10,000 pulled out by on of the investors. Fortunately for him, the Seed&Spark service decided to cover 50% of that sum and now Scott is looking to attain the other half through an additional crowdfunding process. But, what is his film all about? Here�s what the page on Seed&Spark states:

Just like my most recent animated short film, 'The Apple Tree', 'Custodian' is 2D animated short created entirely on a computer and in any spare time I can scrape together. While the first film dealt with themes of whimsical adventures of youth and a touch of environmentalism, �Custodian� delves into darker, psychological themes like horror, guilt, isolation and the quest for redemption all of us have experienced.

Like the footage shows, Scott used traditional animation techniques and it�s great to see artists being engaged in these methods of movie-making. Aside from the animation fans, Custodian seems like a very promising film for horror fans and those into the medieval setting, especially everyone who likes the brilliant Game of Thrones series. Thanks to his lifelong interest in the medieval period there is little doubt that the author has all that it takes to create a dark, low-fantasy animation gem.

So far, the project raised 58% of its target with 14 days remaining. While it is a real shame that artists have to go through the possibility that includes pledged funds being recalled, it�s great that Scott is not giving up on Custodian. All those who want to help him either through a direct contribution or through sharing and following his campaign should check out the film's official Seed&Spark page.

Also, find out more about the project on its Facebook fan page, Twitter page, and author's website.