Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Forcing the series
Review by Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre August 26, 2008
(English version)

Directed by Dave Filoni
Lucasfilm Animation/ Warner Brothers

There’s a different Anakin Skywalker here. He’s not as uptight like before. Maybe because it’s computer animation. At least there’s no Jar Jar Binks.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars is the first animated movie of the series and the first movie from Lucasfilm Animation – the studio that George Lucas established a few years ago which has a unit in Singapore. This is also the first time Yoda isn’t voiced by Frank Oz, and the first Star Wars not to use original music from John Williams. One can almost say this is outside the Star Wars universe if George Lucas hadn’t produced this movie.

The good news is it’s a movie meant for kids. The bad news is that it may have one too many action pieces to make it appropriate for them.

In this version of The Clone Wars, the Galactic Republic under Chancellor Palpatine is engaged in an all-out-war with the separatist Confederacy under Count Dooku (still voiced by Christopher Lee). The events in this movie are between the stories of Episode II: Attack of the Clones and Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. After liberating one planet from occupying separatists, Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi are sent by the Jedi Council to search and retrieve Jabba the Hutt’s kidnapped infant child.

Unknown to the Council, Count Dooku and his assassin Asajj Ventress are behind the kidnapping, designed to instigate a three-way war between the Republic, the Separatists and the Outer-rim planets controlled by Jabba’s crime mafia. Helping the two Jedi Knights in this assignment is a new Padawan learner, Ashoka Tano, Anakin’s incessantly annoying young apprentice.

The CGI movie as a theatrical event is not entirely awful – maybe noisy and juvenile (just like its target market) – but decently executed by the same director of Avatar: The Last Airbender. However, this CGI version pales in comparison in storytelling, action, music and characterization to (and should not be confused with) the 2D hand-drawn animated Star Wars: Clone Wars series by Samurai Jack and Dexter's Laboratory creator Genndy Tartakovski aired in Cartoon Network in 2003. Let’s just say that one was targeted for older kids.

The Clone Wars is one giant videogame which doesn’t add anything new to the entire Star Wars saga, save for the introduction of Ashoka. She’ll fare better in terms of story line and character development in the upcoming series – she does nothing here but annoy Anakin like a pre-teen sister would. Apparently Padawans can be disrespectful to their Masters as long as they’re good with the lightsaber.

Having proven time and again that film franchises are the most lucrative in the business, it’s not surprising for the producers of Star Wars to stretch its merchandising to the furthest reaches of its universe. Star Wars: The Clone Wars the movie is basically a theatrical advertisement for the upcoming CGI animated series on Cartoon Network, the resulting videogame titles for Xbox, Playstation, PSP and Wii, and a lot more action figures.

Here’s one loud reason how Star Wars has become the cartoon that it is. The Force may not be strong in this movie, but somewhere inside, it’s still there.

Death Race

Road killer
Rebyu ni Vives Anunciacion
Review in Filipino
Inquirer Libre August 26, 2008

Written and Directed by Paul WS Anderson
Based on the movie Death Race 2000 by Roger Corman

Kung banggaan nga sa EDSA mapapalingon ka, sa isa pa kayang pelikulang walang preno sa salpukan at pagpapasabog ng mga sasakyan? Turbocharged ang action sa Death Race na parang walang krisis sa gasolina.

It is the year 2012 at bumagsak na ang ekonomiya ng lahat ng bansa pati na ang sa U.S. Malalaking korporasyon na ang nagpapatakbo ng mga utilities pati na mga kulungan. Isang ex-racecar driver si Jensen Ames (Jason Statham) na na-frame up at nakulong sa Terminal Island maximum security prison na mahigpit na pinatatakbo ni warden Claire Henessy (Joan Allen).

Kapalit ng kalayaan, kailangang makipagkarera ni Ames against other prisoners sa isang karera kung saan unahan sa finish line na buhay. Dahil sa Death Race, may nakakabit na machine gun, missile launcher, armor plate at kung anu-ano pang armas ang mga sasakyan. Katunayan, patay na ang 4-time champion na si Frankenstein, pero para mapagpatuloy na exciting ang labanan, pinasusuot kay Ames ang maskara nito. Pasimuno ito ni warden Henessy na pinagkakakitaan ang karera by broadcasting it pay-per-view style sa internet.

Kung nakalilito ang kwento deadma na, kailangan lang naman ng kaunting dahilan para magkaroon ng kaganapan ang matinding aksiyon ng Death Race. Walang social realism ek at superhero angst dito. Titulo pa lang, kuha mo na kung anong gusting patunguhan ng pelikula. Sa pagkakataong ito, tutoong action speaks louder than words.

Parang video game ang Death Race - konting intro sa bida, masamang kalaban, ilang extra characters – tapos puro bakbakan na. No use expecting Jason Statham to do drama, since the close-ups of his shoulder muscles are enough evidence that he’s capable of knocking out a taller guy using his bare hands. Built for action, ika nga. Oscar-nominee Joan Allen is quite amusing to watch going all-out campy as the cold-blooded bitchy warden. Paminsan-minsan nakakatawa si Coach (Ian McShane), ang hepe ng team ni Frankenstein/ Ames. At knockout sa ganda si Natalie Martinez bilang navigator na si Case.

What makes Death Race effective is that it doesn’t promise anything else except what its title says – lots and lots of death in a deadly, violent car race – which it delivers loudly with a bang. Sometimes, kailangan i-turn off ang utak para mag-save ng brain cells. Tapos sit back, relax, and get your motor running.

The X Files: I Want to Believe

Want no more
Review by Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre August 19, 2008

Directed by Chris Carter
Starring David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson

In technical terms, it’s properly treated and smartly made (I didn’t say it has an intelligent script). David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson are back in the roles that made them famous in The X Files: I Want to Believe. The good news is, just like the hit TV series this movie is based on, these two are the best parts of the show.

This is supposedly a stand-alone story that non-fans of the series can reasonably understand, but I guess a good knowledge of the TV show helps in better appreciating this movie. Pwera rito, I Want to Believe is just an okay drama-thriller tungkol sa dalawang tao who have supposedly matured in their relationship, but start questioning their beliefs in each other when extraordinary challenges face them again.

Six years after their last X Files adventure (the series ended in 2002) and ten years after the last movie (Fight the Future, in 1998), Fox Mulder (Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Anderson) are no longer agents of the FBI. Si Scully ay isa nang duktor sa isang Catholic hospital tending a child dying from an incurable brain disease. Mulder is in protective hiding to avoid further charges from the government whom he has accused of many conspiracies.

The two are forced out of “retirement” when they are enlisted by agent Dakota Whitney (Amanda Peet) to help the FBI locate a missing female FBI agent by aiding a pedophile priest who claims to have visions of the victim. Wala sa mga agents ang gustong maniwala sa pari, lalu na ang very rational at devoutly Catholic na Scully, except Mulder, whose interest in the case can be linked to his personal search for his missing sister. Science and faith are tested with and against each other, pero sa huli, lahat ng uri ng paniniwala nila ay masusubukan bago malutas ang kaso.

The best part of I Want to Believe is seeing Duchovny and Anderson relive their on-screen characters with true chemistry as if the relations between Mulder and Scully have truly aged through the years. The movie’s title is most appropriate with Scully and her terminal patient, on how she can make herself believe that she can still save the kid’s life even if her faith and her science deny her that possibility.

I would even dare say that up to a certain point, it’s a relatively smart, moody semi-creepy thriller more sophisticated than some blockbusters. Unfortunately for director Chris Carter, the mystery plot is just too thin for the big screen (Russian experiments, nanaman?) and the entire movie just feels like an okay edition of the series, which has had better episodes. In that sense I don’t see the point of I Want to Believe being on the big screen rather than being a made-for-TV-movie, which is what it is.

There’s good musical scoring and a few creepy surprises here and there, but overall I Want to Believe is no big deal – a better drama than a thriller but only a mild combination of the two. However, if Scully’s last line and the last image at the end of the credits mean anything, fans should see this movie as a proper closure to the beloved show.

WALL-E

Pixar's perfect
Review by Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre August 13, 2008

Written and Directed by Andrew Stanton
Pixar Animation/ Walt Disney
(Original review in mixed Filipino and English)

Whatever the praise, I'm not sure if people will easily like WALL-E, especially if another hyperactive comedic adventure is expected like recent animated features from Hollywood. The last half of WALL-E is standard Disney family entertainment, which by itself is reason to see the movie – but it’s not the reason why it’s great. The first half of the movie is an absolute masterpiece.

Like a Charlie Chaplin pantomime or a classic romance from the days of Cary Grant, WALL-E is an emotional, almost melancholic homage to many things cinema. And like its Japanese-studio counterparts who take anime seriously, Pixar takes storytelling back to its original, basic roots – visual storytelling.

Make sure to watch this movie in cinemas; I don’t think small screens will do this justice. Half of the show is silent (take note: silent) – so don’t spoil other people’s experience with its incredible sound design. Also, that means don’t go in the theaters late, there's a funny short animation called Presto! right before WALL-E screens.

WALL-E (short for Waste Allocation Load Lifter – Earth class) is the last functioning robot trash compactor on Earth, 700 years after humans filled the planet with garbage and left it for space. Day in and day out he collects garbage, alone except a pet cockroach he keeps as companion. At nighttime he watches a warped VHS tape of the musical Hello, Dolly!, hoping one day he will hold another being's hands like the dancers in the show do. That's 30 silent minutes of robot loneliness.

One day a giant spaceship lands, and out comes EVE (or Extra-terrestrial Vegetation Evaluator) -a sleek shiny new robot - to search for signs that Earth can be habitable again. In other words, it's love at first electronic sight for WALL-E – but the catch is catching how WALL-E catches EVE's attention. How their romance develops is truly touching, but the ways by which the emotions are evoked are truly magical. (Emotional robots - yes, it's magical.) As for the rest of the movie – which involves lazy, obese humans, uncontrolled consumerism and lots of crazy robots – that’s your standard Disney. The real gem of the movie is the heartwarming romance between WALL-E and EVE.

While the romance is a throwback to classic black-and-white Hollywood, WALL-E the movie makes obvious references to movie science fiction – from Short Circuit to Tron to 2001: A Space Odyssey. A small bit of trivia is that the sound of WALL-E is made by the same person who designed the sound in Star Wars. That’s why WALL-E the robot sounds like R2D2. Stay during the end credits, the images feature the evolution of art from cave-paintings to classical to renaissance to modernist and finally the digital age.

The last work of animation that moved me emotionally was Isao Takahata’s heartbreaking Grave of the Fireflies (Hotaru no haka), possibly one of the most depressing films of all time (Pixar’s Toy Story and Monsters, Inc. also come close). Fireflies initially wasn’t made for kids, although its story centered on two young siblings struggling to survive World War II. In a way this Hollywood animation approaches that milestone – it is foremost a work of genuine art, and then a piece of entertainment after.

Some people will complain that WALL-E is too slow. However that is the point of the movie: to make humans pause and look at the big picture again – quit the rush, because there's no second chance at opportunity.