MOVIE REVIEW: The Island (2005)

GENRE: Action / Science Fiction
ACTORS: Ewan McGregor, Scarlett Johansson, Djimon Hounsou, Steve Buscemi, Sean Bean, Michael Clarke Duncan, Ethan Phillips, Brian Stepanek, Noa Tishby, Siobhan Flynn
RATING: PG-13
PARENTAL NOTE: Not suitable for children. Lots of violence. Killing and mayhem aplenty, though not really explicit “gore.” The chase scene shows a lot of “bad” guys being killed, and implies collateral deaths by bystanders.
INTENDED AUDIENCE: This movie is suitable for adults, though it may not be appreciated by those who are not fans of the genre.
GENERAL PLOT: (No spoilers) Futuristic look at a colony living underground in a contaminated world. They are waiting for a chance to win a lottery to go to “the Island”–the last unpolluted place left above ground, on Earth

REVIEW: As one expects from a science fiction and/or action film, it turns out that the situation was not actually as originally believed by the main characters. Though I can’t call this a “wholesome” or especially “thought provoking” movie, the film did score a couple of important points:
(1) Humans SHOULD NOT take human life[1. Exodus 20:13 ];
(2) Only God CAN create human life[1. Not stated in as many words. However, the main evil character is referred to as “playing God” in a negative sense]; and
(3) Matters of life and death are best left to God.[2. Perhaps I’m too optimistic, but to me, this idea is implied.]

Note: Click on the screen after the video loads if you need to go to the YouTube website for a bigger picture.

RECOMMENDATION: This is an action movie. Many people will be highly offended by every movie in this genre because of the violence, and other questionable elements. There may have been some bad language, but it was not prevalent. I don’t count curse words when I watch a movie. Aside from the moral message, the main draws to this movie were (not necessarily in the order of importance) the big chase scene and Scarlett Johansson. I believe a lot of people[4. Men.] would be very forgiving of shortcomings in plot, acting and execution, so long as Scarlett Johansson’s image fills the screen so much of this movie. Speaking of the plot and the acting–they were OK for a major motion picture. No one is going to mistake this film for the best movie ever made, but I felt somewhat satisfied by the experience of watching it.
RATING (out of 5 stars): ★★★★★

NOTES:

MOVIE REVIEW: Night of the Living Dead (1968)

GENRE: Zombie Horror
ACTORS: Duane Jones, Judith O’Dea, Karl Hardman, Marilyn Eastman, Keith Wayne, Judith Ridley, Adam Knox
DIRECTOR: George A. Romero
RATING: Unrated
PARENTAL NOTE: Not intended for children. Extreme violence. Zombie mayhem and gore.
INTENDED AUDIENCE: This movie is intended for fans of the genre, and may not be appreciated by others.
GENERAL PLOT: (No spoilers) A group of dissimilar people end up in a remote farmhouse fighting the zombie horde. Can they survive the zombie onslaught–and themselves?

REVIEW: Some people[1. Tom Truex] will tell you that Night of the Living Dead is the most important movie in the most impotant sub-genre (zombie) of the most important movie genre (horror). This film would be laughable if released today. But in 1968, it was completely groundbreaking. It has really defined the genre for the hundreds (perhaps thousands) of zombie movies which followed. This film defined the zombie as we know it–a slow, lumbering[2. Recent films, such as the 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead show us fast moving zombies–an abomination to the “zombie purist.” Frankly, I welcome the fast moving zombie, which in my view is more lethal, and hence more scary] killing machine. Move too slow, get bit, and you too can join the zombie way of life (or death, or undead). Anyway, back to this movie: if you can get past it being in black and white, and the overacting, it remains a pretty scary movie. I’ve seen Night of the Living Dead so many times that I don’t jump any more. But for the first time viewer, the suspense, the horror, and the over the top gore are sure to thrill.
RECOMMENDATION:[2. If you wonder why zombie themes and horror films have space on a Christian website like K_Line Christian Online, please see my blog post on point] This is a zombie horror movie–though admittedly somewhat tame by comparison to current zombie movies. Many people will be highly offended by every movie in this genre because of the graphic violence, gore, language and other questionable elements. However, if you are a fan of this genre–you have to respect this groundbreaking work of art for the great movie that it is.
RATING (out of 5 stars): ★★★★★★

MOVIE REVIEW: 2012 (2009)

GENRE: Action, Science Fiction Disaster
ACTORS: John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, Thandie Newton, Danny Glover, Woody Harrelson, Chin Han, Patrick Bauchau, Thomas McCarthy
RATING: PG-13
PARENTAL NOTE: I believe the movie makers think this movie is suitable for older children. I do not. Limited bad language. Extreme violence, though individuals are not shown being killed, except at a distance. Movie portrays mass killing.
INTENDED AUDIENCE: Intended for older teens and adults. Many people will be put off by depiction of mass killings.
GENERAL PLOT: (No spoilers) This film shows the full power of the Sun[1. More precisely, a rare alignment of the Sun and the rest of the solar system] unleashed against the planet Earth. Guess which one wins. Oh, and the human race is inconveniently caught in the middle of this cosmic battle of Biblical proportions. All of this was supposedly predicted a few centuries back in the Mayan calendar.

REVIEW: This movie depicts the annihilation of the better part of the human race. A typical horror movie kills off a few dozen to a few hundred people. OK, the zombie genre often implies mass zombification, but it’s usually left to the imagination, and who’s counting? 2012 manages to kill off billions–and seeks to show as many of the deaths as possible, either individually or en masse. The one redeeming point of this film is the spectacular special effects. Again, it gives a spectacular presentation of a disaster of Biblical proportions. The special effects bump up my rating by two stars, but there isn’t much else to recommend the film. The “science” part of the science fiction is pretty thin. The plot would be silly if not so tragic. The moral of the story is apparently, that there is nothing like the end of the world to kill off inconvenient third parties and re-unite a family.
RECOMMENDATION: Many people will be highly offended by extreme violence. In fact, it’s not really my cup of tea. Unless you are drawn by the special effects (which are, in fact breathtaking), save yourself the 2 hours and 38 minute viewing time.
RATING (out of 5 stars): ★★★★★