Across the Universe

If you've ever watched The Wall or Tommy and wished that there was a psychedelic film done to Beatles music, then Across the Universe is for you. I have to say, it starts off not half bad. I was reminded of Moulin Rouge, which I really enjoyed in spite of Nicole Kidman. The music is appealing and well done with enough homage to the original renditions that it is likable, and more importantly, recognizable to even the most musically challenged individuals. Done mostly chronologically, the songs elicit a nostalgia that is enjoyable and lets you forget the mediocre acting and story that is on the screen. For awhile.

The film goes on. And on. And on for a seemingly endless period of time. I must admit, I am a huge Beatles fan, and most of my favorites were sung, but there was one crucial song missing; Yesterday, the most covered song of all time. However, this oversight or intentional subversion, whichever it happened to be, did little to detract from the film.

Set in the early 1960's, converging story lines of characters with names found in Beatles songs highlight the decade of peace, love, war and civil disobedience. The main characters, Jude and Lucy meet, fall in and out of love, and reconnect after the scarring trauma of the Vietnam War. Really though, it is not as heavy as it sounds. The war scenes start with a bang, and end with slow motion singing and over the top visual effects. Taking countless cues from The Wall, this film is far from original.

The highlights are certainly the adaptations of the songs, and presentation. The choreography and some of the trippy visuals that accompany the musical interludes are thoughtful and clever. However, the story is stagnant and stale. The characters never fully develop, and although it is a light-hearted intentionally provocative and quite possibly one of the more creative displays of film making of the past year, it is ultimately not entertaining enough.

A great idea, and wonderful musical numbers, but everything else falls flat. Perhaps it is the depressing journey through drugs and the war, and maybe it is the music itself that brings the tone down a notch, but either way, the film as a whole fails. 6/10 for the musical presentation, but that is sadly generous.

Jumper

Doug Liman has had his ups and downs as a director. Coming off of the brilliant Mr. and Mrs. Smith, as well as the Bourne Identity and Swingers, he has become a big name in the action film genre. Somebody called this movie "The Matrix meets Bourne" and they must have been watching a different film than I was.

The tagline "Anywhere is possible" almost holds true. The premise of the film is that Hayden Christiansen, a 15 year old boy, discovers the ability to teleport to anywhere that he has seen with his own eyes. Initially it is an accident, but as with any superhero flick, he harnesses his power and begins to enjoy it. Presumed dead, he disappears for the next 8 years, travelling, stealing money and womanizing.

The visual effects are pretty impressive, but they do get old quickly. The jumper runs into another jumper with similar powers, his old high school flame, and the obligatory government agency that is chasing jumpers and killing them. This is where the movie gets ridiculous (as if it weren't already).

Rachel Bilson is drop dead gorgeous in the cutest girl-next-door way possible, but either she is the worst actress of this generation, or her character intentionally lacked any intellectual depth. Either way, it was annoying. The other jumper, played by Jamie Bell is the typical veteran who has all the answers, but is a loner and refuses to share information or resources. Samuel Jackson plays the leader of the mysterious agency, and makes a noble attempt at cool with bright white hair, but fails miserably because there is no development or explanation. Who funds the agency? Why are they chasing the jumpers? There is a laughable veiled explanation that teleporting is unnatural, and only God should be omnipresent. That doesn't hold much water, especially for a global travelling team of hunters equipped with the latest in wormhole technology (insert barfing sound here).

As expected, Christiansen puts himself, the other jumper, and Bilson in danger, but the reality is that they are all idiots. The hunters are equipped with high-tech stun guns that deliver massive amounts of voltage to the jumpers and inhibit their ability to concentrate on a place to teleport. The problem that I have is that if I had the ability to teleport, I would make sure that I never got caught in an electrically charged net. Christiansen should have done the same. Bell should have done the same. The movie would have been decent had they been wise enough to protect themselves.

I can suspend belief for a movie, but when it jumps the tracks of its own logic and rules, I get a little upset. The kicker came at the end, when there is a revelation about Christiansen's lineage. Possible sequel? Who knows. Hopefully the film won't make enough money to be considered for further production.

The effects and the premise were great. Even the allusion of superhero powers used for a self-promoting purpose is appealing. I liked that he didn't put on a costume and save innocent people. I kind of liked that he burgled banks, womanized and enjoyed his peaceful existence traipsing around the world, lounging atop the Sphinx or drinking at a pub in Ireland. The possibilities are endless. The problem comes in when the love interest is a complete dolt and the parameters of the superpowers are suddenly compromised by illogical elements.

I suppose that it would be too fantastic otherwise, but what began as a great idea was released as a pretty horrible movie. 6/10, for the idea and effects alone.

Sunshine

The premise of this film is simple enough; futuristic sci-fi apocalyptic tale where the sun is dying, and a crew is sent to nuke it into reigniting itself. The previews even made it look interesting, and Danny Boyle, although quite eccentric in his directing style, followed far too many space movie cliches to succeed with this one.

The crew of the Icarus II is the second attempt by a global consortium at this endeavor, and nobody can explain the first crew's mysterious failure. This sidebar story leaves little to the imagination, and ultimately ruins the film's integrity. As they proceed closer to the sun, things start going wrong, crew members start dying, and we are ultimately left in the dark as to what is even going on. There is too much shaky camera movement, there is absolutely no character development. In fact, I couldn't even tell you any of the characters' names even if I wanted to. Reminiscent of Event Horizon minus the gore, and obviously taking cues from Kubrick, Boyle absolutely muddles the story and inserts far too many predictable and redundant space movie scenarios.

Perhaps the best line of the film comes when a small exploratory crew docks upon the original Icarus and someone suggests that they split up. One of the characters spouts "Right, so an alien can pick us off one by one?" My sentiments exactly. The "twist" if you want to call it that is severely disappointing, and although some of the visual effects were dazzling and the premise is intriguing to say the least, there were some problems.

First of all, it is a crew of eight. Each one has an area of expertise and nobody else has any knowledge of that area. Why do space movies always follow this paradigm? Wouldn't it be better to have a larger crew so that in the case of catastrophic events, or even just an accident, everyone doesn't have to die? Second, I have little knowledge about the science of physics, particularly as it relates to the energy output of the sun and UV rays, and solar bursts, and everything sun-related, but many of the details seemed to be overlooked.

Overall, this film did not hold up to expectations. The cast was forgettable, and the story got out of control after some initial promise. It has been a long time since there was a truly good sci-fi space flick (1986), and I'm still waiting for the next. I won't give up on the genre, but I would not recommend Sunshine. 5/10.