Oblivion

I took the afternoon off Friday, and in the mood for a film I went to the first afternoon showing of Oblivion, one of my most anticipated films of the year since I first saw the initial trailers a few months ago. People, this movie did NOT disappoint -- I absolutely LOVED it. LOVED IT!! Epic, twisty, romantic, and GORGEOUS, with a very human heart at the core of its bleak dystopian storyline, Oblivion is one of the best science fiction films I've seen in -- well, I don't know how long! :)

The year is 2077, sixty years after alien Scavengers (or "Scavs" as they're called throughout the film) destroyed the moon, unleashing a wave of devastating earthquakes and tsunamis that left the planet devastated. The survivors left alive fled to one of Saturn's moons (now called Titan) and Tet, a space outpost which oversees the activities of technicians like Jack Harper (Tom Cruise) and Victoria (Andrea Riseborough) stationed on Earth, tasked with overseeing the extraction of the planet's remaining resources for use on humanity's new Saturn-moon home. Jack and Victoria's main purpose is to protect the machines that extract the planet's seawater from Scav attacks, and to maintain the fleet of weaponized drones, programmed to eradicate any remaining hostile alien resistance.

Jack is a drone repairman, who leaves his station home, hundreds -- if not thousands -- of feet above the Earth's surface each day to repair Scav damage to the drones from the night before. Victoria, the team's communications officer (as well as Jack's lover), remains behind to monitor his work via and relay their progress to Sally (Melissa Leo), their contact on Tet with the creepily sugar-sweet southern accent. With only two weeks left in their assignment before the promised evacuation to Titan, Victoria is excited and eager that nothing go amiss, anxious to keep their superiors impressed with their effectiveness as a team. Jack, however, is strangely reluctant to leave the devastated planet, carrying within a secret that he's loathe to share even with Victoria -- he's haunted by dreams of Earth, of a pre-war New York City, and of the face of a woman he doesn't know yet finds himself inextricably drawn to imagine every time he closes his eyes.

One day, a routine drone repair mission goes horribly wrong. Following a drone signal into a sinkhole -- which turns out to be the remnants of a library -- Jack is cornered by a cleverly-executed Scavs trap and nearly captured. His close call with the Scavs causes Jack to start to question everything he's assumed about his enemy and their goals as regards his work. After the unthinkable happens and the Scavs succeed in destroying one of the water collection stations under Jack and Victoria's care, he discovers a Scav signal beacon using the spire of the Empire State Building to send a signal into space. He destroys their device, but not before it does its work, bringing an orbiting spaceship crashing to Earth -- a spaceship containing hibernation pods holding humans, one of whom is a woman with the face that's haunted Jack's dreams -- a woman who knows his name.

Jack is horrified when the drones attack the helpless pods, managing to save only one -- his mystery woman, who turns out to be an astronaut named Julia (Olga Kurylenko) who's been in stasis for sixty years. When he defies Victoria's wishes and takes Julia back to the crash site to retrieve the ship's black box recorder, they're captured by a group of Scavs -- and the enemy turns out to be the last thing Jack ever suspected. The Scavs he's been taught to hate are fellow humans, survivors of the war led by an old soldier named Beech (Morgan Freeman). Beech pushes Jack to look beyond the boundaries of the life he's been living -- the work, the off-limits, allegedly radiation-poisoned areas of Earth -- and see the truth about Sally and the Tet -- that there are no aliens, and that everything Jack thought he knew about the war was a lie.

I'm going to pause my recap of the film there, because for me part of the joy in this film experience was in watching the twists and turns of the plot unfold. But seeing as I have never been what one could call a spoiler-free blog, I'll save a few points that I can't resist addressing until the end of this post. :)

The world of this film, the look, is just amazingly rendered on-screen. The post-apocalyptic scenes of Earth, battered nearly beyond recognition, are made all the more eerie by the glimpses Jack encounters in his daily work of the life that existed before the invasion -- remnants of the Brooklyn Bridge, the crumbled stone facade of a library, etc. The most striking is perhaps the top portion of the remnants of the Empire State Building, at least eighty-percent of the structure buried under rubble, with only the battered remainder of the iconic observation deck and the spire still in view. The familiar, half-hidden by the rubble of a ravaged planet, is at once both frightening and eerily captivating.

The clean, sharp lines of Jack and Victoria's outpost home, all silver and glass and chrome (nicely reflected in Victoria's costuming choices -- where Jack gets dirty and worn in his work on-planet, Victoria remains freakishly perfect, smartly dressed and coiffed, almost eerily reminiscent of the Stepford Wives. As the film progresses there is an eerie sense of inevitability in all of Jack and Victoria's interactions -- every time he questions something about their life or work, she knows just the right word or action to take to refocus Jack's attention, dismissing his questions.

While Jack's station is all clean, sharp lines, the rubble of the portion of the planet they're tasked with overseeing stands in stark contrast to the clean lines of their base -- it's a harsh, inhuman environment, until Jack uncovers more and more of the fragmented rubble of a once-vibrant civilization, especially books. Books are, of course, not the only detritus of humanity that Jack covertly collects during his drone-repair missions, but as a bibliophile myself they are the most meaningful -- records of one of humanity's most precious gifts, imagination, free-thinking. Jack collects his treasures and brings them to his secret woodland hideaway, a pocket of Earth filled with forest and lakes. It is unclear if this is simply a corner of the world that missed the apocalyptic conflict that destroyed most of humanity, or if it is the Earth gradually being re-born -- but either way, the beauty of Jack's hideaway in contrast to the desolation overseen by the drones speaks to the wild vibrancy of pre-war life, a life that stands in stark contrast to Jack and Victoria's very scripted relationship and work.

I've seen some reviews of Oblivion arguing that it's too derivative, the elements that make up the story have all been done before -- or that it's sexist, focusing on Jack's transformation and heroic journey a the expense of the film's two female characters. To address the first point, if previously explored plot elements or sci-fi tropes are presented to me in a new, fresh, glossy package -- I love the twist. To address the second point -- I tend to accept the characters in this film at face value, and this is very simply Jack's story. I don't think he's heroic at the expense of the female characters -- if anything, Victoria is tragically a victim, through no fault of her own, while Julia exhibits a quiet strength that I find in no way diminishes her vis-a-vis Jack's more "flashy" heroics, and Jack's determined attempts to do right by both of the women in his life are arguably admirable. In sum, if I'm taking a simplistic view I'm willing to give the film many subsequent viewings to change my mind. :)

Here's where things are going to get a little spoiler-y. Prompted by Beech's veiled hints that there is more than meets the eye to Jack's work, he and Julia risk an excursion into one of the off-limits radiation zones -- only to discover that there is no radiation, and most shockingly, Jack has a double -- Tech 52, performing the identical drone-repair tasks. This is where things get really interesting in my view, as Jack #1, also known as Tech 49, not only has to process that his work is a lie and his memories of a pre-war life with Julia are real -- but that he is a clone, something that should not be. Everything the Scav survivors believe, everything within Tech 42's slowly reawakening humanity argue that a clone is more machine than human, a pale copy of its source DNA.

And this is what I loved about Oblivion -- it's suggestion that what makes humans human -- free choice, the ability to love, to think -- is a spark that the machine that resides in the Tet, that seeks to strip Earth of its resources, can never truly extinguish. Simplistic? Sure...but Jack is a likeable character here, and I thoroughly enjoyed the world of the film and the way in which Jack's awakening, his sacrifice, unfolds on-screen.

Here Cruise is very much in his element as the man versus the "system," if you will -- and like him or loathe him (and I used to count myself in the latter camp, for some reason I will never understand, as the Mission: Impossible movies are just plain awesome), I have to give him props for turning in a performance that felt both moving and authentic. And I loved seeing Kurylenko on-screen again -- her role here is admittedly a small one, but it's pivotal to the storyline, and I'd argue her character here is a step up from her appearance as Camille in Quantum of Solace (although Camille is admittedly one of the stronger heroines in the Bond series).

Also, since I don't watch Game of Thrones I've apparently been missing out on this incredibly gorgeous Danish guy named Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, playing Beech's second-in-command Sykes. I thought about posting a picture of Nikolaj actually in this film, but then I googled him and came up with this, so you're welcome:

This is only director Joseph Kosinski's second film, but seeing as Oblivion is based on his original, never-published graphic novel concept, if this guy ever directs anything besides Tron films in the future (sorry, I just have no interest in going THERE) I'm definitely interested -- I think he's got a fantastic imagination, and the world-building he oversees in this film is just superbly done. And the score, people, THE SCORE! The music is just GORGEOUS -- sweeping and romantic and tension-filled by turns, it's become a new favorite.

Oblivion happily lived up to all of my expectations and was a thoroughly entertaining, occasionally thought-provoking, GORGEOUS piece of cinematic science fiction. I can't wait to revisit it.

The Dark Knight Rises

In preparation for seeing The Dark Knight Rises I re-watched Batman Begins and The Dark Knight for the first time in -- well, I'm not sure how long. TOO long. I'd forgotten the power of those films, and how they never fail to draw a deep, visceral, emotional response from me every time I view them, without fail. Christopher Nolan's darkly compelling reimagining of the Batman legend is storytelling at its finest, exhilarating, powerful, and moving. I feel as though I can't really look at this film as a single entity -- it really is just the third act of Nolan's Batman epic. And as such, I thought it was beautifully told. There are apt to be lots of spoilers below, just so's you know. :)

After I finished watching The Dark Knight, I went back to my old blog and read my thoughts on that film (that was 2008? where has the time gone?). I was once again powerfully struck by Batman's sacrifice at the end of TDK, where he takes the blame for the crimes Gotham's White Knight, Harvey Dent, committed as Two-Face prior to his death. If the Joker taught Batman anything, it was that there is a very thin line between hero and vigilante. If all -- or at least part -- of the reason Bruce Wayne initially donned Batman's cowl mask was to become a symbol for the people of his city, to embody the idea that anyone could make a difference, he takes a step towards the ultimate sacrifice by allowing himself to become the villain in order that Gotham might have hope, an ideal to cling to in the darkest night. As the then-Lieutenant Gordan explained to his son, Batman isn't the hero Gotham wanted, but the one she deserves. They'll chase him because they need to, and because he can take it, because he's willing to be whatever Gotham needs in order to give the people of the city the strength to rise up against crime and lawlessness. That was Batman's gift -- taking on Dent's guilt and leaving Gotham with the hope of something incorruptible and pure -- a line he crossed a long time ago.

The Dark Knight Rises picks up eight years after Harvey Dent's (Aaron Eckhart) death, the former District Attorney memorialized as a hero. The Dent Act, inspired by his heroism, has given Gotham's law enforcement the power need to virtually elimate crime. Superficially, all seems well -- but Gordon (Gary Oldman), now the police commissioner, is increasingly sick with guilt over his part in perpetuating the myth of Dent's nobility at the expense of Batman's reputation. Billionaire Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) has become a recluse, whose notoriety only grows with each passing year that he spends in self-imposed seclusion on his estate. Following a large investment in Wayne Enterprises board member Miranda Tate's (Marion Cotillard) clean energy project -- a device designed to harness fusion power -- Wayne pulled funding when he learned that the device's core could be modified and transformed into a nuclear bomb. The failed project has left the once powerful and influential Wayne Enterprises in financial flux and turmoil, ripe for a takeover bid -- and waiting in the wings is an unscrupulous business rival, Daggett (Ben Mendelsohn), eager to deal the once-mighty company a final death blow.

Superficially, Gotham is more peaceful than it has been in years -- but as her once-mighty guardians Gordon and Wayne sit sick with the knowledge that the peace was bought with a lie, no matter how well-intentioned -- the city itself is crumbling from within. There are rumors of an army assembling beneath of the city, led by a ruthless mercenary -- as Gordon painfully discovers when investigating the kidnapping of a congressman. Gordon's only ally is a streetwise police officer named Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who grew up in an orphan's home funded by the Wayne family. Blake's family history is heart-breakingly similar to Bruce's -- and he has identified so strongly with the Bruce's family heartache that he's seen beyond the playboy persona and pegged the recluse as Gotham's Dark Knight. Blake and Gordon know their city needs its caped crusader -- but Batman has been absent for so long, could he survive another war with unspeakable evil? And as the ever-faithful Alfred (Michael Caine) worries, does he even want to?

Nolan doesn't miss a beat in bringing Batman's story full circle. I was blown away by how many threads from the first two films were woven into this final act. This is thorough, thoughtful, timeless storytelling. Over the years throughout this filmic journey I've been struck again and again by the manner in which Nolan utilizes the heroic journey template to bring Batman's story to life. In The Hero With a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell posits that the archetypal hero receives a call to adventure that requires him to set himself apart, venture into previously unknown territory, survive trials and complete quests, and then return to society where he shares the fruits of his knowledge and accomplishments. According to Campbell, the purpose of trials is to conduct individuals 'across those difficult thresholds of transformation that demand a change in patterns not only of conscious but also of unconscious life' (as discussed in my undergraduate thesis).

Tortured by his parents' murders, Bruce became Batman for a two-fold purpose -- to make a difference, to become a symbol of resistance to evil, but also in an attempt to exorcise the demons that haunt him. Because fighting evil at the level Batman encounters cannot help but change a man -- and every time he puts on that mask, every time he faces unspeakable evil, he dances with the risk of losing his own precious sense of humanity. That, I think, is how best I can articulate Alfred's grief over his son in every way but name -- his heart's desire is to know that Bruce could live free from the shackles of the past. His devotion is raw, pure, and heart-breaking. Caine's portrayal of Alfred breaks my heart every single time, and every time leaves me breathless, on the edge of my seat in awe of Bruce's drive and wondering how he can possibly come back from one more ride as the Dark Knight.

I suppose  the "easiest" way to finish up my discussion of this film, and in the hope of touching on as many of the elements that I loved, is to talk characters. I have loved every second watching Christian Bale's journey as Bruce Wayne/Batman. When Wayne the recluse was first introduced, my first thought was "Look! Wayne's an American Rochester!" (A Jane Eyre reference is always appropriate, no? Ha!!) Ever since Rachel's (Maggie Gyllenhaal) death at the end of The Dark Knight, Bruce has remained "stuck" in limbo, because with her death he believed he'd lost his one shot at a life beyond Batman. The revelation that Rachel would've chosen Harvey Dent if she'd lived, and that Alfred had kept that knowledge from him was positively gut-wrenching -- especially in how it leads him to reject the ever-faithful Alfred.

Meeting Blake and Selina Kyle, a.k.a. Catwoman (Anne Hathaway) are turning points for Bruce, as through them we see, I think, for the first time him realize that he has an opportunity to sow into their lives, to take everything his experiences as Bruce and Batman have taught him and share it (the final step in Campbell's heroic cycle). In Blake, Batman recognizes a kindred spirit, someone willing and capable of stepping into his shoes as Gothoam's symbol of resistance. Joseph Gordon-Levitt was just amazing as Blake -- principled, driven, loyal to Gordon, willing to risk the ire of fellow officers like Foley (Matthew Modine) to follow his gut instincts. I loved the energy and physicality Gordon-Levitt brought to the role, and that hint of brokenness behind the eyes, so similar to Bruce's -- yet perhaps not quite so in danger of losing himself, because of how he seems grounded in serving/mentoring his fellow orphans. And while his full legal name -- Robin John Blake -- comes as no surprise by the end of the film, the official reveal is an extremely satisfying moment. I loved the fact that rather than develop a partner relationship between the two, Batman mentors Blake and then gives him the ability to continue as his heir.

I confess I was a little nervous when I first heard that Hathaway had been case as Catwoman. Catwoman has been a favorite character of mine ever since I was a child -- I loved her style, her cat ears, and as I grew older, that sense of ambiguity and attraction between her and Batman. The script handles her character brilliantly and Hathaway more than rises to the occasion. Selina Kyle is, in her own way, just as broken as Bruce Wayne, just as desperate for a fresh start -- and until she meets Bruce/Batman, unable to see a way to achieve that new beginning without selfishly doing whatever it takes in order to guarantee her survival. It isn't until she effectively signs Batman's death warrant at Bane's hands that you see regret crack her steely demeanor -- and when he returns, the realization that he still sees the possibility for good in her, in spite of what she's done, that is what empowers her to change. More than the momentary flirtation Bruce Wayne shares with Miranda Tate, I loved the soul-deep connection this film forges between Batman and Catwoman, and the way in which it explores the idea that these two broken, wounded people can rise above their pasts to make a difference in their world.

Tom Hardy as the mercenary Bane was interesting. I am really a fan of Hardy as an actor but the character of Bane left me a little...flat. Compared to the Joker or the fear unleased by Ra's Al Ghul (Liam Neeson), he struck me as such a run-of-the-mill terrorist. Absolutely, 100%, crazy and evil yes -- but more interesting because of his history with the League of Shadows and relationship with Ra's Al Ghul's heir than his status as an arch-villain. He didn't stand alone for me -- he was a puppet. I remember reading that Hardy had to redo his dialogue because the initial cut was so garbled -- and laying the re-done dialogue over the existing soundtrack didn't do Bane any favors, either. It seemed separate from the film, in a way.

That said, I loved the reveal of Bane's history and how it related to Miranda Tate, revealed to be the true mastermind behind the latest attack on Gotham, because she is the daughter of Batman's mentor -- Ra's Al Ghul. First of all, Cotillard is unbelievably classy-looking, and I loved her whole demeanor as Tate -- and then the turn, when she reveals that she's been playing Wayne all along. This was a long con, brilliantly executed, and her cold-blooded plotting honestly scared me more than Bane's thuggery.

I've already mentioned how much I adore Caine as Alfred. It was also wonderful to see Morgan Freeman return one final time as Lucius Fox. I loved the moment at the end of the film when  he examines the Bat and realizes that Wayne had already fixed the autopilot issues -- and that against all odds he could've survived. That look -- oh it was priceless. In the category of people I never expected to see in this film, we have Burn Gorman, the Torchwood vet as Stryver, an associate of Daggett's, and then there's Sgt. Wu -- I mean Reggie Lee! -- as Ross, Blake's partner on the police force (thanks to Grimm I can't think of Lee as anyone other than Wu, lol!). I also loved seeing Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy) and Ra's Al Ghul make return appearances in this film -- Nolan never missed a beat. :)

Google The Dark Knight Rises and Charles Dickens, and you have your choice of articles discussing how Nolan was inspired by the classic A Tale of Two Cities when penning the script for Batman's final chapter. Dickens's tale of the French Revolution is all over the final third of this film in particular, lending a timeless quality to the chilling scenes of the show trials and Bane's efforts to get the Gotham populace to tear down its wealthy, and the scenes of the resistance led by Gordon and Blake. There is a particularly effective moment when Selena Kyle finds a family photo in a trashed home, and realizes, perhaps for the first time, the human cost of this "revolution."

When Bane throws Batman in his hellish pit of a prison, the trilogy really comes full circle. Batman Begins opens with Bruce Wayne in prison, so eaten alive with the pain of loss and rage that he was willing to live there in order to fight criminals. This time, this time the prison is not only literal but a symbol, and in breaking out of it, Bruce sheds the shackles of his past. He is literally and figuratively reborn when he emerges from the pit, ready for one final battle as the Batman -- but not just for himself, for his broken and besieged city. In making that final, apparently fatal sacrifice to save Gotham, Batman reveals that he is finally ready to relinquish his dual identity and move on with his life. (Side note: the look on Gordon's face when he realizes that Bruce Wayne, the child he offered comfort to years earlier has been his staunchest ally against crime, responsible for saving his son's life -- it's a powerful illustration of how one never knows what little, perhaps seemingly inconsequential moments, sow into the lives of others to bear fruit years later.)

At Bruce Wayne's funeral, Gordon reads the following passage from A Tale of Two Cities:

"I see a beautiful city and a brilliant people rising from this abyss, and, in their struggles to be truly free, in their triumphs and defeats, though long to come, I see the evil of this time and of the previous time of which this is the natural birth, gradually making expiation for itself and wearing out....It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known."

That is a fitting summation of Bruce Wayne's final gift to his city -- enabling them to rise above, to survive and (hopefully) thrive after Bane's assault -- the gift of faith that they could do so without him -- but he doesn't leave them forsaken. In willing the Batcave to a worthy successor in Blake, in seeing the Bat Signal repaired, lies an assurance to two o fhis staunchest allies that they will never be alone. Unlike the immortality Ra's Al Ghul saught to achieve, Batman's legacy as a symbol of sacrifice and hope is oh so much more powerful. And Bruce's final gift, of allowing Alfred to see that he'll be okay -- oh that brought tears to my eyes. He's finally, I hope, achieved a measure of the peace that proved so elusive.

I sincerely hope that come awards season The Dark Knight Rises receives a slew of nominations. This film, and the trilogy as a whole, is an epic accomplishment in every sense of that phrase. From Nolan's masterful direction, to the tightly-plotted scripts, character arcs, set and costume design, and yes, the musc -- love Hans Zimmer's scores! -- Nolan's Batman trilogy is a breath-taking, cinematic tour-de-force. Seeing Bruce's hard-won measure of peace -- it's been a long journey but one well worth the taking.

*Images copyright Warner Bros./DC Comics.

The Dark Knight Rises trailer

I am so ridiculously excited about this film.



Thoughts? I think Christopher Nolan has done a brilliant job with the character of Batman, and from the looks of the teaser trailer and the cast list ("series" regulars Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, and Morgan Freeman are being joined by Tom Hardy, Joseph Godon-Levitt, Anne Hathaway, and Marion Cotillard), The Dark Knight Rises will be the best installment - and a fitting conclusion - to Nolan's richly compelling, dark, and gritty reimaging of the Batman story. It'll certainly be one of my most anticipated films of 2012 at the very least. :)