Morning Movie Review

Over the last two or three days, I have seen 5 dystopian science fiction movies. If I focus on news from the United States, instead of on the lovely green view outside my window in this serene, park like Prague neighborhood, it seems like picking up a few pointers on how to survive the apocalypse might come in handy. Anyway, for my blog this morning, here are some thoughts on those films.
Waterworld was actually a darned good film and all the jokes about it being a financial disaster have long ago faded into irrelevance. Also, since that particular apocalyptic vision is appearing more and more likely, perhaps Kevin Costner will someday be viewed as visionary.
Children of Men had some interesting characters (Michael Caine was awesome as the old hippie dude), but I was sort of confused as to why a lack of children led to that particularly insane kind of society, and how they had no theories at all as to what was causing it, nor any plausible reason why there was suddenly an exception. Nonetheless, an outrageous battle scene near the end, where all of the dispensable characters are killed, and a happy, hopeful ending. So, weak on the science, good on the action, and acting.
Venom was really a piece of garbage, but I found it quite enjoyable garbage and most of the people who had their heads bitten off really deserved to have their heads bitten off. I wouldn’t discourage anybody from watching it.
Mars Attacks, of course, was a great film. This is completely irrelevant but, similar to in Venom, the aliens’ weakness was a particular sound. That’s definitely a line of defense we need to try if the Earth is ever invaded. Also, Pierce Brosnan has never been funnier than he was as a disembodied head.
Elysium, with Matt Damon, was the most interesting to me. That’s not to say ‘the best’ because it was fairly standard future horror world, an overcrowded future like Soylent Green, where a job meant working in slave like conditions but still, anybody with a job was considered lucky. I liked it because, at the heart of this dystopian future, there was also a utopian vision. That was Elysium, a Stanford Torus space station where all the rich people lived with neatly manicured parks, swimming pools, and elegant white mansions with curving staircases, marble floors, and medical beds that could cure anything from a broken leg to leukemia.
Utopia is as possible, technologically, as dystopia. We could have it. We’re not heading in that direction, but we could.