From Atlantis to Interzone

I’m not one to usually devote a month or any short period of time to exploring the work of a director, but I have decided that, in 2009, I want to explore the filmographies of the following directors at least somewhat, even if I only manage to see one film by them. Bare in mind that I have not seen a single feature film from any of these listed directors.

Robert Bresson
Carl Dreyer
Sergei Eisenstein
Rainer Werner Fassbinder
D.W. Griffith
Hou Hsiao-Hsien
Alejandro Jodorowsky
Buster Keaton
Guy Maddin
Tsai Ming-Liang
Kenji Mizoguchi
F.W. Murnau
François Ozon
Satyajit Ray
Carol Reed
Jean Renoir
Jacques Rivette
Eric Rohmer
Vittorio De Sica
Douglas Sirk
Andrei Tarkovsky
Jean Vigo
Luchino Visconti
William Wyler

“Incredibly banal” sums it up quite well because this is one of the dullest action films in quite some time. After Ang Lee’s film I had my suspicions that this character just can’t work on film, and this follow-up/reworking confirms them. There just seems to be this inherent weightlessness to any CGI Hulk, as well as the character of Abomination, and so every scene with this transformed Bruce Banner is like watching a big uninteresting green shape bouncing around. This may be somewhat excusable if the rest of the film were remotely interesting but it isn’t. Banner’s psychological issues aren’t dealt with in any meaningful way and he really is quite a weak protagonist. I don’t think Edward Norton is bad in the role but for an actor known for portraying psychologically complex individuals I expected a little more to his performance. Likewise, I could say the same for Tim Roth, who seems to attempt to chew the scenery but gets stuck choking on the bad dialogue and poorly realised character he’s given. William Hurt has something of a dull voice, and this works for him in some roles, but in the role of a high ranking authority figure he completely fails to be at all menacing.

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There seems to be this current trend of filmmakers deliberately aping cult films of the past so as to achieve a similar status. Of course, those films achieved such cult status out of pure circumstance. There is no formula to gain such success and so such direct referencing as that present in Neil Marshall’s third film was bound to fail. It’s all well and good to respectfully homage your idols in your work but it’s another thing entirely to virtually swipe scenarios from other films and mix them up in an attempt to create a story. Some of the central villains, to name an example of what I’m referring to, don the same sort of look as the those of The Road Warrior and, bar their cannibalistic nature, are virtually the same characters. The film’s climactic chase sequence is also such a blatant rip-off of that film’s that it’s not even funny. Whoever decided that scene should have Frankie Goes to Hollywood‘s “Two Tribes” playing over it needs to be punished. Along with the complete lack of an original vision, the film suffers in that it’s just not remotely entertaining. Despite some frenetic editing, virtually all of the film falls flat, rendering it something of a chore to sit through. The only particularly strong emotional reaction that I had to it was being rather repulsed by the burning alive and consuming of one unfortunate character. It’s also a shame that Marshall assembled a cast of actually very talented people and gave them absolutely nothing to work with. To name two examples, Sweet Sixteen and A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints star Martin Compston is given the most thankless role imaginable and Malcolm McDowell is forced to provide some terribly written expository dialogue.

To finish off these brief thoughts, I’d like to refer to a good point made in Sight & Sound‘s review of the film. When John Carpenter named two characters in Escape from New York Romero and Cronenberg it felt like a respectful nod to his peers. When Marshall gives us two characters called Carpenter and Miller it only reminds us of their far superior films.

Hopefully this one will be a tad more difficult.

1.

Answer: As Tears Go By (Polar Bear)

2.

Answer: The Warriors (Yayo)

3.

Answer: Army of Shadows (Yayo)

4.

Answer: Vicky Cristina Barcelona (Rouge)

5.

Answer: The Dead (Orpheline)

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Hello there George Romero, maker of movie-films. I liked your Martin film and your Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead zombie pictures very much. They were certainly rather tasty. What’s that, George? You’ve made another zombie film twenty years after your last one. Good golly gosh! I hope it’s as dark, witty and clever as the other two that I like. What’s that, George? You could got a good budget for this one? Well gee willickers, George! That’s excellent news. I’m sure all that extra money helped you to fully achieve your great creative vision. You got some acclaimed actors too? Though there were the odd gems your other films generally had poor performances, so this ought to be a sure sign of success. Gosh darnit, George. I think I’m gonna watch this film of yours. It’s sure to be terrific fun.

97 minutes later…..

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