Adnerb the Movie Nerd

Movie reviews from a middle school teacher's perspective

Ghost in the Shell

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In this sci-fi thriller movie version of the Japanese anime series, Scarlett Johansson plays Major, a cyber-enhanced human (well, she has a human brain anyway).  I love these futuristic dystopian movies that depict life in a brave, new world of tomorrow, especially if cyborgs or robots are involved.  In this movie, Major is a human whose brain is put into a “shell” or synthetic body after being ‘saved’ from a terrible boating tragedy.  The “ghost” is her essence, or spirit.  She is turned into the perfect soldier and is tasked with stopping the world’s most dangerous criminals from doing their nefarious deeds.  The cinematography is exquisite and had me totally immersed in futuristic Tokyo.  Scarlett Johansson is pretty good playing a robotic-like woman who is starting to realize that her creators may not be telling her the complete truth about what has been done to her.  I also liked Pilou Asbaek as her sidekick Batou, who has a soft spot for dogs.  However, I found the story was slow-paced and the plot very simplistic.  Despite, those drawbacks, and poor reviews from other venues, I think if you see this movie, you will enjoy it.

L I F E

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Astronauts aboard an international Space Station discover the first evidence of life on Mars while looking at samples in their research laboratory-a unicellular organism.  It is also dormant until they wake it up and start to nurture it.  It is a wonder…extraterrestrial life!  And it even seems cute at first, they name it “Calvin.”  But apparently, this organism is smarter, faster growing and far more dangerous than they first realize.  It inevitably escapes and runs amok, with not unexpected devastation.  Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Reynolds and Rebecca Ferguson are three of the astronauts who realize the danger and try to destroy the life form before it continues to grow and, perhaps, pose a threat to earth itself.  Sounds a lot like the Alien movies, doesn’t it?  This sci-fi, horror movie isn’t up to the same standard of suspense and terror as those movies, and not simply because this one lacks a hero like Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley.  There was too much gut wrenching gore and not enough character development or plot for my tastes.  SPOILER ALERT:  The ending of this movie is a big cop out and not what I want to see in my movies.  I would say skip this one and find a rerun of Alien or Aliens.

Passengers

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Do not listen to some of the poor reviews this movie is getting- I thoroughly enjoyed this sci-fi love story, and think you will too.  Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt are passengers on a 120-year journey to another planet. Something goes wrong and their hibernation pods wake them up 90 years early.  Themes explored in this movie are: making the most of whatever situation you find yourself in, living life to the fullest, overcoming isolation and finding love in the most unlikely places. There is a central ethical dilemma that should cause discussion among friends who see this movie together.  Would you have made the same decision Pratt’s character is forced to make?  I loved Michael Sheen as a witty android bartender who accidentally spills the beans on Pratt’s choice.  Laurence Fishburne is surprisingly poignant in his brief appearance as Gus Mancuso ,who brings some much needed pathos and some timely advice.  Andy Garcia is the only actor I found with an unsatisfying part in this movie; he appears for about 5 seconds and has no lines.  I hope he at last earned a decent paycheck! I highly recommend this movie and think you should see it for yourself and make up your own mind.

Rogue One

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This is definitely a movie for Star Wars fans although you do not have to know anything about the franchise to enjoy this movie.  I, for one, loved it!  This movie takes place right before the original 1977 Star Wars.  Remember that movie started off with a message from Princess Leia to Obi Wan Kenobi delivered via R2D2.  This movie explains the origin of that message, how the Death Star was built and how the rebels knew the Death Star had a weakness that ultimately helped them destroy it.  There is a lot of fighting, I especially enjoyed Donnie Yen who played a Jedi Knight who is sort of in control of The Force.  Diego Luna and Felicity Jones were fine, but I enjoyed some of the supporting characters even more.  The comic relief was supplied by the new K2-SO (voiced by Firefly’s Alan Tudyk), a sarcastic but resourceful droid.  It was nice to see Mads Mikkelsen play a relatively normal and heroic character.  But the biggest surprise was the appearance of Peter Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin.  Why was this a surprise, you ask?  Well, Peter Cushing died in 1994!  The technology needed to create that special effect just boggles the mind.  If you are a fan of the Star Wars movies, you will love the last scene – no spoilers from me though, my lips are sealed.  If you are going, get there early to avoid running into a sold out show, and may The Force be with you!

Westworld

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Wow!  What a great show.  If you haven’t had a  chance to watch this fascinating HBO series starring Anthony Hopkins, Jeffrey Wright, Thandie Newton, Evan Rachel Wood and Ed Harris, you are missing out.  The series is based on the 1973 sci-fi movie thriller that starred Yul Brenner as a robot gone rogue.  This reboot builds off of that premise and runs with it.  Imagine an adult theme park  for rich vacationers manned by automatons who interact with you as if they are human.  Would you like to pretend to be a gunslinger, gambler, confederate soldier?  What about  school marm, madame or a Calamity Jane type?  Westworld caters to the basest and darkest sides of humanity.  You can kill (robots) with impunity while at the same time, they can not harm you……or can they?  There is so much to think about after every episode.  The first season ended over a week ago and I am still pondering the human and moral implications of what has happened so far.  I eagerly await season two!