ValianceInEnd

Upon first viewing the trailer I was immediately giddy to see a new post-apocalyptic film in the vein of The Road Warrior. Being a fan of the genre, one must get used to the repetitive "lone wanderer" theme so prominently used. I figured this film would go through the same formula, but prepared to enjoy myself.

Yes it did use the lone wanderer as a driving plot device, and yes it did bring the arbitrary twist. Yes all the survivors are short on t-shirts, but live in a wealth of leather and goggles. Yes everything in this film looks like and feels like a typical post-apocalyptia. But the substance of the story is far more powerful then I could ever have expected.

Without giving away too much, yes the film is essentially a Christian metaphor. Eli seems to be protected by some mysterious force, guided by "God" to head west. But it's what the meaning behind this admittedly bizarre plot that makes this film so great. It truly is a film about faith and believing in one's self. Using the dreary post-apocalyptic backdrop, the film is able to contrast this powerful message with the harsh landscape. Even amidst such despair, one can rise and accomplish anything. In a world slowly becoming apocalyptic itself, this message is much welcomed.

The other aspects lending to the power of The Book of Eli are its technical aspects. The cinematography is simply beautiful. Moody slo-mo shots abound with wonderfully toned colors. Everything looks dark and dead, the sun beating down endlessly on the dusty dunes. The soundtrack adds immensely to this feeling, using soft ambient chords and blasting action-scene drums when necessary. Overall The Book of Eli is an excellent film itself and an excellent spin on the post-apocalyptic genre.

Oh yeah, and Denzel Washington actually manages to pull off the part of a wizened, old bad ass.

Ninja Assassin is possibly the most ingenious self-explanatory title ever bestowed upon a film. It is about ninjas, who are of course assassins, assassinating the hell out of anything with two legs and 300 gallons of blood. With this set-up, one can only imagine the amount of kung-fu fighting goodness that a film called Ninja Assassin would deliver. Non-stop sword fighting, shadow crawling stealth, supernatural powers, you name the ninja stereo-type and this movie's got it. And yet, while it delivers on its promises, its failure is that it brings more than just hyper-stylized martial arts sequences to the door. I entered the theater with low-expectations for a story, just wanting to shut off the brain for an hour and a half and watch ninjas do ninja things. With a beautifully gory introduction, I thought my hopes would be satisfied. A ninja was in a room, assassinating people. All was well with the world. Then it cut to a Europol headquarters in Berlin. As soon as Naomie Harris entered the screen I woefully realized that this film was actually going to attempt to make a coherent plot for a film called Ninja Assassin. That's right, her character Mika begins to delve into the mysterious world of the ninja, finding links between them and international murders with relative ease. It was starting to look bad. Then I'm treated to Rain (the greatest name any Asian has ever taken, ever) doing ninja type things and training in a room. Flashbacks to how he became a ninja and an outcast ensue. All-in-all, the first half hour to forty-five minutes is dreadfully dull. A film where people bleed copious amounts of cgi-rendered blood does not have any place attempting to establish a heart. Thankfully, the film managed to save itself from a complete coma-inducing null-fest back to a high octane gore-fest toward the middle. Unfortunately, these scenes relied too heavily on wire work and cgi effects to really enter the realm of visceral, energetic fighting flicks such as The Protector. If you can stand a painfully overdone plot, slow flashbacks, and cheesy effects then Ninja Assassin is a pretty decent movie for what it is. Nothing special, but something that missed its potential.

A Perfect Getaway was nowhere near a perfect film, but it was certainly a good film. The trailers made it out to be a much more non-stop, action thriller than it really was, showing the last 20 minutes. The majority of the film centers around paranoia. It is true though that the plot twist can be seen coming from a mile away, but how it is delivered is where it succeeds. While I personally wasn't surprised, how the twist was presented was quite original and chill-inducing. I'll leave it at that. Where this film really succeeds is in the cinematography and acting, both of which are superb. The locale is beautiful, all the colors are vibrantly displayed and everything looks crisp. There are some scenes with intriguing camera work that works well to add intensity and be intuitive. All the actors really give it their best and create believable characters. Milla was good as usual, but Zahn really surprised me. I never really gave him credit for how good of an actor he is until about now. Overall, it's worth the watch and is ultimately very entertaining with wonderful characters.