kellym40 film review

Marvel’s Ant Man Delivers ‘Big’ Fun

Rating 3.5/5

This summer the Marvel movies continue. After “The Avengers: Age of Ultron” was released earlier this year, and next came “Ant-Man.” And while the film has only garnered just over $106,000,000 since its release July 17 on a $130 million dollar budget, it’s certainly not one of Marvel’s biggest blockbusters to date. Watch the trailer below.

Ant Man Trailer

However, the film is not without its merits. Edgar Wright was at the helm before he bowed out. Reportedly Adam Mckay and Paul Rudd penned the rest of the script along with Joe Cornish. They created a lighter tone with this film than the other Marvel films. And it was more lighter and seemed more “family friendly.” I will admit that I’m not an avid comic book reader. I didn’t read a lot of comics in my younger days. I did follow G. I. Joe, Star Wars and Spider-Man some. And maybe a few others here and there. I knew some basics about other superheroes such as Fantastic Four, X-Men, Iron Man, Batman, and Superman. This review is as any of my other reviews as I base it on my view of the script, acting, story and so forth.

There are some spoilers below.

This is my first Marvel review and I will say that it did not disappoint. As mentioned, it has not grossed as much as previous films from Marvel in its release, but I don’t necessarily think it has to do with the film being a poor film. I believe Marvel has stated that the character is more or less obscure and not in the mainstream of Iron Man, Captain America, or Spider-Man (even though the previous Spider-Man films were owned by Sony prior to this. Now that the iconic hero is in Marvel’s hands, it should be exciting to see what happens with the hero). It does fit in the Marvel Cinematic Universe well as it does connect with The Avengers and future characters within that universe.

The story revolves around Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and his invention of the “Pym Particle,” which allows the shrinking of organic material to a smaller size. Of course we learn Pym was the Ant Man and fought along with S.H.I.E.L.D in his younger days. To make a long story short, in present day USA a former protégé of Pym’s, Darren Cross (Corey Stoll), has discovered the Pym Particle and is upset with Pym because he locked it away for many years so he could keep it out of the wrong hands. Well apparently it falls into the wrong hands when Cross gets a hold of it. Pym tells Cross, “There’s a reason I buried this.” Cross wants to sell it to the military and create a powerful army of “unseen” soldiers.

Meanwhile, Pym has enlisted the help from his daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly) and an ex-con, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), who has just been released from prison and is trying to make a life for himself. Pym allows Lang to steal the suit, with the help from his con buddies Luis (Michael Pena) and Dave (T. I.), and discover its possibilities. After a little give and take, Lang agrees to become the Ant Man and try to stop Cross, who has developed a suit of his own and now calls himself the Yellow Jacket.

The film was a bit more comical than the other Marvel superhero films and it seemed to work for this one. Stoll wasn’t particularly menacing as the antagonist here but still brought conflict into the story and became an obstacle for the hero Lang to overcome, especially when he brought his daughter into the fight. Earlier, Lang is told to “be the hero she already thinks you are.” Of course, Lang rises up and becomes the hero to save the day. The hero and villain appear to have the same type of powers in the film. But what makes the conflict interesting is Yellow Jacket actually has weapons – laser type weapons to be exact. The visual effects made the fight scenes particularly entertaining, especially the climactic battle involving the Ant Man, Yellow Jacket, and a Thomas the Train toy.

Rudd plays a bit of himself, or at least a bit of other roles he’s played before. He seems to play the somewhat cocky character with a seemingly smart ass answer to everything. But I felt it worked for this film. The connection he had with his daughter touched the heart a little and allowed him to do what needs to be done as Pym tells him, “It’s not about saving our world, it’s about saving theirs.”

The supporting cast added to the humor and good overall feel to the story with Judy Greer playing Lang’s ex, Maggie, and Abby Ryder Fortson as Cassie, Lang’s daughter. Bobby Cannavale plays Paxton, a cop and Maggie’s new beau. And Saturday Night Live alum Garrett Morris even makes a cameo. Pena and T. I. as Lang’s buddies, along with computer tech Kurt (David Dastmalchian) bring more humor into the mix.

The story and characters were true what the script served. I will say that I may not have enjoyed this film as much as say Iron Man or Captain America (mostly because I didn’t really know about the character until recently prior to the film’s release). This was an enjoyable film and did have entertaining characters and a classic hero/villain conflict that produced some big fun.

“Ant Man” is rated PG-13 and runs just under two hours at 117 minutes. The film is produced by Kevin Feige and directed by Peyton Reed. He took over after Wright left and has directed such comedies as “Bring it On,” “The Break-Up,” and “Yes Man.” The film included two “extra” scenes at mid-credit and a post credit scene. These scenes, of course, allude to the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

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A review of ‘White House Down’

Rating 3.5

This film was released a couple of months after “Olympus Has Fallen” premiered. At first, I found it odd that there were two similar films released just months apart from each other that contained similar situations. But nonetheless, the film was released and garnered nearly $25,000,000 in its opening weekend. The film went on to gross a little more than $200,000,000 worldwide with a budget of about $150,000,000. Not bad. You can view the trailer below.

White House Down

There are some similarities as the hero of the story, much like “Olympus Has Fallen” and “Die Hard,” finds himself inside the main action and attempts to thwart the terrorists’ plot. John Cale (Channing Tatum) is a capitol police officer, also aspiring to become Secret Service, accompanying his daughter Emily (Joey King), who appears to know a lot about the history of the White House and is very eager to share her knowledge, on a tour of the White House with several other people. Slowly, the terrorist plot unfolds and Cale has to save President James Sawyer (Jamie Foxx), his daughter and the country. Soon we learn Martin Walker (James Woods), a senior Secret Service agent set to retire, is an insider working with the terrorists, a paramilitary group led by Stenz (Jason Clarke).

The film appeared to have somewhat of a slow start but did pick up and move right into the action. While the attack appeared to be well coordinated, it didn’t have the impact the attack sequence from ‘Olympus’ had. The attack here occurred mostly inside on the grounds. And the plot seemed plausible and believable, but it seemed like a lot to go through for the villains to achieve their goals.

Writer James Vanderbilt penned this action-comedy. He most recently came off from writing the Spider-Man reboot (“The Amazing Spider-Man 1 & 2”). Director Roland Emmerich (“Independence Day,” “2012,” and “The Day After Tomorrow”) took the script and weaved action, comedy, and destruction together in an entertaining way that it was enjoyable to watch despite some of the character flaws and the way everything seemed to be wrapped up in a nice little bow at the end, even for an action-comedy.

The performances were less than stellar, but in most cases were believable. Tatum was good as a wannabe Secret Service agent, but I thought his performance still lacked a certain something – like maybe some needed voice inflection here and there. Foxx nearly shined as the President who was able to put on sneakers so he could run more efficiently and kick some bad-guy ass, but yet still maintain a certain level of professionalism and authority. Woods was credible as the retiring agent who had a grudge against the president, and apparently cooked up the terrorist plot, then employed the services of Stenz and his men to help him carry it out. Clarke was a determined individual and you could tell he was fighting for a cause and would stop at nothing to get the job done and kill whoever got in his way. Maggie Gyllanhaal played Carol Finnerty, Deputy Special Agent with the Secret Service. She interviewed Cale earlier in the film as he applied for a position with the Secret Service. Her performance just didn’t catch on for me. It almost appeared one-dimensional as she seemingly played the character with the same level of intensity throughout the film.

White House Down

The film was released by Columbia Pictures and runs 132 minutes. All in all it had action, comedy, explosions, likable characters and a decent story, which made it enjoyable and fun to watch.

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‘Olympus Has Fallen’ a familiar action film that delivers

Rating 3.5/5

This film was released a little over two years ago. It is from Sony Pictures and runs just under two hours. Director Antoine Fuqua, who directed “King Arthur” in 2004, “Shooter” in 2007, and most recently last year’s “The Equalizer” with Denzel Washington, has taken the script from Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt and delivered a tense action-drama. And with the pending release of a sequel entitled “London Has Fallen” to be released early next year, I decided to go back to the film and offer my take. You can watch the trailer for the sequel below.

London Has Fallen

Is the film a masterpiece? Not quite. Was it a runaway hit? Not hardly. Or at least not the hit the filmmakers possibly hoped it would be. However, with a budget of $70,000,000 and grossing more than $160,000,000 worldwide, it did carry its own. I will mention there are some spoilers. The ‘Olympus’ trailer can be viewed below.

Olympus Has Fallen

When it was released, there were several comparisons to “Die Hard.” I would agree that it had some similarities as it was about a former Secret Service agent Mike Banning, played by Gerard Butler, who now has taken a desk job in the treasury after a winter car accident results in the loss of the First Lady. However, a terrorist attack on the White House springs him into action and Banning finds himself in the White House, unbeknown to the terrorists at first, and tries to figure out what is going on. I believe that’s about as close to “Die Hard” it gets.

The day begins like any other day. U. S. President Benjamin Asher (Aaron Eckhart) is meeting with the South Korean Prime Minister. After the attack, the President is rushed to the bunker and goes against protocol to allow the Prime Minister and his team in the bunker as well. From there, the terrorists carry out their plan by someone inside the Prime Minister’s detail, who we find out later is a known terrorist known as Kang (Rick Yune). Kang was not necessarily real threatening as a villain but was believable as a man who thought what he was trying to do was right. With the president and vice president being held hostage, the duties of the acting president fall under the Speaker of the House Alan Trumball, played by Morgan Freeman. He was calm and collected, yet forceful when needed, as the acting president. Eckhart was believable as a strong president and a loving father to his son.

Olympus Has Fallen

To me the film had elements of the television series “24” with its inside job players. The most notable is a former Secret Service agent played by Dylan McDermott. He is at the White House on the day of the attack and is supposed to be in retirement, although his presence is never quite fully explained. But I guess the terrorists can’t have the access they have without someone being there on the inside that was part of the government. The majority of the film also took place within a 24-hour period, much like the series. Additionally, Butler’s character was ex-special forces, similar to Kiefer Sutherland’s character on “24.”

From the onset, one can see the attack on the White House was a well-coordinated attack. There might have been a couple of things that might make you scratch your head. For example, a bus was blown up at a certain time for a distraction. It might make you wonder how the terrorists would know that the bus would be there at that exact moment for their plan to work. But again, it follows the idea that this was a well-planned attack. Additionally, the terrorists did have some help from the inside as well. I’m sure that made things a little easier to coordinate. All in all, the action seemed to flow at a good pace and seemed enjoyable as an action-drama.

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‘Terminator’ franchise gets a reboot, but does not compute

Rating 2.5/5

I read an article about two years ago that claimed there was talk about making a fifth installment in the sci-fi franchise. The article didn’t state at the time if this was a reboot (another sequel) or a remake of the first James Cameron directed classic. I posted an article about it at the time stating I didn’t see a need for another sequel, as “Rise of the Machines” and “Salvation” didn’t really deliver for me. And I didn’t think the original could be improved upon in any great way.

Terminator-Genisys

After viewing ‘Genisys’ my theories were correct, and there didn’t seem to be a need for this fifth installment. Don’t get me wrong. I thought it had somewhat of an interesting premise and it played with alternate timelines and took time travel to a different level (and not necessarily a good one). View the trailer below.

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1249751321//embed?autoplay=false&width=480“>Terminator: Genisys

It begins with a narration of how the world was before Judgment Day and how it is after. This leads to a battle where the resistance attacks Skynet on the night Skynet sends back the T-800 (or Cyberdyne Systems model number 101…aka Arnold Schwarzenegger) to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor in an attempt to prohibit John Connor, the leader of the resistance, from being born. A trusted soldier and friend to John, Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) volunteers to go back to protect her. This is where it gets a little convoluted and confusing. Without bogging you down with all the time travel and alternate timelines, I’ll just say it didn’t quite work for me. It left me with more questions than answers. And, needless to say they left the film open for possible sequels, with an end of credits scene (much like Marvel has done with their films). And I don’t know how you can really top the near masterpieces that were ‘The Terminator’ and ‘Terminator 2: Judgment Day.’

Some of the acting was decent but could have been better. Schwarzenegger was decent and delivered some of his deadpan funny lines and showed he can still create some action. I thought Courtney delivered a somewhat stiff portrayal of Kyle Reese. It was much different than the great performance Michael Biehn portrayed in 1984. Emilia Clarke played the young Sarah Connor in 1984 and played it with some strength. John Connor was portrayed by Jason Clarke and seemed to shine in the role (considering there was only one other adult John Connor played in the franchise – Christian Bale).

The film moved along at a decent pace for the action and the action, fights and chase sequences provided entertainment and some excitement. One chase/action sequence involved a speeding bus and then flipping said bus to where it crashes and ends up dangling from a bridge. The sequence was thrilling to an extent, but still lacked that Cameron-esque excitement. Then there was an insane helicopter chase through the sky and city of San Francisco. While it had its moments, it again lacked some of the action that Cameron delivered.

I don’t feel the film delivered a reason for its existence. It seemed at times they were almost disregarding the first two films and then at the same time referencing the first classic with recreations of the some of the most iconic moments and timeline from the first ‘Terminator.’

The film was released by Paramount and directed by Alan Taylor, who most recently directed the second ‘Thor’ film from Marvel. Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier wrote the script based on the characters created by Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd. It runs 126 minutes and is rated PG-13.

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Jurassic World – A Return to an Original Vision

Rating 4/5

With the release of “Jurassic World,” the fourth installment in the franchise, the story takes us on an adventure at a place that was seemingly originally envisioned by John Hammond, played by the late Richard Attenborough. Released by Universal Studios and Amblin Entertainment, with direction by Colin Trevorrow, the film runs just over two hours and is perfect for some summer blockbuster action. The film is executive produced by Steven Spielberg, the man who brought us the first “Jurassic Park” in 1993. Watch the new trailer below.

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1176612889//embed?autoplay=false&width=480

Going into the film, I was thinking, “Great, another one!” I thought shouldn’t they have learned something from the previous films? That is, not to play “God.” But I guess there are still greedy people, corporations and business that get in the way of good judgment. And I guess without those people, there would not be a movie for audiences to see.

That is part of the story in “Jurassic World.” BD Wong plays Dr. Wu, the only returning character from the original (if you don’t count the T-Rex). Wu and his team of geneticists have created a new hybrid dinosaur at the request of corporate CEO Simon Misrani, played by Irrfan Khan. However, he did not necessarily want what was produced. In order to keep the public’s interest, they wanted to create bigger, better and scarier. We learn Wu and his team have created a mixture of the T-Rex and some other animals and another secret mix of something else, (later we find out what that secret is). After the introduction of two parents sending their kids (Nick Robinson and Ty Simpkins) off for a weekend to see their aunt, who is also the operator of the park on Isla Nublar, Claire Dearing, played by Bryce Dallas Howard, we see the park in all its full functioning theme park glory, from hotels to gift shops to large exhibits and a “petting zoo” with baby dinosaurs. Soon after, we also meet the hero of the story, Owen Grady, played by Chris Pratt, who has become something like the latest new action hero, and he doesn’t disappoint in this. Grady is ex-military and is now an animal behaviorist who has “trained” a group of velociraptors. Pratt’s character is countered by a military contractor (Vincent D’Onofrio) who plans on using the raptors as weapons. A “containment anomaly” occurs and thus the action and story develop.

The film has included scenes that remind us of the original “park,” and even a showdown with the T-Rex and the new Indominus Rex. The film has no hesitation to get started and continues until the climax and resolution. We not only see Howard as a no nonsense park operator but as a thriving action heroine who is not afraid to get a little dirty and run in some hectic action sequences…IN HEELS. All of the acting was done to near perfection within the world of the film. Writer/Director Trevorrow, along with Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver and Derek Connolly have delivered a piece that is fun, exciting, and worthy of a summer blockbuster. It has already grossed more than 400 million dollars in the two weeks it has been out. Not bad for a film that cost about 150 million to make.

I thought this film captured the essence and magic of the original “Park” with all the acting, editing, direction and special effects. Everything that went in to making this film made it a true “Jurassic World.”

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The Play Within a Play: “Shakespeare in Love” film review

Rating 5/5

A film that made its United States nationwide release in 1999 went on to win numerous awards, including Oscars for best picture, best actress, best supporting actress, best writing, and best directing, among others used a useful dramatic strategy to convey the story.

The film was “Shakespeare in Love” and starred Joseph Fiennes as the bard and Gwyneth Paltrow as Viola De Lesseps, the love interest and muse for Shakespeare for the film.

For those who haven’t seen the film, there be some spoilers that follow.

The film’s opening uses two short bits to establish the time and place of the story, which is in the Elizabethan age of theater in England. The second bit provides comedy and starts the action of the film. Philip Henslowe, played magnificently by Geoffrey Rush, is a theater owner who has not paid his bills and is being tortured by Hugh Fennyman, (Tom Wilkinson) a producer and businessman.

The first scene after these bits introduces Shakespeare. Henslowe requests Will (Shakespeare) write a new play for his theater company. However, a problem is introduced in this scene as we, the audience, discover that Shakespeare has lost his gift of writing, a sort of “writer’s block.” This sets the action in motion. Will must come up with a new play to perform or it will be curtains for Henslowe’s company.

A bit that follows reveals Viola De Lesseps. She has a strong love for the theater. This is important to the story because this movie parallels the play Romeo and Juliet. She is also set to marry Lord Wessex (Colin Firth) in a few weeks. In her desire to be on the stage, she dresses as a man, Thomas Kent, (since women were not allowed to perform on stage at that time). Will becomes infatuated with Viola after a chance meeting and thus begins the love affair that would become the tragedy we have come to know.

I would say the major dramatic strategy used in this film is parallelism. Almost every scene and bit parallels the play “Romeo and Juliet,” since that is the play in which Shakespeare is trying to write, which is better than the original title “Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate’s Daughter.” The film cleverly and strategically places the story of the film in the context of writing the play, which becomes more and more of the tragic story of Romeo and Juliet as William and Viola’s romance begins to grow.

The film also does a nice job to let the viewing audience in on the film audience (groundlings and upper class), costuming, props and stagecraft of the Rose Theater during this time. The other cast members worth noting were Martin Clunes, Richard Burbage; Antony Sher, Dr. Moth; Simon Callow, Tilney, Master of the Revels; and Ben Affleck (who played a cocky but determined actor Ned Alleyn); and Dame Judy Dench portrayed the Queen.

A remarkable cast. Witty writing and acting. Impeccable directing. Brilliantly produced. The film, “Shakespeare in Love,” is wonderful entertainment. Additionally, this film has a “theatrical” sense to it (as it is about theater). In all my experience and years in academic theater, I have always enjoyed the story within the story, or the play within the play. This film had it and played it very well.

“Shakespeare in Love” was directed by John Madden, and written by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard. It has a run time of 123 minutes and is rated R.

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Face/Off: a review at “face” value

Rating 4/5

In the film “Face/Off,” directed by John Woo, the story concept centers around FBI agent Sean Archer, played by John Travolta, seems so obsessed in stopping his nemesis Castor Troy, played by Nicolas Cage, that the Travolta character “becomes” Troy in order to stop a biological bomb from detonating in the city.

This is an older film, released in 1997, but if there is anyone who hasn’t seen it then be forewarned…there are some spoilers.

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In the film’s opening, Archer is playing with his son at a carnival. In a confrontation between Archer and Troy, Archer’s young son is shot and killed. Troy is eventually caught, but is in a coma. This is really the point the sets the whole action of the film in motion.

Soon after Troy is captured, the FBI learns of a bomb threat that is set to go off somewhere in the city. A plan is devised through a breakthrough surgical procedure where the face of Troy and Archer are “swapped.” Now, Archer looks and sounds like Troy. In doing so, he hopes to infiltrate the prison where Troy’s brother, Pollux (Alessandro Nivola), is being held in order to find the location of the bomb.

Seems like a pretty simple idea. Archer discovers the location of the bomb, gets out, helps save the day, and then is reunited with his family. But as anyone knows there has to be some conflict in the story. So, while Archer is in prison “disguised” as Troy, the real Troy wakes up from his coma and gets the doctor to transplant Archer’s face on him. The procedure is complete so Troy kills the doctor and destroys all of the equipment and records that explains the operation. Now Archer is in real trouble.

All Archer wants to do is to get Troy and return to his life he had before with his wife and family. These two characters have a classic hero-villain relationship and they each play “each other” well. There is a long history with these two characters and sets up the dramatic conflict in the film well. Archer wants Troy because he killed his son and, well, because Troy’s just a bad man. Overall, the acting was decent in the film, which also brought me into the world of the story.

I found the pacing of the film to move very well, as it almost had to being an action thriller. There were some slower paced bits and sequences, but only for the needed character and story development and really didn’t detract too much from the pacing to bring me out of the story. John Woo seems to have blended all of these elements well into a watchable action film.

Other notable actors in the story were Joan Allen, who played Eve Archer (Sean’s wife) and Dominique Swain portrayed Jamie Archer, their daughter. Colm Feore was Dr. Malcom Walsh, the doctor who performed the transplant, and Gina Gershon played Sasha Hassler, Troy’s girlfriend.

I was a little hesitant at the science of the film at first, with the whole transplanting of faces and altering voices. It may have been a little far fetched at the time (late 90’s), but I quickly moved beyond that and bought into the story and action of the film. And with technology and science now, the possibilities may have been set in motion.

Obviously there are some who may have not liked this film. Others may have thought it was just horrible. I for one viewed it as entertaining action. It had interesting, varied characters, a good story, and action.

“Face/Off” was written by Mike Werb and Michael Colleary. It has a run time of 138 minutes and is rated R.

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The Terminator: A Technologically Advanced story for its Time

It has been just over 27 years since James Cameron released his Sci-Fi action film, “The Terminator.” But it seems now that the film is more than just a thrilling action film. The technological science that was introduced in the film in 1984 appears to be more of a reality in today’s world.

Cameron’s use of visuals and action sequences to comprise a well-crafted and compelling technologically advanced story seemed far fetched, but audiences appeared to have accepted it. Audiences seemed to enjoy the older, but classic, great action film surrounding a great science fiction story. And with the advancement in technology and computers today, this film has an even more substantially compelling story of how technology is ultimately humankind’s downfall.

I’ll come back to that. First and foremost what made this film great was not only the story and the seemingly relevance it has today, but the visuals that were used to tell this story. It’s interesting to note that watching the film with the sound muted, I could still follow the story. I only applied this technique for the first half hour or so in one viewing one time, but that shows how effective the visuals were in the film. This film used action visuals to tell the story and there are many in the film such as police chases, chases on foot, flashbacks, or flash forwards, of a futuristic war, and a dance club shootout. The majority of the action takes place at night, which was an effective design decision because it adds to the danger and excitement of the story.

The opening sequence was a futuristic war with visual narration that explained what was about to happen. It set up the premise of the story. The next sequence, after the teaser and opening credits, showed a garbage man in a sanitation truck at night collecting a garbage container. Then, the power goes off as the wind begins to blow. There is lightening and a flash of light. This illustrates that something is about to happen. The next shot is of a large, muscular naked man, the Terminator. Choosing Arnold Schwarzenegger to play the Terminator added to the dark, dangerous feel to the character and film. Originally, this character was written as a normal, average guy that could fit into any crowd. And another interesting note, while watching some of the special features on the DVD, is that O.J. Simpson was originally slated to play the Terminator. Obviously it worked much better with Schwarzenegger in the role. The viewer can tell by looking at the Terminator that there is something not good about him. We notice this again when he comes upon a group of punks and punches a hole in one of the punks’ chest and one of them gives his clothes to the Terminator.

The same visual is used for Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) when he arrives. In a dark alley, near a homeless man, Reese arrives in the same fashion as the Terminator. Reese is shaking for a bit after he appears and he doesn’t kill anyone to get clothes. There’s the difference between the two men. Reese finally escapes from the police and gets to a phone booth. He looks up the name Sarah Connor, as does the Terminator the next morning so audiences know they are both looking for Sarah Connor.

When the audience first sees Connor (Linda Hammilton), she appears as a young, happy, care-fee woman. Over the course of the film, she develops into a stronger woman who is a little weary of the future. The character she continued in the second film.

The main action of the film takes place in present day Los Angeles in 1984. This allows the audience to become familiar with a time and place, and therefore can settle into the world of the film. There are glimpses of the futuristic war that add to the dark visual aesthetics of the film, which is visually contrasting to the modern, everyday world that the heroes and the audience know.

The film is basically comprised of three major chases with the remaining time used for character and backstory information with a few other smaller action sequences thrown in. The first major chase begins after the dance club shootout as Reese and Connor try to escape from the Terminator; another one is their escape from the hotel, and then this leads to the final chase and showdown as they enter the factory. The chases lead to a discovery of information about the story, as well as Cameron’s use of dialogue incorporated with the action sequences and visuals to gain information and not slow down the action of the film.

All of these visuals and action sequences drive the story. And that compelling story is focused on technology. Looking back at some of the technological achievements that have been made after first being introduced to them in movies, one can see that the technology of the Terminator films may not be too far off. We see this in a silent 1902 film by Georges Melies, “A Trip to the Moon,” where flying to the moon was thought of as a distant, crazy notion, but we all know became reality. Other films followed suit, introducing robots such as in “Forbidden Planet” and “I, Robot.” The Terminator introduced this idea of an all-powerful computer becoming intelligent and wiping out mankind. And it seems that technology is not far behind. For example, there exists a robot called the Rubot that is programmed to solve the Rubik’s Cube. When its done, it puts down the cube. Bruce Simmons says in his article, The Technology Of Science Fiction Is Here Now, “It’s pretty simple but is that the start of self awareness, when he knows he’s done? … just a subroutine designed to recognize that all sides of the cube are now the same color.” But whose to say it won’t become self-aware? Then there’s the Defense Advanced Research Agency (DARPA) that held a contest between a human and robot-operated vehicle to see which can get through a simulated course, much like I saw on an episode of CBS’ hit show NCIS a few years ago.

In the mid-80’s, Honda had created a robot called ASIMO (Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility). From simply teaching the unit to walk simple steps to actually walking up stairs or sloped surfaces, to today being programmed to “work with other ASIMO units” and to “serve people autonomously,” according to Simmons in his article, technology has made great leaps forward. So, now the science of The Terminator may not be too far fetched.

If you haven’t seen “The Terminator,” or haven’t seen it in while, it is worthwhile to check out. It’s a great action film with a gripping science fiction story that echoes the advances of technology today.

RESOURCES:

Lucey, Paul. Story Sense: Writing Story and Script for Feature Films and Television.  McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1996.

http://screenrant.com/tech-terminator-iron-man-is-here-brusimm-7985/all/1/. Accessed on Nov. 11, 2011.

Cameron, James. The Terminator. Produced by Gale Anne Hurd and directed by James Cameron. 107 minutes. Orion Pictures, 1984. DVD.