Tomorrowland (2015)

Directed by Brad Bird
Written by Damon Lindelof and Brad Bird & Jeff Jensen
Starring George Clooney, Britt Robertson, Raffey Cassidy and Hugh Laurie

Bound by a shared destiny, a teen bursting with scientific curiosity and a former boy-genius inventor embark on a mission to unearth the secrets of a place somewhere in time and space that exists in their collective memory.

From the very beginning, it is painfully obvious that this film was created for the purpose is selling tickets to Disney World/Land. It felt as though Brad Bird was forced to remind people that this was in fact a Disney movie continuously throughout. Because of this, it was often hard to watch.

Regardless of it's forceful advertising, much of it was fun and even humorous at certain points. Particularly the actress who played the Casey Newton had superb comedic timing and had a great rapport with George Clooney.

The inventions and visions of the future weren't particularly impressive. Everything was either just an improvement of a device already in existence, or just so unbelievable that even in my wildest dreams, I feel would be impossible. It didn't inspire me as I'm sure was the intention. Rather, it made me role my eyes in disbelief. Or at the very most, say "that'd be cool if it were possible".

There is no way a metropolis would be surrounded by that much wheat.

Regardless of all of the problems I had with it, I did enjoy it. I'd probably even see it again if a friend of mine wanted to go. I just felt like the message of "hope fixes all" was a bit forced and very painfully Disney. Perhaps I'm too cynical. But I just couldn't handle the cheese!

My Rating: 6/10

Chappie (2015)

Directed by Neill Blomkamp
Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Thatchell
Starring Sharlto Copley, Dev Patel, Ninja and Yo-Landi Visser

In the future, crime is patrolled by an oppressive mechanized police force. When one police droid, Chappie, is stolen and given new programming, he becomes the first robot with pure artificial intelligence; the ability to think for himself.

The only problem with Neill Blomkamp as a director is that he struck gold with his first film. "District 9" was a masterpiece with a heart that no science fiction film will ever duplicate. At least not for a long time. What all critics need to realize is that Blomkamp is a science fiction film director. He will never NOT make a Sci-fi movie. It's his genre. It's his trademark.

Because so many critics have the cynicism of a film student who thinks that just because AFI says "Citizen Kane" is the best film ever made, he has to agree with it, they are especially critical when it comes to Science Fiction. Apparently, it's a law or something. And with the political tones of "District 9", many of them decided to overlook the foundation of it's genre.

Unfortunately for Blomkamp, for the rest of his career, critics will be expecting him to surpass, or at the very least, meet the brilliance of his first film. The chances of that are slim to none, and everyone needs to realize this and watch every single on of his films as if it's a new director. They need to disassociate it with the 2009 Best Picture nominee all together. Then perhaps, a decent film like "Chappie" will get the chance it deserves to be given a fair review.

But I digress…

As I said, this is a decent movie. While it's outer shell reveals a plot about a robot who can think for himself, at it's core it is so much more. It is a movie about the importance of life and how we must use the time we are given to be ourselves, never let anyone tell us how to be and overall, be good to each other.

One of the biggest stories behind this film is the inclusion of South Africa's hip-hop duo Die Antwoord. They were much of the inspiration for the story, as they played themselves as the two parents who raise Chappie. And while there are mumblings of turmoil on set caused by Ninja, it was not noticeable on screen and the two gave surprisingly good performances, regardless of their lack of experience. 

They weren't ground breaking or even amazing for that matter. But they were decent. Over the top, yes, but I believed them in their surroundings and expected MUCH worse from them and I've seen much worse from people who actually call themselves actors. I'd give them a C+ Overall.

But that hair, though…

I guess in all of these potentially incoherent ramblings I'm trying to say is that it's not as bad as everyone  is saying. It is a fun movie with good action sequences and great comedic relief. It may not be "District 9", but what did you really expect from a movie released in March ("Grand Budapest Hotel" excluded)?

My Rating: 6/10