Entertaining blockbuster about an ominous future, which borrows its references from westerns to dystopian and political fantasies.
endurance. John David Washington, hero of the new dystopian film.
Artificial intelligence is good, the US Army is kind of bad. That is, apparently, the moral that can be drawn from Gareth Edwards’ new film, released worldwide this week. Edwards works here as director, co-producer, author of the idea, co-writer (with Chris Weitz) and one would also have to say compiler, because to develop the story he has gathered dozens of memories of post-apocalyptic films, westerns, dramas and anti-system denunciations; a little bit of “Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad, and even some children’s movies. Imitations, quotes, tributes, inadvertent or unconfessed inspirations, you can call them whatever you want. The defense in these cases uses the word condensation. The author condenses in a new work what the previous ones contribute. Anyway, the good thing is that the viewer can entertain himself by writing down the sources of inspiration as he discovers them. Another way to entertain yourself is, logically, to let yourself be carried away by the plot, which will not be entirely new but always works, and by the visual spectacle, which will not be entirely new either but is impressive, and already leads to a few Oscar nominations, for photography, art, sound, sound editing and other technical fields.
The plot involves a warrior trying to find his wife again and protect a girl that others would like to see destroyed. She is not a human girl. This happens in a future time and in a new war of humans against machines. As often happens in this type of story, creation has turned against its creators, who decide to destroy it. That’s what the armed men are up to, eager to find the artificial heart that guides these discomforts. What is new is that in this future world there is an agglomerate called New Asia, which does not plan to destroy the machines, on the contrary (the agglomerate is new, the attitude contrary to the Western mandate, and the scientific and technical capacity to overcome it, are current things) . With this data the spectator can perceive how the hand is coming. There is a reason why in some countries this film is called “Resistance” and in others “The Creator”. This expression has a religious, traditional weight, and an inescapable moral weight, which can lead to the salvation or the catastrophe of the planet and its inhabitants. The very concept of humanity is at stake.
As befits a film that is offered as a great entertainment spectacle, the viewer is not being hammered with these reflections. They just move the board a little, so that you have another perspective and, if you want, you can stay thinking. Good science fiction stories, and political fiction stories, have that merit. This is good, although imperfect. It drags on, it doesn’t always hit the nail on the head, certain situations seem to be resolved in a hurry, sometimes it leaves the “inspirations” very visible, but it proposes something interesting, and, as already said, it offers an impressive spectacle.
Edwards, it should be remembered, is the director of “Rogue One”, which is among the best of the already remanent Star Wars saga. Here he is accompanied by several prestigious technicians, including the special effects supervisor Julian Levi, a good cast with a black hero, John David Washington, the musician Hans Zimmer and two valuable additions: the Swedish digital illustrator Simon Stalenhag and the girl of just seven years at the time of filming, Madeleine Yuna Voyles, a real revelation. Her character is called Alphie, the English diminutive of Alpha, the first letter of the Greek alphabet. Other merits, “Fly me to the moon” in the sweet little voice of Astrud Gilberto, and the budget of just 80 million dollars. “Rogue One” had cost 220.
Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
