Axiom's Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy

Our ongoing series reviewing the greatest Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror movies. Note that these reviews may contain spoilers.

Directed By: Brad Bird
Produced By: Pete Townshend, Des McAnuff, et al.
Written By: Ted Hughes (Novel), Brad Bird (Story), Tim McCanlies (Screenplay)
Starring: Ed Harris, Eli Marienthal, Jennifer Aniston, Harry Connick, Jr., Vin Diesel
Original Release: 1999

Reviewed By: John J. Joex

Rating: 4 ½ out of 5 Stars

Synopsis: In 1957, shortly after the launch of Sputnik, a large object crashes from outer space to the Earth which turns out to be a giant, metal-eating robot. A young boy, Hogarth (voiced by Eli Marienthal), who lives in the nearby small town discovers his presence and saves the robot from destruction when it starts to consume a power plant and is nearly electrocuted before he switches off the power. This leads to him befriending the metal being and he begins to teach the robot, which was damaged in the crash, how to speak (Vin Diesel provides the voice) and the ways of the people of Earth which includes showing it his comic books and telling it that it is like Superman. However, the landing of the robot did not go unnoticed, and a paranoid government agent, suspecting a Communist threat, arrives at the small town to investigate. The agent suspects that the boy knows something about what landed in the area and keeps a close eye on him. This leads Hogarth to seeking the help of a beatnik artist, Dean (voiced by Harry Connick Jr.), who runs the local junkyard and who builds sculptures from scrap metal. The Iron Giant successfully hides there, in the guise of a giant sculpture, and befriends Dean as well. While playing around, the Hogarth aims his toy gun at the Iron Giant which triggers a self defense system and leads it to retaliate, nearly killing the boy. Hogarth and Dean manage to revert the robot back to its previous state, but, as its self-awareness continues to grow, it fears it is closer to the villain from the comics than the hero. Hogarth, though, tells the robot that it can chose whether or not it wants to be a weapon. The government agent eventually discovers the truth about the robot and he calls in the military to confront it which places this potentially lethal living weapon between the military forces and the people of the town.

Review/Commentary: Based on the 1968 Ted Hughes novel The Iron Man, the movie adaptation follows a similar formula to E.T. though with less of the smarmy feel of that film and with a bit of a subversive bent. In many ways, this film has the feel of some of the classic Disney animated movies, though with more layers to peel than the standard Mouse-House fare. This one takes the formulaic child and his pal (dog, alien, giant robot, what have you), and infuses it with some Cold War tension and paranoia while also injecting an anti-war message that never throttles the viewer with self-importance nor descends into simple panacea. It definitely has a familiar feel to it, like the proverbial comfortable shoe, but it manages to separate itself from the pack with its spark of inspiration and its sincerity, the crucial elements that elevates most stand-out films above the more routine Hollywood output .

The Iron Giant also delivers another thing that has become rare outside of Japanese animation these days. It mostly steers clear of the CGI animation which has dominated the genre for the past decade or more in favor of hand-drawn animation (they did summon up the computers to aid with animating the Iron Giant himself, but he is done in the style of line drawn characters). Not that I have anything against CGI animation, but the style of movies like The Iron Giant, along with the Disney classics, emphasize the artistic expression in animation as opposed to CGI’s efforts to make more realistic characters and/or to simple wow the audiences with computerized pyrotechnics. The simplistic, retro look of the artwork invokes the comic books of old that provide a pivotal plot point in the film and also echoes the simple attitudes of the era it depicts.

Most importantly, The Iron Giant engages the viewers and involves them in the film. Early on, we feel for this strange alien robot and sense his loneliness and confusion. As he develops a friendship with Hogarth, we hope that the robot will find his true purpose, and even when he turns on the young boy we know that it is against his own will. And anybody who still has dry eyes toward the end of the film when the Iron Giant declares that “he is not a weapon” and chooses to sacrifice himself to protect his friends needs to check that they still have a pulse. Many family-oriented animated films tend to play it safe and only mildly engage the emotions of the viewers, but The Iron Giant takes it to a deeper level and really speaks to our inner selves and challenges us at the same time that it reassures us. Exactly what you would expect from a great movie.

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Our ongoing series reviewing the greatest Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror movies. Note that these reviews may contain spoilers.

Directed By: Don Siegel
Produced By: Walter Wanger
Written By: Jack Finney (Novel), Daniel Mainwaring (Screenplay)
Starring: Kevin McCarthy, Dana Wynter, King Donovan, Carolyn Jones
Original Release: 1956

Reviewed By: John J. Joex

Rating: 4 ½ out of 5 Stars

Synopsis: Town doctor Miles Bennell (Kevin McCarthy) returns to the California suburban town of Santa Mira after a short trip to find many of his patients eager to see him because they believe one or more of their friends or family are acting very strange, not like themselves. Several plead with him to help them, but when he observes the “afflicted” people he sees nothing out of the ordinary. He talks with his psychologist friend who dismisses the claims as an “epidemic mass hysteria”. But while on a date with a former flame of his (Becky Driscoll played by Dana Wynter), another friend of Miles tracks him down and urges the doctor to come to his house. There, they see what looks like a dead body, but it has almost no discerning features including no fingerprints. Miles notes that it resembles Jack, the friend who called him, in height and weight and they decide not to call the police and instead wait to see what happens with the body. Later that night, it opens its eyes and now appears to be a near duplicate of Jack. With his wife, Jack flees from his house to find Miles, who had taken Becky home and they discover large seed pods apparently of alien origin that appear to be growing duplicates of the townspeople that will replace them with emotionless replicas of their former selves. The four must find a way to warn the outside world while also not falling asleep, which is the point when the seed pods take over their minds.

Review/Comments: The original movie version of The Invasion of the Body Snatchers is widely recognized as a classic of Science Fiction cinema as well as a seminal film in the alien invasion sub-genre. But despite its reputation, modern day viewers should go into it understanding that this is a B-Movie through and through, with all cheesy acting and production short-cuts that entails. Of course the producers had little choice but to go this route because the film’s subject matter demanded that format at the time it was made. However, it does not resort to the exploitation tricks typical of that class of films as it tries to present a tale with some depth and substance, though not necessarily striving for a grand social statement even if it does end up stumbling into that territory. It flirts with horror movie standards (something unknown and sinister is pursuing the heroes) while also adding in the aliens from space twist, though without the expected rubber-masked, bug-eyed creatures more common of the matinee fare of the time. And it takes both of these elements right into the heart of suburban America, in the backyards of the audience watching the film, thus bringing a distant and nebulous thing of terror close enough to make the audience uncomfortable. They see the sleepy little town of Santa Mira, a mirror of the American ideal of the 1950’s, and they watch in horror as its people transform into soulless facsimiles of humanity.

Though not the first choice for the role, Kevin McCarthy is perfect as Dr. Miles Bennell with his expressive, wide-eyed visage and his inner frenzy boiling up just beneath the surface. As the film starts, he appears the picture perfect calm, cool, and rational doctor, but his inner angst quickly reveals itself and by the end he is a man at the edge of sanity. And while he and his former flame Becky Driscoll (Dana Wynter) know the pains of love from their tumultuous prior relationship, they ultimately decide they would prefer consequences this entails rather than sacrifice their emotions and humanity to meld with the soulless hordes.

People have looked back on this movie as an allegory commenting on the world of its time. Some see in the alien pods the specter of the alleged Communist threat that pervaded much of this country’s psyche at that time. Others see it as an indictment of the era of McCarthyism. For me, neither of these allusions quite fit the film which appears more to key off the vapidity of the conformity that suburban life represented in that era (and still today for that matter). The creative team, however, insist that the movie carried no allegory at all and that they just wanted to make a good scary movie. They succeeded at that, but they did so by tapping into the undercurrent of paranoia and tension seething beneath the surface of 1950’s America. The contrast of the idyllic small town, suburban life, that was more myth than reality, with the terror of an invasion from outside worked perfectly within that context giving us both an excellent horror/sci fi film along with a distillation of the underlying tensions of that seemingly simple though ultimately more complex age.

Thus, Invasion of the Body Snatchers can be enjoyed as the first-rate B Move it is or as a cultural testament of sorts with multiple layers to peel away and reveal the sub-consciousness torment in its sub-text. Finney’s book has received several more big screen adaptations since the 1956 version, though none have quite melded the themes of terror with the consciousness of a nation as well as this one. Better than providing a straight history lesson, this one explores the Id of its era.

As a bit of trivia, a young Sam Peckinpah, who would later go on to become a legendary filmmaker, had a brief appearance in the movie as Charlie the meter reader.  He had worked as an assistant to director Don Siegel on this and several other films and claims to have done an extensive rewrite of the screenplay, though this has never been confirmed.

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By Sam Christopher

The mystery of the Martian Manhunter deepens in Brightest Day #6. There is also a little more on Boston Brand’s White Lantern ring and Mera’s revelation from last issue. Apparently, from what they’ve shown us, J’Onn J’Onzz is now imbued with the Touch of Death—except for squirrels. In an unrelated story (maybe), we’re also shown that Boston Brand loves cheeseburgers and they’re apparently his hold on life. I couldn’t make that up, folks—although it’s probably more complicated than that. Mera, it turns out, isn’t what she’s appeared to be for the past forty-something years and now we’re going to meet her family. The only other thing to talk about in this ish—besides a Barb Gordon appearance, which is always cool—is Ronnie Raymond joining Firestorm while drunk and then he and Jason learning a rather interesting factoid about the whole new Firestorm thing. And the ish ends with Martian Manhunter finding out what that thing on the first couple pages meant. Yeah, you’ll have to read it to get that. I have to say I would like this better if they went away from the “52” format of rotating vignettes and just focused on Boston Brand since the White Lantern is the “star” here. On the other hand, I can see this style, too. Probably helps Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi not burn out on the story, too. I suppose that’s also why they have so many artists, so each vignette has its own “feel”. Doesn’t hurt to have talent like Ivan Reis, Joe Prado, Scott Clark and Patrick Gleason on the book, either.

Always remember: “Sometimes being Dr. Mid-Nite means being just plain ‘Doctor’.” I know it may sound cheesy but that is easily my favorite line from Justice Society of America #41. Beyond that, all kinds of things happen, from Obsidian and Dr. Fate being taken over by the Starheart and waxing the folks at Shade’s house (and, no, they didn’t kill Wildcat although they should, or at least have him retire from field work) to the true reason behind Starman’s easy capture in the closing pages of the latest ish of JLA. This is the second part of the “Dark Things” JLA/JSA crossover and it lives up to the first part. It’s even better, to me. I think my favorite part is near the end where Miss Martian is reverted to her White Martian self (and I never paid enough attention to that, I guess; so the White Martians are genetically evil?) and is taken out with one punch by Power Girl. Pretty cool. Another installment of greatness by James Robinson and Mark Bagley.

And then we end this segment with Birds of Prey #3. And this, this is just a well-structured story by Gail Simone, something we’re used to seeing from her. I hate to say anything at all about this chapter, as it is full of shocks and twists and turns. I didn’t see them coming, anyway, although I’m glad they did. It’s always a better story when nothing’s safe, when nothing’s what you think it is. Especially a detective story, as virtually anything set in Gotham City tends to be. The only thing I will say is that Pengy’s wounds make for some pretty hilarious reading, and that Ed Benes is still churning out that great artwork. One thing more: Always remember if a girl has a Blackhawk emblem on, the yellow in it doesn’t stand for chicken. I love Zinda.

By Sam Christopher

Bring on the Second Bananas!

Quick question: Do Bizarros now just have whatever power whatever writer needs to make whatever story work? “STEEL-Vision”?!? That’s my main thing about Supergirl #54. I’ve never really been all that enamored of the freeze-vision/flame-breath juxtaposition, but this new one is just… dumb. Overall, I liked this story, though. I did think the kid’s whole “You’ve got a girlfriend, too?” question to Jimmy Olsen was kinda weird; it just really seemed out of place. I almost thought we were reading a dream of Jimmy’s or maybe even of the kid’s. Beyond that, we have a lot of thread here that needs to be woven into a story. The Lana Lang thread, the policeman “saving” the kid thread, the kid thread itself. There’s just a lot going on here that I guess Sterling Gates will get around to explaining in due course.

Then we move from one Girl of Steel to another, as the other Kara fights to keep both her business and New York City entire from going under in Power Girl #14. It seems that her financial officer has taken out loans in the millions and absconded with the funds—although I have to believe there’s a LOT more to it than just that since PG has a few sensory powers to bring to bear and hasn’t been able to find her. More, she also has to deal with a whiny Booster Gold and her own version of Doomsday, sorta. I am liking this new creative team much better than where we appeared to be headed with the last one. Judd Winick and Sami Basri seem to have a good handle on this character so far and are keeping it interesting. Even though I’m not really sure why PG doesn’t just carry the “Bio-Bot” out into space and toss him into the Sun. He’s not really alive, right?

Really?!? They really have named the new villain Hush just because he said that to some chick he decided not to kill? I know, I know. It’s just I expected a little more out of Batman Beyond #2. I will say this, this is a good story. Adam Beechen is doing a bangup job here. I love the new Catwoman, although mainly for Terry’s reaction to her more than anything else. I do want to see more of her. I do have to say that I see no way this is really Tommy Elliott. I think it’ll be better if it turns out to be Jason Todd (who should be dead—I voted for that—I’ve been DISENFRANCHISED!!!!). This is an alternate future, after all. More, the Ryan Benjamin art is pretty well done, too, especially in that so many scenes in this book are very dark. Benjamin does a great job when we can’t see his drawings… okay, I didn’t really mean it like that. I just like the way he adds expression to Terry when everything else about Batman Beyond’s costume is featureless. I know it’s a simple thing but I like it, and I like the rest of his art here, too.

Finally, we end up here with Azrael #10. This title is another, like the aforementioned Power Girl, that I loved in the beginning but that quickly wore on me to the point where I was thinking of dropping the book. This ish, though, like the aforementioned Power Girl, is a new direction in many ways and gives me hope for the comic. I still have the only problem with this character I’ve ever had and that’s how Dick Grayson can not go after him. Azrael kills people. I always thought that was a no-no in Gotham’s “Cape” circles. Anyway… here we find that the Crusader, a guy with the power to transmute materials from one thing to another and a cross tattooed on his face, is hunting down the people behind Azrael, the people connected with the Suit of Sorrows and asking them for a name. After which he invariably tortures them to death. Good stuff from David Hine and Guillem March. We’ll see how this works out in the near-future.

Wonder Woman #601

Due out July 28th from DC Comics

TFAW.com Product Description: Best-selling comics writer J. Michael Straczynski (The Brave and the Bold, Thor) smashes all your expectations of Wonder Woman by lauching an all-new era for the Amazon Princess!

Spinning out of the mind-bending events of Wonder Woman #600, Diana must face the biggest mystery of all – who destroyed Paradise Island?

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Logan’s Run Aftermath #1

Due out July 28th from Bluewater Productions

TFAW.com Product Description: The Thinker is destroyed and the world is in chaos, and Logan wants nothing to do with it, but the world isn’t done with him yet and when the lives of Jessica and his son Jaq are put in jeopardy, Logan must once again don his armor.

Logan’s Run: Aftermath continues Logan’s epic journey as he races towards an uncertain destiny.

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Green Hornet Golden Age Remastered #1

Due out July 28th from Dynamite Entertainment

TFAW.com Product Description: A new series of Golden Age reprints featuring the classic adventures of the original Green Hornet! Each issue in this new series of classic Hornet material is 40 big pages, featuring stories all inspired by the man who started it all Fran Striker!

Completely re-mastered for today’s discerning reader and collector, Dynamite has also commissioned Joe Rubenstein to create brand-new covers, inspired by the Golden Age comics of yesteryear!

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Captain Action Season Two #1

Due out July 28th from Moonstone

TFAW.com Product Description: The’original action figure’ is back for more thrills and more intrigue, as award-winning writer Steven Grant hits the ground running in this new ongoing series.

The reluctant, new Captain Action finds himself fighting a war that the world doesn’t realize already has already been lost! In addition to a full-length Captain Action adventure, readers also get a back-up tale featuring a glimpse into the early days of Action Boy. Covers by Mark Texiera and Mike Allred.

By Sam Christopher

I have said before that I’m not a huge fan of Robert Kirkman’s writing on superhero books. I have never read Invincible because of that, and only my love for the characters got me to try his Irredeemable Ant-Man and Destroyer series. I didn’t like the Ant-Man stuff—although I thought it was an interesting take—but I loved Destroyer. I missed the first couple issues of his Astonishing Wolf-Man because of a snafu at my comics shop and just decided I buy enough comics so I’d just let it go. I don’t know what the difference is between, say, Ant-Man and Destroyer; why I would enjoy the latter so much while disliking the former escapes me. And Charlie Adlard’s artwork seems pretty pedestrian to me. I’m truly not sure I’ve ever seen anything by him other than The Walking Dead. The point to all this is that I don’t just fall in line because I love this creative team so much.

Having said that, let me tell you how good a book The Walking Dead is. It’s not a “butcher shop zombie flick” set to paper. It is the realistic story of how people would survive and what they would do if an on-going cataclysm like this were to take place. Think about it: Even in the worst natural disaster, the survivors know things will be getting better over time, even if their only reassurance is that the disaster has done its damage and is passed. A “zombie apocalypse” is different in that one has to be on guard all the time, as one never knows when a remnant of the initial disaster is going to step out from behind a tree and take a chunk out of one. The Walking Dead is the story of a policeman, Rick, his son, Carl, and whoever else they meet and join up with along the way. Early on there was also Rick’s wife Lori, who was killed well into the run (somewhere in the late ‘50s if I remember right). The travails have been many. The group has found and discarded various places they thought of as safer than being on the road, and many have died along the way. There’s really too much history to tell it all to you in this column. Suffice it to say that this is the best, and thus far most successful I believe, cannibal zombie comic ever made, well worth your investment of time and money, for the trade paperbacks if nothing else. And don’t forget the tv show coming from AMC this October.

And now we turn to the current issue, The Walking Dead #75. If you’ve seen the Aussie picture, Undead, you can already get a little bit of a picture as to what Kirkman does here. But don’t worry—it’s not “real”. Seems that he answered a letter way back in ish #7, telling a guy that you would know he (Kirkman) was running out of ideas when he started throwing in “aliens and stuff”. Kirkman then said that it wouldn’t be until about ish #75 you’d have to worry. So… if you haven’t read it, the ending here is pretty funny all the way around. But it is just a joke—that’s made very plain. As for the real storyline, I can certainly see how this happened. I originally thought Rick was just being cautious, and that all the things he was doing made sense but in this ish (even though I still kind of agree with him that something should have been done) he stepped over the line. I still think he’ll come through this all right, after all that’s happened is taken into account, but in this book you never know. And that’s what makes it so good. Messrs. Kirkman and Adlard, I salute you both for this great comic and hope to be reading it for many more years to come.

Buy The Walking Dead Trade Paperbacks at TFAW.com:

Action diva Angelina Jolie’s latest film Salt debuted this past weekend but failed to beat out Christopher Nolan’s Inception which held onto the top spot through its second weekend. Salt still managed to grab the Number 2 slot and pulled in an estimated $36.5 million for its opening bow, not spectacular numbers, but strong enough to likely keep it out of the bust category. Inception earned an estimated $43.5 million for the weekend and is now approaching a $230 million gross worldwide after two weeks. Some analysts had thought that Nolan’s latest picture may not have played well in theaters because of its heady nature, but it has definitely drawn plenty of movie-goers into the theaters thus far. Despicable Me slipped to the Number 3 slot in its third week of release, but this one has grossed nearly $180 million worldwide so far vs. a $70 million budget so it should count as a Summer hit. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice slipped to the Number 4 spot after its mediocre opening last weekend and could be looking at a quick exit from the theaters. Toy Story 3 continues to show staying power as it held onto the Number 5 slot and raised its tally to over $730 million worldwide after six weeks. This one still appears to have a lock on honors as the top grossing film for the Summer and should top $1 billion before it ends its theatrical run. Twilight: Eclipse continues to slide down the charts as it fell from the Number 4 to the Number 8 slot this past weekend. Still, that one has now surpassed $600 million in receipts and will likely top Iron Man 2 (currently at $615 million) before finishing its run. The Last Airbender has now surpassed $150 million in receipts worldwide, making back its budget, but will need some more success in the foreign markets if Shyamalan hopes for any chance to produce a second movie in this series. And those wanting to see Predators on the big screen need to do it fast because that one has already dropped to the Number 10 slot after three weeks of release. It has still managed to make a decent amount of money vs. its budget ($95 million in receipts worldwide vs. a $40 million budget) and will escape the flop label.

Note that these numbers are estimates of the weekend performance and the dollar amounts and position ranks will change slightly when the final tally comes in. You can see the full Box Office results from the weekend at Box Office Mojo.

Click Here to See Our Summer 2010 Science Fiction and Fantasy Movie Preview

Batman: Under the Red Hood (Two-Disc Amazon Exclusive Limited Edition with Litho Cel) (2010)

Due out July 27th

Amazon.com Product Description: Batman faces his ultimate challenge as the mysterious Red Hood takes Gotham City by firestorm. One part vigilante, one part criminal kingpin, Red Hood begins cleaning up Gotham with the efficiency of Batman, but without following the same ethical code. Killing is an option. And when the Joker falls in the balance between the two, hard truths are revealed and old wounds are reopened.

This edition comes with an Amazon-exclusive full-color animation 3″ x 5″ litho cel (left) assembled into a color-printed sealed mat with certificate of authenticity information printed on the back.

Extras: DC Showcase: Jonah Hex–animated short. The tough-as-nails bounty hunter Jonah Hex always gets his man–until someone else gets to him first–in this case a murderous madam who wants to steal more than just his bounty from Jonah Hex. Based on a story from the award-winning Jonah Hex comic series.  Featurette: Robin: The Story of Dick Grayson–Explore the evolution of the character through the years.  2 bonus episodes from Batman The Animated Series Season 1 handpicked by Bruce Timm.

Also Available on Blu-Ray

Due out July 27th

Amazon.com Product Description: The electrifying series starring Robert Carlyle returns, presenting a whole new set of challenges for the civilians and military personnel stranded in deep space aboard an aging spaceship. As Dr. Rush (Carlyle) races against time to locate a tracking devise hidden somewhere on the Destiny, he also begins to suspect that a mole for the Alliance has infiltrated the group. Confronting the constant demands of their ship, the crew must also face their personal demons time and again in this powerful adventure that also features Lou Diamond Phillips, Michael Shanks, Richard Dean Anderson and Julia Benson.

Also Available on Blu-Ray

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Due out July 27th

Amazon.com Product Description: In Clash of the Titans, the ultimate struggle for power pits men against kings and kings against gods. But the war between the gods themselves could destroy the world. Born of a god but raised as a man, Perseus (Sam Worthington) is helpless to save his family from Hades (Ralph Fiennes), vengeful god of the underworld. With nothing to lose, Perseus volunteers to lead a dangerous mission to defeat Hades before he can seize power from Zeus (Liam Neeson) and unleash hell on earth. Battling unholy demons and fearsome beasts, Perseus and his warriors will only survive if Perseus accepts his power as a god, defies fate and creates his own destiny.

Also Available on Blu-Ray

Due out July 27th

Amazon.com Product Description: After World War III decimates the Earth, a handful of scientists attempt to sustain plant life inside an underground bunker. When one of them falls ill and begins to mutate, chaos ensues among the team. Are they witnessing a new evolution of mankind or something far more sinister?

Also Coming Due Out:

Repo Men

Crack in the World

Night of the Living Dead: Reanimated

And You Can View More New and Recent Releases in Science Fiction and Fantasy from Amazon.com at this Link

Battle for Terra delivers a beautifully illustrated, engaging science fiction tale with a story similar to James Cameron’s Avatar but much better realized.

By John J. Joex

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

As blockbusters like Star Trek, Transformers, and Harry Potter were preparing to assault the theaters at the beginning the Summer season last year, a rather unassuming little animated movie appeared and disappeared within about two weeks time. This movie, Battle for Terra, had been made back in 2007 at a very economical price for a CGI film (around $4 million originally though increased to $8 million with 3-D effects added), and had received some acclaim as it toured the film festival circuit and won the Grand Prize for Best Animated Feature at the 2008 Ottawa International Animation Festival. I actually had this one on my Must-Watch list for the Summer, but it came and went so quickly that I never got the chance to see it in the theaters. But now the movie has made it to DVD and will hopefully earn some of the attention that the big studio releases of the Summer robbed from it.

The movie opens on a distant planet where a race of peaceful beings who have the ability to fly live an idyllic existence mostly at harmony with their world. However, an enormous space ship arrives carrying the last inhabitants of a destroyed Earth who plan to settle on this planet. The humans must terraform the planet to make the atmosphere breathable which in turn will make it poisonous to the natives. An initial confrontation with the humans and natives leads to one of the humans crashing on the planet and coming face to face with the people he would destroy. This plants the seeds which eventually lead to the beginning of a mutual understanding between the two races.

Battle for Terra is a beautifully illustrated CGI-animated movie that mixes science fiction with fantasy (though still sufficiently rooted in science) and even throws in a bit of steam-punk tech. And while the substance does not always match up to the style, Battle for Terra still delivers a more satisfying tale than the similarly themed Avatar from James Cameron which would follow this one at the Box Office with much more fanfare (and BoT had a much lower price tag than Avatar’s $240 million budget) . But while Terra’s story verges into the derivative at times with a hodgepodge of genre elements and some copy-and-paste dialogue, it presents a more genuine take on its subject matter than the much more calculated Avatar. And while it may not fully develop its characters and ideas, in part because of its rather brief 85 minute length, in the end the movie it manages to overcome most of its deficiencies and stand out as a notable genre entry.

And sparse though the plot may be, the writers resist the temptation to give us a simple tale of idealistic, pacifist aliens vs. imperialist, invading humans. Sure, it ventures in that direction with the central villain General Hemmer, but we see that the humans are primarily driven more by their desperation than anything else and we also see that the natives of Terra have the ability to defend themselves if necessary. This is where the movie diverges from the Disney-style kids-fare as it chooses not to present a conflict followed by a tidy wrap-up and happy ending. And this is probably what doomed the movie in the theaters.

Battle for Terra has the look of a fantasy movie aimed at the younger crowd, much like the Star Wars: The Clone Wars film and subsequent TV series. In fact, it seems quite merchandise friendly, with its cute aliens, adorable robots, sleek space ships and steam-punk alien airships. But the movie does not give us the simple tale of good vs. evil that you would expect from a film of this type. In fact, the apparent youthful target audience may have difficulty figuring out who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. The movie delivers more mature themes wrapped up in moral dilemmas, and in the final battle children may struggle with who exactly to route for and the film ends with the heart-rending sacrifice of one of the lead characters. For me, that makes for great story-telling. But since they decided to market the movie mostly toward children, that may have severely hampered its Box Office viability. Ultimately, it’s hard to really pin down this movie as it presents an exercise in contrast with its cute aliens and invading humans facing some very difficult moral decisions. But Science Fiction and Fantasy fans should appreciate it as a well done movie that rises above the expected family-friendly animated flick and delivers a superior genre tale.  If you missed this one in the theaters last year, do yourself a favor and skip the Avatar re-release coming this August and plunk down that money instead on the Battle for Terra DVD.  You should be pleasantly surprised by what you find there.

Buy Battle for Terra and other Anti-Blockbusters on DVD from Amazon.com:

Action film diva Angelina Jolie returns to the big screen with her spy movie thriller Salt which opens today.  Critics, though, have only given the film a lukewarm reception so far as it has only achieved a 56% Fresh Rating on the Rotten Tomatoes site as of its opening day.  Following is the consensus opinion:

Angelina Jolie gives it her all in the title role, and her seasoned performance is almost enough to save Salt from its predictable and ludicrous plot.

Christopher Long of DVDTown.com notes in his review that “Salt changes from super-spy to cartoon-spy, and good implausible becomes bad implausible in a hurry.”  Shawn Levy of the Oregonian was a bit more positive in his review saying that “In a season that’s meant to deliver mind-numbing jollies and has thus far failed, in the main, to do so, Salt deserves some credit for fulfilling its mandate.” You can read more of the critics’ opinions at the movie’s Rotten Tomatoes page and you can see the trailer for the movie at its official website.

Check Out Our Summer 2010 Science Fiction and Fantasy Movie Preview at this Link