Reviews

CONTAINS SPOILERS

I walked out of this film more inspired, more outraged, and more gosh darn entertained then I had in ages. This film is compulsory viewing. I think that every high school in Canada and the United States should get a copy of this film and screen it for their students, which is something I have never said about a film before. This film's message is powerful, especially towards teenagers: Do not buy into the fear. Think for yourself. You can make a difference.

Sure, Michael Moore's film-making style can sometimes be infuriating, especially when his ambush-style interviews miss the target - such as the tacky and out of place Dick Clark mini-van scene in Columbine. But for each scene that falls flat, there are countless scenes that will have you laughing through your tears or giggling in fear. From the opening scene where Moore receives a gun for opening an bank account to the ambush of Moses himself, Charlton Heston, Bowling for Columbine steam rolls over it's subject matter with righteous anger and acidic wit, while somehow managing to honor the events at Columbine with compassion and grace.

What makes Columbine work so well is that Moore never loses sight of one very important fact: owning a gun is seductive. Owning a gun is empowering. Owning a gun, for lack of a better word, is fun. As a card-carrying member of the NRA and former champion marksman, Moore has a tremendous intimacy and understanding of why human beings love guns. He understands the joy of loading the carbine. Of aiming, and pulling the trigger and hitting a bulls-eye. The most sensible people in BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE are the Michigan Militia, who are normal every day folks who know and respect the power of guns.

Moore understands that having your finger on the trigger of a gun gives you enormous power, highlighting this power most chillingly with the security camera footage of the Columbine killers stalking their prey through the library of their high school. This scene follows a very astute statement from SOUTH PARK creator Trey Parker who wishes he could tell teenagers that "Yes, it is horrible being a teenager. It's was worst time of my life. It will pass. It doesn't last forever."

From this scene, Moore cuts to the Columbine footage, and it is here that he makes his most powerful statement as a filmmaker. The killers open fire in the crowded library. The masses flee in terror, crouching behind tables and chairs, until only scattered bodies remain. Gradually, the killers emerge from the smoke, armed with guns and pipe bombs, looking as cool as Keanu Reeves in THE MATRIX. Moore slows down the footage - like a John Woo or Bruckheimer action sequence - and it sends a chill through you. Not just because what you are seeing is horrible, but because you begin to understand the pure seductive power of the gun. In this video footage, the Columbine Killers are no longer mere teenagers with a screw loose: They are warriors in complete command of the situation. The guns have given them the ultimate power - to stamp out evil as they see it and win the battle. What troubled teenage boy wouldn't want to have this ultimate power? What bullied and ostracized child wouldn't want to have their entire high school cowering in fear before them?

It's not the bikini clad chicks shooting the guns that are seductive, it's the guns themselves.

BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE isn't just a chilling and angry rage against the proliferation of gun violence in the United States, it's also an powerful indictment of the media's role in our society. Why do you need a gun? Because the media tells you every day how much crime there is all around us. Why do we need to build a safe room in our homes? Because the media tells us that big black men might come in and kill us. The media sells paranoia because paranoia sells. We don't get excited when we hear that violent crime has decreased 30% since 1970, but we will tune in to see the latest police shoot-out on the freeways of Los Angeles.

Moore then takes us on a tour of suburban Toronto to test out the theory that Canadians don't lock their doors. At one house after another, Moore finds bemused residents peering out at him. "We don't want to prisoners in our own homes" one women says. It is a telling statement as to what each nation believes the definition of "freedom" really is. Americans think that freedom is the right to bear arms and freedom of the press, and yet it is the right to carry automatic weapons and the negligence of the media that proliferates the carnage on American streets. Canadians, British, Germans, Australians, and Japanese all have a high population of guns and a some, such as the Germans and Japanese, have a history as violent as America's. Yet they do not shoot each other so frequently on the streets. They do not put iron bars up on the windows of their living rooms. They do not live in a nebulous fear manufactured by ratings crazy television networks.

In the aftermath of paranoia that has swept the United States after September 11, 2001, BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE has become one of the most important and timely documentaries to ever be released into mainstream cinema.

And "Thank you for not shooting me" remains one of the funniest and heartfelt lines of 2002.

CONTAINS SPOILERS

Rarely do I walk into a movie theatre with this much anticipation and expectations high as they were for THE TWO TOWERS. Only when viewing a STAR WARS movie am I this pumped, this high on what I am about to see. I expect an out-of-body experience and dammit, I better get it.

The fact that THE TWO TOWERS delivered the goods when my expectations were so high is the biggest compliment I can give this film. Like a STAR WARS film, there are so many incredible cinematic moments that make THE TWO TOWERS worth the price of admission; the vertigo inducing fall of Gandalf and the Balrog which opens the film, the creation of Gollum- both as a CG benchmark and as the best new character in the film, the shot of the trolls opening The Black Gate, the battle between the Riders of Rohan on horseback and Orcs on Wargs, the fearful deep bass sound of the Nazgul on wings, the exorcism of Theoden, the arrow attack on the giant Olipants, and of course, the colossal and desperate battle of Helm's Deep.

Again, as in STAR WARS, it is the characters that work so well to bring THE TWO TOWERS to life. Just like I did when I saw ATTACK OF THE CLONES, I spent the first half hour of THE TWO TOWERS with a silly grin on my face... Simply because I was in the company of these great characters again. The music too, is also a character. When Howard Shore's themes first rolled through the movie theatre, I felt like I was visiting an old friend.

In THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, it was Frodo and Gandalf that carried the film. In THE TWO TOWERS, Legolas, Gimli and Aragon find themselves carrying the weight of the story, with the quest of the Ringbearer playing second fiddle to the Battle for Rohan. Gandalf, sadly, plays a small yet pivotal role, while the supporting characters are given a chance step to the forefront. Gimli especially, who suffered from trimmed screen time in the theatrical installment of THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, is brought to life here with fire and brimstone by John Rhys-Davies - not to mention some much needed, and quite effortless, comic relief for this grim chapter of the story.

But who knew about Orlando Bloom? Nothing in the first part of the trilogy prepared me for the charisma and confidence he brings to Legolas in THE TWO TOWERS. Bloom displays remarkable power and grace in every aspect of his performance, from his quiet moments of pain and confusion when he believes Merry and Pippen to be slaughtered, to the fear and anger he expresses to Agagorn when he knows they are facing certain doom at Helm's Deep. Plus Legolas is so damn cool. When he deftly swings himself up onto a horse in slow motion, I almost screamed with delight.

But by far the best character in THE TWO TOWERS is Gollum. Not only is he a masterpiece of CG, but he is wonderfully, performed, written and directed. The scenes of his split personality having heated arguments with himself are the most mesmerizing in the film. Especially subtle is the confrontation with Faramir when he huddles in a stony alcove with his back to us, his hands gently stroking his own shoulder when Smeagol speaks, then shaking with fists of rage when Gollum possesses him. Brilliant.

Technically, Gollum's CG interaction with Frodo and Sam are seamless. They fight, grapple, touch each other, grab at each other's clothing - all with utter believability. The scenes at the foot of The Black Gate are especially impressive as Gollum desperately pulls at Frodo's cloak. The CG Gollum, the CG cloak, and the real cloak worn by Elijah Wood are all completely believable in the frame. The illusion is perfect.

I have but one quibble with Gollum: he looks terrible in his very first shot! The first time we see his face when he is crawling down the rock face with the moon behind him is so CG! It's the only shot of Gollum that looks bad and it's the very first one!

In terms of story, THE TWO TOWERS suffers the same unfortunately fate as the first film - there is simply too much crammed into the three hours. The film needs to breathe and settle down. Characters need to be fleshed out and given a moment or two more to develop. THE TWO TOWERS suffers the opposite fate of ATTACK OF THE CLONES: It needs to be longer!

While the Rohan plot-line works superbly and drives the bulk of the momentum, the supporting subplots sputter and falter as the film enters it's second half. Merry and Pippen start off with all the fixings of their own fantastic little adventure, but then end up literally stuck in a tree for over an hour of screen time. Luckily, they march off to war in spectacular fashion with the Ents to save the plot line, but for the most part they disappear from the second half of the movie.

Worse is the plight of the Ringbearer in his quest to find entry into Mordor. With Gollum and Sam playing well off their mutual dislike of each other, and Frodo fearfully watching the sky for the Wraiths circling overhead, all the cards are in place for this subplot to really be spectacular.

It isn't.

A bored-looking David Wenham shows up as Boromir's brother, Faramir, and the whole quest grinds to a halt. These scenes obviously play great importance to the fate of Gondor which will be explored in the final chapter, but here they are thrown at us quickly and with little foreshadowing. We are pulled away from the borders of Mordor to deal with a character we know little about, and who's plight isn't particularly interesting, especially compared to the epic drama that Rohan is facing. Worse, we don't know what Frodo, Sam, or even Aragorn think about the situation in Gondor. All we get is some brief voice over from Cate Blancett. It's far too expository to engage us and the drama falls flat because of it.

The main reason this happens is because there isn't any time for Peter Jackson an company to tell this part of the story. Jackson, as he was with THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, is fighting the clock to try and get Tolkien's four-hundred-plus pages crammed into a three hour theatrical release. Frodo's quest suffers because of it. Faramir needs to be set up with the same drama and intrigue as King Theoden is set up, but that would mean lengthening the film by at least twenty minutes - something that Jackson doesn't have the luxury of doing. We can only hope that when the DVD comes out that Jackson is able to work the same magic as he did with THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING - THE SPECIAL EDITION.

ATTACK OF THE CLONES: THE IMAX EXPERIENCE

CONTAINS SPOILERS

If anyone ever needed a testimonial to the importance of the editor to the film-making process, here it is. The old adage "less is more" is ironically confirmed in the gigantic IMAX version of the second episode in the Star Wars Saga. Lean, mean and twenty minutes lighter then it's theatrical release, ATTACK OF THE CLONES: THE IMAX EXPERIENCE moves with all the speed and exuberance of the Saturday-morning-serials of yesteryear that the title emulates. Fasten your seat belts folks, you're in for a heck of a ride.

Firstly, the sheer visual beauty of the film is like no other eye candy ever experienced. The gorgeous worlds of Lucas's galaxy are colossal in their detail, and hold up remarkable well on the huge IMAX screen. On the other end of the scale, the intimacy of the acting performances is also increased rather than overwhelmed by the five-story screen. You feel as if you are peering over the shoulders of the characters, eavesdropping on their conversations. In terms of the patented STAR WARS action scenes, several of them almost seemed designed for the IMAX experience, especially the vertigo inducing speeder chase through Courescant and the colossal battle of Kamino that touches off the Clone War. Occasionally, but not often, the mise-en-scene suffers under the huge increase of visual detail - certain effects lose their sheen, make up becomes more noticeable - but these small quibbles are infinitesimal compared to what is gained by viewing this film on the IMAX screen.

The best thing about this version of ATTACK OF THE CLONES however, isn't the massive viewing experience: it's how wonderful the story works with twenty minutes of footage cut from the film so that it could fit into the IMAX format.

With these deft trims to the film, all that is left is concentrated storytelling that lifts ATTACK OF THE CLONES to a near perfect level of escapist entertainment. By cutting twenty minutes out of the story, the editor, or editors, actually improve the plot lines that suffered under the weight of elongated story time. The "mystery" plot line, which follows Obi-Wan as he investigates the riddle of Jango Fett and the Clones, now has a much stronger cause-and-effect element to the pacing. Obi-Wan goes to Kamino - boom, uncovers the clone factory. Fights Jango - boom, pursues Jango to Geonosis. Boom, boom, boom. Discovers that Count Dooku is behind the whole mess. Boom. All hell breaks loose.

This is also true of the Anakin/Padme romance subplot. The long scenes of political bantering are replaced with almost real-time decisions on how they should respond to the events unfolding around them. Plot momentum is increased experientially. However, what works best about the Anakin/Padme story line in the IMAX version is how much the performances improve. Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman seem ten years older in this new version. They seem mature. Stoic. Resisting every step of the way their feelings for each other with maturity and intelligence. Gone are the silly discussions of love and the cringe-inducing dialogue. Instead, Christensen and Portman sell the moment with a look and silence. Their intimate scenes together now work splendidly, packed with the emotion of a doomed love affair on the eve of war.

And of course, we get to see a five-story tall Yoda fight with a light saber. Need I say more?