I make it a point of pride to give most any horror film a shot theatrically. Even middling ones can weave a sort of wicked alchemy on the senses in the darkened environs of the local multiplex. Case in point: Last August, while recuperating from a nasty bout of sudden cardiac death, I had a marvelous time with a matinee viewing of the much maligned Apollo 18. While nowhere near groundbreaking, it had a magnificently creepy Lunar/outer space setting and did an admirable job building an evocative mood of escalating dread. The bottom line is, I thoroughly enjoy the craft behind producing a solid scare show and much like the disposable RKO programmers of decades past, this kind of fare hits a sweet spot for me.
Chernobyl Diaries has dropped out of the polluted sky with a paltry couple months heads up. I saw some short ads before Cabin in the Woods back in April, but they were slim on plot points and more or less disappeared with the film they preceded. That worked splendidly in this films favor. Unlike Prometheus, the trailer for which I'm fairly certain (as someone who goes to the theater one to two times a week) I've been watching for better than half of my adult life, I wasn't walking into Chernobyl Diaries with exhaustive knowledge of the entire films narrative structure up to and including the finale. How refreshing to not know the exact nature of the menace, sequential order of the set pieces and the shocking conclusion! So, it was with diminished expectations and a willingness to give in to its moody, murky vibe, I sat down to a 9:20am showing in a theater dead empty save for myself.
After the most perfunctory setting of stages I may have ever seen, Chernobyl Diaries gets down to business and gets the goddamn job done. There are some regrettably poor performances by the two male leads and its reliance on atmospheric suggestion over visceral thrills may grate to some, but I must confess to getting a little wrapped up in this one. It has the feel of an inexorable nightmare. Things get exponentially worse as the dwindling cast is swallowed up, one after the other in this awful maze of radioactive decay and tragic sadness. There is a palpable sense of loss and isolation hanging over the proceedings, no doubt exacerbated by my sitting alone in an empty theater while viewing it.
Even though I comprehend this picture is no great shakes and I'll likely never revisit it, it had a profound effect on me theatrically. I was leaning forward in my seat, fully invested for its brief duration, soaking in the production design, loving the lighting and setting. Special mention should be made of the excellent score, a droning, esoteric slice of creepy minimalism. A standard horror film it may be, but it plows ahead with grim determination and should be applauded for playing it straight with such a potent premise and under-utilized location.
After guzzling from this toxic ocean of despair, Men In Black 3 proved a perfect palette cleanser. From washed out ennui to frothy, colorful fun, I can't imagine a more complimentary and diverse double feature. Now I'm no MIB nut, mind you. I enjoyed the first one a great deal and remember almost nothing of its sequel. I wasn't exactly clamoring for this decade-in-the-making continuation of the franchise. I'll tell you what I always am excited for though. Rick Baker practical effects supported by top of the line visual effects. This film is a veritable buffet for monster kids and sci-fi weirdo's. The eye candy on display here is gleefully reminiscent of and on par with the troll market sequence in Hellboy 2. If that last sentence meant anything to you, you have a pretty good idea if this movie will appeal to you.
It doesn't hurt that the story is a breathless bit of time travel bologna that manages to inject new life into the series by mischievously playing around in another era. Compounding this welcome aesthetic energy is a tremendous Josh Brolin, brilliantly aping Tommy Lee Jones. He makes the K character more fun, likable and interesting, not to mention doesn't strain credulity as much during the action. It was a treat to remember how charismatic Will Smith can be when carrying a film. Maybe more movie stars in his league should take a few years off here and there, only to come back like this and remind us why we fell in love with them in the first place. Throw in a surprisingly intimidating villain turn from Jermaine Clement and you've got yourself a damn fine slice of impressively produced escapism.
I saw this in (L)IMAX 3D and would recommend doing the same if you're going to bother. The sound design is a cacophonous delight of quirky mayhem that was overpowering music to my ears coming out of that top notch surround system. The 3-D is up there with the best I've seen. The time jump sequences and vertigo inducing finale particularly stood out as worthy of the up-charge, but the lack of eyestrain, consistent semblance of depth and overall brightness of image render me incapable of proffering any real complaint. If studio's insist upon foisting the gimmick on us, this is the only acceptable level of presentation. It added a lot of fun to the film and made it an actual experience, as opposed to a post converted insult. It might have had a troubled production and bloated budget, but MIBIII hits theaters looking like 250 million bucks and ready to entertain.
These two films gave me exactly what I needed after last weekends unpleasantness. They couldn't be more dissimilar in tone, appearance and production, but that's what I love about movies and going to the theater. For a measly 16$, I purchased two tickets for roughly 4 hours of entertainment. I went to the bowels of radioactive hell and to the swinging sixties as imagined by Forrest J. Ackerman. I laughed, I was creeped out, I saw old friends and made new ones. Summer is back on track.
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