Classic Review: Patton (7/10)

Patton is a movie that’s been on my to do list for a long time, and as good a movie as any to be my first classic review.  A character study like no other, Patton follows the tale of the most battle hungry, mad-dog general America ever had the pride to produce.  Over this three hour long saga we watch Patton emerge victorious in Africa, Sicily, and finally in the very heart of Europe.  We see how the Germans feared him all the way up to the man they called genius (Rommel) and we see how the Allies feared him even more, or at least his temper and unrestrained tongue.  But this isn’t a review of the man; it’s a review of the movie.

There’s no real plot to be found here, but that’s good.  This was set out to be historically accurate from the beginning, and to really get inside one of the most famous American general’s head.  But, this is the major thing that stopped me from completely enjoying the movie.  It simply isn’t entertaining.  It’s powerful, it’s interesting, but it isn’t entertaining.  I’d almost call it a documentary.  And in that area it excels. 

George C. Scott delivers his famous performance brilliantly.  We are completely able to see the struggle Patton constantly lived with, between his own ferociousness, his foolish actions when not in combat, his odd beliefs, and his passion for war both past and present.  All of the other actors on screen truly shrink to insignificance which is exactly what this movie demands of them.  We’re not here to worry about his friend Bradley or his rival Montgomery.   At no point do we see a side of Patton we aren’t meant to, the performance is flawless and I am left respecting the character, and yet understanding his flaws. 

The brief action scenes give us the best sense of the way the war looked through Patton’s eyes.  There’s no focus on the individual soldier, there’s no focus on heroes, simply the movements of the troops and the command of the setup, Patton’s own role.  This is an interesting departure from the majority of war movies we are presented with, where we get the common man’s view of the battlefield and see his trials and struggles.  Patton presents us with the view from the top down, a view I haven’t seen in any other movie and at that it is quite interesting and worth watching. 

As a war movie this does not stand out.  It will not thrill you with action or drama.  What it does do is impart respect for an historical figure that cannot be denied.  We are shown the way one man fought for his rightful place in history, and struggled to be able to keep his own flaws from getting in the way of his serving the world the only way he could, as a commander.  This epic film teaches you everything you need to know about Patton and gave me a soft spot for him on the list of famous soldiers.  If you’re looking for a fun time watching a movie, this isn’t the place to go.  But if you’re looking to get deep into the character of one strong, foolhardy man, this movie does it flawlessly.  I recommend seeing it once, but in the end, it’s probably best to keep it to only once.  Patton earns a 7/10 as a movie, but earns  a 10/10 as a character study. 

(IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066206/)

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Patton (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)

New Review: Avatar (10/10)

James Cameron has astounded me. Avatar is a huge movie in almost every sense of the term. The technology that this movie represents is impressive, everything that went into it was well thought out, and the world that this movie builds is marvelous. Marvelous isn’t a word I like to use a lot, I like to keep the big words in reserve for things that really deserve and boy howdy does Avatar ever deserve it. I literally cannot say enough positive things about this piece of cinema.

Ok, a quick plot summary to tell you what we’re dealing with here. Humans discovered another world with life on it, a mere 6 year trip away. It’s worth making the trip, though, because the mineral “unobtainium” (yeah, we’d probably call it that) is present here and is worth a stunning $20,000,000 a kilogram. The world, however, is an incredibly harsh climate, so a military presence is necessary to protect the mining outpost. A scientific station is also present to give the mining some legitimacy, where biologists study the alien life. Our main protagonist is brought on to work for this scientific outpost as an Avatar pilot, the Avatars being a strange crossbreed of humans with the local populace that can live and function on the planet surface with no trouble and are controlled remotely. The local populace that they are modeled after, however, is not pleased with the intrusion of aliens on their land, and is forced to fight for their lives when the company is willing to go to all out war in order to secure the best mining areas. The hero bonds with the locals through his Avatar and looks to save everyone from the terrors of war. A pretty classic story I would say.

Now before I get ahead of myself, I won’t say it’s perfect. The storyline is obviously simple. Everyone and their auntie has already made the connection to Dances with Wolves, but it is startlingly similar. The acting is completely par for the course, but mostly that’s because they weren’t given very many important lines to work with. There aren’t many character driven scenes at all, and you know what? All of that is completely fine. It doesn’t matter that the story is simple, it doesn’t matter that the characters have been seen before, it doesn’t matter at all because that wasn’t the goal of this film.

Avatar is truly a piece of cinema, and I’ve explained in my first post that there is a difference between a movie, a film, and a piece of cinema, and on that scale this is strictly a piece of cinema. The world that James Cameron created is what makes the movie move. Every setting imparts a certain emotion, either fear when the landscape is threatening, strict awe when we see the world from the back of the flying creatures, or touching harmony when we’re presented with the glowing night time. With that, I’d like to compare this to a very different movie, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

Sergio Leonne’s masterpiece is a very different movie from Avatar, that’s clear. GBU was all about subtlety of actor’s emotions and simple men acting on an epic quest for independence. But of course it can be picked apart and go deeper and yadda yadda yadda. But the real key to the emotion of the film isn’t the characters, it’s certainly not the dialogue, and it isn’t the story. It’s the setting. At the very beginning we’re confronted with a completely desolate ghost town, and yet this is where Tuco is having his dinner. A lonesome farm house, the wide reaching desert. These locations of absolute misery and destitution set up the way we feel about the characters, the true grit that is revealed in them.

Avatar sets out with the same goal in mind; that is where the emotion in this movie comes from. And in this regard it is a complete and utter success. Every setting change, from the human’s prim and proper compound to the floating mountains make this movie tick completely and perfectly. If there was a complex storyline or characters that called for attention at every turn, the movie would be overwhelming and distracting. Instead we are treated to a visual masterpiece, and I for one was completely moved by every event in the story, even if I had seen it in other places before. Not only that, but I was unable to expect what outcome certain tensions would have. It was very up in the air what Cameron would do with the storyline, as he has enough respect as a filmmaker to force us to expect unusual and brave twists and turns here and there.

The technical aspects of this movie are hard to even mention. Cameron had entirely new camera and projector technology created specifically because he wanted to see a perfect view of the world, Pandora, that he created. The cinematography is, therefore, intense and always gives us a startling view of the world. The soundtrack was unremarkable, but not in any way distracting. Actors worked well in their role, I would say the movie was excellently cast.

All in all, you can probably tell this is an immensely positive review. I think James Cameron was completely successful in every goal he set out with in this movie. It is entertaining, exciting, and managed to move and sway my emotions every way he wanted. I cannot recommend seeing this movie enough, simply to appreciate the cinematography and world that this film creates. I give it a completely honest perfect 10/10, as I don’t think there was anything that could have made me enjoy it more. It’s as good as a movie gets, and I pray it makes enough money to encourage humanity to take a second visit to the world of Pandora, so that we can see where else that wonderful world can take us.


(imdb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499549/ )

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