MOVIE REVIEW: “The Road”

“The Road”
3-1/2 Flipps

It is said that when the world is in distress and answers cannot be found through the conventional means, we turn to artists for answers. The Road may not be the answer were looking for; in fact, it is a film that is hopeless to the human condition.

Based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy, an author who gave us the darkest side of humanity in the Cohen Brothers film ‘No Country for Old Men’, it has a very simple premise. The Man (played to desperate perfection by Viggo Mortensen) treks across a barren post-apocalyptic wasteland with his son in order to reach a better life along the eastern coastline. Along the way they encounter the dangers of harsh weather, starvation and cannibal survivors that consider young children a delicacy.

All of these elements seem bleak and hopeless and yes the film is all of those things but there is a spark of life rarely seen in many films of its kind. The Man tells his son “You have to keep that fire…The fire inside you”. They have no idea what lies ahead or if there is any humanity left in a world torn apart, all they have is each other and the fire that burns inside of all of us.

The Road is a film of undeniable power and is more likely to leave some depressed than enlightened; it is an existential study on faith, the future and our survival, but also leaves us to ask the question ‘Do you have the fire inside you?’ .

AVATAR: An IMAX 3-D Experience

(4 Flipps)

Avatar is the grandest movie-going experience of the decade! It has certainly paved the way for new technology (created by Director/Writer James Cameron himself) and is a thoroughly enjoyable experience. I suppose this is how audiences felt over 3 decades ago when Star Wars blasted a hole in cinema history, now its Avatar’s turn.

The story is set on a distant planet called ‘Pandora’ which is inhabited by 12 ft tall creatures called The Na’Vi. At night, their planet illuminates like a neon dream which in 3-D is absolutely beautiful to behold. Sam Worthington plays Jake, a marine who is a paraplegic that makes a deal to have his body transferred into that of one of the natives, this process is called being an ‘Avatar’. As tensions rise, Jake must make the decision of duty or true freedom that will change everything.

Avatar cannot be explained with words, it’s a film that must be felt heard and seen in the way it was intended. The 3-D adds to the movie going experience rather than just making it a gimmick and the special effects are truly spectacular, also adding to the story instead of detracting the audience from it. There is one scene where Jake must learn to fly a creature in order to truly become one of the Na’Vi, this scene alone is worth the price of admission. There is a true freedom in using the special effects that in most films would have hindered it.

This is one of the year’s best films and proves that James Cameron is not only a director but a revolutionist