- timeandtide
- Nov 29, 2007
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This space is reserved for future considerations.
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I actually only saw Pain & Gain a week ago (thanks, Germany!), and it really is Bay's best work and in terms of craftsmanship easily blows Transformers out of the water. I won't be talking about it much here because it really deserves to be covered in more significant detail, but now that I'm done with TF, I've been toying with the idea of giving it a similarly thorough analysis. I'll have to watch it again and see what I can say about it. If anyone reading hasn't seen it yet: Do so. Now there's a movie I can recommend without reservations.
Have you not seen anything else by Bay yet? The Island, Bad Boys 2, etc. Bad Boys 2 is notable - it ends with the Miami police protagonists involved in a Mexican Showdown at the mine-laden gates of Guantanamo Bay. The Island is definitely tied to Transformers series. The Rock is an action movie that ultimately puts governmental bureaucracy as the real evil - not in the normal conspiracy sense, but in that they see people as tools subservient to whatever the government needs. I haven't seen Pearl Harbor in a long time, but I've seen snippets of the uncut attack and it's stunningly violent: there's one scene where nurses and other civilians are running, screaming, as Japanese Zeroes zoom down on them and open fire, reducing the crowd to a red mist.
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Sep 26, 2013 09:42
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Apr 25, 2024 11:16
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- timeandtide
- Nov 29, 2007
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This space is reserved for future considerations.
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Well, like I said before, it's a David and Goliath reference. In the accurate translation, David knocks the gigantic Philistine warrior down with a blow to the leg, and then decapitates him in the name of God. He subsequently leads the Israelites to victory as their king.
What makes the victory here ambivalent is the fact that the god in question is not the god of Abraham, but the false god Optimus. An earlier scene shows that it was Bumblebee who handed down the knowledge of how to kill the Cybertronians. And you have the lead NEST guy doing the 'wink-wink' plausible deniability thing when Optimus leads the unauthorized attack on Iran. We know which side his bread's buttered on.
Que is a deliberately-poo poo character, but I absolutely love the scene where he distributes those grenades and grappling hooks to the NEST team.
He very specifically scatters them on the floor like toys, so that everyone must kneel to pick them up. (!!!)
This is one of the most important scenes in the film, because it succinctly illustrates the Autobot concept of freedom: you're free to own toys. You are free to buy a sportscar. You're free to profit off the exploitation of others, or to be exploited. The command to kneel is unspoken. Even ultra-rich business guy Malkovich loves being subdued and dominated by Bumblebee. It's a hoot to play with these toys - even moreso when they play with you.
Contrast this to Megatron, who stands against this false freedom and for genuine freedom in the dictatorship of the proletariat.
At the end of the film, you get the cliche of the protagonist driving up in his reclaimed sportscar. It's like the end of Back To The Future and countless other films. Sam steps out and walks forward, to look up reverently at Optimus - but the shot lingers on the car as it shudders, twists and unfolds into a giant alien thing. Forget that the is Transformers for a second. It's weird for a film to end like this.
Oh, and then Bumblebee scatters junk wedding rings on the ground like toys. Sam and Carly both kneel to pick them up, as Bumblebee laughs and laughs
deep in his throat and he is a great favorite, the judge. He wafts his hat and the lunar dome of his skull passes palely under the lamps and he swings about and takes possession of one of the fiddles and he pirouettes and makes a pass, two passes, dancing and fiddling all at once. His feet are light and nimble. He never sleeps. He says that he will never die. He dances in light and in shadow and he is a great favorite. He never sleeps, the judge. He is dancing, dancing. He says that he will never die.
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Oct 5, 2013 20:04
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- timeandtide
- Nov 29, 2007
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This space is reserved for future considerations.
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I sincerely hope Terry sees the J. Liebesman TMNT and writes lengthy posts about it, because Megan Fox's character is basically a walking essay against the image that has been created about her by film culture.
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Sep 5, 2014 06:14
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Sep 26, 2013 09:42
