Arcadia

Computer games started as other fun interactive pastimes and the most popular originally were perhaps arcade games.

Children and adults alike throughout time have enjoyed competing for high scores and have anticipated the elation which comes with winning these games.

What makes these pastimes so alluring is both the interaction with the characters inside the games and the journey to get to the end result. Be we winners or losers, these playtime 'gadgets' allow the spirit a form of release.

The latest 'Pixel' film, although super simplistic in terms of the idea: humans versus game characters, and in terms of its plot or script, is surprisingly funny and entertaining.

The entertainment is due to the make believe factor of the game characters coming to life larger than light and the fight scenes with the humans trying to annihilate them. 

It takes the idea of playing the game to another level making these characters enter into our reality.

There are however a few messages at play here too: games should remain games and remembered as such, otherwise they can take over our realm. Life is to be enjoyed and not wasted away completely in front of a screen. 

The other inherent message is that when we play that much and live these games so fully we allow them to take over our existence. This is portrayed in how the attacking pixels manage to change the humans into blocks of energy, light and graphic images when they touch them.

The idea is that we can play but we must remember that these are only games no matter how interactive they are and they should only be a small part of our daily lives. When we create them and allow them too much life in our minds, they can take over and that is not healthy.

The graphics and music are very generic, ie; bright coloured Lego like blocks of graphics with the escalating thriller type music in the background whenever there is a scary fight scene or approaching danger.

The best part of the film is obviously the cast including Adam Sandler who is a king of comedy and the dialogue holds enough humour to carry the film through. 

The humour is a blend of crazy erratic emotional pitches and of surreal characters reminiscent of the mad hatter who change their emotional pitch and their approach at every turn and at the drop of a hat.

It also combines ego with realism and this makes it comic as well. 

Sandler is the usual blend of humble, layed back, confident, 'say it like it is' kind a guy and the others are a combo of status characters who fumble and fall and are OK with making fools of themselves whilst taking themselves seriously in their positions of power at the same time. 

One of my favourite characters is the young 'glasses wearing' nerd who goes from wacky confident drill sergeant type to nerdy frightened collapsing type within minutes. 

This erratic behaviour in a few characters is a good formula for comic effect. (Glasses nerd guy with the army guys is a very funny scene).

PAC man and his dad are quite hilarious for a moment or two with one piece of dialogue summing up how life and its relationships can take so many different turns at a moment's notice.

New York is a good setting for one of the final scenes because it has the kind of street structure which is very similar to the computer generated twisting and turning paths in most of these games.

Pixels isn't a surprise as a film, as the idea essentially isn't new and it is a natural evolution to have games move from small TV screens or PCs to the big screen. One screen is much like another in this day and age but for the size and the experience which differ depending on the setting and the game itself.

There is at present a trend of Cinema sliding back as an industry, unless it keeps generating new technology and special effects -which Hollywood tries very hard to achieve. 

Not only has television and computer or phone streaming and downloading become more popular, more accessible and faster, but the content of film has reached a saturation and thus Film constantly needs to compete with these other mediums. 

One way to do so is technology and a 3D or 4D or even 5D effect to heighten the sensory experience, otherwise Cinema can easily become obsolete in an age where everything and everyone move so fast. 

Having a closer to home or easier medium to reach/access is preferable for fast paced city slickers, busy families and travelling workers or holiday makers.

Like video games and video tapes or even CDs, the big screen is giving way to portable streaming downloading screens and to less time consuming play times.

Barely a Five

Never being too critical of a film is one of my top ten notes to self but it's pretty difficult to find something wonderful to say about the Fantastic Four which is out now on the big screen.

Filmmakers no matter their finished work deserve to be applauded regardless of how little impressed we may be with their achievement because making a film is a very difficult process in itself.

I thought long and hard about how I would rate the Fantastic Four and really couldn't come up with more that an average five at best.

Although a film about why and how the Four came to be as they are is a great idea for a prequel story, the actual script is quite disappointing and the acting leaves much to be desired.
There were times when the actors almost seem to be slowly spelling out phrases for the audience about very basic plot elements and that makes it seem almost comical.
Film audiences generally require less obvious explanations of the story line and more visual an actual story telling through the use of powerful images in an intelligent subtle and coherent way on screen.
Using fewer word sequences and more visual stimulation and expressive images is usually a more effective story telling process.

The background, set design and props are so basic as to be reminiscent of the very first special effects films and the digital work or graphics are quite poor bringing to mind that this is perhaps quite a low budget film. There is a huge gap between what is advertised in the poster and log line of the film and what is actually on offer in the cinema.

The Four's powers are given an explanation of course but the characters' relationships are superficially presented at best.

Visually the best images are probably in relation to the elasticity of Reed in one or two shots when he comes into that particular power. The fire power, stone/strength power and invisibility power are 'nice' enough to see on a big screen but really not what might be expected in terms of powerful visuals of or special effects.

The theme of predictable patterns of human behavior-similar to the one in Mission Impossible which I touched upon last time- is evident in this film too in the scene where music is explained as a series of predictable patterns and anticipated beats. The idea is that human beings enjoy music emotionally because of it's predictable nature and their anticipation of that.
This for me was the most interesting and intelligent scene in the film but could have been delved into a little more I felt and used to support other scenes or to emphasize the theme of human predictability a little more.
Touching on the notion of music patterns is a good idea in relation to thought processes and human behavior but we as an audience are let down by the fact that it doesn't really tie in with the rest of the story as it should, It could have been used in a much more effective way to support the plot and the characters' dynamics.

I honestly almost don't remember the ending or the story unfolding structurally so I am not sure if this is worth the money as a movie experience, and as my colleague mentioned earlier to me that day: it's a home movie not a cinema film.

All in all a let down because the origins of the Four could have been produced for film in a much more sensory explosive and entertaining way.

Barely a Five for Fantastic Four.

Before After

Missions

Tom Cruise does apparently challenge himself constantly in films and the latest Mission Impossible has him hanging off the wing of a plane which in itself shows the 'heights' to which he is willing to go to reach the next level in both his carear and his own personal growth by pushing himself a little bit further every time.
Perhaps some of us need that to make life a more interesting ride but almost growing wings isn't for everybody.
In fact one of the reasons we do so love to go to the movies is to immerse ourselves in a world of make believe where the unbelievable can become real and where we imagine ourselves able to do the things we wouldn't really undertake in life, or at least where we see others completing 'missions' that push the boundaries of reality a little further and challenge our minds and hearts in a way that keeps life's magic alive.
What we wonder at as children in story books is what we still look for when we watch a film because we want to believe, and that belief keeps the child within alive and balances our cynicism, keeping us healthy and happy.

We find stunts galore of course in the latest Mission Impossible release, including a car chase and a motorbike wild ride which seems to be a must for Cruise. Cruising down the highways or finding a way through winding narrow streets, are always a part of his action repertoire it seems, and those scenes in this particular film are full of twists and turns as is the plot-although it is thankfully easy enough to follow and not too convoluted like some of these big blockbuster plots tend to become.

A few reverse camera shots make us interact closely with the hero (upside down) and the settings include an opera stage which offers a lot of entertaining props and action filled fast paced moments.

The impossible mission seems to focus mostly on one big water immersed moment (which I won't mention here but which is very edge of your seat) and this builds momentum for the film taking it to the next level.
Every challenge takes us with Tom to new 'aaahs' and 'ooohs' but there is an undertone of seriousness to the film as well.

The notions of chance and destiny aren't only hinted at but actually mentioned in connection to the hero's journey and to his personality.

There is also a hint at the notion of human predictability, ie: how human nature is in many ways predictable and how human behaviour generally is conditioned by who we are as people and what we want in life. This is especially reinforced in the scenes where the hero and his antagonist/main bad guy face each other and draw swords (both physically and verbally/mentally).

The concepts of death and trust are presented in a few sequences including a couple of powerful ones where the two protagonists chose to save each other and have to trust one another in order to make the right choices, despite confusing elements and external distractions.
Trusting one another in order to survive and save each other, becomes the ultimate choice.

A couple of these theme related scenes are worth mentioning here; one at the beginning where Tom is tied up literally (and not just with a new mission in mind) and one where his nemesis/love match gives him a hard choice to make by placing herself in his line of fire so to speak and gives him a choice to either trust her or not. The latter is within a chase scene and suddenly reverses the pace of the film but also projects a very strong image to the audience as well as a injecting us with a powerful thought about Trust.

There are a a few key moments in the film involving trust and they do change the pace as well as stay etched in the mind because of their powerful message.

The impossible is relative and subjective of course, but missions if imbued with enough personal passion, ambition and drive can become possible for each and every one of us depending on the level of emotional investment.
The underlying message is that we may not always achieve what we desire but if we truly want to make something possible we can start by believing in it a hundred per cent.
Destiny plays its part of course like its does in the latest mission impossible where Mr Cruise invests himself a hundred per cent emotionally and physically in his mission and because it is also his destiny to do so, he does succeed in turning the impossible into a possible ultimately.

He almost dies doing it but he does it nevertheless and the rewards as a result override the anguish during the mission.

The possibilities are boundless.

Story Track

Story lines are important be they within a complex or a simple plot because without them we have no motivation to continue watching a film.

Characters and dialogue as well as visual and sound effects are of course paramount in Cinema, but what would happen if we had a series of dialogues with no story plan in mind and no track or end in view? Would we still watch and identify purely with the characters even if they had no where to go and no problem to resolve?

From children's stories to dark tales, tracking the characters through a series of adventures leading them to growth, self discovery and an ultimate resolution is key to story telling and audience engagement.

Having recently seen Thomas and Friends on the big screen with my two year old nephew, I would say that the train track pulls the child into the story because a train on a track is a moving living thing, an object with life and purpose, an animated being with a journey and an adventure.

The story to an adult mind is granted almost too simple to follow or to grab our attention for very long: ie: Thomas bonding with other train friends and trains making wishes to have a magic purpose, finding a treasure, Thomas being chased by a 'bad' captain and ultimately retrieving the said treasure and being recognised as a hero. Nevertheless to a child's mind, forming it's identity and absorbing like a sponge, the core elements for engagement are there: bonding, learning about oneself and ones purpose in life, overcoming obstacles through an adventure and coming through it stronger, clearer and better for the journey and the path taken.

The train on its track is like a child on his/her journey. The adult viewer like the child identifies with that movement of the mind and of the heart through the challenges, choice of routes and resolutions during the roller coaster ride that is life.

Be they trains on a track or a journey of self discovery, it's as essential to have the story and plot as it is to have characters and their dialogue, otherwise identification and engagement become difficult.

Ride on!