Purging John Carpenter

Warning - This post is rife with spoilers!

 

I'm a big fan of the Purge movies, and am looking forward to seeing the newest one, Election Day.  When I watched the first film, I remember thinking, "This is the most John Carpenter-like film I've seen of the new John Carpenter wannabes."  I thought the same thing about the even-better sequel.  They carry on Carpenter's great strengths - pounding synth scores and completely batshit-insane, yet brilliantly simple, central concepts.  On reflection, though, I realized it wasn't just the music or the stories that reminded me of Carpenter films... They're actually remarkably step-by-step remakes, with new titles. 

Consider:

Assault on Precinct 13 - A traumatized man seeks shelter inside a fortified station which comes under waves of attacks from subhuman gang members. There is a focus on race relations as the black captain and the white convict must cooperate to survive, gaining mutual respect in the process.

The Purge - A traumatized man seeks shelter inside a fortified home which comes under waves of attacks from subhuman Young Republicans. There is a focus on race relations as the white family must decide whether to sacrifice the black victim to save themselves.  

In neither movie do we learn much of anything about the primary target - He's simply there as a magnet to draw down the wrath of the horde.  Assault gives us a middle-class Average White Guy, who attracts the gang's attention by shooting one of their members in anger over the death of his daughter.  We don't know who he is, why he was there, and he's virtually mute for the rest of the film.  The Purge is even simpler - We're given zip about the main target except that he's a black man of lower social class, and presumably that's all that's needed to make him a target for the rich kid psychopaths.  

 

The interesting thing is the total inversion of the villains. In Assault, it's two working class men defending the middle class against the zombie-like attacks of a subhuman street gang - Characterless, near-mindless killing machines that are invading the safe neighborhoods. In Purge, it's wealthy people with consciences defending the lower class and themselves from the psychotic attacks of... their own young. Assault fears the street gangs consuming the working class, Purge fears the upper class consuming itself and the lower class both.  It's a testament to the times and the decades between the films that there simply is no middle class in the Purge movies.  Everyone is either the wealthy or the working poor or homeless. 

Also diverging are the final messages - Assault is ultimately a much more positive film, despite its grimness.  In Assault, the black guy and the white guy, the hardworking policeman and the "gentleman criminal", come together in understanding and realize that their values are far closer than the creatures they're fighting.  When Bishop insists that Napoleon not be chained, and that they walk out to meet the dawn together, it's a triumphant moment.  The values of hardworking decency have been defended, and even though Napoleon is going back to jail, you understand that the day is won for civilization, for the moment.

Purge is very similar in structure - The black man sides with the white family and in the end, saves those who sheltered him.  The victorious survivors walk out to meet the new day in an almost identical ending scene, except... in Purge-Land, there is no victory.  The chasm between the wealthy family and the poor guy remains, and now the wealthy family realizes the depth of the hate and loathing and jealousy that their own "kind" have for them also.  They've survived the night, but they're living in a nest of people who all want to kill them, just because they're perceived to have a little bit more than the next wealthiest household.  There's no real victory, and only a thin veneer of icy smiles and cocktail parties will cover the seething violence that's being held in check until the next Purge Night.

They make for a fascinating comparison, back to back.  If time and interest permit, look for a follow-up post to this on the virtually identical storylines of The Purge 2: Anarchy and Escape from New York.

Mad Max - Fury Road

NetFlix NA
IMDB 8.2/10
My Rating: 6/10


The internets have been going crazy with gaga reviews of this for some time now, and I finally got to see it last night.  Sadly, I'm going to have to go with the counter opinion.  I thought it was entertaining but overdone, and like way too many modern movies, instead of presenting an absorbing story it just tried to pummel you into submission with constant action, which to me is actually boring when I don't really care much about any of the characters.  Which I didn't, really, because I thought Hardy's Max was a poor substitute for Gibson's, and I also wasn't particularly engaged by the fact that he was the sidekick in his own movie. 

Before I get into specifics, I want to point out that it seems like every review I've read has either been glowing praise about it for its theoretical "feminist narrative", or hostile MRA guys complaining that a chick was the star.  I don't give a shit about either of these political hoophole positions, I just wanted it to be good, but for me it was lacking.   Like, I don't care that Max took a backseat to a woman, but I was annoyed that Max had no arc, no skills, and basically contributed virtually nothing to the movie other than to be a victim and tag-along passenger, all to a secondary character who was not the character I sat down with popcorn to see.  It was like going to a Batman movie and having the whole movie be about Commissioner Gordon instead. 

My #1 complaint was the constant barrage of action.  Stuff happening constantly, all over the screen, and I just tuned out after a while.  Good action films have rhythm like music, with lulls and plot and just normal stuff that makes the action stand out when it happens.  This was all action, and the result was much like the hour long battle in Man of Steel - I just stopped caring much about what was happening because it was constantly "EVERYTHING IS EXPLODING AND EVERYONE IS ALMOST DYING IN ALL CAPS ALL THE TIME!!!"

It's entirely possible my opinion may be influenced because I just recently rewatched the original Mad Max and then Road Warrior, in anticipation of seeing Fury Road. 

Lots of spoilers to follow...

OK, I've often said the original Mad Max was kind of bleh, in that it's a generic revenge story and really only has two great action scenes, at the start and at the end.  On rewatch, though, it's disturbing in a way the sequels aren't.  It's apocalypse-in-progress rather than post-apocalypse, and there's something quite unsettling about the weird combination of society clearly falling apart at the edges, and normal people still trying to carry on normal lives.  Roadside diners are open, garages work normally, families go on vacation, etc, yet at the same time, the bikers are free to maraud and there are No-Go zones within easy reach.  Anyway, it was better than I remembered.  Also, it's all clearly about Max, whose arc IS the narrative.  He's the best driver in the MFP and a happy family man with friends untill things go bad and he becomes a cold-hearted killer.

Road Warrior still has Max as the central guide, and this time his arc goes from being an empty, soulless husk to actually wanting to help out other human beings again. 

The fundamental difference between Gibson's Max and Hardy's Max is that Gibson's has the skills to make him a heroic protagonist.  He suffers a lot of shit but ultimately he's still the best driver on the road, summed up handily in RW when, even mangled and battered and barely standing, he tells Papagello, "I'm the best chance you've got" for driving the rig.

Compare:

Fury Road opens with a traumatized Max being immediately chased down, easily wrecked and captured and victimized.  He spend the first half hour of the movie tied to a bumper, and has no personality at all.

Road Warrior opens with Max being pursued by superior numbers, and using his excellent driving skills ("RE-flexes, that's what you've got!"), he dispatches every car that's after him.  Then, in the same running time, we see that he has a heart (buried) via the wind-up music box, that he's cunning (His encounter with the Gyro Captain), ruthless, very intelligent, and basically an all-around cool character. 

This is better Max:

 

By the point in the running time when Fury Road is still showing us big CG landscapes and vistas and constant action, Road Warrior has given us a relatable hero with a plan, a sense of conscience, and a lot of skill to back it up.  Fury Road's Max was a steering wheel holder, a guy who just got stuck in the middle of someone else's story and clung on for dear life, and didn't bring any particular skills to the story.  RW's Max was a guy with a plan who was the only dude who could help the refinery people, and his determination and stupid-fast driving skill ended up making him an accidental hero.  Like Eastwood's Man with No Name, he's in it for himself, but still gets the good guy job done.

Voila:

Finally, I missed the humor.  RW is actually a fairly funny movie, often unexpectedly so, and yeah it's black humor but it still has laughs.  Particularly the Gyro Captain and the running gag with Max's shotgun:

Bottom line - I did enjoy Fury Road.  I didn't think it was as good as Road Warrior, though, nor was it "the ultimate action movie ever made" as many of the reviews have claimed.  

JCVD

NetFlix
IMDB
My Rating: 7/10


I am going to freak out my readers by saying this is a Jean Claude Van Damme movie that was really good and that everyone should see. The man can act.  

It was pretty damned excellent. I think it has a 7.3 on IMDB, IIRC, and the only reason it's not higher than that is because a bunch of moronic JCVD fans keep voting it 1's because it wasn't the kind of movie they wanted (Cheesy martial arts action). It is an actual, real, authentic serious movie.

In JCVD, JCVD plays himself - An aging, washed-up action hero star forced into progressively lower and lower budget movies that have killed his career, while trying to recover from drug abuse and fighting a losing legal battle with his ex-wife for custody of their daughter. He returns to Belgium to recuperate a bit, and ends up in a post office during a robbery (FWIW, post offices in France & Belgium are alike in this - They are banks as well, and can offer checking and savings accounts, loans, etc). Due to a misunderstanding, the police outside believe JCVD himself is running the robbery, while he is stuck indoors with the hostages and three pretty unbalanced criminals who have just seen their perfect plan go up in flames.

This is the point where a typical JCVD movie would have him crawling into the ductwork and roundhouse-kicking lots of bad guys a la Die Hard. The difference here is that it's played exactly like real life - No superhumans, no giant kung fu battles, etc. JCVD is exhausted and stressed and jet lagged, and sane enough to realize that if he tries anything heroic, he's almost certain to get an innocent hostage shot. The movie then becomes, "What can a normal, real life guy do in such a situation to keep the hostages alive?" He is not at all a superhero - In fact, he's pretty much a freaked out loser - but tries to find ways to use his celebrity status to help out. One of the criminals worships him and loves his films, another is coming unglued because he's supposed to be in charge, and the third is a chillingly-acted psychopath.

The violence in the movie is realistic, not martial arts flick. It's a bit like a modern version of Dog Day Afternoon that happens to have this movie actor dropped into the storyline. Definitely worth seeing.  

Suggested Accompaniment:  It's a pretty rough and raw film, so I'd recommend the same for libations.  In fact, it's hard to pin down... Not really a popcorn film, but not a cheap beer movie either.  I think I'll go with some sort of Leffe beer, if you can get it, and some sort of very ragged sandblast pipe - Something with a lot of hard-worn character, coupled with a very potent Latakia tobacco.  Bring your Old Ironsides and Pirate Kake to this one, folks.

Convoy

NetFlix
IMDB
My Rating: 3/10

Totally obnoxious and unlikable redneck trucker Rubber Duck ends up leading a gigantic convoy as truckers from all over America rally to his side as he stands up to The Man, or something. Along the way we get the saddest cheating waitress ever, a hero who's semi-conscious at best, obligatory 70's hick cops beating up the black guy, incredibly serious direction that's convinced this pointless mess MEANS SOMETHING, and Ernest Borgnine.

Watch the trailer below because it gives you all the best parts of the movie and actually makes it look like fun. One can enjoy the trailer for 3 minutes and be spared sitting through 1 hour 43 minutes of the Duck staring vacantly out the window and Ali MacGraw's awful haircut.

I found this review on IMDB from a person who gave this 8/10. I'm not sure we watched the same movie, and I'm equally not sure this guy isn't just taking the piss, but this is one funny review if he's being serious...

CONVOY, even after almost 30 years since it was released, remains was it was, an iconic American film by an iconic American director. This movie,which is not short on American archetypes, from Ernest Bornine's vile redneck sheriff "Dirty Lyle," to Kris Kristofferson's independence-loving "Rubber Duck," to Ali MacGraw's free-spirited "Melissa," is really an old-fashioned Western, but with trucks. LOTS of trucks. Like Clint Eastwood's "man with no name" gunslinger, Kristofferson (who steals every scene with his smile and blue eyes) is a man whose sense of honour and justice compels him to act on behalf of the down-trodden; symbolized in this case by a black truck driver named "Spider Mike" (played by actor Franklyn Ajaye). But instead of guns and "pistols at dawn" Kristofferson uses a semi. But it's not "justice" he's after, for in the world of CONVOY "justice" (per se) doesn't really exist. That's what makes this film so iconic. If it was about "justice" this movie would have been a court drama, with the Rubber Duck hiring a lawyer, going to court, and getting Dirty Lyle tossed in jail for his arrogance and abuse of power. Nor is it about mere revenge, for throughout the movie Kristofferson's character never truly reaches the point where he simply wants to hurt and destroy his nemesis. It's rather about personal honour and how we, as individuals, define it. Spider Mike, therefore, becomes not so much the victim of racism (which is repeatedly emphasized by the other characters calling him "boy") but of a system that has allowed dishonourable people (in positions of power) to abuse that power at will. Into this world comes the "legendary" Rubber Duck, the "last of the independents," who alone is willing to strike a blow for the diminished honour of another man, while seeking no reward for himself. This is the essence of the American Western and why it works so well in CONVOY. Take away the trucks, put on some cowboy boots and a six-shooter, and you have before you any number of Westerns whose sole premise is that one man with personal integrity and honour can make a real difference in the corrupt world in which he lives. The difference in this case is that Kristofferson doesn't just "clean up this one horse town" he, with the aid of his "posse" of like-minded truckers (Burt Young does a terrific job as his side-kick "Pig Pen"), totally demolishes it. And like those great Westerns, only then can Rubber Duck find solace for his spirit; which he does without compromising either his own values or his personal integrity This is the essence of honour itself and what really makes this movie work. Even, now, after almost 30 years, one cannot help but stand and cheer as Rubber Duck and company take on the forces arrayed against them as the movie reaches its climax. And then stand up cheer again during the closing dénouement. CONVOY, therefore, isn't about "America," or even about being an American, it IS America; the America of myth and folklore that people, even now, still believe in and which the great Westerns of old have done so much to popularize. Because of that and because director Sam Peckinpah does it with such style and grace, this iconic movie, by an iconic director, deserves a place on the shelf of every lover of good solid entertainment 

I'm not sure we saw the same movie, because what I saw was Rubber Duck & Co plowing into the town where the cops had jailed Black Victim and driving 18 wheelers through every fruit stand, trading post, pawn shop, and general store in the town during their wheeled battle with the evil cops. I lost count of how many buildings got demolished and all I was thinking was, "Man, the guy who owns that chicken farm is gonna be PISSED." Somehow I don't think all the innocent townspeople whose livelihoods were destroyed in the macho truck fest were "standing and cheering".

I obviously missed something because to me it was not an "epic, iconic American myth" but rather the story of a lazy, thuggish layabout and the trail of carnage he inadvertently creates due to having the maturity level of a 14 year old. YMMV.

And I freaking LOVED "Smokey & the Bandit", too, so it is not due to my having any inherent bias against dumb redneck car movies. 


Suggested Accompaniment:  Budweiser beer and white sugared donuts.  Preferably deep-fried white sugared donuts.  For the full effect, have your wife hit you with a pan a few times while watching, down at least a whole sixpack, and pass out on the floor of your garage next to your primered Nova.