Arrival II (1998)

Aliens and maple leaves

This time around Zane's Canadian step-brother--who's a wizard of a computer geek underneath that '80s looking hairdo--must pick up the pieces from where his distant, paranoid relative left off in a similar DIY investigative fashion for, that's right, humanity's sake. Except he's laid back, shows late for work and would rather run from a situation than get his hands dirty, especially about theories concerning covert extraterrestials. Yeah, those guys...and now gals.

The pacing is along the lines of a made-for-TV mystery with a few thrills to grease the wheels. Production expenses are tighter, so in turn, there are a number of scenes that are overdrawn. The acting isn't expected to be award winning but with the flow being at slower speeds than its predecessor, it makes what comes out of their mouths forced and far from giving the believable sense of actually being there in this state of looming danger. Not to mention the one-dimensional villains that are just shy of being animated over and turned into cartoon characters.

The first film, while not mind-blowing, was fresher with ideas. "The Arrival 2" retreads similar mechanics and the story meddles on with superficial attempts to personalize the experience with little quips, along with token love interests and by-now dated gizmos. Overall, this feels straightforward, anticlimactic and, aside from a few redeeming qualities to keep it afloat, a waste of a sequel.

Rating: 4/10

Director: Kevin Tenney (Night of the Demons, Peacemaker, Pinocchio's Revenge)
Stars: Patrick Muldoon, Jane Sibbett
Link: IMDB

The Arrival (1996)

The truth is out there but closer than we thought

Certain media has come along ranging from "The Day the Earth Stood Still" to "The X-Files" that made it possible for the kooks to buddy up with the crossed-armed cinema goers who are on the fence about intelligent lifeforms from outside of Earth. "The Arrival" is a film that appeals to a wider audience due to its continual action, along with a global message in its wake that affects us all.

Zane Zaminsky, a radio astronomer, works in a job that in real life would be about as exciting as watching cows graze to most folks. Though for cinematic effect, this paranoid chair-jockey catches on to a massive conspiracy theory that the public has not a clue. It's a good thing we have Mr. ZZ flat top to undercover the truth no matter if it might risk him his job, family or freedom. He's a big-screen archetype that's self-sacrificing in his ways and uses his convenient scientific skills to fence off bad guys that range from charismatic to cookie-cutter at every turn.

"The Arrival" on the surface is meant for basic entertainment. Apart from watching the main character figure out all his steps and moves on his own, the only time the brain starts to kick in is towards the latter part of the film with the truth coming out. Locales change and nifty devices are shown with state of the art CGI for its day. Though some of the film mechanics are dated as this is a "movie-movie": something that isn't grounded with real characters and full of events that are meant to look like trial and error but feel guided to go a certain way with the story. Its main perk is its constant traction forward, which makes it feel more like a suspense thriller than a sci-fi/action movie like "Independence Day."

Rating: 6/10

Director: David Twohy (Timescape, writer - Warlock, The Fugitive, Waterworld)
Stars: Charlie Sheen, Lindsay Crouse, Richard Schiff
Link: IMDB

Cowboys & Aliens (2011)

Truth in the title

A memory impaired man (Daniel Craig) awakes with a strange metal shackle on his wrist and a wound on his side. After showcasing hidden skills like a 19th century Jason Bourne on some rough and tough dudes, he heads to the nearest town of Absolution only to find more hassles. He deals with a spoiled, troublemaker named Percy Dolarhyde (Paul Dano), who's father is a not-to-be-messed-with head honcho of sorts. Percy lands in jail and soon enough the man with no memory ends up in the cell next door, as he turns out to be the infamous Jake Lonergan who has a rap sheet longer than the Oregon Trail. When Woodrow Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford) gets word of his incarcerated son, he storms the streets with his cowboys. Right before a tense showdown, the alien part of the equation shows to make things go boom and people disappear. Jake's bracelet suddenly turns into Mega Man status and he blasts one of the ships down with an energy beam. The creature that operated the vessel flees and they round up a posse to track it back to where their kidnapped loved ones are.

"Cowboys & Aliens" is more about the journey to the final showdown involving various characters that it incidentally never fully scratches below the introductory surface on. It makes a few of them at times more plot devices than natural, especially the woman who feels penciled in after the fact to conveniently solve or perpetuate Jake's issues. Along tags a bartender who's more business than brawn; a mysterious woman who eyes Jake; a practical preacher who knows how to pray and shoot; a young boy who's not yet a man; a loyal Indian who looks at his boss as a father figure; and the former colonel Dolarhyde who's got a thing or two to teach the youngins about battle. Now, where westerns in the past had everybody out for their ruthless selves, this uses the enslaving extraterrestrials as a means to get along for the greater good of humanity, including fierce outlaws and warrior Indians who are in the same dire straits. In the meantime, no one ever claimed the abominable aliens didn't have punctuality as they make a few well-timed appearances to the point of predictably just before a human vs human conflict is about to get all gun crazy. Though like throwing a rock at a tank, these basic, booze-drinkin', boot-wearin' westerners look to be completely overrun and overwhelmed. That is until they have to get sneaky and use strength in numbers to put a stop to the aliens, which at this point are so one-dimensional the movie plays out like an easily sold good vs evil template with nothing left over to put in the bank to accumulate interest.

This is more the former than the latter of the title. The western portion on its own isn't groundbreaking to the genre, and the sci-fi side isn't inventive enough to blow the lid off a long time fan, even if the combination is definitely original. Other aspects to fall back on like the pacing can feel like it revs the engine, then levels at a lower gear. This wouldn't be such an issue but it's not that contemplative of a film to hit the locker room in between for a break, and as a result creates a building list of questions from the viewer that never end up answered about certain plays. It's a film that treads more on mystery when it comes to its antagonists, by at first seeing a shadow, a claw and then a quick full frontal, as well as it only gives little snippets of information for the viewer. Problem is, it doesn't create that intriguing enough of creatures to pull the enigma off--no communication, no interaction with each other, very few distinguishing elements with behavior or appearance--or even go further into why they're on Earth other than laying out a questionable reason at face-value.

Daniel Craig played a simple but commanding presence, as he said little but when it came time for action delivered with full force as if he meant it, and then some. It causes you to focus in on him to not miss his next move, despite getting knocked about with a lesser blow or two on occasion. Clancy Brown plays a memorable role as a tough holy man that adds humor to the situations, but Chris Browning includes cartoon flavor with his crusty chompers and oafish demeanor. Paul Dano, as much as he tried and has the most range, his performance felt misplaced as if he's a tortured man rather than just a fearful kid with no perspective from growing up safe and spoiled. Harrison Ford's character is built up and built up, with other people making not only a legend of him but a power not to be reckoned with, though by the time it comes for him to show his stuff, he falls somewhat short on punch. It's a shame that some of his gruff lines come off as unflattering imitations rather than truly compelling. On an entertainment level, you get massive explosions, O.K. Corral-thumping gun fights, built up thrills, mystery, situational humor, potential love, tragedy, resolution and you get to see two separate genres at the same time. It sounds like a lot, but it didn't always come one after the other or always in a smooth, edge-of-your-seat transition together. The mentioned certainly made this enjoyable and an interesting concept to see but unfortunately it wasn't capable of thoroughly traveling beyond expectations for such a cool premise even with all the budget and all the talent it mustered for a central goal with two contrasting but potentially complementing sides.

Rating: 6/10

Director: John Favreau (Made, Iron Man 1 & 2)
Starring: Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Keith Carradine, Sam Rockwell, Paul Dano, Olivia Wilde, Noah Ringer, Clancy Brown
Website: IMDB

High Plains Invaders (2009)

A group of unlikely citizens fight aliens in the west

It's 1892 in a little mining town called Avaranth in Colorado. Sam Danville is going to be hanged for various crimes ranging from train robbery to murder when suddenly a spider looking alien attacks the town. It's up to Sam, the shopkeeper, a female bounty hunter, a nurse, an outlaw, a scientist and the Sheriff to fend them off till they can get away, die trying or save the day.

This begins like a "Night of the Living Dead" setup where they get holed up in the Sheriff's headquarters, only to periodically come out when finding a different way to kill one. The situation is looking hopeless as every time a bug is taken out another pops right back in its place like a weed. To make matters worse, a woman is injured inside and the loud mouthed bounty hunter named Rose postures and all the while threatens Sam that she's going to collect on his reward dead or alive. The nurse and Sam are attempting to rekindle their relationship that went sour from something that happened with his criminal history. With the exception of the bounty hunter and the opportunist outlaw that was formerly Sam's friend, the rest attempt to use the situation for redemption and turn into self-sacrificing heroes no matter the cost to save humanity from space invaders who are drawn there for a specific reason.



This is derivative but to its benefit "High Plains Invaders" is short and also painless in that the main characters don't make very many stupid moves, in part to how simple it's kept instead of going well beyond its means like many Sci Fi Channel/Syfy made-for-TV movies have done in the past. The majority of the film is a pretty straightforward from-one-thing-to-the-next type with a little down time to somewhat personalize the characters in between random attacks. The performances are passable, nothing that you haven't seen before with people trying to survive from something attacking them, albeit kept a little more realistic than over-the-top cinematic. The tone at points rides a fine line between trying to be humorous and serious, but usually more of the latter. Their western accents come and go per scene and occasionally come off as a caricature but the simplistic dialogue is still said with some meaning.


"High Plains Invaders" is catered to the neck deep genre addicts who are given a little taste of a gimmick when two genres are combined. If you separated both portions, then this would be left standing with two below average movies, with the final result itself hitting around middle road. The look of the western times comes with some harsher color templates such as grays and browns to make it feel more authentic than characters standing around on a pristine movie set. Science fiction fans have seen what invasions can do in the modern day with countless movies on the subject. But if anything, how the west is utilized here seems to limit the level of intensity and big action scenes as the resources were less than spectacular compared to modern weaponry such as tanks and aircraft. It makes the events seem somewhat basic: run, hide, shoot, plan, fight over what to do. Sure it's not going to be "Wild Wild West" or even "Independence Day" due to restrained budget reasons, but they don't always take advantage of what they have and get as innovative as one would like to make up for the fact. Even their shoot outs are fairly uneventful the way bullets bounce off the large bug creatures' hard backs like it was nothing. Though the projectiles the creatures themselves shoot come with some gaping wounds from being quicker on the draw than their western counterparts. Comparing then and now, it goes to show that humans haven't changed all that much even when aliens enter the picture. Some are good, some look bad but are really good, and some are just plain ugly despite looking good.

Rating: 4.5/10

Director: Kristoffer Tabori (Pursued, The Accidental Witness, Fireball)
Stars: James Marsters, Cindy Sampson, Sanny Van Heteren, Sebastian Knapp
Link: IMDB

51 (2011)

Hard up reporters, subservient soldiers and home sick aliens

It's that day at last, folks! The government is letting journalists on a tour of the infamous Area 51 Air Force base for the first time to dispel rumors of hidden extraterrestrials. Before being let in a Colonel Ronald Martin instructs his men that if any of the guests get to the lower levels they are instructed to shoot them, with jokes to follow since a share of them are left in the dark to what's really going on. The two renowned reporters, along with camera person and photographer, are let into the above ground Hangar 18 and are shown some fancy gadgets that are declassified just for them but still think they're hiding something else. Meanwhile, you guessed it, without even beating around the bush, there's an uprising forming with aliens that Big Brother were hiding below all along.

"51" delivers exactly what its premise suggests, though not much more for the experience that already hasn't been done in other films on the subject. In, out, forgotten--a painless delivery. This isn't exactly ponderous stuff or inventive at that, just a what if question with some action and gory violence to show for itself. The most you might get after is the question of if the government has the right to hide aliens if found or have the right to experiment on them in a callous fashion to supposedly protect ourselves from what we don't understand. For TV material, the acting is mostly consistent and adequate at giving momentum to its story even if their personalities don't have staying power or come across as award winning. Even with the B movie script they're given, this is taken somewhat seriously and by its close they come with changed outlooks from the events instead of remaining the same throughout. It tries, though still feels rushed, not fully outlined and like a demo than anything else. If this were, say, a pilot for a TV show, it wouldn't have held water since the concept only takes it so far.

The budget shows with simplistic sets and a small regiment despite guarding one of the US's most secretive military base. I mean, of course, appearance is everything--in that elite guards would send off red flags--but that's why you put elite guards in regular uniforms or possibly have another base as a backup nearby in case something goes wrong or comes under attack. Then again, this isn't "The Unit" when it comes to an engaging military strategy. They're lucky they get by here. This was surprisingly light on CGI compared to some other SyFy/Sci-Fi Channel features that have aired in the past decade. The prosthetic creature effects are still somewhat scrapped together and unabashedly shown in closeups for extended periods, so compensating is a must for a viewer. It could have used some more memorable scenarios and possibly amped up the action, as for a share of it, it tries to get by only with what little it has stretched out--that includes running around possibly the same reused hallways. Some tension is attempted with various issues arising, such as a self-destruct timer ticking down and an alien called patient zero potentially escaping into the population. Three varieties of alien species are shown: cooperative, monstrous killer and chameleon. This frames two teams, with one on the upper floors guarding in case anything escapes and one roaming the bottom levels with the reporters who are both documenting and fighting the enemy as well to get out alive.

As a horror film, it provides no scares--you can't help but notice the similarities that fall short of "Alien" with drippy mouths and strange noises yet without the tension and anticipation--and the blood shed is treated like it comes with the territory rather than building up to it or actually making it cringe worthy. As a science fiction piece it feels undeveloped compared to what's come before it, especially since the history of Area 51 is only briefly taped into, just the current goings on of the secret facility. As social commentary, it doesn't always carry a dual meaning, except to say that possibly one person can make a difference or not to just blindly hide or blindly take orders. The subtext drives at bringing the truth to the light, but, then again, it's about something that does or doesn't exist, so even then it can be taken with a grain of salt. I'd imagine it still got some triumphant high fives from conspiracy theorists around the country who managed to get away from their computers and "X-Files" DVD collections.

Rating: 3.5/10

Director: Jason Connery (The Devil's Tomb, Pandemic)
Stars: Bruce Boxleitner, Rachel Miner, Jason London, Vanessa Branch, John Shea
Link: IMDB