There's more than one kind of science-fiction. Yesterday, trailers for two different ones came out. Though they both feature extra-terrestrial arrivals and plenty of CGI, one is a big action spectacle while the other sides closer to social commentary. Out of these two, which one are you looking forward to more?
The Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen trailer presents an big, dumb, loud and exciting look at how to do sci-fi, with alien robots having big fights on our planet. It's the same formula used in the first film, but look, now Sam Witwicky is also involved in some kind of plot borrowed from a Nic Cage movie. The hair is nowhere near as good, unfortunately.
On the other end of the spectrum is the teaser trailer for District 9, the new movie produced by Peter Jackson and written/directed by Neill Blomkamp.
Blomkamp was the guy who directed all those live-action Halo 3 shorts. Peter Jackson had been trying to get a Halo movie project off the ground for years. When that never came to fruition, he helped Blomkamp turn his famous short Alive in Joburg into a feature film called District 9. Like the short, it tells the story of refugee aliens (of the outer space kind) landing in South Africa and becoming migrant workers, shot in mockumentary style.
Blomkamp is certainly no stranger to action scenes, but as the teaser indicated, it's going to present a much different feel from the typical science-fiction action. The shots displayed here are just stunning, with the CG blending seamlessly into the environment.
As much as I love big sci-fi spectacles (Star Trek being my #1 anticipated movie at the mo'), nothing makes a sci-fi geek more stimulated than an intelligent and relevant science fiction story that values idea above plot or action, which had become a rarity in films since Star Wars came along and changed the game by making the genre synonimous with "adventure" in most people's consciousness.
Thanks to the San Francisco International Film Festival, I've got the chance to see Moon, and that's definitely a great way to repackage the genre. I think as sci-fi becomes more popular and quote-unquote mainstream, more directors are going to try and find fresh angles in telling these stories. Whether it's just a one actor, one location low-budget story like Moon or a groundbreaking showcase like James Cameron's hotly-anticipated epic Avatar. It's an exciting time to see its popularity burst into the foreground.
