Brazil (1985) Dir: Terry Gilliam

Terry Gilliam's most revered movie.

The plot:
A low-level worker, Sam Lowry, is assigned to correct a bureaucratic error caused when an errant fly becomes caught up in the mechanisms of a printer, causing an innocent man to be incarcerated.
Lowry, in his efforts to correct the mistake, becomes ever more entangled in a world of red tape and bureaucracy that, ultimately, may cost him his very sanity.

Mixing fantasy with arch black comedy, Gilliam’s style is one that is not for every palate.
Set in a dystopian, grim vision of the world, this bears many of the hallmarks of Michael Radford’s interpretation of Orwell’s 1984, though here the tone is more slapstick, less bleak. With a heritage that encompasses the paranoid grime of 1970’s sci-fi, as well as the obvious link to the farcical humour of Monty Python, it’s an odd mix and, frankly, not one that works for me.
Gilliam, though clearly a proper film-maker – he has a vision all his own, which he effectively renders on screen and absolutely refuses to compromise with a view to gaining mainstream acceptance, two facets that must be applauded – at the same time manages to confuse and alienate many that otherwise consider themselves ‘cult’ aficionados.
With a veritable clutch of powerhouse British acting talent among the assembled participants – Jonathan Pryce, Ian Holm, Bob Hoskins, Michael Palin and Jim Broadbent, as well as the very much Italian American Robert De Niro – there is no denying the credibility of this work, though I can’t for one second say I enjoyed it.
A cult classic, in every conceivable sense of the phrase, this is one that didn’t float the boat here at Smell the Cult HQ, though I am still very, very glad it exists.

2 out of 5

The Island (2005) Dir: Michael Bay

Regular readers of these pages - yes, both of you - will be aware of the contempt in which I hold Michael 'The Enemy of Cinema' Bay, so it was with some trepidation that I opted to check out this sci-fi-lite marathon.
The plot:
Ewan McCracker plays Lincoln Six Echo, a simple man who lives in an underground world, protection against the contamination that has ravaged the planet above. Though simple, Lincoln seems to be questioning everything that he is told:
Is the contamination real?
Is his health as it should be?
And surely there must be more to life than simply dreaming of going to The Island, a daily lottery prize broadcast on large screens?
In addition, Lincoln seems to be attracted to a fellow inhabitant, Jordan Two Delta, played by the perma-pouting Scarlett Johansson - that's Jo-hansson, motherfucker, not Yo-hansson.
Sheesh.
After capturing a moth(!), further evidence that the contamination tale is phony, Lincoln follows the bug up a ventilation spout and witnesses the grim reality of what happens to those who go to The Island: organ removal.
His world view in tatters, Lincoln is forced to take drastic action when Jordan is selected as the next lucky lottery winner and, together, they flee the facility, determined to uncover the truth behind their fake lives.
A decent enough plot, though not altogether new. Logan's Run has similar themes, as does Fahrenheit 451 and, most notably, The Clonus Horror, whose makers sued Paramount Pictures and won an out of court settlement.
McCracker is competent here, but no more, Bay mystifyingly insisting he sport an American accent which, frankly, he simply cannot master, his thick Scottish drawl cutting through almost every vowel.
Johansson is nought but eye candy, not really adding much in terms of dynamics and, though there is some decent action, it all seems to drift away as the movie lumbers on and on and on. Bear in mind that the aforementioned Clonus Horror has a near identical plot and clocks in at 90 minutes whilst this drags it out for nigh on two and a half hours, and you'll see the problem. But then, it is a Michael Bay movie, so it would be foolish to expect tight editing and genuine momentum when you can just chuck a bunch of money at it and make a few more buildings explode.
All that being said, this is clearly Bay's best movie though, strangely, it was something of a flop upon initial release.
Verdict?
Excellent for Bay. average for everyone else.

3 out of 5

Robocop 2 (1990) Dir: Irvin Kershner

Well, this is a bit of a mess, I'm afraid.
The plot: It's a year since the events of the first movie, and Detroit's police, under the control of OCP, are out on strike over pension troubles.
OCP, keen to build on the success of the Robocop project look to redevelop and introduce a new model into the market, Robocop 2.
Trouble is, all of the prototypes keep on malfunctioning.
One ultra-ambitious female scientist decides that what is needed inside the beast is the mind of a criminal, and what criminal could be better than Cain, ringleader of the notorious Nuke cult, a pseudo-religious criminal organisation that are flooding the streets of Detroit with Nuke, the most potent and addictive narcotic known to man.
Inevitably, with Cain rendered as machine, a showdown with the original Robocop can only be a matter of time.....
For a movie with Robocop in the title, the eponymous character gains very little screen time. Indeed, the character has already become something of a caricature, a fact not helped when he is reprogrammed by OCP and begins to exhibit very odd behaviour.
All of the protagonists are playing their roles with tongue very firmly in cheek, which would be fine if it were even vaguely funny but, unfortunately, it's not.
Gone is the biting satire and ultra-violence of the original, in their place knockabout comedy and elongated shoot-outs.
Lacking the class, invention and, possibly most importantly, the wonderful score of the parent movie, this flounders and flaps and ends up feeling utterly directionless.
A very poor sequel indeed, made all the more disappointing by the fact that the man behind the camera brought the world The Empire Strikes Back.

2 out of 5