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A Mom's Review
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See what Mom thinks of the movies that are out now.
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Articles
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| Aliens of the Deep |
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moviecritic writes, "It's become clear over the last seven years that James Cameron never really enjoyed making fictional motion pictures. Once flush with cash and power from the ginormous success of 1997's "Titanic," Cameron went underground (sometimes literally) to fashion himself a Jacques Cousteau-type of adventure character for the new millennium, armed with state-of-the-art camera equipment, expensive submersibles, and the massive power of the Imax (and other large-format theaters) sound and vision."
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While not explicitly mentioned, "Aliens of the Deep" is actually a companion piece to Cameron's 1989 masterpiece, "The Abyss," taking viewers back down into the mysterious depths of the ocean, this time documenting the silent reality of the deep blue sea instead of dramatizing it with special effects. Cameron loves his water and depth, and after polishing off his exploration fetish of the Titanic in 2003's Imax production, "Ghosts of the Abyss," Cameron has decided to head back down beneath the surface to show audiences what life is like on the ocean floor.
As with "Ghosts," Cameron has enlisted the tricky cinema of 3D to help create a community experience of exploration, and the format keeps getting better and better (evidenced in the recent "Polar Express" large-format 3D release). "Aliens" needs the special format to effectively encapsulate this seemingly infinite world of mystery. Cameron and his various space and oceanographic crew (who can't act, but are pleasant company) encounter strange creatures along the way, including a plethora of shrimp, alien-like jellyfish called "space bagels," and most likely the ugliest fish ever captured on film (that's what an eternity in the dark will do). In 3D, these strange sights pop off the screen, enveloping the viewer and giving them a front row seat to these creatures and even more grandiose landscapes, as the crew finds nearby ocean "chimneys," or hydrothermal vents, and acres of undulating bacteria that have spent an eternity growing peacefully in the vast darkness of the water. It's an incredible sight. Well, for bacteria at least.
While Cameron assembles "Aliens" out of several dives from 2003, the film's aggressive attempt to draw parallels between life on the ocean floor and what species could be found on other planets holds back the natural wonder of the vistas. Personally, I could watch ugly fish all day, but Cameron wants to educate the viewer on the importance of exploration both on Earth and in space, specifically the Jupiter moon called Europa. Because the film's goal is to excite the possibility of life on other planets, the underwater Earth footage is often cut short just when it's hitting an entertaining and jaw-dropping stride. However, this is a minor complaint in another solid documentary from James Cameron. Now, on the eve of his return to feature films with 2007's "Battle Angel," I hope Cameron's curious spirit returns again someday for another journey into the great unknown underwater. With Imax-sized ambitions, he's the ideal tour guide for these fascinating expeditions.
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Posted on Jan 25, 2005 08:10am.
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