enkelly12 Reviews

The Liberator (2020)

Breaking Animation Cliches

[8/10 · 12 November 2020]

I decided to leave a review to help address the style choices made in this series, namely the "filter" everyone is referring to.

First off, the series is very well done. Acting, writing, progression and pacing. It feels like a Band of Brothers without feeling like it is copying Band of Brothers.

There's a few things to note. First, it isn't a "filter." It isn't like the show was shot completely live action and then just layered on with ray-tracing-like animations. It is a hybrid of live action and animation, yes, but that is different than what saying "filter" implies. Make no mistake, this is an animated movie.

The reason this was done was out of necessity. You can look up this series and see its been in production for years and was originally an 8-part live action series on History Channel. The issue was the cost. No one wanted to spend what would have been $150+ Million on a History channel series so it never got made. The writer, Jeb Stuart (Die Hard) did not give up on the project. One of their options was animation.

The team responsible for the series demo'd multiple types of animation and due to the stereotype of animation in America (that it is a largely comedic forum, e.g. simpsons, family guy) they went with this type of live action animation hybrid to keep the animation technique as serious as the subject matter demands.

Thank god for that. Because it would've been a shame to not have this series made. I understand some are upset by the animation, I get it, but I feel most are upset because they think it was an "artistic" choice. In reality, it was animate the series or don't create the series at all. This makes the animation more palatable.

Gattaca (1997)

Perfection doesn't lead to a perfect life.

[7/10 · 12 March 2018]

Gattaca is a film about a man who chooses to reject societal expectations and believe his fate to be predetermined. In the future where mankind has the ability to eliminate unwanted genetic traits, Ethan Hawk plays Vincent, a man without genetic modification. As a result, he is part of a quickly shrinking portion of the population whose genetic predispositions are left up to chance instead of determined. This group of people are now discriminated against and looked down upon.

Vincent's parents are told he has a 99% chance to develop heart failure and die by age 30. They decide to have a second child, Antoine, who is genetically modified to have every advantage possible. Despite growing up in a world where Vincent is told he cannot and will not be anything, he strives for greatness. His dream is to be an astronaut for Gattaca. A company who sends out crews to all planets in the solar system. Unfortunately for Vincent, Gattaca, like many other employers, only take the most perfected genetic applicants no matter their skills or qualifications.

To achieve his dream, Vincent assumes the identity of Jerome, played by Jude Law. Jerome is nearly genetically perfect. The film then unfolds as Vincent desperately tries to remain hidden as circumstances arise at Gattaca that starts an investigation that threatens to uncover Vincent's true identity. Motifs central to the theme are prejudice, ability, and expectations. Through narration by Vincent about his life before assuming the role of Jerome, we get a picture that while genetic discriminated is technically outlawed, the legality of it is ignored. Gattaca uses the excuse of security to blood test every employee as they access the building in order to verify genetic superiority.

Throughout the film Vincent recalls beating his brother in a swimming contest as they were younger. He remarks that Antoine couldn't accept that his genetically inferior brother was able to beat him. These scenes play a commentary about expectations. Antoine, and everyone in his life, expected his to exceed at everything. Any failure he did experience he has no excuse for.

Finally, we see Vincent excel in his studies and work ability. By doing so we get the understanding that Vincent is every bit as capable as his genuine colleagues. Showing us the injustice of the discrimination on the basis of genes.

The film's commentary that it is our imperfections, our humanity, that makes us great reminds me of another sci-fi film, Equilibrium. In Gattaca we see that genetic perfection does not destine us for greatness or happiness. Just as in Equilibrium, the removal of anger and other negative emotions do not lead to a perfect society or joyful life.