The Baader Meinhof Complex Review: Baadass, Yet Complex Indeed

The Baader Meinhof Complex...this is a film you may not have heard of, but you will hear more of in the coming future. Because it's so good? Possibly, but I was referencing the "Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon: as a joke. You probably didn't get it.

Unpopular allusions aside, The Baader Meinhof Complex is spectacular, if only too spectacular. A skin-deep judgment of the film (i.e. from a trailer) may give you the impression that it's an action conspiracy flick with almost no historical base. The truth is, it's actually about one of the biggest yet mostly unheard of historical events in international history, specifically in Germany. As it states in its trailer(s), Baader Meinhof Complex is about the original "terrorists" and how they can be skewed in stories as being both heroes and villains.

Cinematically, the film is beautifully shot and graced with some spot-on editing. Action sequences are handled exceptionally well, given that most action is actually not too action-oriented. If you're looking for Matrix-caliber highway chases, you won't find them here. Instead, you will find high-tension shootouts between members of the criminal "Red Army Faction" and the police, shootouts that really linger for a while and let suspense take hold.

In addition, dialogue is lengthy at times and may roll to a dull droll, but ultimately, the overall story is handled very well. It can be a bit complex for some (especially since the events were very complicated politically) and many may even see the information influx as an overhaul. At times, this is true; the story gets a bit muddled and the fact that it's a foreign-language film, meaning having to look at the bottom of the screen every 3 seconds or so, doesn't help. Sitting atop the grandeur of complexity sits the 80 zillion or so characters. Mainly, you'll have Andreas Baader (Moritz Bleibtreu), Gudrun Ensslin (Johanna Wokalek, Ulrike Meinhof (Martina Gedeck), Rudi Dutschke (Sebastian Blomberg) and Holger Meins (Stipe Erceg), but in addition, there are a ton of sub-characters that fall below the RAF hierarchy. Then you have the plethora of political figures who play their major parts as well as their relations to several other figures (like even more political leaders and family members) only in addition to the Arabian subset of RAF-helpers. But, the main 5 are really the instrumental pieces to the puzzle, and that's where the film mainly focuses.

It's also a bit difficult to tell whether you may like or dislike the altering views on the RAF; half the time, the RAF heads are made to look like gods, fighting against tyranny and oppression. Then, when looked at from the point of view of the government and average civilian, they are made to look like the most evil of the evil. Essentially, once you get attached and love any given character on the RAF side, their mortality and likability are stripped away by how the news portrays them. Personally, I found this method of character development immensely intriguing. Baader Meinhof Complex examines a lot of themes, and one of the main ones is the role of media in politics, a role that so sharply defines society.

Whether or not you actually pay attention to the subtext, you find the movie to just be a cool and slick type of film...at least for the first half. The RAF builds itself up steadily, slowly gaining new members and carrying out various acts of anti-establishment, then, in a really shocking mid-story climax, the tables are turned and their fall becomes the center of focus. Ironically, for a group that essentially poses anarchy as a way to fight the government, it is soon seen that the heads of such an anarchist group are what led it to greatness in the first place.

There seems to be virtually no real soundtrack to the film, as most moments are covered by dialogue between characters. Transitions are filled with various television and radio broadcasts, feeding the audience tidbits of information on the aftermath and reaction of/to the events that preceded them. This is a rather effect method of story-telling. The film clocks in at an overwhelming 150 minutes, which feels both too long and too short for its subject matter, so it only feels natural that they would include transitional periods coupled with forced information.

Overall, what you get in The Baader Meinhof Complex is a mixed bag that may confuse some, alienate others, but be loved by many. Nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards, it stands tall among American films as a striking revisiting of what could be called the base of modern terrorism. Characters are great yet far too many, the subject is intriguing, the action scenes are tense and the story is fantastic, if only a bit cluttered in some areas. Certainly worth the watch, but don't expect it to be a straight action ride; it's a good mix of intelligent political thriller with crime drama and action interspersed.

8.0/10
-Kyle Shelton

Falling Down Review: Fallen Down over the Years, but not so Far

How could anyone hate the 90’s? Tacky, mismatched clothing, the emergence of boy bands and the age of radical toys; the 90’s also gave us quite the decade of fantastic films, if not memorable ones. “Falling Down” may not fall into the first category, but most definitely the latter.

Hence, Falling Down is a vividly memorable and electrifying experience through and through. Why? Because it’s incredibly simple and completely aware of itself, devolving itself into just plain entertaining. Sure, it doesn’t have the intricate machinations of a deliciously compelling script, nor does it have the visual flare and incredibly strong lead performances, but it certainly has tension and just enough plot to get you going.

At its core, Falling Down is about a man simply known by his trademark license plate as “D-Fens” (Michael Douglas) who gets fed up with society as a whole and starts a vengeful rampage through the city towards people who, quite simply, piss him off. His ultimate goal is to get to his estranged ex-wife’s house to see his baby daughter for her birthday. All the while, a retiring cop named Martin Pendergast (Robert Duvall) is hot on his trail at the police station, being the only person in his precinct who pieces together the chain of events.

There’s really not much to write about when it comes to this film, because as I stated before, it’s incredibly simple. What it does and wants to do, it’s almost perfect at: pleasing the crowd. You’re going to see your share of annoying, pretentious antagonists who get in D-Fens’s way, but they all get their just desserts soon enough. The heightened and almost surreal way each of these characters hateful characteristics are built up are the ultimate (and classic) formula for a great set-up and payoff connection.
Michael Douglas gives one hell of a performance and perfectly encompasses the average Joe’s personal hatred for the everyday mundane annoyances. In fact, D-Fens ends up going on his spree simply because he’s sitting in his extremely hot car in halted traffic, something that would get on anyone’s nerves (albeit not setting anyone off in the same way).

My only gripe with the film is this: 1st off, the film switches intermittently between D-Fens’s crime spree, which is infinitely exciting, and Pendergast’s precinct scenes which halt the fun action and turn the film into an unnecessary bore. In addition, there’s an emotional and sympathetic drive behind D-Fens’s actions which ultimately don’t work, mainly because the emotional climax of his workings doesn’t hit until the very end, when it’s too late to really care. Had Falling Down been more of an experiment in B-Movie formula and stuck to its over-the-top middle-class reaction story of revenge against normalcy, it would’ve succeeded. However, I feel as though Joel Schumacher tried to make this more of a rounded, complete film…which it is, but it becomes a mixed bag of feelings toward the end. You get a mild rush of sympathy, but it should’ve been built up way more (or not at all, in my opinion). As for Pendergrast’s plotline, he really only seems like a character thrown in just to complete the plot, which is really a waste because a 2-character framework would have been really interesting if it was done…well, interestingly.

And so, Falling Down is a great film to watch when you just feel like watching a film for the hell of it. It’s especially great to watch in groups or to show to fellow movie-lovers who haven’t seen it yet. I’m sure if I had seen it when I was younger, I would have loved it; unfortunately, Schumacher’s early revenge story just doesn’t hold up to the times.

6.0/10
-Kyle Shelton

Chocolate Review: Oh so Sweet

Chocolate, the new film from Prachya Pinkaew (director of Ong-Bak) is the type of martial arts flick that comes very rare to us these days, in that (at least for American audiences), it has no big name actor (like Tony Jaa, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, etc.) and has an overly simple yet immensely intriguing plotline. Far too many martial movies seem to just tell a tale of revenge, and while this is a mild running theme in Chocolate, it features quite the nifty star whose motives are a little bit different.

A woman named Zin (Ammara Siripong) separates from her yakuza-involved husband Masashi (Hiroshi Abe) and has a daughter named Zen (Yanin Vismistananda). Zen, while still a young baby, has problems developing her brain correctly, thus becoming autistic because of it. One day, a few years after Zen is born, Masashi comes back to find Zin at her house. Still enraged that she left him, she cuts off her toe as a reminder of his wrath; soon after, Zin also finds out she has cancer. Her nephew, Moom (Taphon Phopwandee) lives with her and her daughter for a time to help take care of them both. Zen ends up watching various martial arts films and, living next door to an academy for Muay Thai students, learns a slew of skills from them. Her trick is: she can learn all of these wild and fantastic skills simply by watching them. One day, Moom comes across a little black book with names and addresses of people who owe Zin money. They decide to peacefully collect on their debts to help pay for Zin’s hospital bills. Upon visiting each venue, the men responsible are less than friendly in their responsibilities, causing Zen to…well, you guessed it: beat the shit out of them.

This is the main plot throughout the film and becomes more engrossing as the film moves on. In many respects, the film isn’t all too original or different, but it’s a little creative for giving the protagonist a sort of mental disability. Then again, who looks at these films for their story, right? What we want is action…and there’s plenty of it.

Just from this film, it’s easy to tell that Vismistananda is going places with her insane performance in Chocolate. Her stunts are brilliant, and I’m not sure if I should applaud her or the choreographer for this…so I’m just going to praise both. The action is fast, furious and relentless. You may not get crazy bullet dodging or roof jumping (although there’s a fantastic sequence near the end that takes place all while scaling the side of a building), but what you do get is a more down-to-Earth feel of fighting. There aren’t too many elaborate stunts, yet the simplest ones of jumping from box to box or flipping over a chair seem like beautiful pieces of art. More than once, for sure, you will say “Oh my God” at the sheer “badassness” of several feats. Not to mention the fact that there’s plenty of humor mixed into the foray of violence; this is hard to describe unless you just see it yourself.

All in all, the action pieces are fantastic are masterfully carried out while the story is a bit shallow, but definitely enough to keep your attention. I felt a connection with Zen and Zin and felt real emotion at certain points in the story, which is pretty uncommon for straight martial arts movies. The tale between the daughter and mom is an empathetic one as we see cancer arising in the media more and more these days, and the fact that the daughter has an impairment herself only gives the story a heightened emotional feel. With that, Chocolate is a great action movie that doesn’t overstay its welcome and may be an underrated treasure amongst foreign films of the past year.

7.5/10
-Kyle Shelton