QUEZON City, Philippines (February 7) – Aliens are among us! Or at least in our movies. 2017 brings two movies about extraterrestrials in the Philippine movie screens!
First off is “The Great Wall”, directed by Zhang Yimou of “House of Flying Daggers” fame. It tells the tale of the Nameless Order in its war against the Tao Tie – a war that is waged every 60 years.
Hey, you know the drill. Here be spoilers!
The aliens in this movie are known as the Tao Tie. They came from a meteorite that fell in the hinter regions of Ancient China. The Nameless Order was founded to protect Imperial China from the alien menace.
The Tao Tie can be described as a hive-mind race, individuals are mindless and needs constant direction from the Queen.
If we are going to go by tropes, the Nameless Order can be called crazy-prepared, what with their training, their weapons and their strategies – you know that they spent most of their lives training to fight the green menace.
And they really have to train! One Tao Tie is more than enough to mow down dozens of troops
As you can expect from Zhang Yimou, the film is full of spectacular vistas, incredible fight scenes and vibrant colors.
The film became controversial for casting Matt Damon in the lead role, with critics calling it a cliche white-man-coming-to-save-the-natives-movie. But if someone examines the goal of the film’s producers then they will understand that the casting of Matt Damon is deliberate as the film aims to gain a wider international audience.
On a lesser note, one of the main cast, Lu Han also has his own share of controversy – being a former member of the famous K-Pop group EX-O and doing the film even if the legal battles with his former company is not yet over.
If the alien encounter portrayed in The Great Wall is hostile, the one in the Arrival is more peaceful. Or is it?
Amy Adams portray a linguist with security clearance from the United States government. After extraterrestrial objects – measuring thousands of meters – appear in a dozen places on Earth – she was called in by the government to help in communicating with the visitors from outer space and discern their intentions.
Joining her is Jeremy Renner’s physicist character. To make matters complicated, Adams’ character starts to have dreams, which at first was thought to be from her past. On a more global note, Earth is faced with a conundrum as each country approaches the aliens in a different manner and although they initially shared their findings with each other – have decided to unilaterally adopt measures that they deem best in dealing with the aliens.
Adams made progress communicating with the Heptapods – as humans called the aliens because of their seven limbs – discovering that they convey their ideas in a different manner compared to humans. The Heptapods’ way of communication also alters their way of perceiving time. As the nations turn hostile against the aliens, will Adams and Renner succeed in convincing the world leaders that the aliens came in peace.
If “The Great Wall” is one glorious visual treat “Arrival” is for those looking for something more intellectual and philosophical. Still, the images can be breathtaking at times, specially the shots involving the Heptapods’ mountainous vessels.
We always encounter the alien everyday – in the form of differing ideas, opinions and points of view. It is up to us to make such encounter hostile or beneficial. It is your choice.
(written by Jay Paul Carlos, additional research by Vince Alvin Villarin)