eXistenZ
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Movie Reviews of eXistenZ
Movie Review: eXistenZ - the movie
Summary: 5 Stars
This is an interesting movie at different levels. This movie has an ensemble cast - many twists and turns, going into the "game world of virtual reality". It has been compared and was released around the same time as Matrix, which also dealt with multiple levels of reality. From the lower level of reality, it is a story of a group of people testing a new game. The story moves from one level of reality to another, playing the game, and is based in part on the premise that there are game people who want to live 100% in virtual reality and those people who are angry that some people don't want to live in "this" world and create a fake or illusory world - contrary to what is best for the culture.
The higher level question is what is reality; and what do we create by the use of our minds to "create our world." There is a line in the movie were Jude Law's character Ted is stating that the "game" world reality they were playing has no rules or structure and everyone is moving about looking for a purpose (or something to that effect). Jennifer Jason Leigh's character, who is the game's creator Allegra, in the level of the game, says: how is this so different from other realities?
This movie and Matrix, in different ways, ask us, the observer, to question reality to see what we create with our Minds and that in turns brings to us that which we "see and believe" is true. We create our own reality - all else is illusion.
Movie Review: CLOSER TO THE FUTURE THAN THE MATRIX
Summary: 5 Stars
I caught this on cable while surfing, and it pulled me in, just as the game in the movie does to the main characters. There's so much going on in this movie that it's difficult to sum up in a short review. Cronenberg and his team did such a surprisingly fantastic job on this movie that I can't beleive no one noticed it when it came out. Despite what other reviewers have said, the character portrayals are multi-dimensional, as are the attention to such details as costumes, make-up and even sets and props. Best of all, this film works in a way that makes you want to sit back and enjoy the ride, just as Leigh's character instructs Law's character in the film.But the most important element of this film is the message that is transmitted. Someone in another review of this film kicked The Matrix, but that movie is an excellent allegory for the civilization we live in, and thus can be forgiven the ludicrous future vision necessary to deliver that message to the sheep who need it so badly. Existenz gives us a vision of a much more probable future, one that we will likely bear witness to. In the not-too-distant future humans will have the option to completely escape reality through computer technology, and in it's very likely that Cronenberg's vision won't be too far off the mark. Existenz allows us to ponder that probable, disturbing reality in the most enjoyable, ironic way possible.
Movie Review: eXistenZ: Are you there or Are you not????
Summary: 5 Stars
Having been been from a class in analyzing film, I have seen eXistenZ and it gave me one hell of a headache that kept me watching it a dozen times till I agreed on some plot for the movie itself. My analysis on eXistenZ is that it goes beyond the limits of what doesn't or does exist, and what is real and not real to confuse the viewer. It's tremendously cerebral! To the viewer from National City Ca., who thinks he's solved the plot, I ask this: "Why didn't david cronenberg choose the title transendenz and not existenze? Could this mean their still in eXistenZ or the whole damn thing is eXistenZ from beginning to end? The acting, to me, in the ending of the movie was just as it was in the beginning, absolutely weird and no sense of concrete place or characters at all. (Hey, If you think you've analyzed this movie try NAKED LUNCH which was an older david cronenberg flick, let me no when you lose track of plot? I did. See you in interzone.)In conclusion, eXistenZ is very thought provoking movie but I'll have to say the matrix and eXistenZ are the same because they both challenge the existence of the characters in the story using two different plots each with different level of technology rather than special effects. If you like the hard plot of matrix you'll like eXistenZ!
Movie Review: Genuinely intelligent and unique Sci-Fi
Summary: 5 Stars
Where does one even begin to explain the genius of this film? David Cronenburg creates some of the most disturbing and controversial films ever put on celluloid. It's no wonder people have so many strong opinions about them. This movie grabs you, puts you in an uncomfortable position of a "where are we going, and where are you taking me to" feeling. It's only in the last three minutes of the film where you finally get the psuedo-assuredness of being halfway understanding when in the last few seconds you're thrown for a loop all over again. This movie is simply something you don't see in movies anymore. The story is dreamlike, the characters are peculiar and mysterious and the technology is frighteningly surreal under todays mesmerizing love of video game consoles. This movie taps into the principle and possiblities of how far big video game companies could really go in the near future. I actually loved this movie more than "The Matrix." Although both movies are completely different, for the sake of everyone comparing, this movie has a far more delicious story and a far more realistic probability presented by two very underrated movie actors. Which makes the comparison of the two sci-fi flicks no contest.Movie Review: Brilliant and challenging
Summary: 5 Stars
Cronenberg probably conjures the best depiction of "virtual reality" and its potential psychological effect on people in this often incredible film. This is a tough and frequently unpleasant movie (what Cronenberg film isn't), relentless even (much like a video game!), but as social/technological criticism it has legs galore. I find myself studying the art direction, acting, and script to see how he tweaks and disorients so subtly all through the entire film. It is meticulously crafted. The "bad acting" noted by the other reviewers is a depiction of social disorientation, detachment, sociopathology, and near-autism in a nightmarish future society where people can no longer distinguish between illusion and reality (and, as you learn from the film, neither can the audience). The final moment of the film boldly makes that point.
My personal feeling is that this is Cronenberg's greatest achievement. However, it is high art and those that go into it with conventional film expectations will be (clearly ARE) disappointed. One for future film historians to write about, unable to comprehend how it sat on the fringes of acceptance for years. The negative reviews of this film deeply disturb me.