Susan Granger At The Movies

See

The dystopian sci-fi fantasy/drama “See” begins its second season with a third already in production. The opening credits are a montage of nerve endings that, as the volume increases, form various shapes.

BACKGROUND: Early in the 21st century, a virus wiped out almost all humanity. Centuries later, Earth’s few inhabitants are blind, having lost the sense of sight. Yet, utilizing ingenuity and heightened senses of hearing, touch and smell, they’ve learned to hunt, build and communicate without vision, often using clicks and whistles.

In the mountains, Baba Voss (Jason Momoa), hulking chief of the Alkenny tribe, rescues a pregnant woman, Magra (Hera Hilmar), marries her and becomes a loving father to her twins — Kofun (Archie Madekwe) and Haniwa (Nesta Cooper) — who are born with the power of sight.

Their biological father, the mythical heretic Jeramarel (Joshua Henry), is also not blind. He fled from evil Queen Kane (Sylvia Hoeks), known as the Divine Ruler who dwells above Kanzua Dam. Enraged, she has launched a ‘witch hunt’ for him, her estranged sister Magra and their sighted children.

Plus, there’s Paris (Alfre Woodard), the Alkenny tribe’s wise and loving shaman, treacherous Boots (Franz Drameh) another of Jeramarel’s sons, and Lord Harlan (Tom Mison), leader of the Pennsa.

Eventually, Baba Voss’s resentful younger brother, Edo Voss (Dave Bautista), appears as a formidable adversary, Commander-General of the Trivantian tribe, known as the most powerful military in the world.

Written by Steven Knight and directed by Francis Lawrence, it’s filmed in the wilds of Canada’s British Columbia. “Alkenny” and “Kanzua” are alterations of Allegheny and Kinzua in western Pennsylvania

Looking ahead, Alfre Woodward notes: “The characters in season two do not see the past coming to haunt them, but the past coming to be resolved … ‘See’ has so many parallels with what is going on with the world — or even what could happen. There’s the idea of the masses laying trust in prophetic figures.”

 

Reminiscence

Because I admire Hugh Jackman, I went to see “Reminiscence,” a disappointing sci-fi noir in a local theater. Big mistake! Although I’ve complained before, Bow-Tie management still has not ordered employees to wear masks properly, not below their noses as chin guards.

Set sometime in a dystopian future in water-logged Miami — reflecting climate change and rising tides — the pulpy story introduces Nick Bannister (Hugh Jackman), who — with his partner Watts (Thandiewe Newton) — operates a flotation tank in which people can retrieve selective memories from their past.

These memories — archived in Nick’s vault on glass discs — are projected in hologram-like 3-D visual recordings.

“Time is no longer a one-way stream … Memory is the boat that sails against its current, and I’m the oarsman,” Nick declares in a repetitive voice-over. “The past is just a series of moments, each one perfect, complete, a bead on the necklace of time … Nothing is more addictive than the past.”

When the doorbell rings, into Nick’s scruffy life steps a Femme Fatale (Rebecca Ferguson). The dame’s named Mae. She’s a sultry cabaret singer, specializing in torch songs. She says she can’t find her keys, but it’s abundantly obvious that she’s after Nick. But why?

A convoluted conspiracy revolves around corrupt slumlord Walter Sylvan (Brett Cullen), his wife (Marina de Tavira), his mistress (Angela Sarafyan) and his sniveling son (Mojean Aria) — plus a drug kingpin (Daniel Wu), peddling an addictive opiate called ‘baca.’

So what went wrong on this South Beach jog down memory lane?

Perhaps it’s because first time feature writer/director Lisa Joy, who co-created HBO’s “Westworld” with her husband, Jonathan Nolan, Christopher Nolan’s brother, wrote a clunky, cliché-filled, confusing script — plus, her predictably melodramatic pacing plods.

Although Ferguson and Jackman previously teamed in “The Greatest Showman,” there’s little on-screen chemistry with more talk than action.

 

Don’t Breathe 2

Back in 2016, there was a horrific home invasion slasher/thriller from writer/director Fede Alvarez (“Evil Dead”), subversively pitting a trio of teenage thugs against an old, blind former Navy SEAL, whose backstory identifies him as a kidnapper/rapist/murderer.

Now there’s “Don’t Breathe 2,” a sequel — set eight years later — in which the same blind vet, Norman Nordstrom (Stephen Lang), is raising an 11 year-old daughter, Phoenix (Madelyn Grace). He tells her that her mother died in a house fire and that he only had time to rescue her, which is not quite the truth.

Living in his isolated cabin, Phoenix begs to go to a real school and play with other kids, but Norman deems that too dangerous. Instead, he continues to home-school her in addition to teaching her strenuous survival skills.

On a rare trip into town, accompanied by her Rottweiler, Phoenix is cornered by a nasty man in a public washroom. That’s cocky Raylan (Brendon Sexton III), who follows her home with his creepy cohorts. When they lure Norman out to look for his missing dog, they go in, looking for Phoenix, who tries to elude them.

Once Norman is aware of what’s actually happening, he tries to protect traumatized Phoenix but they grab the confused girl — and she learns the truth about her past, along with revelations about an organ trafficking ring.

Working again with co-writer and debut director Rodo Sayagues, along with cinematographer Pedro Luque, Alvarez tries to turn this repulsive, reprehensible villain, who admits he’s a “monster,” into an action antihero — and the brutal, hyper-violent redemption simply doesn’t work.

FYI: There’s a post-credits scene in which a dog runs up to the ‘dead’ blind man and licks his hand; his fingers move ever so slightly, implying that he might still be alive.

 

Susan Granger is a product of Hollywood. Her natural father, S. Sylvan Simon, was a director and producer at M.G.M. and Columbia Pictures. Her adoptive father, Armand Deutsch, produced movies at M.G.M.

As a child, Susan appeared in movies with Abbott & Costello, Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, Margaret O’Brien, and Lassie. She attended Mills College in California, studying journalism with Pierre Salinger, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with highest honors in journalism.

During her adult life, Susan has been on radio and television as an anchorwoman and movie and drama critic, syndicating her reviews and articles around the world, including Video Librarian. She has appeared on American Movie Classics and Turner Classic Movies. In 2017, her book 150 Timeless Movies was published by Hannacroix Creek Books.

Her website is www.susangranger.com. Follow her on Twitter @susangranger.