Danger Zone 2: This Time it's Not Danger Zone 1

 

Well, since I reviewed Top Gun, it only seemed appropriate to review the sequel as well.

30 years later, Pete "Maverick" Mitchell is still a great pilot, though he's moved from instructor to testing experimental aircraft, and finds his job on the line thanks to Admiral Cain (Ed Harris), who aims to replace pilots with drones. But OH NO! Another vaguely defined "enemy" (who may or may not be the same one from the first film) has built a super dangerous uranium plant, and the Navy needs a special team of fighter pilots to deal with it. And wouldn't you know it, Maverick's old friend Tom "Iceman" Kazinsky (Val Kilmer, in his last acting role) has recommended him to train the new squad. 

Despite the reluctance of his commanding officer Beau "Cyclone" Simpson (John Hamm), Maverick is assigned to take a group of top gun graduates and prepare them for a potential suicide mission. But there's another problem - one of the candidates is Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw, the son of Maverick's old co-pilot Nick "Goose" Bradshaw, and there's some complicated history between them. 

I wasn't entirely sure what to expect going into this one. Part of me was worried it was going to just be the first movie all over again, or it was going to feel like it was still a product of the 80's. And it proved me wrong. Top Gun Maverick takes full advantage of the 30-year gap between installments, allowing it to explore how things have changed over time. The increasing prevalence of drone warfare was an interesting thing to see explored in the opening, though it perhaps could have been given more attention. We get to see how characters have grown and developed. 

And the film takes advantage of the time jump to give us a much more varied group of characters. There's actually a woman on the team this time around. Natasha "Phoenix" Trace (Monica Barbaro) is a member of Maverick's strike team who, while not the primary focus, does get her share of action scenes. 

It is nice to not just get ANOTHER male bonding film.

Perhaps one of the biggest surprises in this film was the return of Val Kilmer as Iceman. You'd think this would be a logical choice since he was a big part of the first movie, but at the time Val Kilmer was suffering from throat cancer that prevented him acting in other roles. He'd previously been unable to reprise Mad Martigan for the Willow miniseries for this exact reason, yet they somehow actually got him to come back, if briefly, for Top Gun Maverick. And they made an interesting decision for how to do it- by actually incorporating the actor's condition into the character. It limited his screentime to one scene, but that one scene makes the most of him.

The romantic plotline in Top Gun Maverick is definitely an improvement over the original. While the sudden and unexplained disappearance of Kelly McInnis might be jarring to longtime fans, they actually do pretty good with new love interest Penny Benjamin (Jennifer Connelly). It probably helps that they forego having Maverick do any cringey "romantic gestures" and she isn't his teacher this time. She actually feels like a new character and not just "Charlie but with brown hair." The film takes its time building up their relationship but, unlike the original, the romance portion seems to gel a lot better with the rest of the film. It doesn't feel like they're suddenly putting the movie on hold for Tom Cruise to get laid.

One thing that's interesting about Top Gun Maverick is how it manages to mirror scenes from the first movie without feeling like it's directly copying them. It makes for interesting moments, like when Maverick himself is introduced to his class in a scene that feels suspiciously reminiscient of Charlie's reveal as their instructor. Even the opening, which is very clearly modeled on the first right down to using the same font for the credits, feels more like an homage than a direct copy.

And of course, there's the flight sequences which... still look amazing. Maybe a bit hard to follow at times because of all the rapid editing, but they still give you a sense of what the characters are feeling amid all the fast-paced action. It even builds on some of the original's cinematography, experimenting with a few new techniques, like filming a takeoff from inside the cockpit.

I wasn't entirely sure what to expect Top Gun Maverick to be but this... well, it actually does pretty good. Sequels can be hard to pull off, especially when the original is such an icon, but Top Gun Maverick actually does the seemingly impossible and arguably improves on the original Top Gun in many ways. It captures everything that got people into the original and builds on it, creating something that calls back to the original while also feeling like it's own movie.

Apparently, there's a sequel in development. It will be interesting to see where they go with that.

Guns on Top

 

Somehow, in all my time studying film, I never actually saw Top Gun. I guess I just never felt much incentive to watch it. Now, I finally got talked into watching it on Paramount+ and it was an... interesting experience. 

Pete "Maverick" Mitchell (Tom Cruise) is a US Navy pilot who is good at flying, but has a reputation for doing crazy things like flying upside-down over Soviet aircraft. Along with his co-pilot Nick "Goose" Bradshaw, he gets enrolled in "Top Gun"- an elite training program that takes the best naval pilots and teaches them how to dogfight like it's World War I. Under the training of Vietnam veteran Mike "Viper" Metcalf (Tom Skerritt), they take part in training exercises and develop a rivalry with fellow pilot Tom "Iceman" Kazansky. Maverick slowly learns to be a team player and also develops a romance with instructor Charlotte "Charlie" Blackwood (Kelly McGillis). 

Let's get this out of the way. The romantic b-plot of this movie really hasn't aged well. Maverick's advances on Charlie range from weird and confusing at best (bombarding her out of nowhere with a "romantic serenade" performed by his whole flight squad) to unprofessional (asking her out after finding out he's her instructor) to potentially creepy (following her into the women's bathroom). While this behaviour does somewhat fit with Maverick's recklessness, it does feel a bit discomforting that the film tries to paint it as charming instead of a glaring character flaw. Or how readily Charlie accepts his advances.

Apparently, getting approached by a stranger accompanied by a dozen men singing out of nowhere is romantic. And here I was thinking it would be overwhelming and confusing at best.

To the film's credit, it does make an effort to portray Charlie as a strong female character. She is consistently shown to be intelligent and displays a knowledge of aviation that is easily on par with the guys. However, so much of her screentime is focused on her relationship with Maverick instead of highlighting her intelligence. Even her position isn't very clearly explained, beyond being a "civillian contractor" apparently hired for her knowledge on jet planes. It doesn't help that she conveniently disappears during the climax, when it might have been worthwhile to have her assisting from the ground.

And the thing is, I'm not totally convinced this movie needed a romance. If anything, the romance portions seem to just abruptly put the main plot on hold, and don't really add a lot. They probably could have made Charlie work just by focusing on her role as an instructor, maybe one whose respect is slowly earned by Maverick over the course of the film, more like how they treated Viper. The whole teacher-student thing is a bit offputting, and if they really wanted a romantic plotline, it might have been better to just have a separate character in the role.

That said, Top Gun's biggest strength is undoubtedly its aviation sequences. The best parts of the movie are when the focus is on the planes. Even just the shots of day-to-day operations are really engaging. The opening sequence takes its time to show in great detail just how much goes into take-off and landing with an aircraft carrier, all the people who have to co-ordinate and make sure they do their tasks perfectly so the planes don't slide into the ocean. It's really good at drawing you in. My five-year-old self would have gone crazy for this stuff.

And then, of course, there's the actual jet sequences. The training exercises that make up most of the main plot, and this is where Top Gun really shines. These sequences seem to take heavy inspiration from classic aviation films, and even have a bit of influence from the original Star Wars movies in their fast-paced editing that mixes shots of aerial maneuvers with close-ups on the pilots as they interact with each other. Although it can sometimes be hard to keep track of everything that's happening, it does give an idea of what it's like for the characters, who have to act fast and make quick decisions without much time to think.

Granted, some portions of the movie could benefit from clearer explanations of things. This is especially true during the climax, where everyone's called in to deal with a vague "crisis situation" that apparently requires them to shoot down planes of an unidentified enemy over the Indian Ocean for reasons that aren't very well explained. I think the "enemy" is supposed to be the Soviet Union, though the film seems to go out of its way to avoid actually stating this. 

And of course, there's the soundtrack. "Danger Zone" is a pretty great song. I didn't actually know going in that it was written specifically for Top Gun, but it does a pretty good job of setting the tone for the rest of the film. Although the song doesn't explicitly mention planes, it does seem like a good description of the everyday life of fighter jet pilots, who are constantly putting themselves into danger every time they take off regardless of circumstances. 

Overall, Top Gun makes for a (mostly) action-packed thrill ride even if it hasn't aged perfectly. Tony Scott clearly put a lot effort into making this and it can't have been easy to film. Is it perfect? Hardly. Does it do a decent job of showcasing the intense life of a fighter pilot? I would say so, even if it might have worked better without that plot occasionally getting put on hold for an unneccessary romance. Just be prepared for the parts that clearly mark it as a product of its time.

Deepwater Horizon: A Pretty Solid Disaster Film

 

If I had a nickel for every time I played a Lovecraft-inspired video game and suddenly felt inspired to go to my local library and check out a tangentially related disaster movie with Mark Walburg that dramatized a tragic nautical disaster, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't much, but it's weird that it happened twice! 

First, I played Dredge, game about being a fisherman in Lovecraftian waters, and suddenly felt the need to seek out Wolfgang Petersen's The Perfect Storm- still a pretty good movie. A few weeks later, I try out a game called Still Wakes the Deep, and suddenly I'm reminded of a movie about an oil rig disaster- Deepwater Horizon. I don't think I actually saw this when it came out in 2016, but I remembered seeing advertisements for it. 

So why not take a look even if it is an odd way to have it brought to my attention... or is it? 

Mike Williams (Mark Walberg), James Harrell (Kurt Russell), and Andrea Fleytas (Gina Rodriguez) are crew members assigned to the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, only to find it barely functional. Despite a multitude of problems and last-minute tests showing they really shouldn't be drilling here, BP executive Donald Vildrine (John Malkovich), decides to ignore the experts and force them to start drilling anyway. Because that's what happens when you put big businessmen in charge of dangerous machinery. PLOT TWIST! This turns out to be a really bad idea. The movie is a dramatization of the real-life Deepwater Horizon explosion, which caused a massive oil spill and killed 11 of its workers.

Disaster movies are notoriously hard to pull off. It's easy to get so caught up in the spectacle that the story feels more like an excuse to justify the special effects, or, on the flip side, to spend so much time on the buildup it takes too long to get to the actual disaster. Deepwater Horizon manages to find that comfortable middle ground. It takes its time getting to the big moment, but by the time the special effects happen, you've gotten acquainted with the major characters, conflicts, and the life of an oil rig worker. 

The acting in this film is actually really good. Everyone seems to do their best and fully immerse themselves in their characters. Kurt Russel is barely recognizable with his big mustache and southern accent. But the real standout performance is John Malkovich as the charismatic BP executive Donald Vildrine. He really nails the role of a charismatic but ruthless businessman who misuses his authority, easily stealing the spotlight in every scene he's in. Interestingly, though, this is mostly in the first half, while he is completely silent in the second- an interesting reflection of his experiences.

And of course, we can't discuss a disaster movie without talking about the special effects. And the film certainly delivers on that. Deepwater Horizon takes full advantage of its setting to create a visual spectacle for the audience. Even before the fires and explosions happen, the audience is treated to some interesting views of the rig's inner workings. These shots, giving us a glimpse into how the drill shaft operates, actually do a lot for building up atmosphere. 

Of course, when things actually start going wrong, it still delivers. The rig feels like a deathtrap from the start. Everything about it just feels like it's begging for something to go wrong. The team supposedly there to inspect the drill's structural integrity leaves the instant the main characters arrive, having done zero tests. A lot of the rig's machines are poorly maintained, if they even function at all (probably because BP is cheap). Even the phones aren't working properly. So when the explosion finally happens, it feels like a natural consequence of everything that's already been established.

Overall, Deepwater Horizon is a surprisingly competent disaster film from, of all people, Battleship director Peter Berg. Yeah, I was surprised to learn that, too. Turns out, he might be a more capable director than the infamous board game adaptation would have you believe. Even if it was a bit weird to be brought here by making an unlikely connection through a video game... or was it.

Still Wakes the Deep and Deepwater Horizon aren't quite as far off as you might expect. It's true that one is a grounded dramatization of real events while the other is a fictional Lovecraftian horror story, but ultimately they both start from the same basic point. They follow workers who end up trapped on a deadly oil rig because corporate greed forced them to drill where they shouldn't. And it could be argued that Deepwater Horizon's result is just as bad as, if not worse than, any monster Lovecraft could conceive. Interestingly, Deepwater Horizon even has people comparing the oil well to provoking a sea monster. It actually doesn't seem like that big a stretch to imagine the developers of Still Wakes the Deep were taking inspiration from Deepwater Horizon.

G.I. Jane and the Navy SEALs

It is surprisingly difficult to find media dealing with modern warfare that actually shows female soldiers, even in an era where that is perfectly normal. One notable exception to the rule is Ridley Scott's 1997 action film G.I. Jane. However, on some level this particular film, while an excellent thrill-ride with a strong female lead, is a curious film to see in light of its subject matter. The story focuses on Jordan O'Neal, an athlete and military analyst who finds herself becoming the first female Navy SEAL. Much of the film naturally deals with sexism in the military (she is being deliberately put with the SEALs on the assumption that she will easily fail), but it is also curious to watch in light of how society has developed since G.I. Jane's release.

It is fitting to discuss this film right now, since is just happens that this year the real-life Navy SEALs are hoping to begin opening their doors towards women, almost twenty years later. Of course, the reality is not as dramatic as Scott's vision. Quite a few of the top SEAL commanders are on board with the idea (if still getting accustomed to it), far from the vision Scott had of a sexist military pulling every trick it could to prevent integration. Unlike the film, in which the SEALs are depicted responding to political pressure, they seem to be doing this willingly, and the only reason the change has not already been implemented is government bureaucracy. Some of the officers have even gone on the record to state that women will be held to the same standards as men (a right O'Neal had to fight for). The movie was also made while Don't Ask, Don't Tell was still in effect; the trick of forging evidence that O'Neal was homosexual would not cause anywhere near as much of a scandal today.

Also ironically, the film is about the SEALs being used as a test case to see if gender integration is possible in the military as a whole, when in fact they have proven to be one of the last branches to begin accepting women. In Canada, women can serve in any position, including submarines. In America, women are now being accepted as marines and rangers. If anything, much of what really happened has been the exact opposite of what is shown in G.I. Jane.  This is not, however, to say that the film is irrelevant to today's world. In fact, very much the opposite.

G.I. Jane is not just a story about a female SEAL, but one about intolerance as a whole. Throughout the movie, attention is drawn to the ignorance and prejudices in the military. Homosexuality is also brought up (though not given much focus), including a subplot where O'Neal is almost reduced to a desk job because someone took a picture of her sitting on a beach with a female officer.  There are a variety of claims brought up early on about how women are weaker than men and therefore not fit to serve. Sadly, these same arguments still persist today. The subject of whether women should meet the same standards

At one point, she also speaks to an African-American recruit, Lt. McCool (Morris Chestnut), who draws a parallel between O'Neal's situation and his grandfather. In his anecdote, McCool explains that his grandfather enlisted in World War II as a gunner in the Navy, only to be told that the only position he could take was the cook. According to McCool, the rationale for not letting a man fight for his country was that blacks supposedly cannot see at night. This is an absurd and blatantly racist claim today, perhaps just as absurd as saying women cannot meet the same physical standards as men, or discharging people for the sole reason that their commanding officer thinks they might be gay, even if that has no impact on their performance.

G.I. Jane is very much about deconstructing these absurd prejudices. From the moment Jordan first appears, she is obviously a good choice. She already works in intelligence, and despite having years of experience got rejected from one post in the Gulf War simply because the submarine lacked women's wash rooms (this itself an absurd claim, given the restroom was probably a single toilet that could easily have been shared). She is smart and quick-thinking, as well as being extremely fit.

Still, everyone maintains that she should not be present, yet the film constantly presents evidence to the contrary. During a training exercise, O'Neal deliberately knocks over the steps used to get over a wall and instead crouches down herself. Several men climb onto her back and she is still able to keep moving afterwards, yet even after she has helped the last man over the wall, he still refuses to help her get over in return. Even the senator responsible for all this happening in the first place (Anne Bancroft) admits she expected O'Neal to fail and only did it for publicity. Early on, she is given special treatment. She has her own room, an officer she can personally consult about any issues, and is required to go through dumbed down versions of the physical exercises. She also proves on multiple occasions to be good at handling stress, including several situations where the recruits are deprived of sleep.

It is only when O'Neal manages to get herself on the same ground as the other recruits, to the point of even sharing her sleeping quarters with them, that any progress is made. This is reflected in her appearance. O'Neal begins as an attractive young woman, with long dark hair tied back into a ponytail and a formal suit. In her early days of training, she sheds the suit in favour of combat fatigues, but her long hair remains as a visual symbol of the inequality that still exists. Once she is facing the same standards, O'Neal visits a barbershop and proceeds to shave her own head; now looking like one of the guys. After this change, O'Neal begins to show more of her body, particularly her muscles, a visual indicator of her full potential.

These skills also prove useful once field training begins. O'Neal eventually becomes a team leader, though not entirely by choice (the original guy kept trying to sabotage her efforts, proving that he was unqualified seeing as teamwork is an essential part of SEAL operations). This includes and exercise where the SEALs are faced with a simulation of a combat situation. They are brought to an island and given a practice mission. O'Neal is put in charge of her team and quickly proves she knows what she is doing. Her experience as an analyst allows her to easily locate their target. The mission likely would have proven a success had it not been for the former team leader, who outright ignores her orders and gets everyone "captured."

Of course, even after being caught, and finding herself in a simulation of such an experience, O'Neil still remains strong. Her instructor beats her repeatedly and yells sexist remarks in an attempt at discouragement. He even goes as far as to attempt to rape her, which ends with O'Neal defending herself appropriately. Despite the constant pressure, she never gives in to the simulated interrogation, and proves, just as was indicated in training, that she is good at taking pressure, a crucial component to SEAL training. By this point, O'Neal is finally accepted as an equal, even being cheered on by her male comrades as she fights back against the instructor. 

This in turn leads to the climax of the film, where the recruits are unexpectedly faced with an actual mission to recover a fallen satellite. The task is a dangerous one, as it involves entering territory owned by Muammar Gaddafi. By this point, the SEALs are coordinating together. O'Neal herself is even given the task of acting as a spotter for her instructor. He ends up being separated and it is once again O'Neal who has to take charge. She is the one who plans their strategy both for recovering the satellite and rescuing the instructor, and it is because of her the mission is a success. She is obviously deserving of the badge she receives at the end that indicates her acceptance as a SEAL.

The whole point has essentially been that women can in fact meet the same standards as men. They are not physically weaker, as some would like to claim. Any such claim is nothing more than futile attempt to justify prejudice and bigotry, no different from McCool's anecdote about his grandfather not being allowed to serve because people claimed blacks had bad eyesight. Just as that absurd World War II-era theory was eventually disproven, so is the claim that women are unfit for military service. The same could be said of any group that has been barred from active duty, be it race, gender, or sexual orientation. 

Rookie Blue

It should come as no surprise that I'm a fan of Kathryn Bigelow, and I'm always interested in seeing her films when I get a chance. Ever since I first saw The Hurt Locker I have tried to collect her movies. When I heard about her film Blue Steel through my action cinema class I quickly became interested in it. One of my favorite female directors made a movie about a tough female cop? How could I resist? Before long, interest turned into a desire to see this film, and desire became an obsession. Next thing I knew I had to find this movie. I combed every potential channel I could find. I checked countless video stores (some more than once) as well as Netflix and HBO on Demand to know avail. It seemed like this film was impossible to find.

Over the last few months my desire grew increasingly to the point where it was starting to drive me insane. Every time I wandered into a video store all I could think about was finding a copy of Blue Steel. I was not even sure if it was going to be worth it but something kept compelling me to search for this particular film no matter how futile it proved. Then finally this morning I had a new idea; check out the media commons library on campus (which happens to have a huge selection of films). Turns out they did in fact have it all this time (on both DVD and video cassette) and I was able to check it out. Of course I'll have to return it, but I finally managed to fulfill my desire to see this early film from the director of The Hurt Locker. So after spending half a year relentlessly combing every shelf of any store that had DVDs for this one film that seemed impossible, was it worth it? Oh yes, it was.

Megan Turner (Jamie Lee Curtis) is a tough woman who has just graduated to becoming a recognized officer of the New York Police Department. She is a woman who has proven that she can hold her own in a male-dominated profession (this being a major theme throughout). Unfortunately, things are cut short on her first night as a cop when she finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time: witnessing a convenience store robbery in progress. Naturally she tries to interfere and has to shoot the perpetrator. However, one of the hostages, a strange fellow by the name of Eugene Hunt (Ron Silver) steels the perpetrator's gun and escapes the crime scene, leaving Turner to be accused of police brutality and suspended.

Hunt turns out to be a deranged lunatic who also becomes obsessed with Turner, going as far as to carve her name into bullets and fire on random pedestrians using the gun from the crime scene. Turner then finds herself in a brief romantic relationship with Hunt, only to end up in a violent cat and mouse chase as he attempts to manipulate her, framing her as a Dirty Harry-esque rogue cop who doesn't play by the rules. Now it is up to Turner to figure out how to expose Hunt for the monster he is and bring an end to his reign of terror.

I should probably point out that Blue Steel isn't exactly a typical action movie, though it certainly draws inspiration from some. There is definitely some inspiration from Dirty Harry (especially evident in the relationship between Turner and Hunt) and Blade Runner (mainly in terms of atmosphere), but in many ways this is more of an art film. While the story itself is not too hard to follow the movie as a whole is very subjective, at times even surreal, and one that tries to make the viewer think about and question what they are seeing.

This approach allows it to be a very psychologically-driven experience rather than something driven by a simple adrenaline rush (I suspect this is probably the reason why many consider it one of Bigelow's weaker films; a lot of them probably went in expecting a more straight forward action thriller). As a result, the film is more slow-paced than one would normally expect. It takes its time to allow the viewer access to the minds of its two central characters and to explore how both are simultaneously brought together and pulled apart over the course of the film.

The theme of challenging established gender conventions is a prominent one throughout, most notably in Megan's characterization. This is even reflected in her wardrobe, which constantly places her in attire more often seen on men, most notably the full blue police uniform (complete with peaked cap) and the presence of shoulder holsters. She is also a very strong character, with attention constantly being paid to her tough attitude and her wit (especially towards the end of the film, when she is locked in a metaphorical Chess game with Eugene).

Hunt also works as a disturbing antagonist. His weird deranged nature serves as an early precursor to the "adrenaline junkie danger seekers" that would become common in many of Bigelow's later films (Bodhi in Point Break and Sgt. First Class William James in The Hurt Locker arguably being the two best-known examples). However, unlike those later figures or Dirty Harry's Scorpio (from whom he obviously draws inspiration) Hunt is actually able to pass for an ordinary man. This adds a few extra layers of unease on the few occasions when he refrains from showing his true colours, since he is very clever in setting up Turner in such ways so that most of the other officers don't believe her.

Watching it today is especially horrifying since there are actually films still being made in which this kind of character would be the hero. He did display a vibe reminiscent of so-called love stories such as The Age of Adaline and Fifty Shades of Gray. His deterioration of character is also conveyed visually through a combination of body language, atmosphere, and costuming (he goes from wearing a fancy business suit to looking like a homeless man). By emphasizing these aspects of his character right from the beginning, instead of leaving it as a twist for the end, we are able to get into the twisted mind of a psychopath, an interesting if unsettling experience. At the same time, however, there is also an enigmatic quality to the whole thing, as the film never spells anything out but leaves the viewer to imagine what kind of thought process go through his head.

I don't know why this film is so hard to find, but it shouldn't be. I don't care if it's Criterion, Kino, Alliance, Mongrel, or some obscure indie distribution firm nobody has heard of. Somebody please get this film released on DVD again! It is a brilliant piece of work from Kathryn Bigelow and one I find myself tempted to rank as being among her best (right up there with The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty). Blue Steel is arguably one of her most interesting projects, with its strange and subjective approach to what in the hands of any other director might have been a conventional action thriller. If you are a fan of her work, or even if you are just looking for some unusual police films, this is a must-see.

Gender Inequality and Law Enforcement

As I have discussed before on multiple occasions, there are currently a large number of issues regarding how women are represented in certain professions in contemporary media. One of the worst examples of this is the absurd inability of films and television to recognize the accomplishments (or in many cases, even the existence) of female firefighters. At most, female firefighters are rarely anything more than extras, if even that. Through all my extensive research on the subject I have found that at best, female firefighters are poorly written (L.A. Firefighters, Chicago Fire) or partial examples (i.e. Leah in Flashpoint, a competent female firefighter, but one who has retired and switched to being a cop by the time she appears on the show). The only definitive example I have of a positive role model for female firefighters is Fireman Sam, a kids show from Wales and even that wasn't entirely perfect (Penny wasn't introduced until Season 2). That is not even getting into the idiots who actually use extreme generalizations (the "upper body strength" argument being a favorite) to claim that women are weaker than men and should not even be allowed to apply to join the fire service.

Of course, firefighting isn't the only profession in which female participants have been misrepresented. To an extent the same could be said for a lot of male-dominated professions. For instance it is still hard to find positive role models for women in the military even in films dealing with modern warfare where would make sense to show them. Representation of female astronauts is getting better but even then films like Moon manage to avoid depicting them altogether. One of the more interesting and complicated areas is the issue of female representation in law enforcement, more specifically the issue of how female cops are treated.

Historically, police films and shows have often been very male-dominated and there is a reason for this. It is because prior to the 1970's there were virtually no female cops, if any at all. Naturally, any film from before that era (or any contemporary period piece that focuses on the police) never showed any female cops, but even by the 70's women in law enforcement would have been rare at best. For this reason the closest John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct could get to having a strong female police officer was to allow a secretary to take part in the main action, but even with the integration of the police force many films still failed to get the memo, hence masculine action films like Die Hard in 1988.

The only major director at the time who seemed to notice was James Cameron, as is evidenced by the presence of at least one female cop being present The Terminator (though she is little more than an unnamed extra during the T-800's rampage through the police station, while the two officers actually given focus are both men). This is why it took three films before the Dirty Harry series finally introduced a female police officer. The Enforcer tried to create a positive role model but failed miserably (though actress Tyne Daly would later go on to star in Cagney and Lacey, a television series centered around the relationship between two female cops). While this film was a disaster, it could be argued that the character of Kate Moore could have helped to set in motion.

Today, some progress has been made. It is becoming more common to see films and shows make a more concerted effort to diversify depictions of law enforcement. It is also becoming more common on a variety of television programs. Even shows like Elementary, in which the two regular cops are both men, they have had female officers make an appearance (as well as a female consultant in Joan Watson). End of Watch also made a point of showing capable female police officers even if the central focus was still on two male protagonists. Unfortunately, even if some things have changed compared to representations of women in other male-dominated professions there are still some problems to consider.

First, it is still common for movies and television shows to still depict all-male groups of cops regardless of whether it is necessary. One notable case of this being done on television is True Detective, but Martin Scorsese's The Departed is a perfect example. This was a movie that had a very large cast of characters. It has large variety of cops as well as several crooks, every single one of them had their own plotline... and the only woman they could fit in the movie was the love interest? She is not even directly involved in the narrative. The only major female character was a police psychologist but the focus is almost exclusively on her romantic entanglements with Billy.

There is not so much as a single female cop anywhere in the cast, not even as an extra. Yes, I know The Departed was a remake of the Hong Kong movie Internal Affairs and they did it too but I don't care. I find it hard to believe that there was not one character in the film who could have been written as or played by a woman without changing anything in the script beyond perhaps a few pronouns. Would it really have killed the filmmakers to even have one female cop or crook take part in the action? After all, it was dealing with a large cast of characters in the present day, so it is not like there are any social issues to consider that might excuse it (as would be the case for any police procedural set in say... the 1940's). This should be simple: just cast a woman in one of the five billion police roles even if it was originally meant to be a guy and only change the script as much as is absolutely necessary.

Second, it is worth noting that while it is becoming more common to depict female cops, they are shown more commonly in some areas than others. For instance, when the subject of police corruption comes up, it is extremely rare to see a female corrupt cop outside of a handful of exceptions such as Dredd and Sabotage. The most recognized exception to the rule is arguably Ramirez in The Dark Knight, except in that instance her corruption was not her own doing so much as it was careful psychological manipulation and pressure exerted on her by the film's (male) villains. Meanwhile, there are hundreds of films that deal with corrupt male cops.

Gender representation also seems to vary depending on which department the work in question is focusing on. It seems to be far more likely that one will see female homicide detectives, federal agents, or patrol officers than it is to see them taking part in a SWAT team. There are very few images of female SWAT officers. Very few movies (at least from what I have found) actually take the time to give SWAT teams any real focus, usually casting them as a background or minor supporting role. When this happens, it is almost always a team made exclusively of men (Speed provides a notable exception in one scene, though in that instance the female officer has no dialogue and is presumably killed when a bomb goes off in the villain's house).

Even films that do put focus on SWAT teams often go this route. The Korean film The Raid centers, as the title implies, on a SWAT team raiding an apartment building. Director Gareth Evans decided once again to depict an all-male team with virtually no female characters at all. One could try to justify this by arguing cultural differences, but I don't buy that especially considering China has actually employed all-female SWAT teams. Once again, would it really have killed Evans to have even one female officer in the cast? There is no reason why the team had to be all men.

There are exceptions to this rule, but they hard to find. The movie S.W.A.T. is one rare example of a film attempting to challenge this convention. The opening scene of the film depicts an all-male SWAT team responding to a bank robbery-gone wrong, but it also ends up being problematic due to the actions of Brian Gamble. This ends up leading to the dissolution of the original team, and forces Sgt. Hondo to assemble a new team. Once again, the first few are men. When we do meet the one female member of the team, her sex is the last thing that is revealed; she is given the gender-neutral name "Chris" and simply established to be very good at holding her own.

The movie then proceeds to emphasize that from the moment she first arrives for training she is an important member of the team, easily capable of pulling her own weight, and avoids having any romantic triangle. In fact, only two people ever voice disapproval of her presence in the SWAT team: her boss Captain Fuller and ex-SWAT officer Gamble, of whom one is eventually proven wrong and the other goes on to become one of the main antagonists. This is also interesting when one considers that there were no female team members in the original 1970's show that inspired the movie.

Flashpoint is also another good example of an exception to the rule. Though the characters refrain from using the term "SWAT" in favor of "SRU" (strategic response unit), they serve more or less the same function as the heavy-duty cops who are called in when things get two dangerous for regular patrol officers. The series always had at least one woman on the team, with at total of three serving at different periods of the show's run (though Jules was the only one to stay for the entire series; one was introduced as a temporary substitute while Amy Jo Johnson was on maternity leave and went on to become a recurring character afterwards, while the other was not introduced until season 2). All three of the women who served on the SRU were competent, strong characters and proved to be valuable members of the team.

Unfortunately, S.W.A.T. and Flashpoint are more the exceptions than the rules. Very few movies or shows follow the examples these works should be setting, even when the SWAT team is cast as anything more than a background role. The fact is that there are women taking part in all areas of police work, and if progress is to be made there needs to be more positive role models of them in every form possible, yet there seem to be double standards at play here. Casting a woman as a homicide detective or patrol officer is considered okay, but very few people seem to even consider the possibility depicting of female SWAT officers even though it is becoming increasingly common in real life. 

The fact is that while there has been a lot of progress since The Enforcer, there are still inequalities in how women are depicted in law enforcement. These issues need to be addressed and rectified as soon as possible. Some people have been known to criticize these types of posts, claiming that I'm trying to shove "political correctness" into everything. They say it like encouraging more films to diversify their casts is a bad thing, but if that's what it's going to take than I'm all for it. This process has proven to be insanely slow. People should know better by 2015 and yet little seems to have changed. Something needs to be done.

Roads of Fury

I'll admit that when I first heard of Mad Max fury road I was somewhat skeptical of its quality. It also seemed to be quite a bit different from the first three Mad Max films, though those films were quite a bit different in themselves. I never fully understood the appeal of Mad Max (though I have been informed that I may have been watching the version that dubbed over the Australian accents). Mad Max: The Road Warrior and Beyond Thunderdome both still proved to be entertaining movies. It did seem a bit odd that they chose someone other than Mel Gibson to take on the title role, but as more information became available I gradually started to warm up to it, especially when I found out just after its release that it was being directed by the same person behind the last three films.

Continuing on with the post-apocalyptic theme of the previous two Mad Max films, Fury Road puts us right back in the chaotic world where Max (now played by Tom Hardy) is just trying to survive despite constant physical and psychological torment from everything around him. He happens to be kidnapped by the servants of warlord Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne) whose face, similar to the villain of The Road Warrior, is always concealed behind a mask that makes it hard to understand what he is saying (not that it matters much). Immortan Joe happens to run an empire of sorts, controlling the local people by withholding a large supply of water.

After a somewhat disorienting and chaotic first 20 or thirty minutes during which Max has to wear a strange mask, he gets mixed up with Imperiator Furiosa (Charlize Theron), a mysterious one-armed woman trying to help Joe's wives escape and take them to a better life. This group of characters soon finds themselves stuck in a "war rig" on the run from Immortan Joe, with his henchmen Nux (Nicholas Hoult) also getting stuck with them. Tension mounts as the unlikely heroes find themselves forced to work together and make a stand against their relentless pursuer.

One thing that helped to win me over when I first saw the trailers was the presence of Charlize Theron as Imperator Furiosa. She seemed like she had potential to be a strong female character and that seemed somewhat refreshing. After all, the Mad Max series is not exactly known for its strong female leads. In Mad Max the only female character of note was the title character's wife, who served mainly as a motivation for him with her death. The closest person to a strong female lead in The Road Warrior didn't even get a name, simply being credited as "Warrior Woman". There was also Tina Turner, but she didn't get involved until Beyond Thunderdome. Seeing a strong female character taking center stage was a nice change, and they delivered with Furiosa.

The funny thing is that they may have gone above and beyond on that front; to the point where Max ends up being more of a supporting role and the story ends up being more about her, as well as the group of heroes being predominantly female in an unusual move for this kind of film. That's not to say that the film is perfect in this regard. The supporting cast includes Immortan Joe's wives and later in the film a group of women from Furiosa's past, and I did find a lot of these characters were noticeably underdeveloped. All of them were enjoyable and competent women who got to take part in the action scenes at some point but aside from Furiosa they never seemed to get anything that distinguished them individually.

In fact, there is a distinct feminist message here that was not as clearly present in the first three Mad Max films. The title is somewhat misleading as it implies the film is about Max, which is arguably true of the first three installments. This time around, Max is more of a supporting role (though the opening makes it look like he is going to be the central character). From the trailers, one would think that this follows a similar pattern to The Road Warrior or Beyond Thunderdome where Max finds himself becoming the only hope of getting Furiosa where she needs to be. It's actually the other way around: she is the real protagonist, and Max is more like her sidekick. If anything, Furiosa is the one taking charge, Max is just her backup.

From the moment we first encounter the wives of Immortan Joe, it becomes clear that they are more than just objects (there's even an emphasis on the women freeing themselves, using what looks like an extremely heavy pair of pliers to remove their chains while Max still looks like a prisoner for some time after). Really, the dynamic of the film seems to be more about the predominantly female cast and their two male companions coming to recognize each other as equals. This is emphasized by the fact that Immortan Joe's army is made up almost exclusively of men who look like skinny versions of the Engineers from Prometheus, and that the women Furiosa seeks to protect (note that it's another woman protecting them, Max is just helping her) are explicitly identified by Joe to be good only for reproductive purposes. Immortan Joe is the embodiment of patriarchal society, and taking him out makes way for a new world in which men and women are equal.

Another area I can give credit to Fury Road for is in its production design. The landscapes have changed but the general aesthetic is very true to Miller's previous three installments, especially evident in the vehicles. Much like before this is a world in which people kill each other for fuel, and Fury Road definitely retains the bizarre-looking trucks and motorcycles that defined the previous installments. For that matter even the plot makes perfect sense: it's a road movie. How is it that an entire franchise based around people trying to survive on the road never thought to center its story on a road trip until now?

My final verdict is that Mad Max: Fury Road is a surprisingly worthy addition to the series. It has its flaws, I won't deny that, but it's a compelling story with some amazing action and a few interesting characters. It certainly brings some new elements to the series while also retaining a lot of what defined its predecessors. There is also plenty of tense and exciting action within a compelling world. It is definitely worth watching, and I would recommend checking it out.

Tossing Good Ideas Into Oblivion

I've realized recently that I haven't watched a lot of science fiction in a while. It's always been one of my favorite genres and last year I found myself writing about it a lot, but I haven't touched on it much in a while. Naturally I got to thinking that I should try watching some more science fiction films, and while looking for popular options I happened to find Oblivion through HBO on Demand. I didn't have super-high expectations but I do recall finding the trailers interesting when I first saw them back in 2013. I never got a chance to see it, something not helped by the fact that it came out around the same time as the similarly-themed After Earth, which I understand was not a very good movie at all. I decided to give Oblivion a watch and see if it was anything worthwhile. I'm not the biggest Tom Cruise fan but I know he can do good sci-fi/action if Edge of Tomorrow was anything to go on. Sadly, Oblivion doesn't live up to what made Edge of Tomorrow such an interesting experience.

It is the year 2077, and there has recently been a war between humanity and an alien race. Humanity won the war, but the Earth was destroyed so now Jack Harper (Tom Cruise) and Victoria (Andrea Riseborough) have to serve as a "mop-up crew" to destroy what's left of the aliens and deplete Earth's remaining resources before going to Titan (because, you know, a freezing cold moon orbiting one of the furthest planets from the sun with an atmosphere of nitrogen and methane seems like the perfect refuge for what remains of humanity). Unfortunately, it turns out there is something weird going on when Jack discovers that the "aliens" are actually humans led by a mysterious survivor named Beech (Morgan Freeman). Along the way, he also encounters his ex-wife Julia (Olga Kurylenko, who between this and Quantum of Solace really needs to find better action roles). Some stuff happens and it turns out that he's actually been working for the aliens and then Jack tries to make a stand while Victoria refuses to get involved and Julia keeps getting pushed aside.

Really, the treatment of the women here is probably the one of the biggest problems in Oblivion. Both Victoria and Julia end up being little more than a cheap love triangle when they each had potential to be interesting characters. Instead, Victoria just seemed too annoyingly stubborn. I wouldn't have minded the romance between Jack and Julia if they'd just given her more to do. Most of the time she's just following Jack around and being told to wait for him. Julia had potential to be a strong female character, and she even gets and opportunity once to get tough only to fail miserably and get saved by a male character who has almost no personality beyond being distrustful of Jack. It even got to the point where during the climax, the script seemed to deliberately keep her from playing any useful role. Unlike The Rock, I'm not sure this is any active sexism and more just bad writing, but it's still a load of wasted potential. The rest of the cast isn't all that much better.

The story itself I found also to be full of interesting ideas, but overall very weak. There is some suspense at first but after a while the twists start to become obvious, at least until the end when things just get confusing. Suddenly there's a big action scene and a bunch of people we don't know get killed but Jack has some sort of plan to thwart the alien invasion. The plan makes very little sense and ends up being a convoluted mess. Even the aliens, when they are finally encountered, don't turn out to be all that interesting. The one thing I can give the movie credit for is it does have some very good visual effects, but that's not really enough to save it.

However, even with the effects there was something weird that seemed to be going on. Oblivion was obviously influenced by 2001: A Space Odyssey in many ways. That should hardly come as a surprise, seeing as the majority of contemporary science fiction borrows something or other from that film. The weird part is how it is constantly incorporated into the visuals, to the point where the "drones" seem to be heavily modeled after the pods and there is even a series of shots depicting figures in a position very suspiciously reminiscent of the "Star Child" from the end of 2001. It felt a lot like Oblivion was just trying to be 2001, which didn't make sense since it was clearly not even remotely in the same area of science fiction.

My advice? If you really want to see Tom Cruise stop an alien invasion, just watch Edge of Tomorrow. It's a far better film with interesting ideas that are actually used and it even has a strong female lead. Admittedly I've seen far worse than Oblivion, but I still wouldn't recommend it to anyone. There are some amazing visuals but that's about all you're going to get, since otherwise it's just a bunch of dull characters, some of whom have absolutely no personality, getting involved in some convoluted plot to overthrow some race of aliens that never really feel like a serious threat.

Film Fortress 2

So there was recently this strange political development in which the Prime Minister of Canada was kidnapped by Neo-Nazi communist hippy ninjas who want Belgium's nuclear launch codes or something. I don't know. I don't follow politics much. All I know is that some United Nations official showed up at my house, said that the Prime Minister has been kidnapped by Neo-Nazi communist hippy ninjas, and asked if I was a "bad enough dude" to save the him. I don't know what that means, but I told them I was. They then shoved some paperwork in my face and told me I had to assemble a team of the toughest men and women available to save him and if the team I put together was composed entirely of white men they'd throw me in prison.

It wasn't easy, but I think I've found a good team to get the job done. Just for fun, I've decided to base most of my team on the classes from Team Fortress 2, and use that as a guide for assembling them. I've also been trying to offer a balance of gender and hopefully race. I got six men and six women, plus a decent balance of race among both sexes. This should be enough to meet the quota I was given.

By the way, yes, I know that some of these people are dead (though I won't say which ones to avoid spoilers). I found this crazy scientist who built a time-travelling DeLorean and he took me back in time so that I could recruit those people before they died and then bring them back to the present.

Ground Force

Tech Sgt. Elena Santos (Battle: Los Angeles, 2011)- Scout

Santos might not technically be infantry, but she has shown that she is certainly capable of defending herself (considering how much time she spent on her own in a war zone, initially without assistance). If she could hold her own in an alien invasion, Neo-Nazi communist hippy ninjas shouldn't be that big a problem. She is one who can fit right into the squad, but she also has experience in reconnaissance. Before the team can storm the Neo-Nazi communist hippy ninjas' carefully hidden headquarters, somebody has to get the information on their hideout and their activities. That's where a scout comes in handy, someone who can observe the enemy from a distance undetected.

Co (Rambo: First Blood Part II, 1985)- Soldier

I know, much as I dislike this film, Co was probably the one decent thing it had to offer (I'm pretty sure it was James Cameron who put her in the script, and Sylvester Stallone who ruined it). For the (frustratingly) short amount of screen time she had, this girl had a lot of skill. She showed that she was certainly capable of looking after herself and she even ended up in a situation where she had to save Rambo, and succeeded. We're talking about a one-woman extraction team. If something goes wrong with Evelyn Salt, this is the person who's going to get her to safety. She knows how to use the environment to her advantage, and she can handle a machine gun. Trust me, you'll want this girl watching your back, and her teammates will actually be able to understand what she is saying, certainly more than can be said for her partner.

Ellen Ripley (Aliens, 1986)- Pyro

This girl was able to take on an army of monstrous aliens several times before they finally killed her (and even that didn't stop her from facing them again). Her weapon of choice is a flamethrower and she definitely knows how to use it. After facing down Xenomorphs several times, (an entire hive in the case of Aliens), Neo-Nazi communist hippy ninjas should be pretty simple to deal with by comparison. Besides, she could use a change in activity, considering how she can't seem to go anywhere without having to face these aliens I think having a new enemy to deal with might be refreshing for her. Don't you?

Blaine (Predator, 1987)- Heavy

One thing we're going to need on a mission like this is lots of firepower. Aside from being specially trained for these types of missions, this is a guy armed with some very large guns and capable of doing a lot of damage with little trouble. Ninjas might be fast, but they can't outrun bullets. If we can get this guy in position with his minigun he should be able to take out large amounts of Neo-Nazi communist hippy ninjas at once, and with little damage to himself, at least as long as one of them doesn't manage to use their throwing stars to slice his heart out. Even if that does happen, he should be able to at least drastically reduce the enemy's numbers first, making them an easier target for everyone else.

Sgt. First Class William James (The Hurt Locker, 2008)- Demoman

Well, knowing the way these kinds of situations often go, it's inevitable that something is going to get destroyed sooner or later, and we'd better make sure that works in our favor. We'll have to pull James out of Iraq, but I don't think he'll mind too much. This guy's services will be valuable in two ways. First of all, and perhaps most obviously, James would be the guy to call if the team has to deal with a live explosive. He will know precisely how to disarm it. On the flip side, James has so much experience in disarming bombs, and knows them inside out, he could probably make one if necessary. With the collection of bomb parts he has accumulated, he probably has enough pieces to make at least two or three just for fun long before they are actually needed. Of course, the rest of the team will need to keep an eye on him to make sure his adrenaline fix doesn't get in the way of the mission, but his skills should be enough to make up for that.

Lisbeth Salander (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, 2009)- Engineer

Okay, so maybe she can't build sentries and teleporters, but this girl is resourceful and has a lot of technical skills that could be very useful. After all, everybody knows how much ninjas love to use computers, and those could hold a lot of extremely important information on their operations. That kind of information would be extremely valuable for the scout and spy, but she should also be able to get eyes in the building and remain in contact with everyone else. It does mean that she will be spending a lot of time in the background, but even if she does encounter trouble, Lisbeth can take care of herself, especially once Blaine has done his part.

Ensign Monk (The Abyss, 1989)- Medic

There are a few good reasons to put a guy like this on the team. For one thing, he is a trained Navy SEAL, which means he can definitely take care of himself, but as a medic he also knows how to keep calm while looking after wounded comrades under stressful circumstances. With an army of Neo-Nazi communist hippy ninjas on the loose, it's likely that someone might get hurt, so we'll need a person who can patch up their wounds when that does happen. Also, Monk is just such a nice guy for a SEAL, a very good quality for a doctor to have to be sure, and his bedside manner can certainly be helpful under pressure.

Jason Bourne (The Bourne Supremacy, 2004)- Sniper

It might be hard to convince a man like Bourne to take part in a mission like this (though some sort of guarantee that he'll be left alone afterwards might help), but his skills would be incredibly valuable in many ways. He has shown that he is a talented sniper, and he is very good at finding vantage points from which to observe. This would almost certainly be valuable when we are sending in our scout or our spy, since he will be able to see any danger coming long before they do. The other thing is that in addition to being a sniper, he is also more than capable of defending himself at close range, so if the Neo-Nazi communist hippy ninjas manage to find him we shouldn't have to worry too much about his safety.

Evelyn Salt (Salt, 2009)- Spy

Sometimes having a scout isn't enough. They can be great for observing the enemy but we might need someone who can actually get into the enemy base in order to get all the facts. The scout might be good for helping her to get in, but someone is going to have to be able to infiltrate the enemy. Salt is a girl who can do that, seeing as she can get in, get the information, and perhaps even work undercover (it's not that hard to disguise yourself as a ninja after all). She also has communist ties herself, so she should be able to blend in without much trouble, and she is very good and taking out these kinds of organizations from within. Also, Salt has been dealing with a lot of undercover Russian agents, a change in objective would probably do her some good.

Sgt. West (Basic, 2003)- Team Leader

We have a good team here, but somebody is going to have to take command in order to keep them organized. This guy might be hard, but if there is one thing that's certain it is that he knows what he is doing. He doesn't like to play by the rules, for sure, but he knows how to put together a team to get things done, and he should be able to handle a job like this without much trouble. I won't deny that West is tough and that some of the people under his command might have more than a few reasons to dislike him, but he is a capable (if unconventional) leader and he will do what he feels needs to be done to complete the mission. 

Support

Captain Steven Hiller (Independence Day, 1996)- Pilot

We've got here a great team to take out the enemy and get back the Prime Minister, but before they can do anything we need someone to get them to the necessary drop point, and to pick them up when the job is done. That's where Captain Hiller will be useful. Aside from being a fully qualified air force pilot, Hiller has certainly survived against far worse, so he will definitely be helpful if the team runs into trouble while trying to get to the chopper. Nobody's going to get this guy's machine as long as he can help it, but then again ninjas aren't exactly prepared much for aerial combat, so he should have a pretty easy time with this job.

Connie Hooper (Unstoppable, 2010)- Dispatcher

Somebody is going to have to keep track of everything that is going on. We'll need someone back at base who can keep in constant contact with our heroes and make sure everything goes smoothly (as well as deal with all the inevitable bureaucracy of her superiors). Connie is someone who is certainly able to commit herself when trouble arises (even if it runs the risk of getting fired) and her experience in coordinating railways should be useful under these circumstances. If there is anything that the team needs, this is the girl who is going to make sure it gets to them, and who will make sure everyone gets pulled out safely.