Hola all. Massawyrm here.
You wouldn’t think much of Gil Kenan at first glance. Not that you would think ill of him in any way or instantly dislike him, but rather if you somehow ran across him, “Hollywood Director” is probably one of the last categories you would think to place him. In my experience most directors can be described in two ways – they are either somehow very charismatic, whether through good looks or sheer force of personality that in their quirky way causes all eyes to fall on them, or they are the very picture of normalcy, invisible party ninjas able to slip into and out of a crowd of people almost completely unnoticed. Not Gil. Gil is a dork. And I don’t mean that in an insulting way. I mean that in the way I lovingly refer to my closest friends.
There is no doubt that he is giddy and easily excited – a trait Bill Murray referred to as “Enthusiasm”, being sure to repeat the term over and over again to emphasize that it inferred a level of energy that normal people find borderline unhealthy. But it is that energy that allows him to create some of the most inventive and wonderful family films of the past few years. I imagine he’s the kind of guy who commissions the prop department to work up something cool just because he really wants to play with it for a while before putting it into the movie. You know. Kind of like many of you would like to do. Clearly inspired by the family entertainment of the early 80’s - particularly the Amblin films - he sets out to create cinematic daydreams that would feel right at home released alongside those beloved classics. His first effort Monster House was a throwback to the kids adventures of the old days when we weren’t afraid to make movies that could scare as well as excite kids. It was a wayback machine for parents and a breath of fresh air for kids, the kind of film I wish we made more of. Now he’s back with City of Ember, and while he has taken a 180 degree turn in terms of the filmmaking techniques he’s playing around with, he is still trudging along blazing a trail through the overgrown hedges of the oft neglected old school family film genre.
Here we have something that is quite easy to explain, but hard to fathom and wrap your mind around. City of Ember is a post-apocalyptic children’s film. Think about that for a second. This isn’t some fantasy world. This isn’t some distant planet. This is Earth. An Earth on the verge of some kind of unnamed extinction. And the only way our scientists can think of to save the human race is to hide a handful of survivors underground in a marvelous city of the future. Unfortunately for our heroes, it is over 200 years since we entered the city of the future, and it is crumbling, ailing, and facing an apocalypse of its own. And our heroes desperately need to find a way out.
Much like Monster House, this gives off heavy Goonies vibes with hints of Back to the Future and even a bit of The Secret of NIMH. It’s a fairly dark film that keeps a light and happy tone despite the poor orphan at the end of the world story it is telling. Saoirse Ronan (who you will remember as the evil little girl from Atonement) absolutely makes this film her own. Her few moments of joy in this film are the beating heart that makes this very much what it is. When she smiles, the screen lights up as if puppies and kittens were gently floating down from the ceiling. It’s so god damned adorable. And contrasted against the bleak, dystopian, almost communist underground society of Ember, it is even doubly so. And it is through her eyes that we see this almost dreadful existence turned into a cozy, lovable city. It’s a very odd juxtaposition that Kenan pulls off with panache through the talent of the young Ronan.
City of Ember is science fiction, and good science fiction at that. Think Logan’s Run with giant irradiated vermin and piecemeal clockwork technology and you begin to get the idea of what this is. It is an elegantly conceived future that will delight both children and adult alike. Once the action gears up, it becomes a tense race against time to find a way out before the lights go out for good. There are plenty of scares and thrills without ever crossing over into territory to intense for kids. But there’s enough hinted at and in the underlying subtext of the film to keep adults gripped to the very same scenes as their kids.
This year has been incredible. It really is 1982 all over again. There has been so much great entertainment on every level that our cinematic bellies are full and our DVD collections are swelling with must owns at a rate far greater than any other year. But the Children’s films this year have been simply magnificent. Family entertainment simply hasn’t been this good in 25 years. So much so that several films have been buried, overlooked or deliberately ignored. And I’m worried that the same fate might befall this. City of Ember is every bit as good as The Spiderwick Chronicles and Speed Racer, and is handily the very best thing Fox has had in their slate ALL YEAR. Here’s hoping Fox can convince enough folks to see this BIG and make it the success it deserves to be.
I want to see more movies like this. A lot more movies like this. And I want Gil Kenan to direct some of them. He gets it. He gets it on a genetic level. One or two more films like this and he’ll easily establish himself as one of the current reigning masters of Children’s film. I look forward to his next effort with great anticipation. What can I say? The guy makes me feel like I'm seven years old again.
Until next time friends, smoke ‘em if ya got ‘em.
Massawyrm
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