Movies

Them! (1954)

140 Character Movie Review – #140RVW

One of the first atomic age monster pictures and still one of the very best. It was released 60 years ago but actually still is scary…

Spoiler-free Movie Review of Them!:

I grew up loving this movie. My father loves it and it was one of the first films he got on VHS (ask your parents, kids). It’s an absolute classic, one of the greatest creature features and still plays surprisingly well.

The main reason that the movie has aged so well is the same as that of other classic monster pictures; slow-building suspense trumps special effects wizardry. Although Them! employs rather simplistic techniques for the monsters, this is a good thing. There’s a menacing quality to the slow approach of the ants that makes them frightening. The filmmakers also wisely don’t overreach with the shots of the creatures, displaying their falseness, but instead judiciously focus on the terrifying sounds of the ants (tree frogs) and the dark underground settings to ratchet up the suspense. I’m serious – this film is far more suspenseful, thrilling and actually scary than you might expect considering it’s about giant killer ants.

It would have been brilliant to see this movie when it came out. These movies get spoofed like crazy, and deservedly so, but at the time they were not so credulous. This was the dawn of the atomic age. People truly did not know the full effects of these incredible weapons. It may not seem plausible today to assume that weapons testing in the desert could cause the type of mutations that these 1950’s monster pictures reveled in, but there was just enough doubt in peoples minds at the time that it’s easy to understand why the public ate these things up.

Unbelievably, the movie was supposed to be in color and in 3D, but they had technical problems. So there are entire shots that are clearly meant to play up the 3D effect. I can’t imagine this film in color – it would have severely cheapened it. The atmosphere evoked by the dark, black & white scenes, particularly in the desert is magical and adds so much atmosphere that you excuse any eye-rolling dialogue.

(For the best movie about this time, check out Joe Dante’s marvelous 1993 film Matinee, a comedy picture set during the Cuban Missile Crisis wherein John Goodman plays the director of these atomic age creature movies. Brilliant.)

For all of the times you’ve heard someone go on and on about how great Jaws is because they keep up the suspense and don’t reveal the beast until well into the picture, have you ever wondered where Spielberg learned that technique? Them! is the original – one of the all time great monster pictures.

Fun fact: Look for a young Leonard Nimoy as a soldier reading out some wire copy.

Fun fact #2: Has a number of Wilhelm screams from back before it was an inside joke.

Poster:

Trailer:

Bechdel Test:

Fail

The Representation Test Score: D (2 pts)

(http://therepresentationproject.org/grading-hollywood-the-representation-test/)

[schema type=”movie” name=”Them!” description=”The earliest atomic tests in New Mexico cause common ants to mutate into giant man-eating monsters that threaten civilization.” director=”Gordon Douglas” actor_1=”James Whitmore” ]

Main Cast	James Whitmore Police Sgt. Ben Peterson, Edmund Gwenn Dr. Harold Medford, Joan Weldon Dr. Patricia ‘Pat’ Medford, James Arness Robert Graham
Rating	Approved
Release Date	Sat 19 Jun 1954 UTC
Director	Gordon Douglas
Genres	Horror, Sci-Fi
Plot	The earliest atomic tests in New Mexico cause common ants to mutate into giant man-eating monsters that threaten civilization.
Poster
Runtime	94
Tagline	The Amazing New Warner Bros. Sensation!
Writers	Ted Sherdeman (screenplay), Russell S. Hughes (as Russell Hughes) (adaptation)
Year	1954

Thor: The Dark World (2013)

#140RVW

If less is more then its corollary that more is less is certainly the case here. There’s nothing really wrong with Thor 2; just kinda there.

What’s more:

The first Thor was a pleasant surprise. I’ve never had even a mild interest in the character and I just assumed they’d pass on making a film version of the God of Thunder since he was just so silly.

So I was unexpectedly engaged by Thor (2011). They crafted a great story of an arrogant royal brought low by hubris and his resultant quest for worth by accepting responsibility. It deliberately traded weighty importance for a more funny and irreverent tone that was far more accessible, while still taking the story and characters seriously. Just not too seriously, thankfully. The political intrigue and scheming of the gods was actually interesting and provided flavor. It had a classic fish out of water tale, buoyed by good acting, a lovable villain, and it was a hell of a lot of fun.

Chris Hemsworth & company are back for Thor: The Dark World, minus director Kenneth Branagh. Who would ever have thought that the movie that was overly dramatic and full of epic grandeur was NOT the one directed by the Shakespearean scholar?

I don’t think I’ve ever given up on a plot so quickly. Hopkins hadn’t even finished the pre-title exposition before I was completely lost (and indifferent). That’s got to be a record.

I’ll be the first to own up to a more than passing bout of superhero fatigue, and I’m sure that colored my opinion somewhat. But my daughter is right in the sweet spot for heroes right now – she can’t get enough of these. And she was underwhelmed.

Note: when we hit pause a little more than halfway through the movie to grab a snack from the kitchen, she looks at me and says “What do you think?” I said I was really enjoying it, but I could instantly tell we weren’t on the same page. “It just seems like they’re trying too hard to make it HUGE and EPIC” she commented. Hmm. Well spotted, I think.

It’s definitely the Motorhead approach to movies (“everything louder than everything else”). Nothing really wrong with that – it is a comic book movie about a huge dude with an enormous hammer, after all. Subtlety is not required.

But it definitely suffers from the modern CG action movie problem of lack of weight. The more destruction the less it seems to matter. There are these massive things happening but none of it feels particularly important.

I think it really comes back at some point to the story. It just isn’t fresh or strong enough to lift this thing above the pile of big action movies with lots of things smashing and exploding. The Macguffin is as uninspired as the villain, played by the Ninth Doctor, Christopher Eccleston, who presumably brought the costumes for himself and his elf henchman with him from the set of Doctor Who. They look ridiculous.

What I’m supposed to love most about the movie, I suppose, is the interaction with Tom Hiddleston’s Loki. And I do; he was the best thing about the 1st movie and The Avengers. But I think they’ve gone to the well one time too many here. Overexposure has weakened the character somewhat, and while he’s still the best thing in the picture, that’s faint praise this time around.

I actually enjoyed Thor 2 at the time, it just didn’t stay with me. Only days after seeing it I could barely remember anything about it. It was perfectly fine as a popcorn movie, I guess; I suppose I’d hoped for more.