Escape from LA

Saw Escape from LA, a fun and silly action film. Snake MacPlisskin does his Clint-Eastwood imitation and skulks around kicking ass, as action heroes are wont to do. This one has an evil theocratic government manipulating Snake. Shades of a nascent culture war there I think. Their at-the-time-ridiculous portrayal of a theocratic USA is a bit more fraught in this day and age. I think, for example, that we were meant to laugh at the idea of a President saying that he has to pray on a matter.

We follow Snake through the prison-state of LA as he hunts for a magical CD-ROM and also the President's daughter. There's a few lines which make me think that there's something going on on an allegorical level. Characters often talk about LA as though it consumes those who enter it. This is literally true in this film's case, but I think they're trying to make some kind of show-biz joke.

Anyway, the film is about what you'd expect: bad-ass posturing, very little going on in the film's rugged snarling head, a vague anti-authoritarian streak. Unfortunately, the filmmakers had discovered computers by this film. This manifests in a lot of unacceptably plastic-looking vehicles and egregious green-screen that often shows its age. It also unfortunately manifests as a desire to make a comment about technology. Filmmakers not being the most tech-savvy of people, it of course identifies computers as a tool of our collective enslavement (which, to be fair, they kind of are, but no more than, say, paper is and anyway computers are tools which are only as evil as their users, etc etc, insert computer-science-motivated apologetics here)

So, dumb but fun. If you liked Escape From NY, you'll dig this. If you're looking for philosophy that's too intricate to fit on a bumper sticker, you'll be disappointed. If you're looking for a pleasant way to waste two hours, here's your film. Exciting, funny, engaging, not a bad a film.