Upside Down (2013)

**This review contains spoilers**

In an alternate universe, Adam lives on a planet that shares dual gravity with another planet above. After losing  his biological parents in a devastating explosion caused by an oil refinery from the upper world, Adam spends time at an orphanage before living with his aunt.

Adam’s bottom planet houses the poor and starved half of the population, but the rich and healthy half of the population lives on the upper planet. TransWorld, a corporation that employs citizens from both planets, is the only connection between both worlds. TransWorld controls the economy between both worlds, and selling unaffordable electricity to the bottom planet is an important factor for maintaining  the separation between both planets.

Contact or intrusion between both worlds is strictly forbidden, and the Natural Law Police show no mercy towards defiance. Although, the citizens from the bottom planet CAN intrude into the upper world with the help of forbidden weights, or an illegal anti-gravity material, but this material has a short lifespan, and it burns quickly.

One day, a young Adam meets Eden at a boundary point on two mountains between both worlds. Adam builds a secret relationship with Eden, who lives in the upper world. As teenagers, Adam (Jim Sturgess) and Eden (Kirsten Dunst) continue their forbidden friendship, but an attack from a group of border patrolmen ends a routine meeting between the two. Adam tries to use a rope to return Eden to her world, but a border patrolmen shoots him in the arm, causing him to drop Eden. Eden crashes into the ground above, and she suffers a nasty head injury. Devastated, Adam returns home to see his aunt arrested by the Natural Law Police.

Ten years later, Adam is trying to finish a project that could change everything, a matter with pink bee pollen. Working through the kinks, Adam believes his new matter can withstand the gravitational pull from both worlds. But Adam needs more money and resources, so he decides to get a job at TransWorld. Although, Adam runs into an unexpected dilemma, when he spots Eden on a game show for the upper world. As a cover-up, Adam perfects his new matter into a beauty cream for TransWorld, but he can’t fight his desires to reunite with Eden. Adam is willing to risk everything to convince an amnesic Eden, while trying to outsmart his ruthless employers.

I don’t have any real complaints about the acting. Jim Sturgess and Kirsten Dunce provide two very solid performances, and Timothy Spall is decent enough as Bob (Adam‘s buddy at work). The cast is just fine, but the story….that’s a different problem.

Upside Down features grandiose set pieces, and extravagant, breathtaking scenery, but I can’t ignore Juan Diego Solanas’ shallow and predictable love story. You can see every twist and turn coming during Adam’s journey to recapture Eden’s heart. The love story slowly goes through the motions, and Eden’s sudden remembrance of her relatinoship with Adam raises too many “how is that possible?” questions. Seriously, Eden’s just laying around in her apartment, she has a random dream about her childhood with Adam, and then BAM! She instantly falls in love with him again? Initially, Solanas took his time building the reconnection between Adam and Eden, and establishing the two main characters as adults. But the ending was rushed and underdeveloped, and I just couldn’t buy into Eden’s miraculous recollection of the past.

Juan Diego Solanas’ weak screenplay is very disappointing, but I enjoyed his directing. Take a good look at the movie poster I posted above, because that’s what you’ll see for 90% of this film. Adjusting to Upside Down’s topsy-turvy landscape takes some time. In fact, you might experience feelings of nausea during the first fifteen or twenty minutes, but Solanas’ steady guidance really pulls everything together. Behind the camera, Solanas stays true to the story’s gravitational rules. When Jim sneaks into the upper world for the first time, he pees on the ceiling of a bathroom, as his anti-gravity material burns. And you’ll see a few inverted scenes, as Solanas shows both points of view from both worlds.

Upside Down is a frustrating film. A unique premise is squandered, because stunning visuals, and awe-inspiring backdrops can’t cover up the “been there, done that” storyline between Adam and Eden. Also, the obvious plot holes (mainly the big ones towards the end) constantly straggle into a giant mess, as the story progresses. It’s so irritating, because Upside Down could’ve been a great movie, but an average love story destroys any chances for supremacy.

Upside Down was released in 2012 for Russian and Canadian audiences. Upside Down should receive a US theatrical release date in March, and if I can find any showings near me, I might watch Upside Down on the big screen. The big screen won’t help the quality of this film, but I’m expecting a more extravagant experience from a theater showing. The big screen should enhance Upside Down’s visual wonderland, and it won’t happen, but Upside Down would be an ideal candidate for an IMAX release.

Final Rating: 3/10

Wake Wood (2011)

**This Review contains spoilers**

Patrick (Aidan Gillen) and Louise (Eva Birthistle) are still grieving over the tragic death of their nine year old daughter, Alice (Ella Connolly). Alice was killed by a gruesome dog attack. Patrick and Louise want to move on, so they relocate to a quite little town called Wake Wood. This seems like a quiet little town, but one night, Louise accidentally witness a creepy ritual. After a while, Louise and Patrick learn more about the ritual. This ritual can bring people back from the dead, Patrick and Louise want to see their daughter again, so they decide to use the ritual to bring her back to life, but everything quickly takes a turn for the worst

This ritual can bring people back to life, but there a few major details about this ritual.

1. The person who is resurrected can only stay alive for three days. After that, they MUST return to the afterlife.

2. This ritual can only work properly, if this person has been dead for under a year.

3. The resurrected victim must remain in Wake Wood.

Well, Patrick and Louise want to see their daughter again, but Alice has been dead for over a year. They decide to lie to the man who can bring her back to life (Timothy Spall), and he agrees to perform the ritual. Everything is fine at first. Patrick and Louise enjoy the reunion with their resurrected daughter, but Alice doesn’t want to return to the afterlife, when her time comes. She wants to stay with her parents. She goes on a murderous rampage, as she begins to kill random residents in Wake Wood. Alice has been dead for over year, and the joyous reunion goes horribly wrong, when Alice turns into a killing machine.

Wake Wood starts out pretty slow, but this film does become a lot better as time goes on. There is a good amount of tension here, this film does have some gory moments, and Wake Wood can feel chilling at times. The acting in this film is very solid, and I really did enjoy the story here. I wanted to feel for the parents, because they wanted to see their daughter again. This story can be spooky, but this film can have this deep sadness at times.

Towards the end, Alice goes on a killing spree at the very end. She DOES NOT want to return to the afterlife. She wants to keep living, but Louise manages to trick her at the very end. Alice must stay within in the limits of Wake Wood for the ritual to work. She can not leave Wake Wood, because the fatal wounds that killed her will reappear. Well, Louise strays close to outskirts of Wake Wood, and she manages to trick Alice into a hug. Alice begins to approach her mother, but she comes too close to the outer limits of Wake Wood, the wounds reappear, and Alice finally dies…again.

Alice is dead, and her short time on Earth is up, so her mother must bury her. Louise buries her daughter, but as she cries on her husband’s shoulder, Alice pulls her into the ground! Louise and Alice disappear into the afterlife, and Patrick is all alone in the world. But Patrick refuses to give up. He finds a strand of Louise’s hair (a personal relic is needed for the ritual) and after another ritual, Louise is brought back to life. At the very end of the film, Patrick has a set of surgical tools with him, as he prepares to deliver a baby from the noticeably pregnant Louise ( Earlier in the film, Louise found out she was pregnant , when Alice told her). The ending for this film was filled with emotion and drama, and the return of a pregnant Louise was a nice twist. Louise didn’t want to kill her daughter, but she knew she had to do the right thing. This ending was very bittersweet and sad, because Patrick and Louise still didn’t get to say good-bye the proper way.

This horror film doesn’t go too over the top with the gore and violence, and there aren’t too many spook moments here, but I loved the story for this film, and Wake Wood was a nice little surprise for me.

Final Rating: 8/10