ZooScope

Tag: Action

  • Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!. Dir. By. Peter Lord. Columbia Pictures. 2012.

    Aardman never shy away from the ludicrous. So when a crew of incompetent pirates endeavour for protagonist The Pirate Captain to win the Pirate of the Year Award by relying on the commercial value of his prized dodo companion Polly (who should have been extinct for 150 years and is believed to be a parrot)…

  • Okja. Dir. Bong Joon-ho. Netflix. 2017

    Okja. Dir. Bong Joon-ho. Netflix. 2017

    There are two kinds of pigs that make an appearance in Okja; genetically modified super-pigs and greedy, corporate capitalist pigs. The slaughterhouse scene forces the viewer to dispel any false idealism surrounding the reality of the meat industry, an explicit criticism of how human exceptionalist thinking blended with modern ‘capitalist delirium’ [1] has ruined the…

  • The Deer Hunter. Dir. Michael Cimino. EMI. 1978.

    Michael Cimino’s The Deer Hunter explores the impact of the Vietnam War on Americans, depicting protagonist Michael’s transformation from notoriously adept hunter and Russian-roulette crazed killer to sparing a deer’s life, delicately challenging the culturally normalised human-animal hierarchy. Specifically through mirroring shots of when he is moments away from firing at the deer, one prior…

  • Pocahontas. Dir. Eric Goldberg and Mike Gabriel. The Walt Disney Company. 1995.

    In Pocahontas, the animosity between Meeko, the Native American raccoon and Percy, the English pug is a microcosm of the conflict between the Native and English humans. The animals are comic foils, providing family-friendly slapstick relief from human violence. However, the inclusion of animals adds meaning beyond just comedic value. The animals and humans both…

  • Batman Begins. Dir. Christopher Nolan. Warner Bros. 2005.

    Why does Batman dress like a bat? In the words of Batman himself, “bats frighten me. It’s time my enemies shared my dread.” In Batman Begins, the boundaries between human and animal are psychologically breached through Bruce’s lifelong phobia of bats. This all-consuming dread leads to Bruce’s attempt to confront this fear through exposure therapy.…

  • Children of Men. Dir. Alfonso Cuarón. Universal Pictures. 2006.

    Children of Men is a 2006 film directed by Alfonso Cuarón set in Britain in which the people have become infertile. This infertility has caused the collapse of most countries apart from Britain, which has embraced far-right ideology. The chosen scene, from early on in the film, shows Theo (Clive Owen) on his way to the…

  • The Lion King. Dir. Jon Favreau. Walt Disney Pictures and Fairview Entertainment. 2019.

    ‘There’s a stampede, in the pride lands’, Zazu’s memorable line is word-for-word identical to the 1994 animation. But where the animation focused on a simple plot, Jon Favreau’s recreation with CGI animals creates depth by building more of the animals’ characterisation into the story, I will question how this creates problems with humanising certain animals…

  • Turner and Hooch. Dir. Roger Spottiswoode. Touchstone Pictures. 1989.

    Charles Darwin once stated ‘It is scarcely possible to doubt that the love of man has become instinctive in the dog’. [1] In the case of Turner and Hooch (1989), Hooch’s love for Turner and vice versa takes its time and only arises onside the development of a perfect police office-police dog understanding and partnership.…

  • The Mask. Dir. Charles Russell. New Line Cinema. 1994.

    The Mask[1] is a screwball gangster-comedy starring Jim Carrey as Stanley Ipkiss, a timid bank clerk who finds a Norse mask which turns him into a bold, charismatic and lustful character, much different to his usual self. The portrayal of his pet dog Milo, as well as the cartoon animal characters that share similarities with…

  • The Prince of Egypt. Dir. Brenda Chapman, Simon Wells, Steve Hickner. DreamWorks Pictures. 1998.

    Following the life of Moses, The Prince of Egypt tells an adaption of the story of the Book of Exodus. In the opening scene of this animated musical, the audience are introduced to Ancient Egyptian culture as a significant importance is placed on their religion through the enormous statues of their gods. These gods, specifically…