ZooScope

Tag: Action

  • Gremlins. Dir. Joe Dante. Warner Bros.. 1984.

    An inventor of dubious talent visits Chinatown trying to find his son a Christmas present, where he is sold a strange fluffy creature; a Mogwai. The creature comes with three rules: do not expose it to bright light, do not get it wet, and do not feed it after midnight. Within due time however, all…

  • Duma. Dir. Caroll Ballard. Warner Bros Pictures. 2005.

    Duma. Dir. Caroll Ballard. Warner Bros. Pictures. 2005. Duma follows the narrative of a young boy named Xan embarking on an epic adventure to release his pet cheetah, Duma, to the wild. The ever-looming inevitability of Xan and Duma’s separation is the emotional core of the film, and Ballard’s depiction of their perilous journey together explores…

  • Scott Pilgrim vs The World. Dir. Edgar Wright. Universal. 2010.

    Joseph MackayMonday 16 January 2017 Scott Pilgrim vs The World, a film based on Bryan Lee O’ Malley’s six graphic novel series of the same name, is about the titular Scott attempting to win the heart of a girl named Romana Flowers – to accomplish this, he must defeat her ‘seven evil exes’. As the…

  • The Jungle Book. Dir. Jon Favreau. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. 2016.

    Man vs. Nature in The Jungle Book (2016) The Jungle Book is a film that essentially explores the relationship between man and nature through the portrayal of different animal wills and how they respond to one another, forming a variety of tensions and friendships. This unfolds through the story of Mowgli, a boy raised by wolves in the…

  • 102 Dalmatians. Dir. Kevin Lima. Walt Disney Pictures. 2000.

    Feathers Amongst the Furs: The Revival of Power Dynamic in 102 Dalmatians The visuals of the original 1961 animation and the 1996 live-action adaption have become iconic to those familiar with the story of 101 Dalmatians. The sea of black spots dispersed across endless white furs. The gangly, striking screen presence of the archetypal villain,…

  • Beauty and the Beast . Dir. Gary Trousdale & Kirk Wise. Buena Vista Pictures. 1991.

    Ostensibly, the transformation of a dog into a footstool in Beauty and the Beast operates as a humorous pun.[1] Visually, it works: Sultan in footstool form is around the right size, his tassels stand in for a head and tail and his decorated legs make convincing paws. Furthermore, the transformation of a dog into a footstool plays on…

  • Jurassic World. Dir. Colin Trevorrow. Universal Pictures. 2015.

    Welcome to Jurassic World – the planet’s most amazing theme park! Take a vehicle tour through Gallimimus Valley and run with the fabulous flocks, or roll around in the gyroscope to get up close to your favourite docile dinos. If you’re looking for a fright, check out the wow-tastic Mosasaurus feeding shows! And new for…

  • The Revenant . Dir. Alejandro González Iñárritu. 20th Century Fox . 2015.

    While much of The Revenant’s plot focuses on the quarrels of men and the seeking of revenge, the bear attack scene makes us forget this for a moment. González Iñárritu instead creates a scene that feels authentic using an undramatised style. In doing this he presents the bear not as a monster but as an animal defending…

  • Project X. Dir. Jonathan Kaplan . Twentieth Century Fox. 1987.

    Project X explores the journey of a chimpanzee named Virgil, taking him from the safety of his home with psychologist Teri Macdonald to an Air Force base where he participates in a secret experiment named Project X that trains chimps as pilots.  We learn that Teri has taught Virgil to communicate with humans via American Sign…

  • Outbreak. Dir. Wolfgang Peterson. Warner Bros. 1995.

    Outbreak forewarns of the devastating consequences of animal exploitation, encapsulating them in the scene where Jimbo delivers Betsy, host monkey for the deadly Motaba virus, to a pet shop where she will be sold illegally. The camera employs an establishing shot of Jimbo’s car on a road surrounded by a forest, juxtaposing road and forest in…