Robert Zemeckis is back once again, exploring cutting-edge technology to tell an old, universal story. That's been his M.O. for the last 20 years, and he's not going to change. Whether that devotion to new styles and methods works for this particular story remains to be seen.
Here is an adaptation of a groundbreaking comic that tells the story of one location from the beginning of time to thousands of years into the future. Turning that into a full-length movie would be a tall order, let alone one using untested tech and a small cast.
But Zemeckis has never been one to back away from a challenge. This trailer does not exactly make the strongest case for its use of AI-assisted real-time face-swapping. But I still believe in the power of Tom Hanks and Robin Wright as actors, and of Eric Roth as a writer. And I for one hope that Zemeckis can return to the glory days of the movies cited here, including Back to the Future, Contact and Cast Away. But given his track record of expensive disasters like Welcome to Marwen and that Pinocchio remake, it's hard to trust him.
You can decide whether Here is a miracle or an abomination when it arrives in theaters on November 15.
About Kip Mooney
Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about.
I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague.
Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work.
In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo.
I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.
