They (2002)

They Live is mindless entertainment that isn't so mindless
They Live was the last movie of the 80s made by John Carpenter; in many ways this was the end of an era. From 1976-1988 Carpenter had quite an impressive run of what are seen now as classics. The 76-88 era is very much Carpenter's golden era and he actually wrote or co-wrote most of these movies, which makes it even more impressive.

What I love about They Live is the movie is mindless entertainment that isn't so mindless at all. There is a heavy does of social commentary and it's not subtle at all. John Carpenter doesn't hide his feelings at all. He had something he wanted to say and he doesn't hold back. Every movie becomes dated, but some hold up well. They Live is probably one of those movies that will almost always remain current. Even to this day the message delivered in They Live holds up to what's going on in the world.

The screenplay was written by John Carpenter under the name Frank Armitage and overall the script was quite well done. What I love about Carpenter as a writer is his scripts have a simple idea and they work so well. Also I really love the characters in Carpenter's movies regardless if he wrote the script or not he really knows how to bring characters to life. They Live has a good script, though maybe weaker than some of his past ones, but overall it's quite well done. About the only real complaint I have is the first 30-minutes almost seem like fillers.

While there is character development you can actually lose the first 30-minutes and not lose any of the plot or any of the character development and the movie would still work and not feel like anything is missing. That's not to say the first 30-minutes were bad or boring. They do work, but I just feel like some of the scenes were sort of filler scenes.

As director John Carpenter creates a really fun movie. His scenes are well paced and like I said before he really knows how to bring characters to life. The action scenes are great and highly entertaining and the comedy in the movie also works quite well. When it comes to Carpenter's career he's always talked about how much he did for horror, which he did. But sometimes I feel people forget what a great action director he is.

As a kid I was a big wrestling fan and Roddy Piper was one of my very favorites. With really only a couple of exceptions most wrestlers that went into acting really didn't fair well. While some may have had a hit or two they weren't very good actors, while Piper may not be an Oscar worthy actor he does deliver a great performance here. He really knows how to entertain and the much underrated Keith David is great here as well. These two guys really work great together and help elevate this movie.

As I stated the first 30-minutes or so can be a little slow and you sort of get to that point and wonder ok where is this movie going? Once Piper puts on the sunglasses its non-stop excitement until the end of the movie; the biggest highlight of the movie is probably the fight scene between Roddy Piper's character and Keith David's character. The scene runs at about 5-minutes and some people complain it was too long. Ok, yeah I suppose it was on the long side, but I don't think I have ever been more entertained by a fight scene like I was in They Live.

They Live also features some of the best one liners; they are the type you can keep quoting over and over again. This really was an excellent movie, while again the first 30-minutes do sort of feel like filler scenes at times it's never boring and once it gets going the movie is just non-stop fun. I suppose this could sort of be seen as the last great Carpenter movie, but I do enjoy his 90s work; they may not be as solid as his 70s/80s work, but not as bad some people make it out to be, but They Live was probably his last great movie.

They Live is mindless entertainment that isn't so mindless; despite the heavy dose of social commentary They Live is a blast!

monster flick as late 1980s critique of capitalism
Just when you thought that things were going pretty well, you see things as they really are, be it in a moment of lucidity or altered consciousness or you happened to put on the wrong kind of sunglasses. Things are never the same afterword, so suddenly you've got a bigger fight ahead than just economic survival.

This is fun, has a message, and plenty of action, even if the unemployed hero's body looks a bit too sculpted to be real.

Recommended.

monster flick as late 1980s critique of capitalism
Just when you thought that things were going pretty well, you see things as they really are, be it in a moment of lucidity or altered consciousness or you happened to put on the wrong kind of sunglasses. Things are never the same afterword, so suddenly you've got a bigger fight ahead than just economic survival.

This is fun, has a message, and plenty of action, even if the unemployed hero's body looks a bit too sculpted to be real.

Recommended.