Hang Time+ Tomb Raider

Hang Time-

I personally really liked “Hang Time”. It managed to convey a lot in a short period of time, and there was a lot of thought into all the imagery and cinematography. The director used the color red and music effects to add to make the gangster appear more sinister. In the scene at the bar, only the gangster’s face caught light, and the bar had red curtains. The close-up shots of the gangster’s face made it seem like all Kwame saw was the gangster (as a metaphor for temptation)in that moment, and it was obvious after then, and after Kwame took the glass and drank from it, that he would sell out for the pair of shoes. The dilemma he faced between his morals and dreams is very common. What intensified the dilemma was that Kwame was a teenager and not an adult in more control of his emotions. His intense dislike for his father was apparent in the scene when he shoots hoops alone at the basketball court. Had he been shown as an older man, he would’ve experienced more of life, and might have forgiven his father’s failings, or at least been sympathetic towards him. What surprised me at the end was that his father actually fulfilled his promise of getting Kwame the shoes. The father’s character wasn’t well-explained in the narrative, so I hadn’t expected the story would include him beyond an example of what Kwame did not want to turn into, but would probably turn into.

                Kwame’s sister was the most impressive character in the whole story. Kwame appeared to be a normal teenager with his aspirations pulling him in opposite directions, and the grandmother was what one would expect a lady who has been through so much to be: tough but kind-hearted and wanting the best for the kids. But the sister was surprisingly practical and sensible for her age. In the first scene, when she got Kwame food, she looked at him as fondly as a mother would and told him he needed his protein. In a later scene, she told Kwame that he was now the head of the family and was supposed to take care of all of them, but in essence, she had already been behaving as the lady of the family, who supported Kwame with everything and reminded him of his responsibilities.

                On a slightly unrelated note, I saw the first movie of the series, “Uno’s World”, too, and preferred Hang Time over it. Although “Uno’s World” was interesting, it left a lot of things unexplained, and “Hang Time” was so much more self-explanatory and compact. I was more impressed by “Hang Time” after watching “Uno’s World”, probably because it is very difficult to develop both the story and characters in such a short film.

 

Tomb Raider-

It was interesting to see how Lara Croft saw animals in the wild with the orb and immediately said ‘Africa’. Although the animals shown are mostly found only in Africa, showing only animals and tribal people was quite a gross misrepresentation of the continent. But I understand that the movie focused more on the narrative and could not possibly show all aspects of Africa.

                The movie is full of loop holes, like the lack of travel barriers like someone mentioned, which makes me wonder how much we can analyze the movie. It seems that we have to overlook the loopholes because it’s not possible for a movie to explain everything and still have a gripping pace. But it feels like either we over-analyzed the movie, looking for meaning where there was none, because why would the makers of the movie attempt to include so much depth to every action and yet forget to realize that some of the most basic things that were shown, like the travel and stunts (someone mentioned the punch on the shark’s face), were simply unrealistic?