Books and Movies Reviews: Sci-Fi Genre

TENET

Christopher Nolan’s latest sci-fi spectacle, ‘Tenet’ is one that leaves you with the unshakable feeling that you walked into the screening 15 minutes late. A mysterious new technology poses a threat to all existence and there are rumours of the third war. But the kicker is that the technology hasn’t been invented yet, though the CIA has caught wind of it from the future. Tenet’s central idea is that it is possible for objects to move backward in time, as well as forward. The process known as inversion, isn’t like traditional time travel, it’s a radiation fuelled process that changes the object on a cellular level, reversing its entropy and it’s enormously dangerous in the wrong hands. Inversion is a knowingly convoluted and mind-boggling concept that only becomes more so as the film goes on. “Don’t try to understand it,” a scientist urges the CIA agent who is simply named The Protagonist. “Just feel it,” and he obeys.

Armed with only one word, ‘Tenet’ and fighting for the survival of the entire world, the Protagonist journeys through a twilight world of international espionage on a mission to save the world from a future Russian Oligarch, Andrei Sator who is the monopolist of the inverted technology. To put an end to Sator’s dastardly plan which involves taking the world with him, the Protagonist enlist the help of Sator’s estranged wife, Kat. Tenet is an extremely intriguing movie with many complicated themes, making it a movie that would likely benefit from being watched more than once to get grip of them all.

READY PLAYER ONE

Steven Spielberg definitely directed another classic after being at the helms of this movie. Based on a novel of the same name, it stars Tye Sheridan ( X-Men), Olivia Cooke ( Ouija), Simon Pegg ( Mission Impossible), Ben Mendelsohn and Mark Rylance.

 In 2045, humankind uses a virtual reality entertainment called OASIS to escape the rigors of living in a troubling world . An orphaned teenager Wade Watts ( Tye Sheridan) finds clues to a hidden game in the OASIS universe that promises the ownership of OASIS to the winner. Forming an alliance with 4 other gamers, he tries to complete the gauntlet before businessman and CEO Nolan Sorrento ( Mendelsohn) who runs a corporation that seeks to control Oasis.

The film has a very entertaining plots and it’s filled with series of 80s melancholy and pop culture references. For avid film watchers, references were made to The A team, Akira, Back to the future, Childs play and a dozen other references that added to the splendor of the movie. Although most movies adaptation tend to drift away from the plot of the novel, Ready Player One did this effortlessly and still, it didn’t change the significance of the book.

The actions are topnotch, the VFX effects tend to blow your mind away, and the synergy between Tye Sheridan and Olivia Cooke was awesome. Ready player one is a very captivating one and a sequel probably titled Ready Player Two would definitely be an icing on the cake.

RED RISING

Pierce Brown’s Red Rising Trilogy is a story set on a futuristic Mars where space exploration and planet colonization is no longer a thing to be scoffed at.

The protagonist is a young man named Darrow, borne to the lowest rung of Martian society called the Reds. Toiling as a miner deep underground, he is convinced of a lie; he believes himself to be part of the first wave pioneers commencing the terraforming effort. He is thoroughly unaware that Mars has already been inhibited for centuries, led by an elite aristocratic class of individuals called the Golds. Upon the realization that Darrow and his entire community of Reds has

 been deceived their entire life, Darrow resolves to take the fight to the Golds. With the odds stacked against him, Darrow embarks on a treacherous crusade to fight for the freedom of the Reds, willing to sacrifice everything for the salvation of his oppressed people.

The plot twists in the Red Rising can be both satisfactory and heart breaking. It may be rewarding in that the betrayal validates a certain claim that the reader has on a character. Yet, at the same time it may be tragic to witness a friend turncoat and befriend the antagonist. It is extremely difficult to pin down where the loyalties of each character lies. It is a cunning, strategic and unpredictable book with incredible plots that keep the pages turning.

 THE HUNGER GAMES

The first of the three books in THE HUNGER GAMES SERIES, The hunger games written by Suzanne Collins is a young Adult novel set in a dystopian Universe. The book spawned 2 other sequels titled Catching Fire and Mocking jay and all has been adapted into movie adaptation..

The story follows Katniss Everdeen from district 12 who volunteers for the 74^th hunger games in place of her sister Primrose. Her co-participant Peeta Mellark is a former classmate of Katniss who once fed her bread when she was starving. The hunger game is an annual contest in which tributes from all the district in Panem must fight to death in an outdoor area until one victor emerges.

The novel tackled issues such as exploitation, severe poverty, starvation, oppression and the debilitating effects of war on people. The Capitol; an highly advanced capital exploits the 12 surrounding district for their natural resources and their labour. As a result of these, the districts are filled with citizens at the brink of poverty.

After tweaks to the rule, Katniss and Peeta later emerged winners of the contest after defying instruction from The Capitol. This defiance set the tone of the second book in the trilogy when the two main characters returned to the arena for a special edition for the hunger games.

The hunger games is a captivating novel that exploit lot of themes that are relatable in this present time and would definitely be an interesting read.