City of Ember

City of Ember (Gil Kenan, 2008) - B

Infuriating how people don't know a good thing when they see one. This is basically Lions for Lambs without the lecturing -- a movie about the immorality of "minding your own business" in the midst of a global crisis, an eloquent stance against complacency and blind faith. Thematically ambitious and working on several levels: the protagonists run into resistance that isn't political or even pragmatic but rather "it's not my job"; at the same time, the City at large is convinced that it is destined to thrive because it is "the only beacon of light in the darkness" -- shining city on a hill, anyone? Gil Kenan, who I am convinced is or will soon become a Burton-like visionary, folds all of this into a lovely fantasy adventure, fluid and immersive -- and also bold and abrupt when it needs to be, e.g. the opening shot and sequence. Loses it a teensy bit in the climax, which is a protracted and starts to look a bit chintzy (also, I'm still not sure what to make of Tim Robbins' bottle opener), but so the hell what. Hugely underrated.