As wildfires rage (uncharacteristically) in early March in Southern California, the New York Times runs a front page story on new movies about environmental revenge. Several big productions, including a $200 million attacking aliens effort by Terminator creator James Cameron, will be released next year and show humans threatened by the consequences of damaged environments. Even Homer Simpson is getting into the act.
The plots are closely-guarded trade secrets, but the idea is simple at its core: "a monster [is] created by environmental change." This can lead to invasions from other planets, among other disasters, and all sorts of dramatic havoc. As The Simpsons Movie declares, echoing Al Gore, "The fate of the world hangs in the balance."
This could also lead to some really cool robots, which are always welcome at my house … at least on screen. Take the upcoming Transformers, about robots fleeing a civil war on another planet who come to earth to find peace and sanctuary. Fools!
