Review of They Live (1988) by Brandon S — 18 May 2011

"They Live" is a horror/sci-fi movie with touches of dark comedy, about a man who, with the aid of a pair of sunglasses, finds out that Aliens are running the most powerful circles of Earth. Directed by John Carpenter, the film is a very obvious critique of consumerism and elitism.

The story introduces us to a drifter referred to as Nada (Roddy Piper), who finds a pair of sunglasses in a shady church. After walking around the city with the glasses on, he finds out that the city is full of hidden messages about conformism and obedience, and besides he discovers that a great portion of the population is not human at all.

As you can see, the film premise is pretty fun and open to be played with. The audience finds out about everything that's happening by following the main character, played by a likeable Roddy Piper, who is determined to know what's behind all of this. But of course, any unreal investigation needs a sidekick, so Nada brings his new pal Frank into all of this (played by a great Keith David).

Altough Piper and David have good chemistry thogether and make their scenes quite fun to watch, there's a particular fist fight between the two that just carries on for too long. It's fun the first few minutes, but it ultimately drags a little.

As I said before, the film has a dark sense of humor, both in its dialogue and in the overall storyline. We have a pretty funny moment in which one of the aliens tells our protagonist that we humans look as ugly to them, as they do to us. The movie is just full of funny bits.

All in all, the characters and story are awesome, and the film has a great sense of humor. "They Live" is a pretty fun movie all the way through, and I may even call it an 80's classic.