Paper 2 - Science Fact or Cinematic Fiction?

Many cinematics tries to remove the laws of gravity. This tends to happened due to trying to emphasize on the power of the characters in the movie. For instance, movies such as Kung Fu Hustle, the Matrix, and Bulletproof Monk broke the laws of gravity so that the audience can clearly see how strong the characters in the movie are getting. Kung Fu Hustle broke the law of gravity in a battle scene when weight and balance does not make sense. While in the Matrix, it broke the law of gravity when the protagonist was being taught by his master to have a stronger mindset. Lastly, in Bulletproof Monk, the protagonist also has a master to teach him. The law of gravity was broke to allow the master to show the protagonist on how to be better in combat. 

The first example of how the law of gravity was broken is in the movie Kung Fu Hustle. Kung Fu Hustle, a 2004 Hong Kong action comedy movie. The movie's success was based on its cartoon style of martial arts with exaggerated physics. In addition, throughout the movie, it played sad genre traditional Chinese music accompanied by the comical moods of fighting scenes. The setting of the movie is Shanghai, China. In a small town Pig Sty Alley, the townspeople live quietly. One day, the Axe Gang came to terrorize the town to uphold their frightening reputation. Luckily, the townspeople were saved by the three legendary kung fu fighters that retired in their small town. 

In a battle scene from Kung Fu Hustle when two fighters, who use a Chinese harp as a weapon, come to the town Pig Sty to assassinate their top three fighters was when the movie broke the laws of gravity. The two harpists ended the battle by sitting on air as with leg crossed on top of the other leg, as the Chinese harp rests on their lap. This is impossible because the human body cannot balance upward on just one leg while all the weights are push to the back of the body. Gravity will push the back body and will make the harpists fall backward. However, this scene works really well in the movie because it delivers the message that these two harpists are powerful fighters. 

The Matrix is the second example of how the law of gravity is broken in cinemas. The Wachowski Brothers directed the Matrix in 1999 as an American-Australian science fiction action movie. This movie is most known for an effect that slows down a shot, and then allows the audiences to see the action of the scene captured in slow-motion. In the Matrix, a war has been going on between the humans and the intelligent machines. When the human block the power source of the machines, the machines capture and put the humans into a container as a power source. Neo, a computer hacker, might be the key to battle against these machines and save the human kind.

A scene from the Matrix that is breaking gravity is when Morpheus and Neo are both training in the Matrix world. Morpheus was explaining to Neo in the Matrix world, it is in the mind that is the strongest, and that whatever one believe in, they can do it in the Matrix system. He did this by showing Neo to jump from one building roof to the next one. In reality, it is impossible for one human being to jump from one building to the next building unless they are really near each other’s, this is not the case for the Matrix. Basically, the movie was trying to emphasize how the character Morpheus is powerful. This is an example of how the Matrix broke the law of gravity. 

The third example is the movie Bulletproof Monk. Bulletproof Monk is an American action film directed by Paul Hunter in 2003. The movie was based on the comic book created by Michael Avon Oeming. In the movie, a monk that has been protecting a magic scroll for sixty years from anyone that wants to use its power for evil. When Kar, a street thug saved the monk from being capture by a scroll pursuer, the monk intends to pass the scroll on to Kar for protection. 

In Bulletproof Monk, the laws of gravity were broken when the Monk was trying to show Kar how to fight. While they were in combat with each other, as Kar was about to kick the Monk, the Monk flew backward elegantly. He flew backward flowing up to mid-air then slowly landed on the ground like a bird. In real gravity, if the Monk flown to the air like such, he would not have landed so elegantly on the ground, he would have simply fall or landed very hard on his feet. This scene was trying to show the power of the Monk by taking the laws of gravity. 

Numerous films try to make their movies unique. One of the ways that they did this was by taking away the law of gravity. This made their movie extraordinary because the audience are used to seeing what is normal. When films takeaway gravity, it is something people have not encounter. In the movies Kung Fu Hustle, the Matrix, and Bulletproof Monk are examples of how gravity was taken away. Gravity was removed in these movies so that the characters in the movies can be shown as powerful fighters. For instance, in Kung Fu Hustle, in one of the battle scenes, the bad guys do not have to obey the law of gravity so that they can attack the good guys. Another example is in the Matrix, when the master was trying to proof that if the protagonist’s mind is strong enough, then in the Matrix system, the law of gravity will not affect him. Lastly, in Bulletproof Monk, similar to the Matrix, the master was trying to teach his apprentice on how to fight better by believing gravity does not exist. These are all examples of how cinemas have taken away the law of gravity in movies to show the powers of the characters in the film.