Hard it may be to drag this away from the claws of more obvious contemporary levelling, They Live does have the lead aspects and imagery needed to decry corporations, swindlers and the usual remit of problems at hand. They Live does so with action and a flurry of angry, broad criticisms that are made not for political commentary but because they are well-formed, interesting ideas. How much social commentary can a film hold when Rowdy Roddy Piper is running out of bubble gum and blasting aliens with a shotgun? Quite a bit for many, apparently. It does make for a very interesting piece. A reasonable look at the shlock of the genre and a pop at the tougher aspects of the ever-running political commentary found in film. John Carpenter has done it again.
Taking Piper in the leading role and pairing him with Keith David is the strange, B-Movie levels of success Carpenter would always praise and conjure. He would elevate unlikely heroes to new heights, reform careers right there on the screen and even provide someone such as Piper with the role of his career. Not quite Welcome to Frogtown, though, is it? A stunning turn as a generic action hero is given new layers to it by someone from the public eye turning in a performance to disassociate himself from anything his career had been before. They Live prospers because of the turns that surround a relatively ordinary leading man, rather than the leading man himself.
Because while Piper is a hot rod without brakes, a real, active piece of brilliance that exudes charm and macho confidence akin to the late 1980s style, he is not the real focus. He is a catalyst for a collection of ideas and themes Carpenter has fleshed out elsewhere, with other characters. Buck Flower as The Drifter and Meg Foster as Holly Thompson provide much more importance in their supporting roles than the one-liner spewing, action-clad leads of David and Piper. They are important to the machine that is the story, wheels for ideas that are fleshed out with throwaway scenes that lead to a pay-off that, ultimately, deflates and peters out without much fanfare. It is the short change expected of a film best remembered for its second act and premise. Try and recall the ending to They Live. Difficult, isn’t it?
What precedes a muddled ending is a strong thematic. A key to unlocking the wider world through film. Is it a stroke of luck for They Live to remain relevant all these years on? Or is it a rather compelling view of a rather sinister issue that has grown and grown over the three decades since its inception. Either way, Carpenter provides audiences with his strongest themes and ideas, the terror of isolation around the unknown crowds. They Live is as chilling as it is exploitative of the genre ideas that support it, the action-packed fuel to the fire not a necessity to the chilling tones found underlining these characters. A fun inclusion that allows They Live to slide under the radar of action films with a real, socially critical purpose.
