Movie Review: Prometheus

Ridley Scott's long-awaited sci-fi epic, Prometheus, has finally landed. Amongst rabid predictions from fans on whether or not this was a prequel to his previous franchise Alien, it now seems that Prometheus is exactly that, although being a standalone film apart from the Alien franchise. Prometheus opens in what is presumably Earth, with the "Engineers" (who created us) creating us. This scene looks beautiful, showcasing many beautiful natural structures. We then skip to the year 2089, where Dr. Elizabeth Shaw and Dr. Charlie Holloway have discovered yet another painting in a cave showing people worshipping a large figure, which holds planets. We then go 2092. The ship Prometheus is heading to an undisclosed planet in order to find the "engineers", and discover why we were created. We are introduced to David, a very human-like cyborg, played masterfully by Michael Fassbender. Then we meet the rest of the crew, various scientists, the pilot, Janek, and Meredith Vickers, played by the wonderful Charlize Theron. The crew lands, and goes to explore the presumed location of the "engineers". This is when things go awry. All Hell breaks loose, the Doctors discover that their creators are now trying to kill the entire human race, and they must be stopped. I don't want to reveal too much, although I will say the ending definitely sets up for a sequel, and ties in to a movie that already exists.

Overall, this was a fantastic film. Starting with the look, everything was beautiful. The nature scenes were gorgeous, the ship was pulled off very well, and the alien planet looked very...alieny. The costumes were nice, mainly the space suits worn by characters throughout the film. The main character performances were very good. Noomi Rapace continues to do well as lead female characters as Dr. Elizabeth Shaw. Idris Elba does well as the pilot of Prometheus, Janek. And again, Charlize Theron steals the show as Meredith Vickers. I don't understand why she must die in every movie. She's phenomenal. Her combination of beauty, evil, and sarcasm makes her roles. The plot of the film was also very well put together. It had the right combination of thought-provoking exploration and suspenseful action. I have read some bad reviews of the film, criticizing it because it does not "live up to Alien". That's the whole point! This movie is not supposed to be a horror movie about aliens popping out of peoples chests every 10 minutes. It is supposed to be a standalone movie that ties in to Alien, but is not in direct relation to Alien. I believe people would enjoy it more if they went into the theater expecting a good, thought driven movie, and not a sci-fi horror movie about Aliens. Overall, a terrific film that lives up to the hype.

Rating: A+

A king has his reign, and then he dies. It's inevitable.

Movie Review: Snow White and the Huntsman

This adaption of the classic Snow White tale goes back to its Grimm beginnings, pitting the Evil Queen Ravenna against Snow White in a battle for the kingdoms. Ravenna tricked her way into power, taking advantage of the King's loneliness, then killed him and took over his kingdom. She locks his daughter, Snow White, in the tallest tower for many years. Her "mirror on the wall" tells her that since Snow White has come of age, she is now fairer than the Queen (haha, yeah right), and so the Queen decides to have her killed and consume her heart, giving her immortality. So, Snow White escapes into the dark forest (on a white horse that appears out of nowhere). She is then hunted by, you guessed it, the Huntsman, who then joins her on her quest. They then met the dwarves, providing some much needed comic relief. Snow White meets her long lost prince, gets poisoned by the apple, goes to sleep, then gets awakened. She returns to the kingdom, fighting ensues, Ravenna dies, and Snow White becomes Queen. However, it is frustratingly left absent to whether she gets with the Huntsman or the Prince. It's the same Snow White story, just not the Disney version.

The best thing about this film are the performances. The dwarves were technically pulled off very well, putting actors heads onto dwarf bodies, instead of just using dwarves. Chris Hemsworth does well as the Huntsman. Kristen Stewart is not terrible in her role as Snow White, she just has the same look on her face throughout the whole movie, literally, and she shows no emotion, even while Hemsworth reveals his love or when she becomes Queen. The best performance, however, comes with Charlize Theron as the Evil Queen, Ravenna. She truly embodies the nature of evil, and even when she ages greatly, is still the most beautiful thing on screen. She's just fantastic. Aside from the performances, the plot and pacing of the film suffer. Around the middle hour, the film lags greatly, and provides no action or comedic relief to keep viewers entertained. Kristen Stewarts performance brings the intensity of the film to a screeching halt, due to her lack of feeling. The look and sound of the film are great. The costume designers did a fantastic job at dressing the Evil Queen. Special effects and set design look beautiful as well. And the soundtrack is done very well (and sounds very similar to the Mermaids track on the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean film). Overall, it's a great looking film with some good performances (mainly from Charlize Theron), but due to a very slow middle part and Kristen Stewarts emotionless performance, the film doesn't obtain it's full potential. Plus, I don't understand how the Mirror believes Kristen Stewart can surpass Charlize Theron. It's not possible.

Rating: B-