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-

Movie Review: The Dictator

Admiral General Aladeen, the leader of the fictional country Wadiya, is Sacha Baron Cohen's fourth outing as somebody that is not Sacha Baron Cohen. General Aladeen has recently come under pressure from the United Nations about his Nuclear Weapons program, and has been requested to come to New York to meet with the UN, or his country gets bombed. Once in New York, he is kidnapped by the extremely racist yet very funny John C. Reilly, and is forced into the streets without anything, anyone, or anywhere to go. In short, he must find a way to prove to the public that he really is General Aladeen, so that he can sign a new treaty to turn Wadiya into a democratic society. That's about all there is in terms of story.

The film is filled to the brim with racist and insulting one-liners, which are all very funny, because they make fun of everyone. Cohen is an equal opportunity offender. The many supporting roles in the film, including one by Anna Farris as an organic store owner who falls in love with Aladeen, are also very funny. Although being one of the most offensive and racist movies I've seen, The Dictator never fails to make you laugh, and deep down, has an even deeper message about stereotypes that exist in the country. Cohen is a genius when it comes to movies like this. Although filled with plot holes and outlandish schemes to get Aladeen back in the throne, The Dictator, so far the funniest movie I've seen this year, does not disappoint.

Rating: B+

Movie Review: Dark Shadows

When you see this movie, you know that it's Tim Burton. From the sets, the characters, the effects, the source material, everything. There's Tim Burton basically written on the walls. This is Burton and Johnny Depp's ninth movie collaboration, and is a very loose adaptation of the cult 1960's T.V. "soap opera" of the same name. We follow Barnabas Collins, played by the wonderful Johnny Depp, who is the heir of the Collins Seafood Company fortune and business in the 1800's in Collinsport, Maine. He has a fling with a maid named Angelique, who also happens to be a crazy witch. Barnabas eventually falls in love, only to have his intended lured to her death by Angelique, and being turned into a vampire by her. He is chained in a coffin and buried, only to be discovered by a (very unfortunate) construction crew a few (hundred) years later. He is now in the 1970's, his seafood business is in shambles, and his beloved mansion CollinWood is rundown and overlooked by quite a bizarre array of characters, headed by Elizabeth Collin Stoddard, played by the fantastic Michelle Pfeiffer. He is also joined by her daughter, Carolyn, (Chloe Grace-Moretz), her brother, Roger, (Johnny Lee Miller), her nephew, David, the groundskeeper, Willie, and Davids psychiatrist, Dr. Julia Hoffman, played by the lovely Helena Bonham Carter. Each of the supporting characters have their own supernatural secrets, most of which are disappointingly kept secret until the near end of the movie. Angelique is still living in Collinsport, and is the seafood business that has kept the Collins out of business. She is still bent on revenge, and does everything in her power to stop Barnabas from ever finding true love again. The ending is satisfying, yet ends with the viewer wondering what will happen next.

Overall, the movie had a terrific look, with many relics from the '70's present, such as lava lamps and music from the era. It is often interspersed with humor, sometimes a little too much humor, but nonetheless providing some relief from the dark story line. The plot drags quite a bit, especially near the middle of the movie. Barnabas trying to get used to the new era is quite funny, and shows off the acting skills of Johnny Depp. Not the best Depp/Burton collaboration (that has to go to Sweeney Todd), it's still a very entertaining, good looking, and well directed and acted movie, despite the various problems in the plot and script.

Rating: B

Carolyn: "Are you stoned?"
Barnabas: "They tried stoning me, my dear. It did not work."

Movie Review: The Avengers

After years of hidden after-credit scenes, several movies that all connected with each other for this one, and what felt like a millennium of waiting, the Avengers have finally assembled. Picking right up with where it left off at the end of Captain America, The Avengers moves at a very fast pace, picking up a new superhero at every turn. Loki, Thor's younger brother, has decided that Earth cannot handle itself as a free world, and believes that everyone should be ruled unitedly by a tyrant (himself). Thus begins the war between Loki and his alien "army" and the Avengers and their Hulk. I'm sure you can figure out who wins. The ending comes with a hint at who will be the next target of the Avengers for the next Avengers movie. Along with being extremely well paced and very entertaining, the Avengers also features some incredible performance, both individual and the group as a whole. Samuel Jackson does what he usually does as the man who assembles the Avengers, Nick Fury. The "big 3" superheroes, Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor do very well in their respective roles. The newcomers to the Avengers, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye and Scarlet Johansson as Black Widow, do extremely well in their supporting roles. But the main breakout star in this film is Mark Ruffalo as The Hulk. I couldn't count the times that The Hulk got cheers and claps from the audiences of the showings I went too. Mark Ruffalo has finally gotten The Hulk right, both emotionally and physically, something that it's prior incarnates, Eric Bana and Edward Norton have failed to do. And The Hulk also has been executed perfectly in the visual and design category for the first time, with an actual plausible look instead of choppy CGI that looks like green play-doh. Tom Hiddleston also does well as the main villain, Loki. As an ensemble, it's possibly one of, if not the best, ensemble acting in recent memory, in comparison to the lovely ladies of The Help. A huge amount of credit also goes to director Joss Whedon, who quelled the fears of fanboys world wide that an Avengers movie, especially one of this size and quality, would ever happen. He has created a masterpiece, and has completely shattered box office records, squashing the opening weekend record previously held by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, grossing an unprecedented 207.4 million dollars. The Avengers is an amazing movie of the highest quality. Whedon has created an ensemble cast, that, although had the potential to be too cluttered, works perfectly. The best movie of the year so far.

Rating: A+

Loki: "I have an army."
Iron Man: "We have a Hulk."

Movie Review: The Cabin in the Woods

Finally, through the very creative mind of Joss Whedon, they have made a smart, scary, and funny scary movie. This film proves that all horror movies don't have to be gore and guts to be entertaining, or frightening. The story follows the usual horror movie crew: the dumb blonde, the jock, the stoner, the token black guy, and the girl who is too smart for her own good. They travel to, you guessed it, a cabin in the woods. There, they are tricked and controlled by unknown operators in a building, who monitor and regulate everything (and I mean everything) that goes on in the house. Unfortunately, I cannot give away too much more information, as the ending is very well made and provides for a twist that M. Night Shaymalan would blush over. There were some fantastic performances by everyone involved, the standouts (in my opinion) being Richard Jenkins as one of the operators, Chris Hemsworth as the jock, and a (very) surprising cameo by Sigourney Weaver as "the Director". Also, near the end, there is an 8 minute gore fest in which everything from your worst nightmares is released, and they decimate everything in their path. This movie was very smartly made, and provides a very fun and scary movie-going experience. An underrated movie that deserves a lot more praise and attention than it has received.

Rating: A-

Movie Review: American Reunion

In the words of Thin Lizzy, The Boys Are Back in Town. In this 4th "official" American Pie movie, the original crew is back and just as raunchy and sex-obsessed as ever. Jim and the gang are back in town for their 13th High School reunion. Jim (Jason Biggs) is married to Michelle (Alyson Hannigan), and they have hit a "rough patch" in their marriage due to the birth of their son. Oz is a "celebrity" sports show host, now made infamous by his appearance on Celebrity Dance-Off. Kevin is also married, yet is forced to sit through "girly" drama TV and play househusband. Stifler is well...Stifler. Still living at home with his mom (played by the hilarious Jennifer Coolidge). So, as usual, things get wild, temptations rise and are either given into or overcome, and everyone is happy in the end. Especially Jim's Dad (played by Eugene Levy), who gets with Stifler's mom. There was not a single moment in the movie where I was not laughing, and the comedy was very well paced. It was nice to see literally EVERYBODY from the first two movies, and to see what happened to them after high school. A very funny movie with a cast of very funny actors/actresses. I must say, it feels good to be reunited with the original crew after all this time.

Rating: A-

Movie Review: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

This film, adapted from Steig Larsson's bestselling Millenium Trilogy, is an unflinching view into the human psyche, a view into the world of evil and lies that often times go unseen. Rooney Mara plays the role of Lisbeth Salander, a ward of the state, who is the best computer hacker around. She is enlisted to be the assistant of Mikael Blomkvist, who's journalism career has just been shattered by a scandal he published that he cannot prove. Blomkvist is hired by Henrik Lundkvist to solve a mystery that has plagued his family for over four decades, the disappearance of his niece, Harriet. Lisbeth and Mikael, both with their own strengths, work together in order to solve the mystery. Lisbeth eventually falls in love with Mikael, after having been put through some harrowing sexual abuse in the first half of the movie. The film ends on a somber note, however leaves plenty of room for the continuation of the story, The Girl Who Played With Fire. The movie is very intense, with multiple scenes of torture, two of them being of a sexual/rape nature. Rooney Mara does an amazing job as Lisbeth, displaying all the intensity and subtleness that is present in the novel. She is beautiful, though you can see the pain in her face from the ordeals she has suffered through. Daniel Craig also does well as Mikael, and the cast of many supporting actors/actresses do amazing also. The score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is also very well done. The title sequence was, as well, a fantastic oily montage of Lisbeth's journey through the three books in the trilogy. Overall, a very intense, emotionally and physically, journey through a great detective story, all brought together by the brilliant and enigmatic performance of Rooney Mara as Lisbeth.

Rating: A