Film Reviews: Prometheus and Cross of Iron

Prometheus

While I can’t say I’m a huge fan of the Alien franchise, I was still thoroughly intrigued by Ridely Scott’s return. The first movie, the original Alien, is a little too high on the old Spook-o-meter for me, but I still liked it and respect what Scott did in the film. The second, James Cameron’s Aliens, is much more to my taste, and I mostly really enjoy it. Mostly. I haven’t seen movies three or four, and don’t plan to, but the first two contain plenty of good material worth revisiting*. So how does Scott do in his long-awaited return to sci-fi?

*However, I actually have seen the Aliens vs. Predators movie (the first one, anyway), which no one seems to dispute is essentially a big-budget fan fiction.

A prequel in the way that X-Men: First Class is a prequel, Prometheus tells the story of two scientists, Shaw and Holloway (Noomi Rapace and Logan Marshall-Green) who are able to demonstrate a recurring star pattern among ancient cave paintings that are otherwise unconnected. Funded by the gigantic Weyland Corporation, the two proceed to a star system that matches the pattern on the titular starship, looking for an alien civilization that may have influenced the creation (or at least development) of mankind. Also on the ship are a frosty Weyland representative named Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron), the amusingly laconic captain (Idris Elba), and an android named David (Michael Fassbender), whose motives remain murky. The ship finds the target planet without incident, but (unsurprisingly) things start to go awry once they disembark and find a large facility of some sort, stocked with containers of a mysterious black ooze.

Movie Reviews: Chronicle, Men in Black III, Cars 2

Chronicle

With very few exceptions, I don’t watch horror movies. I don’t like the sensation of being scared, and so I have little interest in spending time and/or money watching something that is primarily interested in scaring me. One of the consequences of this avoidance, however, is that I have no real experience with the increasingly popular “found footage” genre, which (other than Cloverfield and a few other minor films that I have not seen) is mostly contained to the horror genre. As a result, this approach—especially in the context of a superhero origin story—seemed fresh and interesting.

Chronicle is the story of how three relatively normal teenage boys gain superpowers. Andrew, played by Dane DeHaan, is shy and introverted, frequently bullied both at school and by his unemployed, alcoholic father. His cousin Matt (Alex Russell) is a stoner with a fondness for pretentious philosophy, but is still able to fit in much better than Andrew. Matt’s friend Stephen (Michael B. Jordan, of The Wire and Friday Night Lights) is an extroverted golden boy, good at seemingly anything he tries and an aspiring politician. One night at a rave that Matt convinces Andrew to attend, the three find a mysterious meteorite (or something….) that grants them the power of telekinesis. As the boys use their powers, they grow stronger and stronger, eventually allowing the boys to fly, lift cars, and more. But although the three become fast friends, all is not well with Andrew, who remains lonely and isolated.

Film Reviews: Babel, Source Code, The Machinist

Babel

It’s a good thing that I generally don’t fault a movie for being “award bait”. Sure it can be funny when they try and miss spectacularly (Australia), or were clearly mismarketed as such (The Men Who Stare at Goats), but unless it ludicrously obviously calibrated for an awards crowd (Crash), I’m usually not offended. Which was good for my enjoyment of Babel.

Reviews: Black Hawk Down, Centurion, Rango

Black Hawk Down

One reviewer famously concluded that Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down was “Saving Private Ryan without the slow parts”. Hyperbole aside, there is something to that. Black Hawk features as visceral battle scenes as any movie ever made, and there is little to no down time once they start. It’s an exhausting experience.