Movie Review: "Prometheus"

Prometheus, 2012.  Starring Noomi Rapace, Logan Marshall-Green and Michael Fassbender.  Running time 124 minutes.  Rated R.  Directed by Ridley Scott.

Prometheus....a Titan of Greek mythology credited with the creation of man out of clay and the theft of fire as a gift to mankind.  When two scientists (Rapace and Green) discover a "recent" cave drawing depicting a drawing similar to others done centuries apart, the technology of the late 21st century allows them to answer the many questions asked by man since the beginning of time.  Why am I here?  Who is my maker?  What is my purpose?  The aptly named spaceship Prometheus takes them to a far away planet shown in the drawings to meet with our creators, and to get those questions answered.  However, when they arrive......they find there are far more questions to be answered than they could have possibly imagined.

For example....why are our creators trying to exterminate us.

The mind of Ridley Scott was truly on fire with this one.  While not a direct prequel to 1979's classic Alien, the film is in fact in the same universe (mainly with our discovery of the "space jockey" and who he was and his role in the grander scheme) and remains a prequel to the horror classic, albeit not a blatant one.

Acting is stellar, led by the more and more brilliant Fassbender as the android David.  David (as did Ash in Alien) has a secretive secondary mission, given to him by superiors.  What is its purpose and how does it relate to the mission at hand?  Fassbender is the creepiest part of a very atmospheric film and is nothing short of outstanding here.  Charlize Theron adds to the mood as the leader of the mission and the surrounding cast play their roles well.

Script and photography are nothing short of brilliant, SFX are a harkening back to the days of non-CGI, using it as little as possible.

Prometheus is a grand and magnificent return to a genre, and gives me high hopes that he'll do the same for the upcoming Blade Runner sequel.

A+

Mini Review: "Piranha 3DD"

One of the things the original "Piranha 3D" had going for it was the cheesy, tongue in cheek way it handled its silly script.  All the sequel does is throw TONS of nubile female flesh on display and calls it a day.  Doc Brown should be ashamed of himself for his appearance here.

F

Mini Review: "Men in Black III"

Most of the "great" Will Smith films could be associated with a very strong surrounding cast for him to play off of, this is not the case in "MIB III", as he's expected to carry the film on his shoulders.

Big mistake, but the ending makes it worth a viewing.

C

Mini Review: "Gone"

Amanda Seyfried really needs to quit making stupid movies like this.  

D

Coming Soon:  Men in Black III, Chernobyl Diaries, Prometheus and more!

Movie Review: "The Avengers"

The Avengers, 2012.  Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson.  Rated PG-13, Running time 142 minutes.  Directed by Joss Whedon.

This is it, finally the big all-in-one thats been hinted at since the original Iron Man, The Avengers blasts onto the silver screen with so much buzz behind it you'd think they were beheading a Kardashian on film.  Thankfully, this film packs a wollup big enough it'll more than surpass the highest expectations.

Plotline is this:  As Loki (Tom Hiddleston from Thor) continues his vengeance towards brother Thor (Chris Hemsworth), he aligns himself with other Asgard realm baddies to attack Thor's beloved planet Earth.  Seizing minds from SHIELD agent Clint "Hawkeye" Barton (Jeremy Renner) and scientist Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard) to  assist him, Loki intends to create a porthole into our galaxy allowing the attack to begin.

Once Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) realizes how close this plan is to succeeding, he takes the only option left to him.

He assembles "The Avengers" and prays they can unite enough to stop this threat.

Script, action and direction were all top notch, I'm trying desperately not to sound like a fanboy here, but its very hard to stay objective when things are running this good.  Plot holes are few and far between and clearly great care was taken to insure continuity with the previous films.  Action scenes (of which there are many) are crisp, clear and surprisingly well choreographed (take a lesson Bay) , keeping things easy to follow.

Been awhile since I've been this unable to be objective towards a film, but let me simply close with this.

The Avengers will easily far and away be the second best comic book film of this summer, and surprisingly surpasses its Marvel predecessors.

A+

Mini Review: "The Cabin in the Woods"

Ohmygawd, you have to see this awesome new movie The Cabin in the Woods, they like take horror film cliches' and use them in the movie and we're all like sooooooooooooooo aware its happening....wait..what?  Scream did it first?

Not to mention a silly and boneheaded ending.

D

Mini Review: "American Reunion"

Has more heart and warmth than the disappointing American Wedding (I dont count nor have I seen the DTV sequels under the American Pie Presents banner), but the 10 minutes Jim's Dad and Stiffler's Mom are on screen together are the best in the film.

B-