Power of Prometheus

From what I can tell, Prometheus is THE movie generating the most discussion online right now. Opinions range from it being a confusing mess to being a brilliant film. I lean closer to the latter. There is a lot going on in this movie, much of which is not explained clearly so, understandably, this may lead to a lot of confusion. There's also the religious aspect of the film. The origin of mankind is in question and this may not sit well with many. However, I must say that I've been thinking about Prometheus a lot since I saw it and most other movies just don't stick with me like this one has.

I think the scope of what the filmmakers are trying to accomplish here is on a very grand scale. Many explanations were not forthcoming because this is only a small part of a much larger story. People showing up to see another Alien movie are probably disappointed because that's not what they're getting here. It's much more. I could go on about the complex themes and different mythologies that are explored here but others have already done that in a much more eloquent and meaningful way. Suffice it to say that there are a lot of subtle layers.

The basic premise is that, 80 years in our future, scientists discover an 'invitation to the stars', if you will, to meet with beings that may have had a hand in human development and/or creation on Earth. These scientists receive backing from a reclusive bazillionaire and are able to take a full exploration crew aboard the ship Prometheus to the coordinates outlined in this "invitation". What they find is, of course, not what they bargained for. The Alien connection is mostly a nod to viewers that this is indeed taking place in the same universe. However, it is really its own separate story. If they continue on with what they've laid the foundation for here, it will be more of a parallel story on a much more epic scale.
The visuals are fantastic (I saw it in Imax 3D), the acting and effects are top notch, and while it is the biggest sticking point, I found the writing and story to be very intriguing and well thought out. I left the theater wanting more and, from what I hear, I'll get it in the extended Director's Cut when it is released on video, most likely this fall (20-30 minutes of additional footage).

My recommendation, as always, is to check it out yourself. Take in the visuals, think about what the story is trying to convey with an open mind and form your own opinion.


Prometheus is in theaters now. It's Directed by Ridley Scott, Written by John Spaihts and Damon Lindelof and stars Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Idris Alba and Charlize Theron.

 

Quick Reviews: "Chronicle", "..War", "..Carter"

Chronicle is the first-person-camera account of three teens who suddenly find themselves with extraordinary telekinetic powers.  They're very clever with how they handle the camera, so it doesn't always feel like you're being lead around.  The story is good and the acting is not bad, considering they recruited some "unknown" talent, and the plot is left open for a possible sequel (of course).  Bottom line: A good B+ sci-fi flick worth watching.

 This Means War, from Director McG, is a brilliant merging of Romantic Comedy and Action which makes it perfect for a date movie.  Chris Pine (Star Trek, Unstoppable) and Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises) are two CIA agents put on temporary desk duty after a mission goes bad.  While waiting for new assignments, they both decide to take some time to do some dating, they just happen to both ask the same girl (Reese Witherspoon), unbeknownst to her.  They proceed to use Agency time and resources to make sure she picks the right guy to be with.  Much comedy and action ensues.  Bottom line: An entertaining romp to watch with the significant other.

 John Carter was Disney/Pixar's first foray into the live-action scene.  Unfortunately, an incredibly bad marketing campaign and lack of "star" power killed this at the box office.  Based on Edgar Rice Burroughs swashbuckling space adventure, Civil War veteran, John Carter, is mistakenly transported to Mars (the natives call it Barsoom) where he is recruited to help fight against an oppressive army and bring peace and freedom to the inhabitants of the dying planet.  Although some of the "grandeur" and dialogue appears to be dated, to be fair, one has to realize this is from a book that was written 100 years ago this year and many of the modern sci-fi epics owe a dept of gratitude for this series of stories as they set the bar.  The acting is good and the visuals are stunning (although the Blu-ray release did show some digital artifacting during some scenes with a lot of movement).  It is really a shame that we will probably not get to see this series continue any time soon due to its poor reception in the theaters.  Bottom line: Definitely worth watching.  Brilliant sci-fi action film. 

When You Wish Without A Star

John Carter... fantastic movie, dismal box office, at least in the US.  Disney/Pixar's first live-action movie attempt scored way below their expectations and prompted the firing of at least one studio executive.

Conan The Barbarian (2011)... a decent attempt at relaunching the franchise, but also a box office failure.

Both studios had high hopes for these films.  What went wrong?  John Carter was the victim of an extremely poor advertising campaign that targeted kids and not the pulp/sci-fi/action buffs that were familiar with the books.  The Disney cable channels bombarded their commercial time with shots of smiling aliens, John Carter jumping really high and running around with his space dog.  Everyone I know that was not a die-hard fan just thought it looked stupid.

Conan's producers should have planned on a more marketable movie and cut a few scenes of gore and nudity so that they could grab the PG-13 rating instead of R.  This limited the intended audience, right out of the gate.

However, the biggest problem that both movies had was that they had absolutely NO STAR POWER!  Both title characters were practically unknowns.  This is a BIG gamble to bet so much money on (Conan cost $90 million, while John Carter's budget was a reported $250 million!!!)  Even the supporting characters were mostly unknown.  In Carter, you had Taylor Kitsch as the title character, there was Mark Strong as a bad guy and voice-overs by Willem Dafoe and Thomas Hayden Church, but you didn't see those last 2 on screen, so it doesn't count.  As far as Conan, Nobody outside of Stargate or Game of Thrones fans had ever heard of Jason Momoa.  I can't stress enough how huge of a mistake this was.  Admittedly, if either had worked, the executives involved would have been labeled as geniuses, but, alas, it didn't happen.

Conan was a slightly above average action flick, but John Carter was quite spectacular.  Fans of the books were very pleased.  There were few complaints from anyone who actually went and saw it.  There is a fan-made trailer for Carter that really helps boost interest in the film.  If only Disney had hired those guys to help promote it.  I showed it to some of the naysayers and they immediately had a 180 degree impression of the movie and wanted to rush out and see it.  I'll try to include it below.

From BoxOfficeMojo.com
Conan The Barbarian (2011)  Cost: $90 mil  Domestic Box Office: $21.2 mil
John Carter   Cost: $250 mil   Domestic Box Office: $70.7 mil

Both actually did better overseas, but that was in ALL foreign markets combined.

So.. When you film without a star, it makes no difference what studio you are....

Avengers Assembled

Highest opening weekend ever!  Well how about that.  Putting aside my usual quips about the Writer/Director, I'll talk some about The Avengers movie (I'm sorry, Marvel's The Avengers.  Wouldn't want to confuse it with that British TV series or the horrible motion picture based on it.).
All the players are there.  Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Nick Fury, Black Widow, Hawkeye and even the 3rd generation Bruce Banner/Hulk, this time portrayed by Mark Ruffalo.
So, Loki is on the loose and he's got his hands on the "Cosmic Cube" or Tesseract.  He's ready to open a portal to lead an alien army through to Earth and "free humanity from freedom" (paraphrasing), whatever that means.  Nick Fury brings together our heroes to save the world.
The team is pretty dysfunctional at first and there are a lot of arguments and in-fighting but they eventually manage to pull it together to unite against the common enemy.  The actors really bring the dialogue and banter to life and Robert Downey, Jr. manages to steal the scene just about every time he appears on-screen.  He's really nailed the Tony Stark persona.  All the characters manage to get fairly equal screen-time, and the action sequences keep things moving.
Overall, the movie actually does live up to the hype and Marvel just keeps marching forward.  Iron Man 3, which starts shooting within the next month, is slated for 5/3/13, Thor 2 for 11/15/13 and Captain America 2 is down for 4/4/14 (these are confirmed dates from Marvel, though subject to change).  This would probably put a follow-up to The Avengers at May of 2015, if they keep their current release formula.  As for The Incredible Hulk, Marvel has hinted that they may be looking at returning him to the small screen as an on-going series (queue sad, walking away music).  Whether or not they would get Ruffalo to portray him, or yet another actor, remains to be seen.

Other Marvel movie news: The Amazing Spider-man relaunch/reboot is out this summer with a release date for part 2 already announced.  Fox has a "use it or lose it" deal on the X-men and Fantastic Four properties so The Wolverine is in pre-production but no word on the FF other than they want to reboot it as well.  Marvel has also indicated that they would like to bring out some of their lesser known characters in lower budget films, one of which is Doctor Strange which I believe would be interesting (although they did produce a really bad version of him back in the 70's and Paramount/Full Moon Entertainment had a knock-off character called Doctor Mordrid back in the 80's).  There are even a few other characters that are in early development for possible TV shows.  We'll just have to wait and see...

THOR HAMMERS IT HOME...

Last night I had the privilege of viewing an advanced screening of THOR.  The theater was packed, of course, and everyone was into it.  It was one of the best theatrical experiences I've had in a while, despite a few technical glitches. 

To my surprise, we were presented with a 3D version of the film.  Now, this can really make or break a movie, in my opinion, especially if the film was not shot in 3D, and this one falls into that category.  While some of the scenes worked, others were dark and the action was too fast paced in some instances that you couldn't get any real benefit from it.  Also, one must take in to account that you are basically wearing polarized sunglasses while watching.  If the scene is dark and/or not originally intended for 3D viewing, it just looks dim or blurry.  Many shots of the intended bright and shiny city of Asgaard came across with a soft-focus-at-dusk look to them.

The 3D debate aside, the movie itself was solid.  I was concerned about how they would meld the real-world story with what would be gods and mythology.  Their solution was quite ingenious.  I won't give spoilers here, but I'm sure the purists and fanboys will probably complain, as they always do. 

The cast is outstanding.  Chris Hemsworth holds his own in scenes with Anthony Hopkins.  The casting of Natalie Portman was great as scenes with her 5'3'' frame standing next to Hemsworth's 6'4'' really did make him look ginormous.  Tom Hiddleston, Rene Russo, Colm Feore and Stellan Skarsgard round out the main cast.  Watch for cameos from Stan Lee, of course, as well as Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye), writer J. Michael Straczynski and, wait for it, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury.

No real spoilers here, but the action is divided fairly evenly between present day Earth and the other "realms".  CGI mixed with real sets and actors looked good in most instances, but some of the Destroyer character footage was a bit lacking.  This is a loud, action packed movie with witty banter, cool psuedo-science, drama and some truly funny moments.  In all, a very well-rounded kick-off to the 2011 summer blockbuster season.

Be sure to stay through the credits!!! ;)


THOR opens in U.S. theaters on Friday, May 6th.  Look for Captain America on July 22nd!