"Prometheus" (2012)

Prometheus

Rated R

2 Hours 4 Minutes

Story

A team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a journey to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race.

Starring

Noomi Rapace
Michael Fassbender
Charlize Theron
Idris Elba
Logan Marshall Green
Guy Pearce

Rotten Tomatoes Grade
74%

My Grade
B-

The big hooplah: is this or is this not a prequel to "Alien"? Well director Ridley Scott has come out and said Prometheus is not a direct prequel to the Alien saga, but it does take place in the same fictional world and does occur "some time" before Alien. Other then the Weyland Coorporation, and maybe one or two other very minor things, I didn't really get the big connection to the sci-fi film from 1979 starring Sigourney Weaver. Call me dumb, call me ignorant, call me whatever you want, but I just didn't see it.

So to me, Prometheus is it's own separate film, and by the way it ends, it sets up a sequel (that would not be Alien). This film had a ton of hype going into it's release. A lot of viral videos surfaced, and there was just an abundance of advertisements. So this is the perfect example of a movie that will automatically not be as good as you want it to because you pumped yourself up so much for it. This obviously won't be the case for everyone, but I feel the movie opened up to such polarizing reviews that it has to be the case for a lot of people.

I really was looking forward to Prometheus and I so badly wanted to love it, but ultimately it left me feeling a little let down. This is not a bad movie, don't think that's what I'm saying. Prometheus is a stunning sci-fi film that falls a little short of being epic. It also doesn't live up to the films it's supposed to preceed. Here's the thing for me, the movie looks incredible. Stunning visuals, breathtaking special effects. I mean that big final scene of the "engineers" ship crashing was phenomenal to watch. You will get no complaints from me about how the film is presented to us visually. It's one of the better looking movies this year.

Prometheus promised us good storytelling. It was supposed to offer us a big unveiling of how mankind began. From what I saw, it only sort of did this. Yes, I know, the engineers created us through their DNA. But does it say if they did this intentionally or by accident? Then for some reason they are hell bent on destroying human kind. Something else that is not really answered. The engineers also created these other beings (alien like creatures). There is also some kind of black ooze (reminds me a LOT of The X-Files) that is alien in nature and apparently grows into a physical form. It impregnated our leading lady and gave us one of the more disturbing birthing scenes in recent memory.

My problem is that there was a lot of story going on here but every path seemed to not have an end in sight. This movie reminds me of a season of Lost. Really entertaining, fun to watch, great acting, but ultimately leaves us with more questions than we had going into it. If Prometheus has a sequel than it's an awesome set up film. It ends with a cliffhanger, or more so a "To Be Continued" moment and gives us very little satisfaction about the story being wrapped up. I don't need answers spoonfed to me, but I don't think they even gave vague answers to the film's biggest questions. So if there is NOT a sequel, than ultimately I feel that Prometheus was a huge let down while remaining to be an entertaining movie.

So I'm seriously torn with the movie. I loved it but I also didn't love it. It didn't provide enough for me to care as much as I wanted to. But it's just so well made that it's hard to really call this one. I'd suggest that everyone go see it...if you are into this kind of movie at least. Again, maybe my brain wasn't working when I watched it, who knows. I'm admitting that perhaps I was a little ignorant to the storytelling here so don't give me shit. But I also know I'm not the only one who wanted so much more from this film. I just really, really hope there is a sequel.

"Men In Black III" (2012)

Men In Black III

Rated PG-131 Hour 46 Minutes

My GradeBI would have been the first one to tell you that there should have never been a third Men in Black movie after the fiasco that was Men in Black 2. What a terrible sequel that was to a great, unique and funny first film. So I was none to pleased when the third one was announced and I thought it even more ridiculous when it was in 3D. Well I didn't see the movie in 3D, but I did overcome my distaste in the idea of threequel and sat through this new chapter.

Boy was I ever so wrong! I was very pleasantly surprised with this new addition to the trilogy. I wish Men in Black II could be brain neuralized from our heads so that this was the true sequel and that was it. It had a really solid time travel story that never became overly complicated or silly. What it actually turns out to be is not only a fun alien movie, but also a story of friendship and loyalty. It ends up having a very sweet story at the end between agent J and K.

Agent K of course, is Tommy Lee Jones, who is actually only in about 2 or 3 scenes in this movie. Due to the time travel aspect of the movie, Agent K is primarily played by Josh Brolin. Brolin does a fantastic job at doing the likeness of Tommy Lee Jones, it's almost spot on. He is easily the best part of the film. But not to be outdone, welcome the return of Will Smith. He has been absent from the silver screen for a few years since he did the gloomy and not so good film Seven Pounds. Smith has always been a very charismatic and charming actor no matter what role he is in, there is a reason why he has two Oscar nominations (Pursuit of Happyness and Ali). But where he has always shined is in his comedic efforts. He brings it back here in full force and he was a blast to watch in his element again.

Visually, the movie was awesome, as to be expected. Fantastic alien effects, and some really awesome looking motorcycle devices that was featured in one of the better action scenes. I think Men in Black swung and missed badly with it's second film, but has regained all of it's wonderful momentum with this film. If there were to make a fourth film, I would be more inclined to give it a shot. But at the same time, if they left it at this film, it would be a solid ending to the trilogy. Maybe don't fix what is not broke...right? At any rate, this was a very worthy summer film, not the best of the summer, but probably one of the more surprisingly good ones so far. Perfect performances, fantastic visuals, exciting action scenes, and a good creepy villain...Men in Black 3 works. It works well.

Django Unchained - TRAILER!!!

"Prometheus" in Theaters This Friday!!

Anyone else TOTALLY excited to see this movie when it comes out this weekend?!?

"The Chernobyl Diaries" (2012)

The Chernobyl Diaries
Rated R1 Hour 26 Minutes
My GradeC

The Chernobyl Diaries offers nothing new in the realm of horror. I mean, it's the same generic, formulaic stuff we see time and time again in these movies. A group of friends explore an abandoned area, in this case, a real location where an actual tragedy took place in real life. Something bad happens and they get stuck there and then all hell breaks loose. You know exactly where the story will take you, you know who is going to die, you know it all. The characters are all fairly cliched. It sounds like I really hate this movie doesn't it?

Truth is, I didn't hate it. Yes, it is all of those things above. But I like what it attempted to do with the premise. I like that it took us to where the Chernobyl nuclear disaster took place because it offers us a different kind of setting. It added a certain level of "realism" to the tale, and yes, I use that word lightly. The first two thirds of this movie does a pretty solid job at hiding the "monsters" from the audience and honestly it makes it a bit creepier than most spoof fests that have been thrown our way the past few years. When they finally show us the creatures and the reason for their deformities, I can't help but relate this to "Wrong Turn" and "The Hills Have Eyes". Very similar concepts. At any rate, before all that, the movie is foreboding and eerie and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little tense during some scenes. They didn't bombard us with loud music and I love when horror movies go quiet and use only ambient noise. It's scary.

The rest of the movie is pretty generic though, as I stated earlier. There is nothing wrong with any of the performances, none of them are cheesy or awful. They all do an equally normal job at showing us their acting skills. The jump scenes are there, and most of them are quite predictable. Lack of any valid explanations is also prominent in this film, especially in the end. I'm the type though, who doesn't need to be spoonfed answers, especially in a silly horror movie like this. However, it does give us glimpses into what's going on, but not until the last 4 or 5 minutes, and it basically sets up a potential sequel...even though I'm sure we won't get one.

So all in all, The Chernobyl Diaries suffers a bad case of the "same old, same old". While it plays out on a better than average pace it still does kind of fall flat. I certainly appreciate the location and the premise, but I just found it to be incredibly average. Horror movie junkies will probably get a kick out of it on a one time viewing though. It's entertaining enough.