Random Movie Review: Prometheus

Prometheus (2012)
Starring: Charlize Theron, Michael Fassbender, Noomi Rapace
















Well, this was a better go for Charlize than Snow White. The dreadful accent is gone and delivery of lines is not so drawn out, so good job director. Actually, there is one (fairly obvious to me at least) 'reveal' line she has that is a bit overstated, but I guess it can be forgiven.

Set as a prequel to the Alien series, Prometheus is named for the ship that a group sets out to discover the beginning of human life upon. I wish I had boned up on the original movies first, alas, I watched the first one the day after instead.

Some of how they arrived at the setup for Alien was done well, but some of it felt a little forced. I do find it amusing when a prequel comes out so many years later that the objects they use to tie the movies together (in this case a ship or parts therein) are technologically advanced or, obviously, look better in general. All of that stragness aside, the movie was visually stunning. I skipped the 3d, because I find it cumbersome over top of my regular eyeglasses and a bit strenuous on the eyes. Plus I was at the cheap theatre where they don't offer that option. The acting was decent, the effects were nice and the plot was interesting enough to keep me paying attention throughout.

I don't want to spoil anything, but I'll just say one thing I find amusing in general is when people in movies run away from a large item that starts a ways away from them, why do they run in the path that the item is travelling? With the distance, I would figure just evacuating the course might be the best plan.

While it certainly did not answer all of the questions about Alien, the movie stood alone as a visual piece and the story doesn't necessarily hinge on having watched the other series either. I will rate it a 7/10.

Random Movie Review: Snow White and The Huntsman

Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)
Starring: Charlize Theron, Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth
















In short....meh.

I am usually a huge fan of Theron's, but her accent was not so hot and the lines she was given were sub-par at best. There were some lines and imagery that they were trying so hard to make symbolic that they ended up missing the mark. I know they have to have the lines like 'mirror, mirror on the wall', but the way they are drawn out made me feel uncomfortable. We all know they have to be in there, don't try to force it so much. Then there were the scenes like where Snow White bites an apple and drops it after the first bite and the camera does a ten second zoom-in. I get foreshadowing, but we all know this story and a simple pause on the scene/small focus on the apple when the characters leave would suffice.

Secondly, and probably the most discussed part of the film, in what realm is Kristen Stewart fairer than Charlize Theron? In fact, I would go as far to say that, all cast included, it would be 1. Theron, 2. Hemsworth, 3. Stewart. Couldn't they at least have a more angelic looking Snow White? Or if they'd would rather go the strong and beautiful look, something more akin to the Katniss role, that'd be fine too. How about someone like Saoirse Ronan? I just found Stewart to be believable as either the 'fairest' or heart strong or whatever. Plus, she can't seem to escape the lead-lady love triangle, or apparently the drug-eyed look. My last beef is that they took the faces of famous..um...people of average stature(?) and edited their faces on to little people's faces. Is it that important to have b-list celebrities in the movie that you have to do this and not just hire little people? Seems offensive or discriminating or something.

Now on to what I did enjoy. The battle scenes were quite enjoyable, the dark forest scenes were interesting and the enchanted land of the dwarfs(I cringe at the term) was beautiful and visually stunning. The special effects were typical of summer movies, that is to say, paired with action, usually the focal point.

The visual effects mixed with a portion of #2 on my celebrity exception list do float this movie up a bit in my books. Also, I have enjoyed anything I have seen any Hemsworth in so far. I'll give this a 6.5/10.  (I'd stretch to 6.75 even)