I never expected to have so much fun with a kids film.
Madagascar 3 follows the continuing adventures of Alex the Lion (Ben Stiller), Marty the Zebra (Chris Rock), Gloria the Hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith), and Melman the Giraffe (David Schwimmer) as they attempt to make their way back to the Central Park Zoo. The film starts with the crew in Monte Carlo on a mission to retrieve the penguins so they can then get back home. Unfortunately they make a bad first impression in the city and soon find themselves being hunted by Captain Chantel DuBois (Frances McDormand), a crazed animal control cop that will stop at nothing till she mounts Alex's head on her wall. Desperate, the animals board a circus train to escape and soon find themselves a part of the failing circus. Also involved in the movie is a hilarious subplot that involves King Julien the Lemur's (Sacha Baron Cohen) romance with a circus bear.
The character of DuBois is one of the best things about the film. She is a completely insane, terminator-esque animal control cop stationed in France. When we first meet her character, the camera pans across her very long wall which is covered in mounted animal heads, the only animal missing is a Lion. When she learns a Lion is one of the animals reported making a mess, she decides to go all out in her pursuit. She dives head first through walls, jumps across buildings on her motorbike, crashes through buildings, and no matter what the animals throw at her she just keeps on coming. DuBois is voiced with a crazed glee by Frances McDormand, who makes the frumpy character her own. DuBois is indeed a worthwhile adversary for the animals and even makes for quite a challenge for the incredibly smart penguins. She is one of the more memorable villains in recent animated films, and I easily fell in love with her character.
The rest of the cast does a pretty good job voicing the characters with the natural stand-outs being Ben Stiller as Alex and a zany Chris Rock as Marty. The Penguins (Chris Miller as Kowalski, Christopher Knights as Private, and Tom McGrath as Skipper) manage to steal the show whenever they appear, but what's new? The penguins are so popular that they even managed to nab their very own Nickelodeon TV show. King Julien and crew are back as well, even though they don't gain much screen time (I imagine this is most likely due to Cohen's lively screen career).
The main reason to see Madagascar 3 is because of the incredibly fun 3D to be sampled here.The creators of the film threw their backs into it here and gave it all their all, and it shows. They were clearly having a fun time imagining how to creatively use the 3D here. The 3D in Madagascar 3 is used to bring the action of the film out into the theater. The whole film in 3D is an in-your-face delight. Fireworks explode in your face, Water soaks the audience, characters faces pop out of the screen into the theater, some characters get shot out of the screen into the theater and fly right past your head, cars fly over your head, it's all quite breathtaking. There's also two incredibly surreal and fun circus scenes that pop and whizz in 3D. The 3D here is that of the theme park variety, and it's indeed top-notch. This is one of the better 3D experiences I've had in a while, and it's great to see a film so expertly nail the kind of 3D we normally only see in theme parks. If you're going to see Madagascar 3, you might as well fork over the extra few bucks for 3D because this is the way the film was meant to be seen.
While the story in Madagascar 3 is simple and sweet, the film is also off-the rails pure ADHD fun and this is where it gets its charm from. The 3D helps to add to the complete insanity of the film. Madagascar 3 is a film that is aimed at kids, but that doesn't mean that adults can't enjoy the hell out of it too. With a superb 3D job, fun character work, and a delightfully insane atmosphere Madagascar 3 manages to find a way to tie the story of Madagascar up into a nice bow, and I find it hard to believe anybody would be disappointed in the ending found here (sweet, poetic justice). Madagascar 3 is a treat for all. SEE IT!!!
3/5 Stars
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
THAT'S MY BOY TEACHES SMALLS A FEW LESSONS ABOUT LIFE
Adam Sandler's name is mud in Hollywood. His last few films have been complete pieces of crapola, and I myself did not find any enjoyment in them whatsoever. Walking into That's My Boy, I was hesitant but hopeful. The film looked like it could be better than Sandler's other films, but as we all know by now Adam Sandler's batting record is FAR from perfect. So, how was it???
That's My Boy is one of Adam Sandler's most recent films to actually carry a story and a plot in it, and this is one of the reasons this film works better than many of his other recent films. It feels focused, and seems to know where it's going and how it wants to end (it also doesn't feel like a blatent tax write-off/excuse to take a vacation). The plot here follows Donny (Adam Sandler), who had a secret affair with a teacher when he was in his teens and accidentally knocked her up. When the school eventually finds out, she's jailed and Donny's saddled with the baby. Now thrust into stardom due to his illegal fling, Donny struggles to juggle fatherhood and fame. Fast forward 30 years later: Donny is a washed-up slacker who owes the IRA a lot of dough. In an effort to avoid federal prison, he decides to attempt to mooch off his son Todd (Andy Samberg) on the weekend of Todd's wedding. Only problem is that Todd wants nothing to do with Donny.
Adam Sandler stars as Donny, and puts on his first good performance in a while. He is easily believable as the kid that never grew up (big surprise there) and most of the film's humor comes from seeing Donny's reactions to these real life situations he finds himself in . He is indeed very raunchy, but what do you expect from a guy that never got the chance to mature? Despite some character flaws, Donny is still a lovable guy due to his laid back fun loving attitude and also because he actually does have a heart.
Andy Samberg is also pretty good as beleaguered, tight-assed son Todd who blames Donny for ruining his childhood. Todd has manged to craft a pretty good life for himself and is about to marry the girl of his dreams, Jamie (The HAWT HAWT HAWT Leighton Meester). When he discovers that Donny has managed to squeeze his way back into his life, Todd does the natural thing: He panics. Todd makes up a not-so-well-thought-out lie, that Donny is just his best friend. Luckily, this isn't dwelt on all that much, most of the humor coming from elsewhere. Either way, with Donny back in his life, Todd begins to loosen up a bit and learns some lessons from good old dad. This is Andy Samberg's first leading role, and while it's not the best movie to start out with, Samberg still nails the role.
Eva Amurri Martino (good luck remembering that one folks) is super sexy as horny teacher Ms. McGarricle, who successfully seduces young Donny (the film claims he was 13 at the time, steamy and illegal indeed). Her and Donny have a weird, short-lived romance. Donny claims that he really did love her and that he continues to love her, this naturally forces the viewer to question the nature of their relationship. Disturbing conclusions may or may not be made (depending on the viewer). Eva is the daughter of Susan Sarandon, and the film has some fun with this fact later on in the film in a bit that made me smile.
I'd hate to jump on the band wagon here, but by far the best part of the film is Vanilla Ice as himself. In the film he plays a sort-of best friend to Donny. Ice plays his character perfectly, seeming to have great fun doing what is essentially a send-up of himself. No shame here. It's great to see Vanilla Ice running while listening to Ice Ice Baby on a Walkman, and to see him manning a job as a vanilla ice cream server....it's beyond words.
Despite my praise, That's My Boy does indeed have some faults. One is Nick Swardson. While he did have some funny parts and one classic line, I'm tired of seeing him in Adam Sandler films. The film is also made about as well as any other Sandler film, which is to say not all that well. The plot isn't the strongest one ( it will do just fine though), it does stretch its running time near the end, and the typical Adam Sandler humor is on display here. What I'm saying is that, naturally, not everyone will enjoy this film, but for those of us who enjoyed Big Daddy or other Sandler films of that era, I'm sure That's My Boy will do the trick.
Despite all the raunchiness, That's My Boy does indeed have heart as can be sampled by a major subplot involving Donny's need for acceptance from his own son, and by an awkward but real sentimental moment. While you can expect some of the typical dumb moments/humor here, those moments aren't anywhere near as abundant as they are in other Sandler films. That's My Boy finds Adam Sandler back in his Big Daddy days and thus this acts as an almost return to form for him. It may not be a perfect film, but I loved That's My Boy...silly faults and all.
3/5 STARS
Things I learned from That's My Boy
- Beer bottles can be useful in fights.
- All girls love ice cream.
- Hans Solo Berger is the coolest name ever....IT'S TRUE!!!
- The hottest teachers may give it up if you let them know you're interested.
- Vanilla Ice is actually a pretty fun guy (I think deep down inside we all knew this).
- Adam Sandler may still have some humor left in him yet.
That's My Boy is one of Adam Sandler's most recent films to actually carry a story and a plot in it, and this is one of the reasons this film works better than many of his other recent films. It feels focused, and seems to know where it's going and how it wants to end (it also doesn't feel like a blatent tax write-off/excuse to take a vacation). The plot here follows Donny (Adam Sandler), who had a secret affair with a teacher when he was in his teens and accidentally knocked her up. When the school eventually finds out, she's jailed and Donny's saddled with the baby. Now thrust into stardom due to his illegal fling, Donny struggles to juggle fatherhood and fame. Fast forward 30 years later: Donny is a washed-up slacker who owes the IRA a lot of dough. In an effort to avoid federal prison, he decides to attempt to mooch off his son Todd (Andy Samberg) on the weekend of Todd's wedding. Only problem is that Todd wants nothing to do with Donny.
Adam Sandler stars as Donny, and puts on his first good performance in a while. He is easily believable as the kid that never grew up (big surprise there) and most of the film's humor comes from seeing Donny's reactions to these real life situations he finds himself in . He is indeed very raunchy, but what do you expect from a guy that never got the chance to mature? Despite some character flaws, Donny is still a lovable guy due to his laid back fun loving attitude and also because he actually does have a heart.
Andy Samberg is also pretty good as beleaguered, tight-assed son Todd who blames Donny for ruining his childhood. Todd has manged to craft a pretty good life for himself and is about to marry the girl of his dreams, Jamie (The HAWT HAWT HAWT Leighton Meester). When he discovers that Donny has managed to squeeze his way back into his life, Todd does the natural thing: He panics. Todd makes up a not-so-well-thought-out lie, that Donny is just his best friend. Luckily, this isn't dwelt on all that much, most of the humor coming from elsewhere. Either way, with Donny back in his life, Todd begins to loosen up a bit and learns some lessons from good old dad. This is Andy Samberg's first leading role, and while it's not the best movie to start out with, Samberg still nails the role.
Eva Amurri Martino (good luck remembering that one folks) is super sexy as horny teacher Ms. McGarricle, who successfully seduces young Donny (the film claims he was 13 at the time, steamy and illegal indeed). Her and Donny have a weird, short-lived romance. Donny claims that he really did love her and that he continues to love her, this naturally forces the viewer to question the nature of their relationship. Disturbing conclusions may or may not be made (depending on the viewer). Eva is the daughter of Susan Sarandon, and the film has some fun with this fact later on in the film in a bit that made me smile.
I'd hate to jump on the band wagon here, but by far the best part of the film is Vanilla Ice as himself. In the film he plays a sort-of best friend to Donny. Ice plays his character perfectly, seeming to have great fun doing what is essentially a send-up of himself. No shame here. It's great to see Vanilla Ice running while listening to Ice Ice Baby on a Walkman, and to see him manning a job as a vanilla ice cream server....it's beyond words.
Despite my praise, That's My Boy does indeed have some faults. One is Nick Swardson. While he did have some funny parts and one classic line, I'm tired of seeing him in Adam Sandler films. The film is also made about as well as any other Sandler film, which is to say not all that well. The plot isn't the strongest one ( it will do just fine though), it does stretch its running time near the end, and the typical Adam Sandler humor is on display here. What I'm saying is that, naturally, not everyone will enjoy this film, but for those of us who enjoyed Big Daddy or other Sandler films of that era, I'm sure That's My Boy will do the trick.
Despite all the raunchiness, That's My Boy does indeed have heart as can be sampled by a major subplot involving Donny's need for acceptance from his own son, and by an awkward but real sentimental moment. While you can expect some of the typical dumb moments/humor here, those moments aren't anywhere near as abundant as they are in other Sandler films. That's My Boy finds Adam Sandler back in his Big Daddy days and thus this acts as an almost return to form for him. It may not be a perfect film, but I loved That's My Boy...silly faults and all.
3/5 STARS
Things I learned from That's My Boy
- Beer bottles can be useful in fights.
- All girls love ice cream.
- Hans Solo Berger is the coolest name ever....IT'S TRUE!!!
- The hottest teachers may give it up if you let them know you're interested.
- Vanilla Ice is actually a pretty fun guy (I think deep down inside we all knew this).
- Adam Sandler may still have some humor left in him yet.
Friday, June 8, 2012
PROMETHEUS IMPREGNATES SMALLS' MIND WITH IDEAS
For all you Alien fan boys out there (that includes myself)...the day you have waited for has finally arrived. Prometheus has landed in theaters, promising us long awaited answers to questions that were raised in the hit film Alien. I suppose the only question that matters this time around is this: does Prometheus provide us satisfactory answers ? Let's delve right into this squirming squid fetus and find out.
Before we do any delving, let's see what the plot has in store for us today. Prometheus is about discovery, and what happens when meddling humans (and androids) mess around with things we shouldn't be messing around with. Dr. Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and boyfriend Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Greene) are scientists (Archaeologists? Geologists??? The mind can't remember right now) who discover similar cave paintings across the world that depict a star clutter/solar system. Shaw and Holloway assume it's an invitation for us to meet our creators....but is it? Either way the not-quite-evil-yet corporation Weyland Industries decides to fund a voyage to the clutter/system and sends mysterious android David (Michael Fassbender) and corporate dog Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron) along for the ride. When the Prometheus touches down on LV-223, they receive terrifying answers to their questions (as do we) and are chucked into a race to save the earth and undo the damage they have caused.
By far the best actors here are Charlize Theron, who puts on a slightly menacing but still human performance as Vickers, one of my favorite characters in the film (also helps that she looks downright yummy in a skin tight suit). Michael Fassbender is also superb as the eerily aloof and mysterious android David, who has his orders of his own to follow(The safety of the rest of the crew be damned. Yes....David does indeed have an Ash-like vibe to him, although he doesn't seem as downright evil as Ash did) and questions. David inhabits a grey area of definitely not good, but not really evil that I really dug and Fassbender pulls off the blank eyed eerie android thing perfectly. Together, David and Vickers have a sort of rivalry going on, and there is definitely a line drawn between the two. They are both similar, but different.....is one more of a good guy/girl than the other one is? I'll let you decide. Another fantastic performance is Idris Elba who plays Janek, captain of the Prometheus. The script doesn't give him much to do, but Elba makes the role his own nonetheless and creates a pretty compelling character out of nothing....a great triumph if you ask me. Rapace does a good job as Shaw, but is never fully compelling as the faith questioning scientist and Greene is essentially a throw away as Holloway, a character that seems to only have one real purpose. Something interesting does begin to happen to him, but before the consequences of this can be fully explored he's tossed to the side. Guy Pearce is also awesome as Weyland CEO Peter Weyland. We only get a few glimpses into his character, but he still does a fantastic job as a man who has questions of his own about humanity. Pearce acts in heavy old age makeup, but that doesn't seem a challenge for this talented actor.
Back in the directors seat is the legendary film maker Ridley Scott, who created the first Alien and Blade Runner, both are sci-fi classics. It is a treat to see him return to a genre and a franchise he excelled so well at, and you can really tell he is having a blast re-visiting a universe he created so many years ago and getting the chance to more fully explore it.
The film was shot in 3D, and the scale this gives the film is fantastic. The film is full of awe-inspiring scenes, but the impact of the 3D is lost somewhere after the first act of the film. While it is some of the better 3D you can sample today, I still say stick with 2D since the 3D doesnt really affect the film all that much save for a few cool shots and some added sense of scale here and there.
The question that has been burning in people's heads ever since Prometheus was announced....is is this film a prequel to Alien? The answer is sort of/kind of/not really. Prometheus does indeed take place in the same universe as Alien, and the moon that Prometheus takes place on is LV-223 which, I assume, is only moons away from LV-426 (the planet from the film Alien). This means that during the film we are essentially a hop skip and a jump to LV-426 (pretty cool huh). The Weyland Corporation plays a huge role in the film, and we do get a good enough glimpse at the company to satisfy mosts appetites. It is fun to see the corporation in a stage where it's not completely evil yet, but is starting to show seeds of the bad things it's going to do later on in the franchise. The ship Prometheus is clean, pristine, and white....much like some parts of the Nostromo. It has areas that are sure to remind most of aspects of the doomed Nostromo including a dining area and an overhead compouter unit (very neat). We also get glimpses of proto-aliens (facehugger, and Xenomorph), and the Space Jockey does play a HUGE role in the film. That said, the events in the film don't appear to directly influence events seen in the first Alien..... but they do give us some answers. So....it's a film that is directly related to Alien....but I wouldn't really call it a prequel (It's a prequel only in that it takes place before Alien and has some recognizable creatures in it). It's a hard film to define.
The film Prometheus is in reality about the nature of discovery and exploration, and it's also about the true nature of the Space Jockeys (in this film, they are referred to as Engineers, but I'm going to continue to call them Space Jockeys). The film also is very much about science vs. religion. We do finally learn who the Space Jockeys are, and luckily Scott found some way to keep their scale just as impressive as it was in Alien. They are still incredibly large beings. I don't want to say too much more, but they may not be as friendly as we had hoped they would be, and the film does challenge our preconceived notions of who these majestic and terrifying beings really are. We also get some answers about exactly what Xenomorphs are and where they come from, but I'm not going to delve any further into that answer here... wouldn't want to ruin too much of the fun.
So yes, the film does give us some half-answers to questions raised in the first Alien film. If you were looking for definitive answers, you came to the wrong film. The film raises many questions of its own, and even it's answers are full of questions. Damon Lindelof, one of the writers of Lost, wrote the script for Prometheus and it shows. That said the questions it does leave us with and the answers we get are deep enough that most will be analyzing them for weeks/months to come.
Prometheus is a film that is quite unlike anything we have viewed recently: It is an intelligent man's sci-fi film. The marketing team has been making this film out to look like a horror film much like Alien was...but in reality it's really not. It's a heavy sci-fi film with some horror influences/aspects in it. Imagine the first 30-40 minutes of Alien stretched into two hours, except the atmosphere isn't as strong here (Scott does an admirable job at attempting to re-create the atmosphere from the first film, and for the most part he succeeds but he changes enough in the film so that this film comes across as something completely different). There are long stretches of exposition and dialogue, and there are some slow parts in it (this never really bothered me to be honest). This may not translate well with general audiences, I think we live in an ADHD world now where most audiences like things fast paced and like to have everything explained to them . Prometheus goes against all this, and I imagine this may frustrate a good few.
If you haven't seen Alien yet, then you MUST see it before viewing Prometheus...things will make more sense and you'll have a better overall experience if you view that timeless classic first. As much as I would love to say Prometheus is a stand alone film....it's really not. The elements of Alien are so deeply ingrained in this film that without prior knowledge of the universe of that film I imgaine most would get lost. It is indeed another Alien film, but it's pretty different from what we have seen before, so don't walk in expecting Alien.
Prometheus is a film that dares to be different, and in an age where the norm is copy and paste, that makes all the difference. It's far from a perfect film , and it most likely won't be what most expected...but it does succeed at tickling your brain cells. I know my head is still spinning with all the things this film left for me to chew on. Prometheus is a success, it set out to be a different kind of sci-fi film and it succeeds beautifully. Let's hope there's a sequel, so we can get some more answers/things to chew on (and as far as I'm concerned, as long as Ridley is making Alien films I'm in heaven).
4/5 Stars
UPDATE: February 2014.
After watching the film numerous times I've come to these conclusions:
Space Jockeys are a militaristic species
They created humanity, we don't know why
For some unknown reason they don't like us anymore, or have simply grown tired of us. it is implied they want to create a new life form.
They want to destroy us and use our DNA to create new life forms.
They have several "installations" where attempts to create an organism/organisms that could destroy humanity while creating new life at the same time occur. Since Jockey's have the same DNA as humans, the organisms they create inevitably turn on them first and do the same process on the Jockey's as they would on humans, This is what occurred on LV-223 (Prometheus) and LV-426 (Alien).
Before we do any delving, let's see what the plot has in store for us today. Prometheus is about discovery, and what happens when meddling humans (and androids) mess around with things we shouldn't be messing around with. Dr. Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and boyfriend Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Greene) are scientists (Archaeologists? Geologists??? The mind can't remember right now) who discover similar cave paintings across the world that depict a star clutter/solar system. Shaw and Holloway assume it's an invitation for us to meet our creators....but is it? Either way the not-quite-evil-yet corporation Weyland Industries decides to fund a voyage to the clutter/system and sends mysterious android David (Michael Fassbender) and corporate dog Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron) along for the ride. When the Prometheus touches down on LV-223, they receive terrifying answers to their questions (as do we) and are chucked into a race to save the earth and undo the damage they have caused.
By far the best actors here are Charlize Theron, who puts on a slightly menacing but still human performance as Vickers, one of my favorite characters in the film (also helps that she looks downright yummy in a skin tight suit). Michael Fassbender is also superb as the eerily aloof and mysterious android David, who has his orders of his own to follow(The safety of the rest of the crew be damned. Yes....David does indeed have an Ash-like vibe to him, although he doesn't seem as downright evil as Ash did) and questions. David inhabits a grey area of definitely not good, but not really evil that I really dug and Fassbender pulls off the blank eyed eerie android thing perfectly. Together, David and Vickers have a sort of rivalry going on, and there is definitely a line drawn between the two. They are both similar, but different.....is one more of a good guy/girl than the other one is? I'll let you decide. Another fantastic performance is Idris Elba who plays Janek, captain of the Prometheus. The script doesn't give him much to do, but Elba makes the role his own nonetheless and creates a pretty compelling character out of nothing....a great triumph if you ask me. Rapace does a good job as Shaw, but is never fully compelling as the faith questioning scientist and Greene is essentially a throw away as Holloway, a character that seems to only have one real purpose. Something interesting does begin to happen to him, but before the consequences of this can be fully explored he's tossed to the side. Guy Pearce is also awesome as Weyland CEO Peter Weyland. We only get a few glimpses into his character, but he still does a fantastic job as a man who has questions of his own about humanity. Pearce acts in heavy old age makeup, but that doesn't seem a challenge for this talented actor.
Back in the directors seat is the legendary film maker Ridley Scott, who created the first Alien and Blade Runner, both are sci-fi classics. It is a treat to see him return to a genre and a franchise he excelled so well at, and you can really tell he is having a blast re-visiting a universe he created so many years ago and getting the chance to more fully explore it.
The film was shot in 3D, and the scale this gives the film is fantastic. The film is full of awe-inspiring scenes, but the impact of the 3D is lost somewhere after the first act of the film. While it is some of the better 3D you can sample today, I still say stick with 2D since the 3D doesnt really affect the film all that much save for a few cool shots and some added sense of scale here and there.
The question that has been burning in people's heads ever since Prometheus was announced....is is this film a prequel to Alien? The answer is sort of/kind of/not really. Prometheus does indeed take place in the same universe as Alien, and the moon that Prometheus takes place on is LV-223 which, I assume, is only moons away from LV-426 (the planet from the film Alien). This means that during the film we are essentially a hop skip and a jump to LV-426 (pretty cool huh). The Weyland Corporation plays a huge role in the film, and we do get a good enough glimpse at the company to satisfy mosts appetites. It is fun to see the corporation in a stage where it's not completely evil yet, but is starting to show seeds of the bad things it's going to do later on in the franchise. The ship Prometheus is clean, pristine, and white....much like some parts of the Nostromo. It has areas that are sure to remind most of aspects of the doomed Nostromo including a dining area and an overhead compouter unit (very neat). We also get glimpses of proto-aliens (facehugger, and Xenomorph), and the Space Jockey does play a HUGE role in the film. That said, the events in the film don't appear to directly influence events seen in the first Alien..... but they do give us some answers. So....it's a film that is directly related to Alien....but I wouldn't really call it a prequel (It's a prequel only in that it takes place before Alien and has some recognizable creatures in it). It's a hard film to define.
The film Prometheus is in reality about the nature of discovery and exploration, and it's also about the true nature of the Space Jockeys (in this film, they are referred to as Engineers, but I'm going to continue to call them Space Jockeys). The film also is very much about science vs. religion. We do finally learn who the Space Jockeys are, and luckily Scott found some way to keep their scale just as impressive as it was in Alien. They are still incredibly large beings. I don't want to say too much more, but they may not be as friendly as we had hoped they would be, and the film does challenge our preconceived notions of who these majestic and terrifying beings really are. We also get some answers about exactly what Xenomorphs are and where they come from, but I'm not going to delve any further into that answer here... wouldn't want to ruin too much of the fun.
So yes, the film does give us some half-answers to questions raised in the first Alien film. If you were looking for definitive answers, you came to the wrong film. The film raises many questions of its own, and even it's answers are full of questions. Damon Lindelof, one of the writers of Lost, wrote the script for Prometheus and it shows. That said the questions it does leave us with and the answers we get are deep enough that most will be analyzing them for weeks/months to come.
Prometheus is a film that is quite unlike anything we have viewed recently: It is an intelligent man's sci-fi film. The marketing team has been making this film out to look like a horror film much like Alien was...but in reality it's really not. It's a heavy sci-fi film with some horror influences/aspects in it. Imagine the first 30-40 minutes of Alien stretched into two hours, except the atmosphere isn't as strong here (Scott does an admirable job at attempting to re-create the atmosphere from the first film, and for the most part he succeeds but he changes enough in the film so that this film comes across as something completely different). There are long stretches of exposition and dialogue, and there are some slow parts in it (this never really bothered me to be honest). This may not translate well with general audiences, I think we live in an ADHD world now where most audiences like things fast paced and like to have everything explained to them . Prometheus goes against all this, and I imagine this may frustrate a good few.
If you haven't seen Alien yet, then you MUST see it before viewing Prometheus...things will make more sense and you'll have a better overall experience if you view that timeless classic first. As much as I would love to say Prometheus is a stand alone film....it's really not. The elements of Alien are so deeply ingrained in this film that without prior knowledge of the universe of that film I imgaine most would get lost. It is indeed another Alien film, but it's pretty different from what we have seen before, so don't walk in expecting Alien.
Prometheus is a film that dares to be different, and in an age where the norm is copy and paste, that makes all the difference. It's far from a perfect film , and it most likely won't be what most expected...but it does succeed at tickling your brain cells. I know my head is still spinning with all the things this film left for me to chew on. Prometheus is a success, it set out to be a different kind of sci-fi film and it succeeds beautifully. Let's hope there's a sequel, so we can get some more answers/things to chew on (and as far as I'm concerned, as long as Ridley is making Alien films I'm in heaven).
4/5 Stars
UPDATE: February 2014.
After watching the film numerous times I've come to these conclusions:
Space Jockeys are a militaristic species
They created humanity, we don't know why
For some unknown reason they don't like us anymore, or have simply grown tired of us. it is implied they want to create a new life form.
They want to destroy us and use our DNA to create new life forms.
They have several "installations" where attempts to create an organism/organisms that could destroy humanity while creating new life at the same time occur. Since Jockey's have the same DNA as humans, the organisms they create inevitably turn on them first and do the same process on the Jockey's as they would on humans, This is what occurred on LV-223 (Prometheus) and LV-426 (Alien).
Sunday, June 3, 2012
PIRANHA 3DD DOUBLES THE DUMB
It is my unfortunate duty today to report back on the sequel I've been waiting for: Piranha 3DD. Does it have the sea legs to stand next to Piranha 3D? Let me save you the trouble friends, the answer is a sad no...no it does not.
Piranha 3D was a truly fun, great film. A fact that Piranha 3DD unwisely reminds us of by continually re-using footage from the first film, and by throwing in cameos from characters seen in the first film. This is a trait many sequels seem more than happy to do. It would appear that sequels think that by reminding us of how great the original was, that that will be enough to quench fans appetites.....naturally this rarely, if ever, works.
So, what's the story this time around? Perverted Chet (played with some glee by David Koechner) opens what may be the first water park to encourage fornication and nudity on its premises (sounds like my kind of place, tee hee). His step-daughter Maddy (Danielle Panabaker) does not like this. Eventually the fishies from the first film evacuate an abandoned Lake Victoria and make their way (VERY SLOWLY) to said water park. Some non-chaos erupts, and one fishy even decides to swim up a girls vagina (this actually leads to a fairly funny scene later on).
Most of the actors here don't even try to act. There's corrupt deputy Kyle (Chris Zylka), who used to date Maddy. There's nice guy Barry (Matt Bush) who has had a crush on Maddy for a very long time. Danielle Panabaker as Maddy is the more-or-less star here, even though she's as bland as you get. There's Shelby (Katrina Bowden), the poor girl who just wants to lose her virginity. You may wonder why I'm not really attempting to describe the characters here better. Well, the reason why is that there's not much to describe. These aren't characters so much as they are cardboard cut-outs....bland cereal boxes.
The effects in Piranha 3DD have been watered down. While there are some practical effects seen here, for the most part the film just glances over them. The CGI for the fish isn't necessarily impressive, but the Piranha still look pretty damn cool nontheless.
The pacing for the film is also terrible. It takes the fishies a good 51 minutes for them to reach the water park (the film runs at 84 minutes), and when they finally do the chaos that erupts is so non-chaotic you might as well take a snooze (The sequence is also terribly shot and paced).
I would give this film a one star rating if it weren't for several factors: There are some genuinely funny, laugh out loud moments in the film...their few and far between, but their definitely there. That only gets you so far though, what brings this film up just enough are the performances by The Hoff (in what is easily one of his better roles), Christopher Lloyd (Doing his usual zany routine with charm, wit, and passion. He's not Doc Brown here like he was in the first film, but it'll have to do), Paul Scheer ( Back as his character from the first film, reduced to an extremely minor cameo), and Ving Rhames (Back as his Deputy character from the first film, who is surprisingly not dead. He is reduced to an extremely minor cameo as well, which makes me wonder: why even bring back old characters if you're not going to use them properly? Anyways, he has one of the funniest scenes in the film).
Piranha 3DD ups the tits, but dilutes just about everything else that made the first film so great (Many more here...some nice, some not so nice. Unfortunately the film doesn't have fun with the nudity and doesnt even bother to linger on any of the body parts audiences are paying good money to see). It's very messy, poorly paced, lacks the fun atmosphere the first film created, and is badly acted by the leads. The only thing that saves the film is its talented cast of supporting roles/cameos, all of which steal the film. It's not particularly fun, chaotic, or bloody....but it does have its LOL moments. It's worth a viewing if only for the returning characters and The Hoff. Don't expect much from this dud, except maybe a few laughs here and there. Piranha 3DD is, unfortunately, dead on arrival.
1 1/2 out of 5 Stars
Piranha 3D was a truly fun, great film. A fact that Piranha 3DD unwisely reminds us of by continually re-using footage from the first film, and by throwing in cameos from characters seen in the first film. This is a trait many sequels seem more than happy to do. It would appear that sequels think that by reminding us of how great the original was, that that will be enough to quench fans appetites.....naturally this rarely, if ever, works.
So, what's the story this time around? Perverted Chet (played with some glee by David Koechner) opens what may be the first water park to encourage fornication and nudity on its premises (sounds like my kind of place, tee hee). His step-daughter Maddy (Danielle Panabaker) does not like this. Eventually the fishies from the first film evacuate an abandoned Lake Victoria and make their way (VERY SLOWLY) to said water park. Some non-chaos erupts, and one fishy even decides to swim up a girls vagina (this actually leads to a fairly funny scene later on).
Most of the actors here don't even try to act. There's corrupt deputy Kyle (Chris Zylka), who used to date Maddy. There's nice guy Barry (Matt Bush) who has had a crush on Maddy for a very long time. Danielle Panabaker as Maddy is the more-or-less star here, even though she's as bland as you get. There's Shelby (Katrina Bowden), the poor girl who just wants to lose her virginity. You may wonder why I'm not really attempting to describe the characters here better. Well, the reason why is that there's not much to describe. These aren't characters so much as they are cardboard cut-outs....bland cereal boxes.
The effects in Piranha 3DD have been watered down. While there are some practical effects seen here, for the most part the film just glances over them. The CGI for the fish isn't necessarily impressive, but the Piranha still look pretty damn cool nontheless.
The pacing for the film is also terrible. It takes the fishies a good 51 minutes for them to reach the water park (the film runs at 84 minutes), and when they finally do the chaos that erupts is so non-chaotic you might as well take a snooze (The sequence is also terribly shot and paced).
I would give this film a one star rating if it weren't for several factors: There are some genuinely funny, laugh out loud moments in the film...their few and far between, but their definitely there. That only gets you so far though, what brings this film up just enough are the performances by The Hoff (in what is easily one of his better roles), Christopher Lloyd (Doing his usual zany routine with charm, wit, and passion. He's not Doc Brown here like he was in the first film, but it'll have to do), Paul Scheer ( Back as his character from the first film, reduced to an extremely minor cameo), and Ving Rhames (Back as his Deputy character from the first film, who is surprisingly not dead. He is reduced to an extremely minor cameo as well, which makes me wonder: why even bring back old characters if you're not going to use them properly? Anyways, he has one of the funniest scenes in the film).
Piranha 3DD ups the tits, but dilutes just about everything else that made the first film so great (Many more here...some nice, some not so nice. Unfortunately the film doesn't have fun with the nudity and doesnt even bother to linger on any of the body parts audiences are paying good money to see). It's very messy, poorly paced, lacks the fun atmosphere the first film created, and is badly acted by the leads. The only thing that saves the film is its talented cast of supporting roles/cameos, all of which steal the film. It's not particularly fun, chaotic, or bloody....but it does have its LOL moments. It's worth a viewing if only for the returning characters and The Hoff. Don't expect much from this dud, except maybe a few laughs here and there. Piranha 3DD is, unfortunately, dead on arrival.
1 1/2 out of 5 Stars
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)