Reviews: Movies - Prometheus

'Prometheus' on the cover of 'Escape' by Apollo Cinema

'Prometheus' - director Ridley Scott's latest and highly anticipated dark science fiction film - was released on the 1st of June in Europe (except for France, Switzerland and Belgium, who got to see it from May 30th so that it didn't contend with the start of UEFA championship, apparently) and will be open for public viewing on June 8th in the US and Canada.

The ship: Prometheus

The film takes place before the story of the original 'Alien' (released 1979), and focuses on the search by scientists Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) for the origins of life on Earth. Their search, which is backed by the powerful Weyland Corperation, takes them to a distant star system based on archaeological evidence found on an island of the coast of Scotland. Although it is very apparent that the events in this movie take place in the same universe as 'Alien' did, it's kind of unclear where it stands as part of the series or as a reboot. Scott himself has expressed how the film "will explore

it's own mythology and ideas", though what that means I'm still not entirely sure!

Entering a giant skull building in a storm - sounds safe to me!

The plot contains lots of philosophical subjects about life and the creators of life as the two go in search of "the engineers" who created life on earth, and the reasons why. The plot is a little slow to get started, but gets better as it progresses. As with all the other films in the 'Alien' mythos, things take a turn for the worse after a relatively short period of time. Though thats pretty much expected! There are a few bits of the plot that seem to raise questions that don't get immediate answers (or just don't really make much sense), so I'm assuming that there will be another film after this. Still, that's not necessarily a bad thing!

As well as a fairly intriguing story line, the set design is well done and echoes the style of 'Alien' somewhat. The technology seems believable and functional, which helps the illusion of a futuristic setting and even Giger-style original designs show up, giving a nice dark alien atmosphere to certain sections of the film. One thing I did notice, however, is that in the future, wearing underwear that appears to be made of bandages seems to be en vogue!

Shaw: Clearly disturbed by the future bandage fashions

Anyway, the effects were good; the 3D is well done and adds to the atmosphere, rather than just having pointless scenes of objects flying in your face to show "this is in 3D". There was a slight problem with the titles in the film being somewhat blurry, but that doesn't really have an effect on the film! The prosthetics and make up effects were also solid throughout (although the old man make up looked slightly strange and unnatural).

All the actors played their parts well and were believable (though Guy Pearce's performance as the elderly Peter Weyland is a little weird!), which added to the atmosphere and allowed emotional connections. Charlize Theron as Meredith Vickers and Idris Elba as Captain Janek also both act well in their roles pretty much playing as opposites to each other. They help to give the film a solid grounding whilst also aiding plot development. The main part of Shaw carried the film well but had occasional moments where her character's emotions seemed erractic. Though this did fit well with her character and the stresses she was under. 

A refined android and his over-sized cocktail shaker

The best acting was by Michael Fassbender, playing android David, whos calm demeanor and emotional neutrality makes his character have a constant uncertainty to it. However, I would also have liked to have seen more of the sub characters such as Fifeild (Sean Harris) and Millburn (Rafe Spall) and seen them more developed, but they didn't get much screen time. 

Overall, 'Prometheus' was enjoyable and it had a good sense of brooding dread in parts (though it isn't quite as dark as earlier 'Alien' films) and I appreciated the creature designs and set designs and the development of the aliens plot. Though, to be honest the film did have a few slight confusing elements which didn't make immediate sense. This makes the film feel more like part of an upcoming series of films more than a stand alone story. This perhaps isn't really a bad thing and makes it feel more part of a larger story. I would say that the film is well worth watching, but don't go in expecting Alien -1, because the film really isn't really that, but something new altogether!

For trailers, discussion boards, stills, news, and more information about 'Prometheus' visit the official website:

http://www.prometheus-movie.com/

Monster Monday: Alien

"In space, no one can hear you scream", but on a spaceship, everyone can

Partly to make up for the lack of a Science (Fiction) Sunday post yesterday (thank you internet connection! -.-) and partly because it's a fantastic monster, today's Monster Monday scarer is The Alien from the, er...'Alien' franchise. I'm just going to focus on The Alien (or Xenomorph as it's sometimes referred to) from the original 1979 movie, because they develop and change over the course of the series, taking on the traits of their various host species. So, that said, on we go...

After the crew of a freighter spaceship answer a distress call eminating from an unknown moon, following which a member of the crew, Kane, is then attacked by a parasitic alien that attaches itself to his face (hence the name 'Facehugger') via a tube the it inserts into his mouth. Following this, he goes into a coma for hours, but then, seemingly of its own accord, the Facehugger releases him, dies and Kane then seems perfectly fine.

However, the Facehugger had not, in fact, released him as the crew had previously thought, but had instead implanted a different parasite into his lungs. During a rather gory, and extremely memorable dinner table scene, this new invader, the Chestburster, explodes out of Kane's chest and scuttles away.

The Chestburster

This Chestburster then goes onto become the gorgeously disgusting and overtly sexual androgynous adult Alien. Dripping in copious amounts of goop, bleeding acid and sporting razor sharp teeth, it does huge amounts of damage to both the ship and any crew members caught in its path. The Alien is both scary and awesome and the same time; a "perfect organism. Its structural perfection is matched only by its hostility" (Ash, 'Alien').  

A less dripping, but still fascinating, lifesize
Alien suit that I saw at Torquay Museum

Credit for the design goes to surrealist artist H.R. Giger, who came up with the initial Alien design based on his 'Necronomicon IV' work, as well as the Facehugger, Chestburster, Space Jockey and alien ships. (If you've never seen Giger's work before, you need to. It's amazing! He also did the designs for the extraterrestrial in 'Species' too). However, some the praise for the long-limbed, phallic-headed alien also needs to go to director Ridley Scott and the effects team that helped to realise Giger's artistic visions of the creature on film, as well as 7'2" tall Bolaji Bodejo, who was the eponymous 'Alien' for the movie.

Super reviling, but somewhat alluring, The Alien is an aesthetically stunning, bizarre and merciless monster. Excellent!

Games: Naughty Bear

If you go down to the woods today..you'd better make sure you invite Naughty Bear or you'll be sorry! Naughty Bear is a game, released by 505 Games this year, with a darkly amusing plot and original concept. The story begins when Naughty Bear is not invited to Daddles' birthday party and when he tries to be nice, the other bears laugh at him. So he does what all self-respecting, criminally insane protagonists do...gets revenge!

Meet Naughty Bear, a sociopathic teddy bear out for revenge and stuffed with evil intentions. Striking terror in the hearts of all bears, Naughty Bear lets you scare the stuffinf out of your victims before you impale them on your machete. Filled with tons of mischief and over-the-top cartoon violence, this one of a kind adventure game is built on an innovative AI foundation that makes this game hours of fun for gamers of all levels.

The game is out now on the PS3 and XBox and looks quite fun, despite its poor reviews, which suggest that it is indeed fun, but only for about an hour or so. However, I appreciate the horror-themed trailers for it. Official trailer, plus 'Slasher Bear', 'Freddy Bear', 'Bear Witch', 'Alien' and 'Jaws' trailers behind the jump!