Logan Marshall-Green, Noomi Rapace, and Michael Fassbender star in Prometheus. Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox
It’s difficult not to become completely encapsulated in an epic horror/sci-fi the likes of Ridley Scott’s Alien from 1979. With the standards set from that film, any movie associated with it will be viewed under extreme scrutiny. Luckily, Prometheus separates itself from the original by focusing on the science and adds elements of horror to spice things up.
In Prometheus, a scientific discovery leads to a galactic exploration to find the origins of humanity. What they find when they reach their destination is nothing close to what they expected.
Ridley Scott, the once legendary director, has returned to where his major success had initialized with classics like Blade Runner. With the aid of writers Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindeloff, Scott takes us on a journey that explores man’s greatest mystery: Where do we come from? Both director and writers achieve an incredible level of thought provoking ideas and thrilling storytelling. However, they also left a lot of unexplored venues which will prevent this movie from reaching the stratospheric acclaim of its predecessor.
Casting for this movie hit an almost perfect score with an excellent ensemble of actors to portray the various archetypes. Michael Fassbender is yet again phenomenal in his role as the multi-layered, intriguing android. Alongside him, Noomi Rapace shows equal skill in manifesting her character’s emotions (very reminiscent of Sigourney Weaver in 1979). While the rest of the cast was great, Charlize Theron completely lacked everything that was required to make her performance memorable. Mind you, it is hard to be memorable when your character appeared to be tacked on haphazardly.
The cinematography is beautiful, but the musical score lacked atmosphere to really provide punch to crucial moments.
Scott’s use of the added 3rd dimension works phenomenally. The entire film viewed through 3D glasses delivered the most realistic “looking through a window” effect to date. Definitely worth the additional cost.
Bottom Line: No matter how great this film appears to be, the nagging flaws keep it from becoming an epic classic.
Sam Worthington and Elizabeth Banks star in Man on a Ledge. Courtesy of eOne Entertainment
If you were wrongly accused of a crime and sentenced to 25 years in jail, how far would you go to prove your innocence and bring down the people who set you up? Nick Cassidy goes the ultimate distance venturing out onto a 21st storey ledge in order to prove his innocence.
Not without its faults, Man on a Ledge manages to provide a thrilling ride with its suspense and amazing cinematography.
With only a documentary under his belt, director Asger Leth alongside veteran cinematographer Paul Cameron (Man on Fire, Gone in Sixty Seconds) take us to dizzying heights and keep us on the edge of our seats for almost two hours as we watch the story unravel. The pace of the film is tight, but there are definitely a few unnecessary comedic relief moments that deserved a Karate chop in the editing room.
After years in the business, Australian born Sam Worthington’s acting is very hard to appreciate due to his very distracting and pitiful American accent. Elizabeth Banks, Ed Harris, Anthony Mackie and the rest of the cast range from decent to good.
In the Blu Ray + DVD combo pack, you get a solid presentation of the film both visually and orally. On top of that, there is an excellent “The Ledge” featurette that takes you behind the scenes to explain how they managed to film acrophobic (fear of heights) scenes. They’ve also included a feature length commentary with actress Elizabeth Banks.
Bottom Line: While not perfect, there’s still an adrenaline pumping ride worth experiencing in this home release.
SAM WORTHINGTON as Perseus and LIAM NEESON as Zeus in the mythical Greek action adventure, WRATH OF THE TITANS. Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
Do you ever wonder how a movie that was panned by critics and the public, like 2010’s Clash of the Titans could possibly receive a sequel? Grossing nearly $500 million worldwide was more than enough incentive for Warner Bros. to green light another godly battle in Wrath of the Titans.
In this sequel, Greek demigod (half human, half god) Perseus treks down to the depths of the underworld to rescue his imprisoned father Zeus.
Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, and Ralph Fiennes reprise their roles and are able to deliver better performances with the improved script from a fresh trio of writers. Of the entire cast, the only memorable performance came from Bill Nighy as the comically, albeit slightly insane blacksmith to the gods.
Jonathan Liebesman (Battle Los Angeles) was brought in to take the reins as director and gives the screenplay better flow than his predecessor.
Everyone who, in 2010, watched Clash of the Titans in 3D will remember the horribly rushed treatment (simply used as a cash-grab after Avatar’s astonishing success). This movie has also received a post-production 3D treatment which surprisingly turned out better than the first film. However, the inconsistent depth and multiple jumping-out-of-the-screen effects do not equal a worthwhile 3D experience.
Last but not least, beware of the poorly mastered dialogue, which is difficult to comprehend during a number of scenes.
Bottom Line: There is some entertainment to be had from this sequel, but nothing worth more than a rental to enjoy in the comfort of your own home.
