Movie Review: Hope Springs

Plot: After thirty years of marriage, Kay (Meryl Streep) feels as if her marriage has hit a plateau. Much to Arnold’s (Tommy Lee Jones) displeasure, they set off on a week-long intensive marriage counseling session to see if there is anything left worth saving.

Last summer one film came and took me by surprise, and that was Crazy, Stupid, Love. I didn’t see a lot of promotion for it and I went into it with low expectations. Hope Springs is hands down this year’s Crazy, Stupid, Love.
Hope Springs works on so many levels. Obviously you can’t get much more A-list, star power than 17 time Academy Award nominee and three time winner Meryl Streep and three time Academy Award nominee and one time winner Tommy Lee Jones. These two are where it’s at if you need a good drama, but to knock it out of the park like they did in a comedy…..kudos.

I think this film is an important one because we live in a country where the divorce rate is over FIFTY percent. That’s devastating. And while that statistic is devastating, another sad fact is after 30 years of marriage, many fade into nothing more than two people coexisting in a house with little to discuss and even less affection shown. Hope Springs does a wonderful job tackling this issue.
Obviously with these two, the performances are spot on. Meryl Streep plays Kay who is desperate for love, conversation and affection from her husband. She is miserable in her life because she is miserable in her marriage. Your heart really goes out to her because she tries so hard to grab the attention of her husband.

Jones’ character is the exact opposite. Arnold is stubborn, hard headed and oblivious to any signs his wife tries to throw his way. He has a robotic schedule that consists of the same events every day. Upon Kay’s proposal to leave town and attend a week long marriage counseling session, he laughs the idea off. Upon arriving, he nags and complains the entire time as old men do. Jones’ performance in the film is hysterical. I know men just like him and director David Frankel does a fantastic job getting a great comedic performance from him.

Steve Carrell also stars in the film as their therapist, Dr. Feld. After watching the film it occurred to me that Carrell needs to give up his comedic roles and focus on more serious ones. As I watch Little Miss Sunshine, Dan In Real Life, Crazy, Stupid, Love and Hope Springs, I think about what a great actor he is. But then I watch Date Night, Evan Almighty, Get Smart and Dinner for Schmucks, I think that the guy is terrible. He once again gives a great performance in the film as he does in all of his dramatic roles he has taken, and I truly believe the guy has an Oscar performance in him if he gets the right role.

If I asked you who David Frankel was, you more than likely wouldn’t know, but I think he will soon be a sought after director. Frankel has had numerous hits with; The Devil Wears Prada, Marley & Me and the HIGHLY overlooked and underrated film The Big Year. If I have to sit through a chick flick, I want them to be worth my time. So far both of his has been worth it as well as his other two films. I hope he can keep the streak going.

While Hope Springs is hilarious with strong performances, it still can’t get away from a typical chick flick formula. Towards the end it does draw out and dip down into a little too much sappiness. It’s a predictable formula, but it doesn’t get too bad.

Hope Springs showed me what I don’t want my marriage to become and is perfect for any married couple whether it’s of thirty years, fifteen years or six months.

Final Verdict: 8/10

Movie Review: The Campaign

Plot: After a scandal hurts Cam Brady’s fifth consecutive run at Congress, two CEO’s influence dim witted Marty Huggins, son of a popular retired congressman, to run against Brady so that they can have control over the North Carolina District.

Comedy is a tough gig to keep going strong at. When you look at the careers of great comedians such as Eddie Murphy, Adam Sandler and Will Ferrell, they all have one thing in common; their careers get worse as they get older. How long can a fast speaking, hot tempered Eddie Murphy character continue to be funny? How long can a yelling, high pitched, uneducated slacker Adam Sandler character continue to be funny? And how long can an over confident, yelling while stringing a bunch of nonsense words together Will Ferrell character continue to be funny? In my opinion all of these guys have had their time. It’s not their fault, they are funny but after five and six movies of the same thing, they lose their punch. Zach Galafanakis is right on track with the rest of them. Sure, he’s hilarious in The Hangover, but did anyone else think that the second time around the gig was kind of up? And Due Date was funny as well, but as you watched didn’t you think to yourself, “He’s just like Alan from The Hangover”. So when trailers began to run for The Campaign, I thought to myself that this would be it for Galafanakis. I was already convinced that Ferrell would fall flat, but I still thought Zach had one more shot before his act gets old. Time will tell if that’s the case for Galafanakis, he and Owen Wilson have a film coming out, followed by The Hangover 3. But until then, he has at least gone out on a high note.

The film starts off with Ferrell’s character and I was surprised to find Ferrell funny again. Director Jay Roach was very smart about how he approached the film. First was giving it an “R” rating. The last Ferrell movie I enjoyed was Step Brothers, another “R” rated film. This gave Ferrell more range with his character since there would be no limitations.

The second thing Roach and the writers did was split it 60/40, as in Galafanakis was in the film sixty percent of the time compared to Ferrell’s forty, very smart because Ferrell can get overbearing quickly.

Ferrell doesn’t give any kind of miraculous performance, it’s the same thing we’ve seen a dozen times from him, it just happens to work this time around. He’s a sleazy congressman who gets caught having an affair after leaving a dirty voicemail on the wrong phone number. He has a cutthroat approach to the campaign doing anything it takes to win. I hope Ferrell continues to take this approach in his roles. He does better as an esemble. When I think of the films I like,I think of Old School, Anchorman and Step Brothers. All ensemble casts. His only solo film I liked was Talledega Nights. This is the way to go for him.

Galafanakis is the same story. I did find him to be the funnier of the two, but once again he is playing the same character we’ve seen before, only this time a bit dumber. His character Marty comes off charmingly dumb as he wrestles with who he is and who his campaign manager wants him to become. I don't know how they got through their scenes because his accent in the film is hilarious.

I found Dylann McDermott's character to be a nice surprise. McDermott plays Tim Wattley, Marty's campaign manager. Wattley is your typical “man in black” villain. I’m a fan of McDermott’s but he has never quite found his role after The Practice ended. I thought he was headed for a nice comeback with American Horror Story, but that show ended up taking a different turn. He has a nice dark comedy vibe to him that he should pursue more of. I felt like they could have worked him into more of the story, but he was definitely a bright spot for the film.

The third thing Roach and the writers did that was clever, was making the film appealing to two different crowds. If you don’t keep up with politics, you will enjoy this film as a simple comedy. If you do keep up with politics, you may enjoy the film a little more as they have thrown in a lot of references to things that are going on today. John Lithgow and Dan Akroyd play the Motch brothers, billionaire CEO’s who are loosely based off the Koch brothers who have been accused of paying millions to get people into Congress and more recently for paying $100 million dollars to have Paul Ryan put on the Republican ticket for Vice President. Had the film been too political or shoved one’s political stance down the audience’s throat, it could have been a turnoff, but they did a great job at balancing that.

The film was much better and much funnier than I could have hoped for. Enjoy it, it could be a while before we get a decent film out of either one of these guys anytime soon……I’m looking at you Anchorman 2 and Hangover 3.

Final Verdict: 7/10

Movie Review: Total Recall

Plot: In the future, most of Earth has been destroyed by chemical warfare and has been divided into two hemispheres. Doug Quaid (Colin Farrell) is a factory worker, living with his wife Lori (Kate Beckinsale) in the poverty stricken hemisphere known as the Colony. Plagued by dreams and wanting more from his life, he visits ReKall to have a dream vacation implanted. As the procedure begins, Quaid discovers that he’s actually a secret agent named Hauser, whose memory was erased by the president of Euromerica, Cohaagen (Bryan Cranston). Now with Lori, herself an agent in Cohaagen’s force, trying to kill him, Quaid/Hauser must go on the run, and discover the secret his suppressed memories hold before it’s too late.

In 1990 Total Recall, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, hit theaters and became the suprise highest grossing film of the year. After its release, Columbia Pictures tried for years to get a sequel on the screen with several failed attempts. After a sequel couldn't be worked out they began trying for a remake, which also went throught failed attempt after failed attempt, as well as a television series that was cancelled after one season. After 22 years of efforts, Total Recall has finally made it back to theaters, and with a cast like Colin Farrell, Jessica Biel, Kate Beckinsale, Bryan Cranston and Bill Nighy it should be pretty good right?

The first twenty minutes of this film builds up to something potentially great. Director Len Wiseman has built a beautiful technologically advanced world that is the best I've seen since Spielberg's Minority Report. Much like Minority Report, the weapons, tools, vehichles and appliances are vastly advanced while keeping them in the realm of possibility of one day acutally having the potential to exist.

Sadly, once the action begins the film goes downhill quick. I'm not a fan of "chase" films because most of them have the same formula; the protagonist is on the run, the antagonist catches up to the protagonist, big action scene, the protagonist gets away, and this formula is repeated for two hours. It is hard to develop characters and a plot with a set up like this, and Total Recall is no exception to the rule. It's a mess. Films like Minority Report, Catch Me If You Can and the Bourne series take time with their films. Yes, they are on the run but there doesn't have to be an unrealistic action sequence every fifteen minutes. It's not a race and it's ok for a character to stay in one place for more than five minutes.

Most of the build up going in for me was the cast they had lined up, but unfortunately they were a disappointement and not even the great Bryan Cranston could hold his own. I thought this was Farrell's chance for a big comeback, but he had next to no emotion in the film. He looks bored and uninterested in most of the tense scenes. Don't get me wrong, the writers are to blame for this mess, but he is to blame for the performance. I was excited to see Kate Beckinsale in her first role as a villain and for a moment she does really well. But having your husband as the director can really blow it for you sometimes because she was in this film WAY to much. I mean Len Wiseman crammed her in as much as he possibly could and tried to boost her up as some action star. It failed big time not to mention she had the worst lines out of anyone. So when Jessica Biel enters the film, I'm thinking that maybe she can pick up the slack but she was the worst out of them all. Her character was uninteresting and more of a problem than a help. So by the time Bryan Cranston shows up, it's to little to late for him as he is a cliche'd power hungry villain that falls flat.

But the main offenders of this trainwreck are the writers. I'm suprised that Columbia Pictures were not more aggresive in their hires since the studio wanted this to be a franchise so badly. Between the two writers they have a resume of films such as; Salt, Street Kings, Ultraviolet and Race to Witch Mountain. These B to C level writers do not cut it when making a film with this kind of budget. As a viewer I was insulted at the countless stupid scenerios that we are supposed to just believe and accept. 1) When a man walks into a room shooting at officers, they don't stand and watch while only one officer fires back at a time. 2) If your going at high speeds through the center of the Earth and your standing on top of the transportation device, you're not going to be ok, you're going to fly off first of all and burst into flames secondly. 3) Task forces can't appear out of thin air. It's 2012 and I demand a smarter script. This could have been pulled off in the 80's or early 90's but not today.

Aside from cramming his wife into the film extremley to much, Wiseman created a fantastic world with a sour and rotten core thanks to poor, lazy writing. And what a shame because this had potential. Now Columbia Pictures is left with what is sure to be a dead franchise now.

Final Verdict: 4/10 (a generous 4/10 I might add)

Movie Review: The Dark Knight Rises

*** My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families of the Aurora shooting last night. Any shooting is tragic, but to happen at such a neutral, family environment is sickening and terrifying. The shooter is a terrorist and should be treated as so. ***

Eight years have passed since the death of Harvey Dent. Batman and Commissioner Gordon have decided to hide the truth to keep the street criminals behind bars. Batman has taken the blame and has not been seen since the night of Dent’s death….until a mysterious figure known as Bane comes to Gotham with a terrorist plot that holds all of Gotham hostage.

Christopher Nolan has forever set the blueprint of what the standards of comic book films should be. Reflecting back on this trilogy, Nolan has created some of the best storytelling I have ever seen and he should greatly be praised for his accomplishments, so allow me to praise him for a moment. As I caught up on Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, I paid close attention to the detail he puts in his films. He really raised the bar between Begins and Dark Knight. The action sequences are beautiful, notice how he hardly uses explosions, and when he does, it’s not a CGI fest, it’s almost a humble explosion. It’s believable. The characters are believable and the circumstances are real. He’s created a masterpiece of a series and that’s what the film industry needed.

The same can be said for what he has done in The Dark Knight Rises, except once again he upped the bar. The cinematography is top notch in this one. I never thought watching a city being destroyed from the inside could be shot so beautifully. I really enjoyed the final showdown taking place during the day, a rare occurrence in film. Directors need to be lined up around the block with notepads on how to shoot action sequences. The Dark Knight Rises is a truly beautiful film.

Not a lot needs to be said about Heath Ledger, and they don’t in this film. In fact he is the only character from the series not to be mentioned in this installment. Ledger’s performance was one for the ages, but Tom Hardy makes his own name for himself as Bane. Unlike the love/hate relationship The Joker had for Batman, Bane is a pure terrorist. He wants to watch Gotham burn and he kills without question. The sound mixing used for Bane’s voice is the cherry on top making him a truly terrifying character.

Anne Hathaway portrays Selina Kyle/Catwoman spot on. She is neither hero nor villain; she plays each scenario to what’s the best advantage for her. She has some great scenes as Selina Kyle, who appears determined to make Bruce Wayne miserable for some reason, stealing a pearl necklace from his home and then later telling a parking attendant she is his wife. The chemistry between Bale and Hathaway was much more memorable then the Keaton/Pfeiffer from Batman Returns. Now if we can all forget about that Halle Berry film, we could have another franchise on our hands.
Bale gave his best performance yet. He toned down the Batman voice which was pleasing for I think everyone. But he really takes the backseat in this film which I think hurt it some. He spends a large chunk of the film out of commission and doesn’t have a lot to do.

The supporting cast was almost too good this time. Michael Caine gave some heartwarming moments. He only pops up at the beginning and end, but I’ve loved the chemistry between Alfred and Bruce throughout the entire saga. I wish I could have had just a little more Alfred as Caine’s final performance of him. Gary Oldman is finally given more to do as Commissioner Gordon. While the city is under siege, he is one of the few who are able to their own while Batman is out of commission.

New to the franchise is Joseph Gordon-Levitt who plays Officer John Blake. Blake takes on the role of Gordon’s right hand man while Gordon recovers in the hospital and plays a very pivotal part in the film. In fact his part was entirely too large in the film and that is coming from a Levitt fan. He was fantastic in the film, but this is a Batman film and Levitt is in the film double the amount of time Bale is.
This leads us to the main flaw in the film, the lack of Batman. With a runtime of 2 hours and 47 minutes, there is no excuse for the lack of Batman scenes the film experienced. There wasn’t nearly enough, plain and simple. It took forever for Batman to hit the screen and once he does it’s not long after until he disappears for the entire middle of the film. It needed more.

Not only did it need more Batman, but it needed more of Batman interacting with Bane. Bane does some serious damage in this film, more so than The Joker ever dreamed of doing. Batman has to redeem himself, and the film is building up to this for two and a half hours. And once it finally arrives, it sizzles out just as it gets going. I was so blindsided by this, I was sitting in the theater expecting at least another thirty minutes of the film because I didn’t think there was any way that was the final stand Batman took.

The conclusion of the film is definitely a unique one. It took me some time to warm up to it, but after much thought I finally decided I liked it.

This might shed some light on it for those scratching their heads like I was, and of course, it’s spoiler free.

There are currently four different Batman comic titles in print, along with hundreds of stand-alone graphic novels. The four titles each have their own story and after six issues, the story is resolved and then begins a new story. What is unique about the graphic novels is that the writer can do whatever he wants with the story; it has no effect on what is going on in the on-going comic series, these are often referred to as multi-verse stories. Once I thought about that, it occurred to me, this is what Nolan has done with his Batman trilogy. He told the story he wanted to tell, borrowing elements of all the best titles. Even though the ending isn’t straight out of the comics, it’s straight out of Nolan’s, and he deserved to go out on his terms…..and he did.

Final Verdict: 7/10

Movie Review: The Amazing Spider-Man

Plot: Peter Parker is your average high school teenager, but after discovering his father's old briefcase he begins to question his parents past and their mysterious disappearance. This leads him to OsCorp to question his father's old business partner Dr. Connors, a one armed scientist, experimenting with reptilian gene splicing in hopes to regrow his arm. While there Peter is bitten by a radioactive spider. You know the rest.

WARNING: There will be some very tiny spoilers throughout the review.

I was very unhappy when Sony announced their decision to scrap Spider-Man 4 and reboot the series. It was even more questionable when they hired on Marc Webb to direct, when his only other film had been the brilliant but complete opposite end of the spectrum, 500 Days of Summer. Did we really need to take Peter all the way back to high school or could we have simply just continued the franchise on with a new cast?

I watched the originals and they have not aged well, nor after seeing this film did I like the way Sam Raimi handled the characters. This film is better. It’s better than all three of Rami’s films.

Sony has come back and told the true origin story of Spider-Man. The first film was good for its time, but it wasn’t accurate in terms of how the story went in the comic. Yes, you have to sit through fifty minutes of the exact same movie you had to sit through the first time around, but this time they got it right.

The cast in this film packs a better punch than the previous films. Andrew Garfield is a more accurate portrayal of Peter Parker. He looks like he’s in high school, something Tobey Magurie’s Peter Parker wasn’t as convincing of. He has more charm as the struggling teenager as well. They also nailed Parker’s Spider-Man persona better. Spider-Man is a wise-cracking, cheesy one liner type character and they did a better job of portraying Spider-Man as what he really is, a teenager trying to handle being a superhero. Parker is now set up for a proper franchise where he can mature along the way.

Instead of diving right into the Mary Jane love interest, fans get to see Parker’s first love interest, the lesser known character Gwen Stacy, played by Emma Stone. If there was one thing I always hated from the original series, it was Kirsten Dunst. I’m not a fan and never was. Emma Stone is actually treated as an intelligent woman in the film. Gwen doesn’t have to be rescued by Spider-Man three times in the film like Mary Jane did every go around. She is intelligent and holds her own. It’s a shame we’ll have to lose her when Mary Jane ultimately comes into the picture. Hopefully Mary Jane won’t show up until the third film, and this time I hope she is portrayed as a more intelligent character instead of a dumb girl who gets kidnapped by the villain in every film.

I loved Aunt May and Uncle Ben from the previous series, but this time they get a little more star power with Sally Field and Martin Sheen. They really took the time to build a better relationship between Peter and Uncle Ben this go around, but strangely once Uncle Ben is shot they downplay the affect it has on Peter. Uncle Ben’s death is what pushes Peter to be the man he becomes and after they build this great relationship between the two, they kind of just skip over the affects his death had on Peter and Aunt May. The same goes with Peter and Aunt Mays relationship. Aunt May is a major character but she really takes a backseat in the film. I hope to see more of her the next go round.

And finally Rhys Ifans and Denis Leary round out the cast as Dr. Curt Connors and Gwen’s father Captain Stacy. Ifans doesn’t do a terrible job portraying the disfigured scientist, but they certainly don’t give him much to do. However I really liked Leary in the film. He doesn’t have a huge role, but he really makes his scenes count. Overall, the cast makes a better impression this go around.

The film itself has a more serious tone to it. It’s not dark in the sense of The Dark Knight, but it isn’t a kid friendly film like the previous films have been. It’s more violent and more graphic. When Spider-Man takes on The Lizard he bleeds, he doesn’t get a ripped suit like Maguire did. He gets ripped open, he’s hurt, he can’t walk. As an audience, you really feel the struggle instead of the happy go lucky fighting from the previous installments.

I really like the way Webb handled the characters. Now looking back, Sony had no choice but to reboot the franchise because Raimi kept killing off characters. It’s nice to know that The Lizard is still in the back pocket for another film. He teased us with OsCorp. Norman Osborne is never seen in the film, nor is Harry, but he is mentioned multiple times. Norman Osborne is a major villain in the Marvel universe and Raimi killed him off on the first go around.

This film surprised me on every level. It is a little drawn out the first half of the film, but they have good groundwork going forward now. I’m going to give Sony credit for this one, but if I have to sit in a theater in 2022 watching another reboot, I won’t be happy.

Final Verdict: 8/10

Movie Review: Ted

Plot: John Bennett (Mark Wahlberg) is a lonely, eight year old boy with no friends. When he receives a teddy bear (Seth MacFarlane) for Christmas he makes a wish for his only friend to come to life. John wakes up the next morning with his wish granted. Ted becomes a huge celebrity during the late 80's but still remained faithful to his best pal John during the craze. Twenty years later the fame has worn off and both pals are headed nowhere in life. John must then decide whether he is going to grow up to keep his longtime girlfriend (Mila Kunis) or forever be the eight year old boy with no friends.

Seth MacFarlane is best known for his hit animated series Family Guy, a show I feel has long overstayed its welcome, but when it was in its prime, boy was it funny. MacFarlane has now made the jump from the small screen to the big screen with his first live action project and directorial debut film Ted.

Going into Ted I had a bad feeling about it, but then early, positive reviews came rolling in and I thought maybe a film about a foul mouthed, pot smoking teddy bear can make if a full hour and a half without beating the horse dead……I was wrong.

The problem with Ted is the same thing that has in my opinion plagued Family Guy, it gets old quick. I thought the first few seasons of Family Guy were hilarious; there wasn’t a show quite like it. But after it was brought back from cancellation, its formula was predictable and wore thin.

I haven’t been a fan of Mark Wahlberg’s attempts at the comedy genre, this one being no different. Wahlberg didn’t feel right for the part of John who is supposed to be a 35 year old guy with a dead end job as a rental car worker and is somehow dating the highly successful, gorgeous Lori played by Kunis. In reality Wahlberg is 41 and Kunis is 28 and the age difference shows on screen, making the relationship a stretch to the imagination. A James Franco type actor would have made for a much more believable character. Wahlberg came off more like Tom Hank’s character Josh Baskin from BIG then an actual adult who can’t get his life together. It was painful to watch.

The film was repetitious; John promises Lori he is ready to grow up, Lori gives John second chance, Ted talks John into coming over and getting high and they get into trouble, Lori gets mad but gives John second chance. That formula is repeated up until the third act. You can literally sit there and know exactly what is coming up next.

The only bright spot for me were the surprise cameos that are sprinkled throughout the film. Patrick Stewart is funny as the film’s narrator. Sam Jones, whose fame comes from playing Flash Gordon in the 80’s, makes a funny appearance as himself in the film. Tom Skerritt appears very quickly at the end with a hilarious line as well. The only cameo that didn’t work for me was Ryan Reynolds two brief scenes. He had no lines and it felt they threw him in for more of a shock factor.

Nothing about this film connected with me. It was good for a few chuckles but then fades out quickly. If you still find Family Guy funny after all these years, then you’ll probably like the film. It has all of MacFarlane’s go-to jokes throughout the film. There’s the random flash back sequences and an extremely too long fight sequence between John and Ted, both reminiscent of Family Guy. If you haven’t been a fan of Family Guy for a while, stay away, it’s that much like Family Guy.

Final Verdict: 4/10

Movie Review: Prometheus

Plot: Two explorers discover a set of symbols that send them across the universe to uncover humankind's origin. What they find is not so welcoming.

In 1979 Ridley Scott defined the sci-fi/horror genre when he directed Alien. No movie had ever been made like it and it set the blueprint for what was to be expected from the genre. Suprisingly, it has taken him 33 years to return to sci-fi with Prometheus.....and he does not disappoint.

The question going into the film was is it, or is it not a prequel to Scott's 1979 Alien. The answer is yes. It is without a doubt a film that takes place before the events of Alien, but it is not a direct prequel. Alien does not pick up right where Prometheus ends. Prometheus takes place on a different planet, LV-223 and Alien takes place on LV-426. But the DNA of the Alien films are sprinkled throughout the film. Another question some had was is it just simply another "Alien" film. No, the aliens that appear in the Alien franchise (Xenomorphs to us nerds), do not appear in this film. This gives it a fresh and original take.

Prometheus is one of the most visually stunning films I have seen in a while. The very second the film started, I was in awe of the beauty on screen. The cinematography in the the first half of the film was spot on perfect. It was as if the camera was sculpting the film like it was a piece of clay. I am never one to pay attention to camera placement in films, but this one really stands out. Not only was the film beautiful, but the fact that Scott demanded that large, detailed sets be built was very refreshing. So many times a director will just have an animator throw in a digital background, but Scott used as little CGI possible in this film. The sets were spectacular and were very appreciated. If George Lucas had spent as much time developing characters as he did CGI backgrounds, who knows the impact it could have made on his Star Wars prequels.

Prometheus is packed with heavy hitting actors. Noomi Rapace shines as Elizabeth Shaw, an explorer who uncovers the symbols on Earth that lead them across the universe. Charlize Theron plays the cold, strict Meredith Vickers whose job is to "Make sure they do thiers". And Guy Pearce and Idris Elba both shine in smaller rolls, Pearce as the legendary Peter Weyland for you Alien fans and Elba as Janek, captain of the Prometheus. But as Michael Fassbender tends to do, he steals the show. In the film Fassbender plays David, an android lifeform with all the qualities of a human. Androids have always been a part of the Alien universe. Ian Holm played the ruthless Ash in Alien and Lance Henriksen played the popular, heroic Bishop in Aliens and Alien 3. Fassbender does an excellent job of seperating himself from these two characters and creating his own personality for David. Unfortunately I can't go into much detail about the character. This film needs to be viewed going in knowing as little as possible.

When it comes to 20th Century Fox, I have a lot to complain about. I've never been a fan of their studio. For the past decade they have pretty much ruined 98% of the films they've touched. After having Len Wiseman do Live Free or Die Hard as a PG-13 film just so they could gross more at the box office, I was worried they would water this down from what it needed to be. But thankfully Scott fought to release the film he had set out to make and with strong fan support, Fox gave the ok to release it with an "R" rating. Well done this time Fox, well done. This isn't a hard "R" film. But it's dark, it's scary and there is just enough gore sprinkled in and Scott did well at balancing it all out. They will see a benefit from this and hopefully this will help their judgement for future projects.

The only complaint I have with this film was that it felt time resticted. Damon Lindelof who was one of the head writers for Lost penned the film and as usual he leaves the audience with some questions. I personally would have been fine with thirty more minutes of film so we could have seen a little more story development. When mankind travels across the universe to meet their creators, it's kind of a big deal. I thought the story was phenomenal, but motives in the film were left questioned that could have been answered with more screentime. I think and hope this will spawn a sequel and maybe that was Lindelof's plan, but when the film ended I was still hungry wanting more.

The sci-fi/horror genre is almost an extinct genre. 2007's Sunshine was the last memorable film that I can think of and maybe all the way back to 1997's Event Horizon before that one. Hopefully this will put some life and interest back in the genre I love.

If your're not familiar with the Alien films, I would highly reccomend watching them. This being a prequel, you don't necessarily need watch them prior to Prometheus, but I would reccomend watching them prior so you can know what was first created and then be able to go back and enjoy what Ridley did here by bringing the franchise back to life.

Final Verdict: 9/10