Prometheus

Starring: Noomi Rapace (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: Swedish Version, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows), Logan Marshall-Green (Devil, Brooklyn’s Finest), Michael Fassbender (Shame, X-Men: First Class), Charlize Theron (Young Adult, Hancock)

Director: Ridley Scott (Alien, Gladiator)

Release Date: June 8

Photo courtesy of Dune Entertainment

 The meaning of life is something that civilization has tried to figure out ever since we were created. Many people have their own definitions and have searched extensively for answers to the biggest question of all, but no one can agree upon why we were created. Director Ridley Scott creates an “Alien”-like film that revolves around this theme in “Prometheus”.

 The movie begins with an expedition crew on the ship Prometheus: Elizabeth Shaw (Rapace) and Charlie Holloway (Marshall-Green), supervisor of the expedition Meredith Vickers (Theron), captain of the ship Janek (Elba), synthesized robot David (Fassbender), and many others. The crew according to the movie added up to 17, but it seemed that there were more people than that on the ship. Rapace, Fassbender, and Theron are great in their roles, but everybody else feels like they came from the generic sci-fi outer space movie.

Prometheus lands on the moon where they believe they can find their makers. Geologists and excavators believed that the makers left a starmap via hieroglyphics on Earth that led them to the moon.  Now I don’t want to spoil what happens next since all of the fun of this movie comes from traveling through the unknown, but I will say that this film takes a lot from director Scott’s previous film “Alien”; same formula, just different results. If you love the “Alien” series, you will want to see this movie. It is not as good as “Alien” or “Aliens”, but it is better than the other sequels.

Tagline: The search for our beginning could lead to our end

In Short: I hope that this is only the beginning to this series.

Grade: B

Snow White and the Huntsman

Starring: Kristen Stewart (Twilight, The Runaways), Chris Hemsworth (Thor, The Avengers), Charlize Theron (Young Adult, Monster)

Director: Rupert Sanders

Running Time: 127 minutes

Rated: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, and brief sensuality

Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures

There were two Snow White movies that came out this year: “Mirror Mirror”, for which the review can be found here, and “Snow White and the Huntsman”. “Mirror Mirror” was like a rose and “Snow White and the Huntsman” was like the thorn. One looks good and the other has some bite to it. I prefer the latter.

The film gives a little bit of a different twist to the classic fairy tale. The Evil Queen (Theron) has a curse that makes her beautiful, but the only way to stay beautiful is to suck the beauty right out of young women. The Evil Queen has a mirror that turns into liquid and forms into a shapeless being in front of her (think of “Terminator 2”). The mirror tells her that the only way to stay beautiful forever is to have the heart of Snow White (Stewart), the rightful heir to the kingdom. Snow White escapes into the dark forest when the Evil Queen orders for her presence. The Evil Queen then orders a huntsman (Hemsworth) to bring her back from the dark forest. The dark forest is one of the highlights of this film. Unfortunately, I would have loved to see more interaction between Snow White and the Huntsman with the beings of the forest. The only interaction the main characters have is with a troll that blends in with a bridge.

The Huntsman decides to help Snow White defeat the Evil Queen by attacking the castle. Snow White gets help from childhood friend William, newly found friends the dwarves, and an army. Director Rupert Sanders never has a love triangle come to fruition, which makes the film feel off and choppy transitioning from scene to scene. Another negative about the film is the music score. The music never fits the film and becomes a distraction. The acting of Hemsworth and Stewart is sub-par at best, but it does seem like they are trying. Maybe they’ll become decent actors someday (probably not). At least they get the help from Ian McShane, Nick Frost, and Bob Hoskins who play some of the dwarves.

Overall, this movie would be a refresher for those who loved the “Lord of the Rings” series, but the movie moves along with so many hiccups that it makes it just an “ok” film. I’m interested to see if this is the beginning of making fairy tales and famous Disney movies into live-action movies. How about “Beauty and the Beast” directed by Guillermo Del Toro or “The Little Mermaid” directed by Tim Burton?

Tagline: N/A

In Short: It’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” meets “The Lord of the Rings”.

Grade: C

Men in Black 3

Starring: Will Smith (Independence Day, I Robot), Tommy Lee Jones (The Fugitive, No Country For Old Men), Josh Brolin (Jonah Hex, True Grit), Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords, Dinner For Schmucks)

Director: Barry Sonnenfeld (Men in Black, Wild Wild West)

Running Time: 103 minutes

Rated: PG-13 for sci-fi action violence, and brief suggestive content

This is “Flight of the Conchords” gone wrong. (Photo courtesy of Amblin Entertainment)

Has it really been 15 years since the first Men in Black movie? I remember seeing that movie for the first time and loving it. When I heard that director Barry Sonnenfeld was making “Men in Black 3″ I was hoping that the movie would meet in the middle between the two previous movies, with the first being serious and the sequel being more like the comic books and I was pleasantly surprised. “Men in Black 3″ has the comic book feel, but with a serious tone.

The plot of the movie revolves around Agent K (Jones) and his relationship with Agent J (Smith). An alien by the name of Boris the Animal (Clement) escapes a maximum security prison and vows to kill the person who shot off his left arm, which happens to be Agent K. Boris decides to go back in time to 1969 and kill Agent K before he shot off his arm. In present day, Agent K disappears and Agent J sees in the company’s records that Agent K was killed back in 1969. So he decides to go back in time to stop the alien assassin. The plot itself is not as complicated as it might look. It is simple, but does not treat the audience like they are all children. They even throw in jokes about Andy Warhol (acted to perfection by Bill Hader).

Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith back to together on the silver screen is great to see, but seemed more hallow this time around. Each character was great individually, but couldn’t click together in this third installment. At least the great performances of Josh Brolin as a younger Agent K and Jemaine Clement as Boris the Animal almost made me forget about the lack of chemistry between the main characters. The most interesting character in this movie is Griffin (Stuhlbarg), an alien who can foresee all potential outcomes of any given scenario before it happens. For example, if Agent K forgets to leave a tip at the diner an asteroid will destroy the Earth, but  if Agent K leaves a tip, the asteroid will hit a satellite that is orbiting Earth and the planet will be spared. That is one ability that would seem to be a gift and a curse. The alien can see all futures, good and bad, but would not know which one will come to fruition until the time comes.

The movie comes to a climax at Cape Canaveral the day of the infamous Apollo 11 flight. The movie ends with a surprise as well that makes you see Agent J and Agent K’s relationship in a whole different light. ”Men in Black 3″ is the sequel that should have been made 10 years ago instead of the dreadful “Men in Black 2″. Aside from some script and acting problems, this movie deserves to be called a decent film and a true sequel to the Men in Black series.

Tagline: Back in Time

In Short: Wish I could go back in time, neuralize “Men in Black 2″, and replace it with this movie.

Grade: C+

Coming Soon

Prometheus

Starring: Noomi Rapace (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: Swedish Version, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows), Logan Marshall-Green (Devil, Brooklyn’s Finest), Michael Fassbender (Shame, X-Men: First Class), Charlize Theron (Young Adult, Hancock)

Director: Ridley Scott (Alien, Gladiator)

Release Date: June 8

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Rock of Ages

Starring: Julianne Hough (Footloose, Burlesque), Diego Boneta (90210, Pretty Little Liars), Tom Cruise (Mission Impossible, Top Gun), Alec Baldwin (30 Rock, Beetlejuice)

Director: Adam Shankman (Hairspray, Bedtime Stories)

Release Date: June 15

Battleship

Starring: Taylor Kitsch (John Carter, Friday Night Lights), Alexander Skarsgard (True Blood, Straw Dogs), Brooklyn Decker (Just Go With It), Liam Neeson (Batman Begins, The Grey)

Director: Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights, Hancock)

Running Time: 131 minutes

Rated: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence, action and destruction, and for language

Alien ship vs motor boat. Wonder who’s gonna win this one? (Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures)

And another Hasbro game becomes a movie. First was the “Transformers” series, then came the “G.I. Joe” series. Next I would have thought that there would be a movie based off of “Monopoly”, “Candyland”, or “Chutes and Ladders”. But no, “Battleship” was next in line. Not a bad choice you might think. Two armadas battling it out against each other. Sort of like “Crimson Tide” or “The Hunt for Red October”, right? Nope. The plot of “Battleship” consists of an international fleet of naval ships getting in an intense battle with an alien armada. It’s like “Cowboys and Aliens” except it’s “Sailors and Aliens”.

Kitsch, Skarsgard, and Rihanna fight the aliens within a bubble forcefield that the aliens create around Hawaii while Neeson looks from the outside. The plot and script is very simple, and the film does not ask much emotion and depth-of-character from the actors and actresses. Not much is explained about the aliens except that they are from “Planet G” and they are trying to take over our planet for its resources. Resources that director Peter Berg never explains. He also includes scenes that make no sense with the rest of the film and its main plot. The movie also looks like an ad for the navy and a salute to the vets at the same time.

In the end, it is a simple movie with explosions. The film does reference the Hasbro game, which is nice to see. Unfortunately, it does not add much else to it. I just get the feeling after the movie that it’s an ad for the Navy that says, “Join the Navy and you get to fight aliens”! Doesn’t really make me want to enlist.

Tagline: The Battle for Earth Begins at Sea

In Short: I got seasick.

Grade: D+

Dark Shadows

Starring: Johnny Depp (Alice in Wonderland, Edward Scissorhands), Michelle Pfeiffer (Batman Returns, New Years Eve), Eva Green (Perfect Sense, Casino Royale), Helena Bonham Carter (Alice in Wonderland, The King’s Speech)

Director: Tim Burton (Alice in Wonderland, Batman)

Running Time: 113 minutes

Rated: PG-13 for comic horror violence, sexual content, some drug use, language and smoking

Here’s the old…

And here’s the new… (photo courtesy of Entertainment Weekly)

Vampires have been a hot commodity lately. From the “Twilight” series to the remake of “Fright Night” there have been a lot of vampire movies recently. The only place in the media that vampires have not been used, I thought, was daytime “soap opera” television shows. I was wrong. From 1966 to 1971, daytime television had a soap opera called “Dark Shadows” it involved stories and plots about vampires, werewolves, man-made monsters, witches, warlocks, zombies, time travel, and a parallel universe. Sounds like a nifty show. Too bad the show is not on television anymore. At least Tim Burton and long fan of the show Jonnny Depp had the sense to make a movie based off of the series.

“Dark Shadows” starts with Barnabas Collins (Depp), an imprisoned vampire, who is set free in 1972 and returns to his ancestral home. There he finds four remaining relatives that are in need of his protection and wit to return the family business to its former glory. The movie finds as much complication within the 2 hours as a soap opera. Between the relationships of Barnabas and Dr. Hoffman (Bonham Carter) and between Barnabas and Angelique (Green), it doesn’t get too confusing, but it does feel like a little much. Johnny Depp is great as a vampire trying to figure out how to live in a world from the 1970s. In all other scenes, it feels like Depp is reading from a script. This is another movie that has a great supporting cast with Helena Bonham Carter, Christopher Lee, and even Alice Cooper. Yes, Alice Cooper. The movie itself has good acting, but too many cliched “soap opera” scenes for my taste.

The movie has some great quirky funny moments, like what audiences usually see in Tim Burton films, but the plot is not exciting enough and sometimes feels like the cast members are reading from a script. The ending is, of course, set up for a sequel. Not surprising, but how much can Tim Burton get out of a story about a vampire who lives in the 1970s. I guess we’ll find out and see.

Tagline: Strange is Relative

In Short: The only thing related to this film is soap opera blandness

Grade: C-

The Avengers

The Avengers

Starring: Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man, Iron Man 2), Chris Evans (Fantastic Four, Captain America: The First Avenger), Chris Hemsworth (Thor, The Cabin in the Woods), Mark Ruffalo (Shutter Island, The Kids Are All Right)

Director: Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Serenity)

Running Time: 142 minutes

Rated: PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action throughout, and a mild drug reference

Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures

This is one of those rare movies where audience members choose whether or not to see it without much convincing. “The Avengers” combines six superheroes into one movie. The plot revolves around Iron Man (Downey Jr.), Hulk (Ruffalo), Captain America (Evans), Thor (Hemsworth), Black Widow (Johansson), and Hawkeye (Renner) working together to stop Thor’s brother Loki and his army from destroying the planet. Well, since everybody pretty much knows whether they are going to see this movie or not, let me focus on the more specifics of the movie:

Does the movie mix the individual superheroes well together into one movie?

Yes, the movie joins together all of the Avengers and adds significant plot sequences from the previous movies. They interact with each other with different feelings towards one another and even have great team fighting sequences.

Was Joss Whedon a good choice for director?

Yes, Whedon blends great comedy and action together. The movie has a serious enough plot, but enough comic relief and ridiculous action sequences added to makes it a fun, light-hearted summer blockbuster rather than a serious superhero movie like “The Dark Knight”.

Was Loki a good choice as the villain for this movie?

Kinda, I think they needed a previous villain in this movie, but adding more than one of the previous villains would have been more beneficial. Also, changing Loki from a whiny little prince in “Thor” to a whiny little prince trying to act like the baddest man in the universe in “The Avengers” makes hardcore fans of the Marvel Universe feel uneasy about the villain.

Are the special effects good enough?

Yes, especially the Hulk scenes.

In Short: A great summer blockbuster that will have comic book nerds swooning for years to come.

Grade: B