Runtime:
124 minutes
Directed
by: Ridley Scott
Starring:
Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Logan Marshall Green, Idris Elba,
Charlize Theron
From:
20th Century Fox
Oh,
this movie... as I've said before when talking about Aliens, that
movie and the original Alien are pretty awesome works of filmmaking.
It's been a long time since I've seen Alien 3 but the producer's cut
they have on there is far better than the theatrical version, but of
course it would have been best if they let a guy who proved to be a
highly renowned director in hindsight do his own thing instead of the
studio interfering. It's been even longer since I've seen Alien
Resurrection but the one time I saw it, I wasn't really a fan,
despite some cool moments.
Of
course, in my universe those AvP films never happened.
I
remember when this project was first announced there was a general
negative reaction; amongst the complaints I heard was that “Who
cared how that space jockey ended up in the giant chair you see in
Alien”? It turns out, this movie doesn't actually answer that
question as it takes place on a nearby planet but not THE planet
where Alien and Aliens take place!
I
don't know when but suddenly people got real excited for the movie.
Maybe it was the teaser trailers. Unlike most people, though, those
trailers did nothing for me at all. Then, the movie came out, first
elsewhere and then here in North America. I heard some rather mixed
reviews; turns out, on a forum I looked at a massive thread after the
fact and the mood was generally negative towards the film. I was
surprised as before I had heard some rather positive reviews, and not
just from Roger Ebert.
I
am not sure what to say about the plot as it not being known was a
big drawing card for the pre-release advertising. I'll just go with
what was said on IMDb: “A team of explorers discover a clue to the
origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a journey to the darkest
corners of the Universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle
to save the future of the human race.” That's pretty accurate.
I'll
talk about the positives first: The idea of the story is real
interesting and rather ballsy for a big studio film. The visuals,
sets, and what have you look really great. I mean, it's a pretty
sweet universe. Most of the performances are at least fine.
However,
the script... it's not that great. I don't know if the movie got cut
to hell but too often things just don't make a whole lot of sense.
Characters act one way in a scene and then in the very next scene
they do a 180 for no reason at all. Big to extremely big moments
happen and most if not all of the other characters really react to it
at all. There's a shocking reveal and I have no clue why it was even
done as if done in a different way it would have been a lot better
and made much more sense. It's things like that which really hurt the
movie. There are many examples I won't list but they are there.
But
at least Idris Elba (the best and coolest character in the film) gets
a booty call from Charlize Theron! I have no idea why it happened as
it came totally out of left field, but good for him. I have no idea
why STEPHEN STILLS gets referenced; yes, I am not BS'ing here. I
guess that in the late 21st century Crosby, Stills, &
Nash (and sometimes Young) are suddenly highly revered. I at least
laughed at that sort of unexpected left turns.
In
terms of how this is related to the Alien movie and its universe...
the best I can say while being vague is that it is in the same
universe but it's not really a prequel. Some things are explained but
a lot is not.
As
you might expect the people who (fairly or not) expected this return
to the sci-fi genre by Scott to be as great as Alien or Blade Runner
(two of the best all-time films in said genre) are devastated by how
it turned out. Me, I am still disappointed by it as the script really
is not that good; it's not a massive disappointment though as I never
had great expectations for it and at least the visuals and sound were
great and they tried to be pretty deep.
I'll
be back tomorrow night.
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