Prometheus Reviewed

***Minor Spoilers Ahead***

 

“Prometheus, are you seeing this?” asks Noomi Rapace’s character scientist Elizabeth Shaw and yes I saw it, but there is a huge difference between seeing something and enjoying it.

Prometheus is an indirect prequel to the Alien series. This film focuses on a team of explorers who discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth that leads 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. Sounds interesting.

As mentioned, Noomi Rapace leads this cast that really manages to pack in the noticeable names: Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, Guy Pearce, Rafe Spall and even a small part for Patrick Wilson. With so many experienced cast members being directed by the hugely acclaimed (although in my opinion drastically over rated) director Ridley Scott big things were expected from everyone, especially taking into consideration the success of the Alien film directed by Scott himself.

The film opens with a series of long, wide and very scenic landscape shots and this is a theme that the film will follow throughout and every time we see a large shot of the planet that our heroes find themselves on it looks fantastic; the directing and camerawork means that Prometheus is incredibly pleasing on the eye with some of the best environmental shots I’ve ever seen. The special effects follow suit and are so real that it doesn’t matter how far in the future the crew of Prometheus (the ship which the film is named after) are, it feels and looks as though it could happen today, the effects are believable.

Unfortunately Prometheus has one huge flaw and one that I can not look past: every single one of those characters lacked any kind of personal motivation; their actions seemed uninspired. Noomi Rapace’s character, the main character, spends the first half of the film doing not a lot at all and then spends the second half running away from things and holding her stomach all the time. And this is who you are supposed to empathise with and support, not really your traditional hero. I couldn’t have cared less about her partner, whoever he was and Charlize Theron’s character was ridiculously under used to the point where it seemed like if you took her out of the film no difference would have been made.

In fact, the only character that I felt was worth watching, partly because of the portrayal of the actor, was David, the non human member of the crew portrayed eerily well by Michael Fassbender. Another good performer among the cast was Idris Elba, relatively new to big budget films after carving his career out on television but deserves all the success that comes his way, although killing off his character just seemed like something to do rather than having any impetus behind it.

A stand out scene is when Shaw gives birth to an alien life form and while the rest of the film around that moment seems rather boring this scene is anything but! She doesn’t have a lot to do everywhere else but here Noomi Rapace earns her salary hands down; the trauma and pain her character is going through comes across excellently on screen. Sometimes, poor films or films you don’t enjoy have one glimpse of brilliance and this is Prometheus’. I would go so far as to say this is one of the best scenes I have ever seen in the cinema.

Does Prometheus live up to expectations? Not really.

Is Prometheus an enjoyable sci-fi film? Ish.

Would I watch it again? Not for a while.

My Rating: 5/10.

I really wanted to give it a higher rating but I just couldn’t justify it.

Sherrybaby (2006) Review.

***WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS***

Released in 2006, Sherrybaby was well received by critics and was an official selection at a number of film festivals across America and Europe. Maggie Gyllenhaal in particular impressed and was nominated for a Golden Globe as well as various other awards for her performance in the lead role.

Maggie Gyllenhaal plays Sherry, a woman who apparently hates wearing a bra and loves sex. More importantly though, Sherry has recently been released from a three year prison sentence; she is eager to establish a relationship with her young daughter who has been looked after by Sherry’s brother and his wife. Sherry soon learns that fitting back into normal life is a lot harder than she imagined as she faces the temptation to return to old habits but must stay away to further her relationship with her daughter.

Gyllenhaal in the lead role, and as the only recognisable name among the cast, does a great job as Sherry. She plays her part really well and manages to draw the audience in to Sherry’s world and get a real sense of the emotional state and mental workings of the character. Brad William Henke as Bobby, Sherry’s brother, puts in a good performance and is very likeable as is Danny Trejo’s character, Dean, who begins a sort of relationship with Sherry.

This film is Laurie Collyer’s directorial debut. Collyer also wrote Sherrybaby and to date this remains the only feature film that she has directed. The direction here is very good. Sherrybaby screams realism, it feels as though we are in that world, the small details are given great time and place within the story and to be honest, I think that small details can really add to the final art of the film.

Sherrybaby touches on some very serious issues. We are given the drug abuse, the alcohol abuse and the difficulty of coming out of prison and integrating back into the real world. Even sexual abuse within the family is hinted at although this is a subject glossed over and I can’t help but feel that the film would have done better to get more in depth in this part of the story.

The story of Sherrybaby is a good one, but it is a very slow burner. The film is slow paced and at times borders on the edge of boring which is a shame, but for parts of the film I found myself willing something interesting to happen. Unfortunately though, it is not until the end that I got a real sense of something from the film. In the final twenty minutes Sherry moves forward a lot more than during the rest of the film. We see her trying to bond with her daughter and is something that I would have liked to have seen more of.

Overall, Sherrybaby is a good film, but that is all. Good.

My Rating. 6/10.