Ben_times_10 Reviews

Total Recall (I) (2012)

I expected a semi-decent film, and that's what I got

[7/10 · 2 August 2012]

When I heard the news that Total Recall was being remade, I was just as disappointed as most were out there. However, I never hate a film based on such a simple principle. Before the release, I was simply curious as to what direction they were going to take with this film.

I always rate a film on two scales: The technical aspects (an objective scale), and if I actually liked it (subjective scale). I'm pretty forgiving with science fiction films so I'll keep my review as objective as possible.

Pros: The futuristic world that has been imagined for this film was well designed. Visually, the film is stunning. If you're the type that reads into the quirky inventions you see on screen, this film is littered with them.

There were plenty of action sequences, and most of the time the film gave us eye candy that we haven't seen before. It seemed as though a general theme in the film (besides "questioning what's real") was constant play with gravity. This may have been influenced by inception, but the world turns upside down a few times, and it's visually interesting.

Cons: The plot. It was there, but not as deep as you would hope for a "Total Recall" remake. There were a few cool things thrown in there, but the plot was definitely not the strong point of the film.

The action sequences. There were a lot of positive aspects to all the action, but the movie seemed to rely too heavily on it. The movie came off as one giant chase scene, and it became slightly repetitive after a while. If you like a little meat on your plot's backbone, you may want to lower your expectations a little bit before seeing this one.

Conclusion: Try not to think of this film as a literal remake of the original. Think of it as analogous to a band doing a cover of someone else's song... in a very different style. It lifts the ideas from the original film, and written source material, but takes a different spin on it.

In all, I liked it. I had my quips, but it's a movie that I gave a lot of forgiveness. From what I recall, it wasn't a TOTAL mess.

Prometheus (I) (2012)

Rich in visuals, tone, and themes... plot has gaps

[9/10 · 8 June 2012]

I first want to state that I personally rate movies on two scales:

1: The technical aspects (characters, plot, cinematography, execution, etc.)

2: Did I actually like the film, and does it stay in my thoughts long after I've left the theater

On the first scale I give it a 7 out of 10. Ridley Scott captures some remarkable imagery especially with landscapes. The cinematography is simply grandiose without becoming pretentious. The themes explored and hinted at, are basically that of humans meeting gods. Tone-wise, this was reflected perfectly. Humans just felt small compared to the structures and landscapes around them.

Plenty of people have complained though. Namely gaps in the plot and lack of characterization. I partially agree with the former, and disagree with the latter **possible spoilers**. I don't feel there were sloppy mistakes made in the plot, as some have stated. I simply feel there were GAPS in the plot.

With enough imagination I was able to fix these by speculating causes not revealed in these "gaps". Some have cited the engineers creating and then wanting to destroy earth and humanity, others confused by the nature and inconsistent workings of the black goo. There's a whole list of parts in the movie that people question. Most of them were not a problem for me.

I had no problem with the characterization. Shaw was straightforward but compelling. Her boyfriend was a bit of a dope, but charismatic. You had a rambunctious character (the mohawk guy), and a very rich android character; which to me was on par with Bishop. It's true, some characters were one dimensional... but these were stock characters and didn't need to be fleshed out. I'm not sure what the nay-sayers are expecting here.

Now...

In regards to how much I liked the film. I give it a 10 out of 10. I had very high hopes when first hearing about the project a year ago, but slowly I started to dial it back to a reasonable hype for myself. In the months leading up to Prometheus's release, I came to fully understand what Scott's intentions were for this film in relation to Alien; a prequel to alien, but not an alien film. Because of this, I distanced Alien from my expectations.

Seeing the movie on it's midnight release, I told myself just to sit back and enjoy the ride. Take it all in, and scrutinize it later... almost like a philosophy lecture. After leaving the theater, instead of picking apart details with the group of friends I came with, we talked about the implications of this movie on the others in the same universe, and even what the sequels may look like. We weren't looking back, we were looking forward.

To me, that's what this movie represents. It's less of a ride like some short, intense roller-coaster of ups and downs. It's a sandbox littered tools. If your imagination runs wild like mine does, you'll have hours more fun tinkering with ideas in your head long after the credit roll.

For those who like to wonder, and ponder "what if's", see this movie.