(trailer review) - Napoleon

 

Ridley Scott misses sometimes. Every now and again, Ridley Scott will direct something and it would crash and burn, but Ridley Scott did not get his name from crashing and burning. Sir Ridley Scott, might I add, responsible for directing 27 movies including, Alien, Blade Runner, Thelma & Louise, G.I. Jane, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, Kingdom of Heaven, American Gangster, Body of Lies, The Martian, just to name a few. Sir Ridley Scott knows how to direct a quality movie so his misses are very far and few. He is definitely up there with the greats and it looks like he has done it again. This trailer looks epic. It is giving me "Gladiator" vibes. And to think he is directing a sequel to Gladiator, Ridley, might actually be in the zone. While House of Gucci and The Last Duel was divisive among the audience, Ridley might have caught his stride and this film might be a small taster of what to expect from his directing going forward.

The first trailer for this movie was good and the cinematography captured me. The visuals look superb and the acting looks top notch. The music! Everything just seems epic. Vanessa Kirby? Joaquin Pheonix? what is there not to love about this movie already. It simply looks beautiful. Some people may not like that it does not seem like a single person will speak French in this movie, but who cares. We want great, compelling and entertaining movies, right? An epic historical drama with quality actors and a great director producing nothing but quality. I am on board.

(film review) - The Martian

What have you done for me lately, Ridley? Some of us have these thoughts when we think of Ridley Scott. The guy who brought us some great and classic films such as Alien, Blade Runner, Thelma & Louise, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down and American Gangster. So what was your last few films Exodus: Gods and Kings? The Counselor? Prometheus? Although I didn’t think Prometheus was that bad, but it wasn't a classic nor great. So, again. What have you done for me lately, Ridley?Ridley has done, nothing! And people are starting to think that this great director has simply run out of juice. Well, fear not, because The Martian might be his return.

The Martian is about a man named Mark Watney (Matt Damon) who with his team are out on a mission on Mars, but becomes stranded by himself when his team leaves him behind. Being the only human on Mars, Mark the Martian must figure out a way to survive and also return back to earth or die on Mars.

The premise is pretty simple and with that said, makes you wonder, ‘Is there anything else to this film?’, ‘This film is going to be pretty boring, right?’, ‘Can Matt Damon carry an entire film by himself?’, ‘He is no, Will Smith!’. Well, rightfully implied in the trailers, Matt isn’t by himself as there is a team trying to figure out a way to get him back to earth. Also, although this film is 141 mins (just over 2 hours and 20 minutes) long, this film does not feel long at all. The film gets straight into it at such a steady pace, you do not once think about the time. There is suspense, there is unexpected comedy elements and there is a lot of character in this film. Very clever script writing, directing and screenplay. At the end of the film, I actually wanted to clap for Ridley Scott. Like, literally stand up and cheer for him as the film I had just watched was soo entertaining, I felt it was necessary. I didn’t, but I did think it.

Although this film didn’t leave me gripping the seats whilst sitting on the edge of it like Gravity did, this film reminds me of Cast Away (not that I have seen it) fused with Gravity. I think what made me love the film more than the visuals and the story was Mark and his character as well as the supporting cast. Jessica Chastain, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sean Bean, Jeff Daniels, Michael Pena. The casting was brilliant as every character brought something to their role, or at least, every character had a pivotal part to play. I do feel that Sebastian Stan was a little under used, but that is probably due to the great performance he did as The Winter Soldier (Great film by the way). I felt very relatable to Mark and I actually felt like I was going through this situation with him. The film was very grounded, although set in space. I felt like he was the every guy voicing the things an every guy would do in his predicament. All the trials and tribulations, I was experiencing these with him.

It is out on the 30th, so go and watch it. If you don’t like it, honestly, there is definitely something wrong with you (although I know movies are subjective). A brilliantly Directed film by Ridley Scott. Well done, Sir.

(film review) - Prometheus

I'm sure, for the longest time, Director Ridley Scott said that this new film called Prometheus had nothing to do with Alien and it was merely set in the same Alien Universe. With that said and upon hearing reviews, from many people telling me this film is around about 1 out of 10 and a direct prequel to Alien. Although I needed to see this film, I definately needed to see this film now.

The film starts with this ultra ripped funny toned alien humanoid guy who is soo ripped, he could cut bread with his edges. He is by this waterfall and seemingly as if he has been left purposely, he opens this small thing which has black liquid in and drinks it, then dies. His body disintegrates leaving his DNA "seeding" the Earth. For some people, the film should have just stopped there.

So, as the film goes on, the story revolves around archaeologist couple Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) discover a star map among several unconnected ancient cultures who interpret this as an invitation from humanity's "Engineers". These "Engineers" created Humans and is believed to have invented other species of life.

Peter Weyland, the elder founder of Weyland corporation funds a trip to an unknown distant planet's moon LV-223 to seek out the existence of these "engineers". Once on th planet, everything goes to shit.

So, without going into anything and spoiling the film, the film plays out like an old script already done. There are a lot of unexplained events and questions in which Ridley Scott has explained (noted on wiki) he will address in the sequel, if they are lucky enough to make one, but with that said...a lot of people think this is a direct prequel to Alien although Ridley said this is a stand alone film. He has also said that the film will appear more as a stand alone film in the possible sequel.

The cinematography is excellent and most of the acting was very good. I really enjoyed David (Michael Fassbender)'s character because his mannerisms and character, I found entertaining. He reminded me of a little child, always touching things, but was also very intelligent. He often found things very facinating. Other characters such as Janek (Idris Elba) and Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron) were pretty much standard charaters but offered more character than the other actors. This is possibly due to the whole story thus far and how it wasn't great and kind of left you feeling like...OK, Ummm, But if you have seen any of the other Alien films (excluding Alien vs Predator), the film kind of leaves you off, like Meh! Entertaining but not ground breaking at all. Nowhere close to an all-rounder. Maybe, if a Trilogy is done, as a Trilogy could be deemed as a great story