Some Spoilage May Have Occurred

Prometheus (2012) 124 mins.

"What you're feeling is entirely natural."

Part rehash of unused bits from Jodorowsky's Dune, part prequel/remake of Alien/s, part Ridley Scott retrospective, part H. R. Giger tribute, Prometheus is as much an homage to science fiction movies (especially those of the late 70s and early 80s) as it is a science fiction movie in its own right.

At times the plot seems to exist chiefly (perhaps only) to serve the visuals, and some of the actions and motivations have an almost comic book-ish/cartoony "Rule of Cool" derivation. Once the action begins in earnest, actions and motivations become more "believable" through the internal logic of the story, which begins to sweep us along in a tide of incidents and events. That is, once the characters and their actions are acceptable to us as unbelievable, their further unbelievable actions are rendered practically believable.

I won't get into the science. It is a movie, after all. The advisability of using your (one and only) starship as your (one and only) lander, mistaking a breathable atmosphere with one which is completely benign, the late foolhardiness of establishing a "quarantine" on a ship with a yawning cargo bay after the first away mission, the silliness of sending a first party to a major structure right after the mission chief has mandated a "No Contact" protocol, the character of a biologist not interested in humanoid corpses but enthralled with a dangerous-looking faceless cave-snake in a room full of black oozing slime... The entire first act is movie science fiction piled upon top of more movie science fiction. But it's a movie! So who cares?

Of course, as a Ridley Scott science fiction movie, it's as much a horror movie as a science fiction movie. As expected, there's body horror aplenty, which I'll leave you to squirm through for yourself. Added to the Phildickian body horror, there's also a nice helping of Lovecraftian creepiness, as well, from the Giger-rich continuing body horror of the environment to the Inscrutable Alien Gods (and their out-of-control bioweapon pet) who'd rather kill us or lay eggs in our brains than talk to us or explain why they made us.

It seems as if the old man in the movie trying to make a deal with a devil of a demigod to restore his lost vigor is our auteur himself, trying to recapture the days when having the name "Ridley Scott" attached to a science fiction movie brought along with it an air of stylish mystery and guaranteed box office. If that's the case, Ridley fares better than the character, because the film is of course stylishly beautiful in its own harsh way, and was boffo box office, to be sure.

There are some really nice touches early on, with homages to Scott's own movies, and such films as 2001 and Jodorowsky's unmade Dune. Some wonderful subversions and inversions of tropes, as well as dozens served up whole. The acting was stellar, considering the plot. I'm not sure if Idris Elba is awesome or putting me on, but either way I liked what he did.

The visual nods to Alien/s start to pile up, and the big fanboy moment of the very final scene  weakens (and cheapens) the movie, but it also establishes the tone for us, in case we thought riding off looking for bigger trouble (with a back-stabbing AI for company, on a ship full of living death and the murderous gods who created it) was supposed to be a happy ending for our heroine.

 I liked it. As a science fiction movie, it's more movie than science fiction. Cool horror flick.

I'm rating Prometheus as Not Bad. It seems the fire it's stolen may have been its own.

Three Stars: Not Bad.

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Tarzan of the Apes Sideways, Sort Of

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) 105 mins.

"Are you getting in?"

The second movie of Watch-a-thon 2015 is another choice from Category 1: 70s Monster Flashback. If you're going to reboot a franchise, how about a multi-film franchise with licensed properties? That screams Seventies, and this is the franchise to do it. Just the idea of another PotA franchise brings back the smell of bubblegum cards and popcorn, memories of Saturday matinees and midnight reruns on the TV.

The thing about this Planet of the Apes movie is that it's a good movie. It's like Up, Harry and the Hendersons, Jungle Book and Tarzan of the Apes all stood on their head, and mixed with an old-fashioned (yes I'll say it, Seventies-style) contagion disaster a la Andromeda Strain or even something newer like Contagion.

It has some very... primal moments. I would've said "human" but that would be insulting, in these circumstances. It really follows Caesar's journey, and I'd say it's a very affecting movie, poignant, even moving, at times.

As it should be, it's also a disaster movie. As expected, it nicely touches on all the tropes. It even shines up a few of them. As a reboot, it's exceptionally promising. One might even hope for good follow-ups, which was not always the case with the original series of films.

I really enjoyed it. Much like Ben was in the 70s, Caesar is my new favorite "good" monster in the Twenty-Teens. I give it Four Stars: Good.

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A Boy and His Monster

Godzilla (2014) 123 mins.

"Echolocation?"

I started the 2015 Watch-a-thon with a movie from Category 1: 70s Monster Flashback. I guess I should have made a kaiju film Category Eleven. But Godzilla is more than just a monster movie, and it's more than just a giant monster movie.

It's a disaster flick, as any good giant monster movie should be. It tries to be a bit of a horror movie, too, by playing some of the scenes really dark. It's a good movie, as a disaster/survival/monster movie, and a nice reboot to the series and the character, and that's what 70s Monster Flashback is all about.

The story of course is told through the eyes of a child, or a man who suffered a tragedy as a child. This film hits all the tropes, and plays them right, from the scientist (who has also lost loved ones due to tragedy) who realizes that there are some things even beyond our power to control, to Godzilla as the "good" monster, to a young couple (family, even) separated amidst a massive catastrophic disaster. I watched it twice.

It has "bad" monsters for Godzilla to vanquish, lots of military hardware thrown around like a kid's toys, even a recurring visual motif of walking into rooms that are torn open to the sky by something that just escaped.

The plot is a bit headlong, and a lot of stuff sure manages to happen to this one guy, but at least his dear old Dad wasn't crazy after all.

Definitely learned lessons from Cloverfield, but why not update the classic giant monster, anyway?

As a Godzilla movie, it was a fine reboot. I give it 3 out of 5 stars: Not Bad.

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