Our friend Brett got to be third wheel for Snow White and Best Exotic. The first one we saw at the Megaplex in Salt Lake City and the second one we saw at the Cinemark in Provo. For Prometheus, we actually went on a double date with another couple. We'd probably see more movies, but goodness they are expensive! I used to get free movies a lot so I didn't really notice... but man, oh man. Pricey. These movies were worth the money though. For the most part.
Kristen Stewart and Chris Hemsworth star as the titular characters, and you might get the impression that they are the main characters. You know, like important and stuff. But really, they remain a mystery throughout the entire film. Who are they? What makes them tick? And how come we don't get any real interaction from them? By the end we are supposed to believe that the huntsman sent to kill Snow White is now in love with her, yet they barely interact at all. Instead, the movie focuses on the evil queen played by Charlize Theron. I hate to say it, but her performance was hit or miss for me. At times she was perfectly sinister, yet sometimes she just started squawking at everyone like a spazz. Not so pretty.
However, despite the lack of any character development, I was impressed with the visual aspect of the film. There were beautiful costumes and some very imaginative fantasy elements including a mythical deer and some enchanting fairies. The storyline was interesting enough and while I was watching it I was decently entertained. Snow White has been locked in a tower her whole life and when she escapes, the evil queen hires a man to kill her. He changes tunes however and with the aid of some dwarfs, helps Snow White to regain control of her kingdom. It's all very epic and whatnot, I just felt that a movie titled Snow White and the Huntsman should have focused more on those two and perhaps given us a touch of romantic spark.
This is one of those movies that isn't exactly original--in fact, it's quite formulaic and neatly packaged with a ribbon--but it's satisfyingly optimistic with enough going for it to make you forget that it's not new. It's the basic "let's travel abroad and learn something about our lives" movie that we've seen time and time again, but The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel does it with some very nice performances by some of the best British actors around. I couldn't help but smile.
Various Brits in their golden years travel to India to stay in what they think is a luxury hotel. Evelyn (Judi Dench) is a new widow doing something on her own for once, Graham (Tom Wilkinson) is searching for an old flame, Douglas and Jean (Bill Nighy and Penelope Wilton) have just retired and are at a lull in their relationship, Muriel (Maggie Smith) is there for an inexpensive hip replacement and both Madge and Norman (Celia Imrie and Ronald Pickup) are in need of romance. Once in Jaipur, they all come to find out that the hotel isn't exactly what the brochure led them to believe, but the plucky, young owner Sonny (Dev Patel) has high hopes for his home for the "elderly and beautiful." As the movie goes on, various relationships are formed and neglected, people find what they are looking for and what they weren't expecting, and everything works out for the better.
The actors all do a terrific job of bringing their characters to life and there are some very powerful scenes--some happy, some sad. Other aspects of the movie are just plain cheesy and "feel-good," but in the end, who doesn't want to feel good?
Brian's already written a terrific review of this movie, but I'd like to add my own take on it as well. Prometheus is so far one of the better movies to come out this year. While not as impressive as Blade Runner or Alien, director Ridley Scott has really made a film to be proud of. There's a perfect balance between the majesty and cinematic awe that makes a film art and the nail-biting, cringe-worthy action that makes a film entertaining.
Prometheus begins with a thoroughly perplexing but engaging scene of an alien man who poisons himself and collapses in pieces into water. From there we are introduced to the scientists who have embarked on a journey into space where they are hoping to meet their makers. It goes against traditional Christian ideas of deity, yet somehow allows for it at the same time. Regardless of religious dogma, Elizabeth Shaw and Charlie Holloway (Noomi Rapace and Logan Marshall-Green) have earnest questions to ask the "engineers" as they call them. Why was the human race created? Is there a purpose to it all? And as terrifying things begin to happen, the question changes to: What have we done wrong?
Others on the ship have their own reasons for being there that are less faith-driven and perhaps more selfish and conniving. There's Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron doing a much better job than she did in Snow White) who is quite mysterious and imposing, and then there's David (Michael Fassbender), the android, who is eerily lifelike and downright malicious when it suits him. He's probably my favorite character--and Brian's as well--because there are so many sides to his coin.
Apart from all the great character-work and thought-provoking questions, Prometheus is also a horror movie set in space and there are plenty of moments to make you squirm in your seats. At one point Elizabeth discovers she is pregnant with an alien baby, and her self-given C-section is probably one of the most disturbing and intense roller coaster rides I've experienced in a movie theater. This movie really is something awesome.
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