Review - Snow White and the Huntsman, Prometheus

I'm back. After dedicating some time to NBA basketball, Christopher Nolan films and Game of Thrones, I'm ready to hit you up with another set of movie reviews. It's a bit of a mix right now; some of these movies are released recently while some were released a while back. Nonetheless I hope you enjoy reading and take caution to some of these dreadful films :) Feel free to comment and subscribe.

Snow White and The Huntsman (2012)

Starring Chris Hemsworth, Kristen Stewart and Charlize Theron.

Another adaptation of the famous Snow White tale but this time, with a touch of dark fantasy. The movie begins with narration by Chris Hemsworth. Why in god's name is Chris Hemsworth narrating? Why? Couldn't they get Morgan Freeman or someone else to narrate? Chris sounded dreadfully bored. Anyways after getting a brief synopsis, the movie picks up where Snow White's father meets Ravenna (Charlize Theron). He falls in love with her, she becomes his queen but secretly it was all a ploy for her to take over the kingdom. Ravenna kills the king and uses her brother's army and overrun the kingdom. While she ruthlessly rules over the next decade or so, poor Snow White is locked up in a prison. Unfortunate for Snow White, Ravenna's mirror claims she is the fairest in the land so now the Queen is hell-bent on killing Snow White to achieve immortality. However she escapes to the dark forest. The Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) is sent to forest to capture her but instead develops a soft side and decides to help her. They stumble across seven dwarfs who also joins in the fun as they plan to defeat the evil Queen. 
First and foremost, this movie was dreadful. Kristen Stewart was a HORRIBLE Snow White and Charlize Theron was a HORRIBLE Queen and villain. The acting was very subpar which was made worst with a horrible script. I notice they tried using ideas from other movies but it didn't work at all. I saw a little bit of Lord of the Rings, King Kong and other films. They also tried sticking to the original Snow White story with the placement of the seven dwarfs but I really saw no need for them; they were so out of place and irrelevant. There were no development of the characters so the movie just felt like a damn drag. You may find the special effects cool but I just didn't care anymore. Mirror Mirror is clearly a better Snow White adaption than this crap.
Rating: 3/10




Prometheus (2012)

Starring Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron and Idris Elba.

Ridley Scott makes his long awaited return to the alien scene with Prometheus - prequel to his ever so impressive film 'Alien'. The movie highlights a group of individuals aboard the 'Prometheus' ship as they travel   to a distant moon in search for the "Engineers". Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) believes that the Engineers are the creators of the human race and they sought out to seek answers. 
Not going to reveal any spoilers so let me start off with the positives of Prometheus. The science-fiction element of it was great; Ridley Scott reintroduced his science fiction/alien concept and it was great. The setting and atmosphere was good and it kept you in suspense for most parts. The special effects were beautiful and the acting was okay especially Michael Fassbender and Noomi Rapace. Prometheus started out very strong but it faded towards the end. It was anti-climatic, unevenly paced and even seemed a bit silly.  However there were a few loop holes in this movie, especially in the plot. It is said to be the prequel story to Alien but after the movie ended I saw little to no connection between the two movies. Questions went unanswered and even more unanswered questions surfaced. Not ideal to some extent. I wonder if they are going to make a follow up to this movie. I also realized that there were characters that seemed so irrelevant. For example Charlize Theron's character -Vickers. I think she should have been much more effective. I'm not sure why they even re-introduced Peter Weyland (Guy Pearce) into the plot as he didn't make much of a difference either. Overall Prometheus was underwhelming and a bit disappointing mainly due to a weak script and plot. It captured that Sci-Fi theme nicely but that was basically it.
Rating: 6/10


Big Miracle (2012)

Starring Drew Barrymore, John Krasinski and Kristen Bell.

Based on a true story about the quest to save a family of three Gray Whales trapped under rapidly forming ice in the Arctic Circle. Rachel Kramer (Drew Barrymore) is a renowned animal lover and ex girlfriend of Adam Carlson (John Krasinski), a reporter covering the story of the whales. Rachel uses her tactics and although she is disliked by most, is able to get enough support to launch a campaign to free the whales. 
This movie was unknown to me and I thought it was gonna be one of your typical cliched family flick where they save some random animal(s). Well for most parts, it was of that nature but there were a few surprises within the plot. In most films like this, usually there are some bad guys out to get the animals but in this film, everyone sort of came together which was surprising. Even the people who you thought would have been the 'villains' came together to help the whales. I think the acting was good and the movie was evenly paced. Overall Big Miracle was satisfying, emotional at parts and a cool family flick.
Rating: 7/10

Piranha 3DD (2012)

Starring Daniel Panabaker, Matt Bush and Katrina Bowden.

Sequel to the already horrible 'Piranha 3D', Piranha 3DD follows on the same destructive path. The piranhas are back terrorizing the local lakes and rivers and this time their main focus becomes a water park. What can I say, this movie was dreadful and weird. I was not entertained, it was not funny and the acting was done by zombies. Poor script, poor dialogue and an overall failed attempt at mindless entertainment. It was so ridiculous to see so many persons getting killed in a SHALLOW pool. Like seriously? No more please. 
Rating: 0/10

Wrath of the Titans (2012)

Starring Sam Worthington, Ralph Fiennes and Liam Neeson.

Oh boy. The human race has lost faith in the gods so now their powers are fading and the walls of Tartarus are breaking free unleashing evil upon Earth. Meanwhile Zeus (Liam Neeson) is betrayed by his son Ares. Together with Hades (Ralph Fiennes), they drain Zeus's powers to Kronos who in turn, promises them immortality. So now Perseus (Sam Worthington) and his friends must go on a quest to save his father and also the world. Blah blah blah. This is the sequel to the mediocre 'Clash of the Titans' and there was really no significant improvement from the first movie. The plot was ridiculous, the dialogue cheesy and the action was pretty LAME. More special effects and action in this film but it just did not make up for everything else that's wrong with this movie. For a movie called "Wrath of the Titans", the "wrath" was pretty boring and lackluster. I'm not sure how Liam and Ralph got mixed up in this crap but this sequel is even worst than the original. 
Rating: 2/10


Dark Shadows (2012)

Starring Johnny Depp, Eva Green and Michelle Pfeiffer.

Tim Burton is back and teams up with his buddy Johnny Depp again. You can actually see Burton's imprints all over this movie, the makeup and visuals are cool but that was about it. Okay so Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp) is a rich and charming playboy. He breaks the heart of Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green), who in turns puts a curse on him turning him into a vampire. He is then locked away by the locals in a chained coffin. Almost 300 years later, locals stumble upon his coffin and he is set free. Barnabas returns to Collinsport where he meets his distant relatives and vows to put the family back on top and overthrow his enemy. Meh. Tim Burton tried mixing comedy genre with horror/spook along with his beautiful visuals but it just did not connect. Jokes weren't really funny and the script was lame. There were a few cool moments in this movie but it was just not enough because soon after, the film plunges back into mediocrity as a result of its formulaic plot. Nice to look at but Dark shadows didn't have much going on for it.
Rating: 4/10 

Movies Also Watched: 

Memento (2000)

Arguably Christopher Nolan's best work, Memento is just a unique and awesome film. Imagine watching a film in reverse and yeah it was pretty effective. Guy Pearce was solid in his role as a memory lapsing man searching for answers to his wife's death. Each memory scene held its own and everything just seemed to fall into place perfectly. An overall brave movie.

Rating: 9.5/10

The Prestige (2006)

A 'magicians delight' is what I call this. Engaging and intriguing story filled with twists upon twists upon twists.  Solid acting by the cast and I love how they incorporated tiny bits of history into this film. WIN.

Rating: 9/10

Insomnia (2002)

An interesting tale about good cop, bad cop. Riveting, engaging story showcasing a murder story within a murder story. Good film and strong performances.

Rating: 8/10

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

Personally one of the best movies I've ever seen filled with breath-taking movie performances. A simple plot really but watching the insane minds come together and form a magical bond was enough. Jack Nicholson was insane but in a really good way. The film is fun, serious and witty at the same time. Classic.

Rating: 10/10

Cloverfield (2008)

Alien film shot in a found-footage style. Cloverfield was okay, had it fair share of laughs and the camera angles were impressive. The ending was a bit sudden but overall it's a cool film.

Rating: 7/10

The Loved Ones (2009)

A horror movie mixed with the teen genre. The Loved Ones is a crazy and unique film because of its attempt to mix two different genres but I think it worked quite well. I had issues with the film's pacing but it was still fun to watch. Gore, comedy, horror and a decent plot.

Rating: 7.5/10

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006)

This movie basically highlights the life of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille as he evolves into a psychotic murderer determined to create that perfect scent by any means necessary. This movie is okay for most parts, but it got a bit weird especially at the ending. I know the movie is adapted from a book but I don't think that climatic scene was executed properly. Interesting and implausible at the same time. 

Rating: 6/10