It felt like we had seen it all before. And I was so looking forward to seeing Ridley Scott's new sci fi adventure Prometheus. That is not to say there was nothing to admire. In fact there were a number of scenes that stick in the memory. Michael Fassbender was anything but robotic as David (his mimicry of Peter O'Toole's Lawrence is fascinating) the automaton but it was sleazily slinky Charlize Theron that captured the imagination as corporate chief Meredith Vickers. The visuals and technical wizardry are the quality you would expect from a big budget movie like this and the story is quite reasonable. But the dialogue is clunky and unconvincing. There are the odd shocks that are in fact more humorous than they are scary. But we could have done with something far more original. Except, that is, for when the captain played, by Idris Elba, picks up a squeezebox that was apparently owned by Stephen Stills and starts to sing his "Love the One You're With". Surreal.
On my way to see Snow White and The Huntsman, I wondered why I had chosen to see this movie. In the end I was very glad I did. It is uneven in parts, but overall it is a good medieval type adventure and packed with a surprising emotional punch. The screenplay is patch but at times inspired. What more could you want? Well, throw in the cream of British male acting talent amongst the "eight?"dwarves. Ian McShane leads an odd bunch including Ray Winstone, Bob Hoskins, Nick Frost (hmm) Toby Jones and our favourite, Eddie Marsan. Strange that this and the previous film both have Charlize Theron in a leading role. Here she revels in the wickedness that is Queen Ravenna.
You can be sure of one thing with a David Cronenburg movie, it will always be a bit strange, and people will walk out, just as they did at when I went to see Cosmopolis. He has taken the novel by Don Delillo and given it his unique interpretation, having written the screenplay as well as directing. It is set in the near future and follows a day in the life of young billionaire Eric Packer played by Robert Pattinson. And when I say follows, the actor is in every scene. It is quite theatrical as he has one to one meetings with a series of characters, many of which take place in his soundproofed stretch limo as it cruises slowly across New York City. The early dialogue (and this is a very, very wordy movie) is somewhat obscure but perseverance pays off as you gradually work out what the film is all about. Pattinson is completely right for the role, and is actually very good, he has to be or the film would fall flat on it's face. The characters he meets are very well cast, mainly they have their scene and then it's goodbye. There are some shocks that really make you jump, but it is the style of the movie that impresses. Cronenburg has done an exceptional job, it is just that the book, where the central character does not have a single redeeming feature, may have not been the best choice to make this type of film.
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