Film Filter: Off- I had seen the original film, and I didn't realize that this one isn't actually a re-make; it's a prequel. I love it when movies take the higher road and seek to enhance the story instead of re-doing it, as the original plot and movie weren't that flawed to begin with.
Pros- One of the things this movie had going for it was the story line. I know that the group that created this film can't be held responsible for that, but it really is an idiot proof plot and I would have been shocked/mortified if this film weren't successful. What most scary movies attempt to create is a scenario in which some critical piece of information is not revealed. What this movie does to that concept (and enhances) is embraces it without even trying, as the nature of the human-imitating alien is that its identity cannot be determined. Since the alien can also still function in pieces, it furthers the concept of the unknown, since now many people can be infected without the majority of the researchers knowing. It really is a captivating concept and works very well.
As most re-makes/prequels/sequels intend, the special effects and makeup in this movie are much more interesting and prevalent than in the original. Usually, overly grotesque scenarios and unnecessary gore are unappealing to me, but since the documentation of this movie is of an unknown specie, it is almost appropriate to take the transformation process to the extreme. We're not dealing with humans or familiar animals, so why not go to the max?
Because this movie is centered around scientists and researchers, it makes sense that- since they were going to study the specie anyway- they would be spending a fair amount of time trying to figure out how to separate humans from the alien human imitators. For a moment the movie tried to go in the same direction as the original, so that was a little irritating, until that method failed and they were forced to go in a new direction. I thought that this was a fresh twist, and was used very well throughout the movie.
By far my most favorite part of this film is the throwback moment they had, regarding the original. I won't spill the beans, but anyone who has seen the one from the 80's will know what I'm talking about. The only reason the original movie could happen was because of this scenario, and I'm glad they included it.
Cons- I really don't have much here, other than I wasn't terribly fond of the ending scenes involving the spaceship. If it had crashed and been down in a chunk of ice for centuries...why did it look to be in mint condition? Also, were there no other aliens to be found on that huge ship? It seemed to be just one that split into several pieces. Other than that...and the obvious solution of, "Hey, if we don't EVER split up, then we'll know if someone gets abducted or not" this movie didn't have many cons.
Wrap up- Definitely see this movie. If you haven't seen the original, I would watch it as well, but I'm not sure which order would be best fitting.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Monday, October 8, 2012
Film Filter: Off - Session 9
Film Filter: Off- While perusing Netflix, my friend and I had it narrowed down to three scary movies, and this one looked the most promising. Better luck next time, I guess.
Pros- As I rack my brain trying to come up with a pro for this film, I find myself coming up horribly short. It's a stretch, but one pro was that I was able to watch it from beginning to end. The only reason for that being that I was waiting for something that was never actually bound to happen...a climax or resolution that made sense.
Another pro of this movie was the fact that the CSI Miami star was featured in this film. I bet this is what they saw to make their casting decision for the show, which would also explain why everyone finds David Caruso's character so...interesting. Was his acting good? No, not really. But he was fun to watch mainly because it validates that we aren't being unfairly critical of his cheese-ball-licious performances on his TV melodrama.
Cons- I'm going to try to make this as short and painless as possible, because re-hashing this film to any lengthy degree is just going to continue to frustrate me.
Con #1- There. Was. No. Logical. Plot. This could probably actually summarize all the beef I have with this movie. It's listed as a scary movie, yet none of the following occur: gory moments, pop-out moments, suspenseful moments, or "ah-ha" it all makes sense moments. My theory is that this is designed to be similar in feel to the Blair Witch Project (minus the found footage concept) in that it is supposed to scare you with what you're thinking rather than what you're seeing. Ummm, fail. Epic fail. You can't scare people with their thoughts when they don't know what the f^#@ to think!
This story is supposed to be about a crazy schizophrenic person with three personalities that brutally murdered her brother long before present day. This was revealed to the psychiatrist during session 9 of their documented therapy sessions. The only problem is, if this movie is about PSYCHOSIS, and not POSSESSION, how was this odd third malevolent personality of the dead woman roaming about the facility able to affect others? This movie leads you to believe that the main character is influenced by "Billy", but Billy was a product of the crazy girl's psychosis, not an entity that can influence others. It would be one thing if the institution made everyone crazy in their own way, but to recreate someone's exact schizophrenia in someone else is just stupid and illogical. There are a hundred different ways they could have made this movie work to their advantage, but they chose poorly.
Con #2 - The personalities of the characters were not very believable and almost too focused in the wrong direction. This movie spent SO much time letting you believe that certain characters were the bad guys, that when you found out who it actually was, it made no sense. And not in a good, "Oh, that was a cool twist!" kind of way. More like a, "Umm, okay?" way.
Con #3- You CANNOT just run around an insane asylum and throw a needle in people's eyes to give them a lobotomy. Why? 1) You don't have a license to practice medicine, and 2) That's unhygienic as all get out. Seriously, get some isopropyl alcohol or something.
Wrap up - The moral of the story is...if Netflix rates a movie as a three, it's usually garbage. And David Caruso can't act.
Pros- As I rack my brain trying to come up with a pro for this film, I find myself coming up horribly short. It's a stretch, but one pro was that I was able to watch it from beginning to end. The only reason for that being that I was waiting for something that was never actually bound to happen...a climax or resolution that made sense.
Another pro of this movie was the fact that the CSI Miami star was featured in this film. I bet this is what they saw to make their casting decision for the show, which would also explain why everyone finds David Caruso's character so...interesting. Was his acting good? No, not really. But he was fun to watch mainly because it validates that we aren't being unfairly critical of his cheese-ball-licious performances on his TV melodrama.
Cons- I'm going to try to make this as short and painless as possible, because re-hashing this film to any lengthy degree is just going to continue to frustrate me.
Con #1- There. Was. No. Logical. Plot. This could probably actually summarize all the beef I have with this movie. It's listed as a scary movie, yet none of the following occur: gory moments, pop-out moments, suspenseful moments, or "ah-ha" it all makes sense moments. My theory is that this is designed to be similar in feel to the Blair Witch Project (minus the found footage concept) in that it is supposed to scare you with what you're thinking rather than what you're seeing. Ummm, fail. Epic fail. You can't scare people with their thoughts when they don't know what the f^#@ to think!
This story is supposed to be about a crazy schizophrenic person with three personalities that brutally murdered her brother long before present day. This was revealed to the psychiatrist during session 9 of their documented therapy sessions. The only problem is, if this movie is about PSYCHOSIS, and not POSSESSION, how was this odd third malevolent personality of the dead woman roaming about the facility able to affect others? This movie leads you to believe that the main character is influenced by "Billy", but Billy was a product of the crazy girl's psychosis, not an entity that can influence others. It would be one thing if the institution made everyone crazy in their own way, but to recreate someone's exact schizophrenia in someone else is just stupid and illogical. There are a hundred different ways they could have made this movie work to their advantage, but they chose poorly.
Con #2 - The personalities of the characters were not very believable and almost too focused in the wrong direction. This movie spent SO much time letting you believe that certain characters were the bad guys, that when you found out who it actually was, it made no sense. And not in a good, "Oh, that was a cool twist!" kind of way. More like a, "Umm, okay?" way.
Con #3- You CANNOT just run around an insane asylum and throw a needle in people's eyes to give them a lobotomy. Why? 1) You don't have a license to practice medicine, and 2) That's unhygienic as all get out. Seriously, get some isopropyl alcohol or something.
Wrap up - The moral of the story is...if Netflix rates a movie as a three, it's usually garbage. And David Caruso can't act.
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