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Bjelke90
Reviews
Prometheus (2012)
Great things have small beginnings
I saw this film in 3D last Friday here in Sweden. I am also a fan of the Alien-series, and a sci-fi fan in general. After having seen quite a few remakes and prequels not living up to my expectations, Prometheus was a nice breath of fresh air. I won't go into detail with specific scenes, but I will say that no matter what this film has been promoted as, it is indeed a prequel to the Alien franchise, which is made very clear many times in the film.
Prometheus is great in many ways. It's visually stunning, for starters. Acting is also great, which is what I expected from the selected cast. Plot is much better than some people make it out to be. I actually think that they did this film a disservice by promoting it as a "standalone film", when it indeed is a prequel to the Alien-franchise. Since it so obviously is, you have to take it's sequels into consideration when judging the plot. Prometheus is, for obvious reasons, limited by the fact that what's to come has already been presented. Still, the film succeeds not to feel obvious. It's without a doubt one of the best prequels I've seen, and the best sci-fi movie in many years.
Super 8 (2011)
Cloverfield meets E.T
I want to start of by saying that I, even though I know I should never have, had huge expectations for this movie due to the people involved with it and all the hype for it. Therefore I now have mixed feelings about the result of the movie. Whilst Abrams and Spielberg have proved themselves to be masterful many times, it seems like this co-work panned out a little bit out of focus. It's like someone in charge couldn't agree on if they were doing a E.T sequel or a Cloverfield sequel.
Super 8, to me, is at it's best when it has that mysterious Cloverfield/Lost tone and not the E.T storytelling where characters literally tell every answer to every question you're having as a viewer. Whenever that happens in this film, it ruins the excitement for the mysterious plot and main villain's purpose. It's like someone forgot that a well-done mysterious movie is exciting because it's mysterious, however that happened.
It's not a bad movie, it's enjoyable, but it could have been so much more if they would have left parts of it mysterious and unsolved.
Alan Wake (2010)
The sequel Twin Peaks deserved but never had, until now
After I finished Alan Wake I came to discuss the game with my father, who also is a fan of thrillers and fiction. I told him about the dark presence in the woods, the people in the town of Bright Falls and how the story pans out. He immediately recalled the TV-series "Twin peaks" that he followed when I was only a few years old. I decided to check it out since I had never seen it.
It's so obvious that Alan Wake and Twin Peaks play in the same universe Everything from the obvious dark presence in the woods and secret society rules to the less obvious Television shows(within the game/series) and dreams having a strange relativity to what's going on with the actual story.
The best thing about Alan Wake, which is so rare in sequel cases, is that it's so alike Twin Peaks that it doesn't feel like a cover or a sloppy attempt at a remake, but rather exploring the Twin Peaks universe further with a new plot. Alan Wake is using a formula I wish every prequel or sequel writer would use. Simply understanding and respecting the most important rules of the original story and exploring the universe further with a new plot that takes the original to new heights, instead of bringing it down like many sequels have. Now, I know it's not officially a sequel or a prequel to Twin Peaks, but it's so obvious it can't be foreseen.
Besides, we've had enough of the bad prequels and sequels where the original authors get hurt by turns their fantastic stories take, lawsuits and/or bad blood following. So it's nice to finally see a continuation of a story that isn't followed by a lawsuit or bad blood, but simply with a new found respect of the original and excitement of what's still to come.
/Johan from Sweden
Watchmen (2009)
Epic film
I never read the comic books and I never knew the core story better than it being about superheroes. This movie surprised me. Being a huge sci-fi and action film fan this story and film fit my taste very well.
The only question I have is- Why did they not make two movies instead of one? Because the movie is almost too long and it could have actually used a little bit more character development. Other than that, it's a great film. The best action flick of the year in my opinion. Good acting, good story and very well narrated. I wish this movie will get a follow up because this is the best comic book action movie I've seen. A big thumbs up to the intro to the film, it's original and interesting and you almost don't know what's going on at the time, but it makes sense to you as you go on. Watch Watchmen now!
Terminator Salvation (2009)
Very enjoyable movie that can stand on it's own
I think that this movie, just coming back from seeing it at theatre here in Sweden, is a great fourth installment in a series and a pretty damn good action film on it's own. It has a really nice intro but lost speed a bit after 30 minutes or so, but it picks up before the one hour mark and keeps going real well. The ending twist is great and the last 30 minutes actually feel just as good as something from the first two movies. We all know that a CGI version of someone is in this movie, and it was executed very well. It totally made the film feel more like a Terminator movie. Christian Bale was great as John Connor and Sam Worthington was brilliant as Marcus, that character had some really nice twists in his story throughout the film. Helena Bonham Carter had a small, but powerful role as well as Michael Ironside. However, I felt T4 was too short, which supposedly is a good thing considering that it means that I'd like to see more. The thing though, is that so much is happening that it sometimes almost looses it's thread, which I think might not be a case with a longer cut.
All in all, a much more satisfied Terminator fan walking out the cinema than back in 2003. This a good movie and a worthy sequel to Terminator 1 and 2. Go see it, no matter what the bashers say.
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
How such a right movie can become so wrong
When I first read that Terminator 3 was being developed in mid February 2002 I jumped off my chair and cheered loudly. I remember the anticipation for the movie being huge. I was watching trailers, following updates here and on other sites on a weekly basis up until the release of the film. So I entered the cinema, only to see that someone in production didn't share my opinion on what a Terminator film is all about.
A Terminator movie to me is all about the frightening, unbelievable, yet realistic story about men creating it's own doom by making smarter and smarter computers and machines. It's about the story and adventures of Sarah Connor and John Connor. It's also about having the most hardcore villains ever in firstly Arnold Schwarzenegger and secondly Robert Patrick. In the same way that Keith Richards playing guitar in the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie the casting of a Terminatrix beating up Arnold Schwarzenegger sinks a landmine into the heart of the movie. Now, Kristanna Loken is a beautiful woman, and also good at what she's doing in this film. It's only that the role she's playing doesn't work for me. I know that her role is a superior model to Arnold's and I have to think deeper than this, but there is just no way that it looks right to me when a beautiful woman kicks Arnold Schwarzeneggers but. It's a totally wrong decision in my opinion. That was the saddest part of the movie to me.
And while we're at it. There's about one or two jokes in some scenes in the first two movies that never ever makes the film cross the line to being a comedic film. At parts, this movie truly is comedic and even silly. It doesn't feel like it has the right tone for a Terminator movie.
The casting of Nick Stahl as John Connor isn't a perfect choice either in my opinion... He's not that good of an actor and doesn't even look like Edward Furlong a few years into the future from Terminator 2. That's why I'm so glad they cast Christian Bale as Connor for the new Terminator Salvation film since he's a much better actor and looks way more like Furlong than Stahl does.
Now to the good parts of the movie. Apart from the to me obvious flaws of the movie that I presented it does have glimpses of classic Terminator quality. The core story, Terminatrix aside, is actually good. The Directing is good. Claire Danes is brilliant as well as Arnold Schwarzenegger. Kristanna Loken is good at playing a Terminatrix, it's just that her role is hopeless to succeed in my opinion. So that's a really double-edged sword. I don't think there's any woman that could have done it any better. The music arrangements are good and feel like a Terminator movie and so are some of the action scenes. I recommend this movie to those who likes to see big explosions and high speed chases, without thinking too much about what's really going on.