Prometheus (2012)

Let’s be clear: this is a film with problems, and some of them are pretty big. Yet the fact remains that they just don’t make sci-fi like this very often: grand and inquisitive, poking a big stick into bigger ideas and seeing what kind of horrifying monstrosity of an answer comes tumbling out. For the first half of the film, it’s almost as good as you want it to be. The setup is immediately compelling: an invitation to a faraway planet written on ancient cave walls across the world. We wonder what answers wait in the far reaches of space. This is a horror-thriller, however—wonder will soon give way to dread, and unfortunately once things inevitably start to go sideways the plot and pacing do the same. The second half is frankly a bit of a mess. Character motivations get lost in the shuffle, traumatic events pass with hardly a moment of reflection given to the victim, and developments that should be startling are met with a strange sense of apathy. Horror exists almost entirely on the premise of characters making poor decisions, but some of these are particularly cringe-worthy. And yet this is still a film worth seeing. For one: it’s absolutely gorgeous from start to finish, with barely a shot that is anything less than beautiful, even when it’s grotesque. For another: Michael Fassbender’s performance as the android David is absolutely riveting. And there are still those questions it’s keen on fiddling with, dangling like a carrot on a stick. This may not be a perfect film by a very long shot, but there’s more than enough here warrant recommending. Especially if you’re a fan of the Alien franchise.

7 out of 10.

The Box (2009)

Someone drops a box off at your door. Inside is a button. You are informed that if you press the button someone you do not know will die, and you will be given one million dollars. You have twenty-four hours to decide whether or not to push the button. And from that, things get weird. What starts out as a great bit of mental torture and suspense quickly gives way to an extended episode of The Twilight Zone with all the trimmings. Unfortunately, it's just about as cheesy too. There's some excellent weirdness going on in this movie, but while the scope of events from one reveal to the next is spot on, the sense of mystery doesn't quite follow suit. Lots of things change for the cooler, but it's hard to really care beyond curiosity. That's a shame too, because with a bit more love and a lot less runtime this could have been a perfect popcorn muncher. The same Richard Kelly that brought us the excellent Donnie Darko does a very good job capturing the vintage 70s television vibe throughout, but alas it just doesn't quite come together in a way that does its far-out ideas justice.

5 out of 10.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

Somewhere along the way, the metaphor was completely lost. The stories in the X-Men comics and films have always been about persecution, alienation, and a thinly-disguised story about civil rights. This film isn't about anything, other than two hours you'll be happy to hang on to. It fails at almost every possible level. As cannon for the long-running X-Men series, it sabotages key relationships and white-washes plotlines. As an action-thriller it fails to be exciting or thrilling, instead plowing through one set of remarkably dull explosions after another, all of which are set up in ways that defy the film series's more grounded sense of continuity. As a chance to see some upper-tier celebrities have fun onscreen it seems like only Ryan Reynolds was able to squeeze out any personality, while everyone else simply can't push their talent through the awful script. Even as a showcase for big-budget special effects it flops, with more than a few moments of obvious matte lines, miscalibrated green screen effects, and generally poor integration throughout. It's sad to see the series brought to this. It used to have a message, it used to be about characters, and it used to at least be fun to watch. This is just boring, filler white-noise. Don't bother.

2 out of 10.

Soldier (1998)

There is a reason why the “hardened killing machine defends adorable children” genre died out, and this is as good an example as any. Supposedly taking place in the same universe as the film Blade Runner, we're introduced to an infant being raised to be an unstoppable terminator, who is then rendered obsolete right about the time he starts looking like an over-the-hill Kurt Russell. Maybe then he'll learn to love and care for people instead of ripping out their throats, teaching children valuable life lessons and helping a community of refuges squeak out a living. It's exactly as cheesy and stupid as it sounds, and worse yet it doesn't even have any badass action bits or good explosions to soften the blow. This is as by the numbers as these films can get, and aside from a halfway decent turn by an almost completely silent Russell offers nothing notable. Skip it, move on. Blade Runner's universe doesn't need this.

3 out of 10.

Iron Man 2 (2010)

While the first sailed by on a whip-smart script and a stellar performance by Robert Downey Jr., part 2 swings by on upped production values and a larger focus on things that aren't the metal man himself. It's a different approach that pays off in a completely different way, but it may bug you depending on what it was about the first that you enjoyed. Like any sequel, the budget is bigger and the cast flashier. There are more things to distract from genuine character building, and in some ways it seems drunk on its own success (at least one subplot could have been cut entirely without hurting the film). But the switch-up lets there be more variety. The moments with the stars have less to say, but feel more special for their rarity. The action sequences are bigger in scope and impact, and better integrated into the story. The new characters all fit in fairly well with the old. The most damning thing to say about the film is that it only does what the first did, but bigger. Yet still, that works for what is only meant to be fun and funny. By the end, less may feel accomplished, but it's a more impressive ride regardless.

8 out of 10.

Inception (2010)

So few directors can orchestrate a mystery better than Christopher Nolan. Hot off of The Dark Knight, Nolen gives us an opus of a passion project, a film so cleverly intricate and expertly executed that there is little left to do in the end but marvel. At its core it is simply a grand heist movie, but when the goods are stored in a person's subconscious things start to get tricky. And surreal. Very surreal. What plays out is an incredibly labyrinthine story accented with mind-bending, well, mind-bending. It's unbelievably fascinating and expertly crafted. The sheer scale and breadth of thought that goes into some key sequences is enough to fill the imagination. Yet there Nolan is, confidently pushing along, and making the most complex of concepts sing and dance and comfortably layer on top of themselves. It's a total trip on a scale not seen since The Matrix. The only downside is that you'll spend so much of your brain coming to grips with its crazy ideas that the emotional side of the story has trouble staying potent. But for a film to fill the head with so very much, and successfully nudge the audience along down such a winding road, the few tiny flaws can easily be forgiven.

9 out of 10.

The Machine Girl (2008)

Also known as Kataude mashin gâru.
Any movie that plays the opening credits over a gang of highschool bullies being graphically dismantled by heavy munitions is bound to raise a few eyebrows. A fire hose-powered geyser of blood later, and this gruesome slab of modern grindhouse is off and running. Campy and violent in equally extreme measures, the sense of pure exuberant mania on display is infectious. Japanese entertainment has a history of throwing all sense out the window and yet still seeming logistically sound, but there's also spark of good old American cheddar thrown in for good measure. The result is simultaneously awesome and terrible and hilarious and utterly drenched in red. If you're in the mood for a grin and a bloodbath, this is definitely one to see.

7 out of 10.

Knowing (2009)

You get these sometimes: movies that start out pretty good, get about half way in, then start to fall apart. By the time you get to the last fifteen minutes of this film you'll want a refund on your time. In the early going, as the catastrophic numerology starts to pull things together, it feels pretty good—there's palpable tension as the disparate threads introduce themselves, the characters have interesting tweaks on familiar dynamics, and Nicolas Cage manages not to make a mess of himself. Then things swing into the second act. The more everything starts to make sense, the less interesting it becomes. There's a lot of potential carelessly discarded by the time the credits roll. The few effects sequences are still pretty decent, and the first act holds up well, but if you need a sci-fi thriller fix, you can do much better.

4 out of 10.

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (Manga Series 1982 - 1994)

Also known as Kaze no Tani no Naushika.
When I wrote my review of the film I pointed out how I felt the narrative felt truncated and rushed. The truth is that no matter how large the fringes of the film's world may have seemed, they are nothing compared with the absolutely massive scope and story told in this manga series. It's still the same basic premise, showing a determined princess trying to end the wars between last tribes of humanity while a toxic jungle closes in around them, but here the scale of the conflict is escalated a hundred-fold. Massive battles sweep across the landscape, cultures and religions are touched on and detailed and irrevocably shifted, while the world itself, deadly and unmerciful, swallows up entire nations. Through it all, Miyazaki's impeccable sense of pace comes through on the page, and his iconic character art is filled with wonder and with horror. It's a darker piece than much of his other work, but so much is said and seen and done over the course of it all that there is little room for anything less than awe. Perhaps the only legitimate complaint is how the black and white drawings are sometimes difficult to follow, leading to minor confusion from time to time. Even so, the result is utterly biblical in scope and ambition, and though it falters at moments, it is nonetheless a staggering accomplishment.

9 out of 10.

Moon (2009)

Like a lot of the great fiction, Moon gives us a very small idea and just lets it grow. What starts as an ominous musing on loneliness as a single technician wraps up a 3-year solo tour overseeing an automated mining operation on the lunar surface quickly pushes in all sorts of odd directions, turning itself on its ear and becoming fascinatingly unpredictable. The tweaks that come in the story are the kind of stuff that make up the best of short fiction, expanded out to just the right size. At the film's core is an essentially one-man show by Sam Rockwell, who turns in a career performance while trying to sort out the increasingly bizarre circumstances of his job. For those who like a little more drama and a bit more concept in their sci-fi, this strange, manic tale hits all the right notes.

8 out of 10.

Primer (2004)

Watching this film is a bit like squeezing your brain through a cheese grater: by the end you're divided across several individual opinions, and most of them aren't quite sure what just happened. There's a tearing point near the halfway mark where the possibilities ramp up so dramatically, like tossing an extra zero on the end of an exponential number, that most people will lose track entirely. I did. This workman-like tale of garage physicists cooking up a plan to break physics entirely, and the ramifications thereof, becomes too heady to follow. But there's a certain freedom here—being outsmarted by a movie—that can be fun and interesting. When you consider the possibilities, and you will, there's a sense of awe. That the film is nearly impossible to follow works to its advantage. As far as indie films go there aren't many that at least feel smarter, but then there are many others that make better sense.

6 out of 10.

Avatar (2009)

In the simplest possible terms, this movie features one of the most lush, vibrant, and fascinating worlds ever put to film. It's stunning and staggering and warm and real. When credits roll, you feel like you just spent a week in the weird and wonderful. For all the bombast and budget the film has gone through to make it to the screen, this is a movie that delivers that elusive true magic of actual escapism. The story, after that fact, is almost irrelevant. And yet even this tale of man coming to grips with nature, predictable and trite though it may be, manages to always seem engaging and fun. It's an action-adventure film in the classic sense, with broadly painted villains and even broader heroes, brought together with incredible confidence. The story itself may not be much to praise, but the execution, the beauty, and the pure thrilling awe of this sci-fi fable make it something altogether remarkable.

9 out of 10.

Note: If the option exists, no matter how difficult it may be, this film must be seen in 3D. It is not a gimmick like it is in every other film, it becomes a part of the story, and turns this incredible world into one you can actually touch. It is still a great movie regardless, but it would lose a key feature in its presentation.

Children of Men (2006)

There's a point late in the film where, amidst incredible chaos and death and racism and persecution, the main character is given the slightest and simplest of favors. It's in this moment that you realize how perfectly realized, and utterly depressing, the world in the film is. Depicting a future where humanity has gone infertile, and not a single child has been born worldwide in eighteen years, the movie shows the sorry state of Britain as civilization slowly self-cannibalizes. It is very good at it. Every inch of the film is filled with a sense of decay, of society struggling with its own mortality. We soldier on, but tragically question why. It is all laid down with an incredible eye for detail, down to the most minute tweak, and framed with some truly noteworthy camera work. So it is a shame that a movie which expertly paints one of the most thorough swan songs for our species does such a poor job in developing its characters. Everyone involved puts in excellent work on camera, but the script is clearly focused on the bigger picture. You care little for what the characters are going through, but instead care deeply, desperately for the state of the film's world. The result is devastating regardless.

9 out of 10.

District 9 (2009)

Based on, and expanded from, the excellent short film Alive in Joburg, first-time feature director Neill Blomkamp soundly proves himself with one of the freshest, most thought-provoking science fiction films in years. The film depicts the plight a semi-intelligent, insect-like alien race stuck on Earth, segregated from the human population by the government, and forced to live in a ghetto. It works as an obvious parable to apartheid but the movie plays it smart, never issuing a heavy hand or an unwanted message. Instead you get a deeply fascinating look at a situation quickly spiraling out of control, seen through the eyes of a dopey, pencil-pushing bureaucrat who gets unwittingly snatched into the worst of it and intercut the retrospective of a documentary film chronicling the events. The result is a gritty, dark, often unsettling, but intensely interesting sci-fi drama thriller that asks nothing but difficult questions, all the while wowing with impressive effects. It has a few rookie mistakes in the presentation, but in almost every way this is one of the best films of its genre in almost a decade.

9 out of 10. (what else would I give it?)

Terminator (1984)

Some classics don't age entirely well. Despite being the star-maker for The Governator himself, this is a film with some exceptional qualities held back by production that may have been trendy and cutting edge at the time, but today seems quaint at best. Set as a story of a cyborg assassin sent back in time to kill the mother of a future leader, the tale told is barely enough to fill a short story, yet the film plays this to its advantage by filling with lots of action and a few great character moments. The action scenes themselves are very well done, showing off a young James Cameron's aptitude for exceptional staging, but it's the moments of suspense that really stand out; the relentless finale especially is a heart-pounding chase of incredible intensity. What ultimately holds the film back, however, are the trappings of the era in which it was made. While the teased hair and garish neon culture of the early 80s can be forgiven as set dressing, it becomes increasingly difficult to overlook the sound mixing and film score, which frequently undercuts some of the best scenes. It's a damn shame too, as a little more longevity in this area would push this great film into the same league as its legendary sequel. For now it's a good film with some dated key elements—fun to watch, and exciting, but flawed.

7 out of 10.

Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)

James Cameron has a knack for sequels. After turning the Aliens franchise from horror legend to action masterpiece, he returns to followup on his original film about a coming war between humans and machines. This time two robots are sent back in time both sent to deal with the future leader of the resistance. What plays out is a whip-smart action movie with incredible stunts and big explosions, yet more character and soul than most Oscar-bait. It is a remarkable movie, deftly bouncing between exceptional suspense and mega-budget effects, to thoughtful musings on the human condition, parenting, destiny, and the burdens of leadership. Arnold Schwarzenegger returns to his career-making role of the T-101 model terminator, almost perfectly finding balance between his trademark coldhearted stare and making him just human enough to be relatable. Linda Hamilton also does incredible work as the strong, though deeply troubled, Sarah Connor. The remaining cast does exceptionally well across the board. Once in a long while you get a film that comes along with everything: intelligent characters, quotable lines, iconic action, and a solid set of messages. There aren't really any areas to knock this film; it's about as good as this genre gets.

10 out of 10.

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)

From a plot point of view, there really isn't much wrong with the film considering what was left to work with after the second: more robots are sent back in time, but now they are preparing for the coming nuclear holocaust as best they can for their side, rather than trying to prevent or ensure it. The problems with the film mostly lie in how it is presented and, often, scripted. A series begins to lose its impact when it starts to rely on sly, winking references to the previous films, and the first half-hour is largely one obnoxious sight gag after another. Similarly, the casting is all over the place. Arnold does due diligence to the role he made a movie icon, and Kristanna Loken does well as yet another new model of terminator. However Nick Stahl is a bit limp as future resistance leader John Connor, and Claire Danes, a fairly accomplished actress with considerable talent, is completely miscast. Still, there are a few highlights, including an obscenely destructive car chase, and an ending that remains remarkably effective. As a whole, the movie is competent, but just barely. There is nearly none of the sharp intelligence or pure suspense of the previous entries, but things still explode nicely and the plot still chugs along.

6 out of 10.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

Every series deserves to have a bright, blinding high point; that moment or segment where even the most over-wrought morass of fiction has a chance to shine and be celebrated. The Wrath of Khan is just that. The story is kept simple and accessible: a man bearing a decades-long grudge against a now-retired starship captain escapes exile to exact his revenge. Very little of the series' signature baggage comes along for the ride in any prominent way. Instead we are presented with a streamlined narrative, solid and compelling characters, and an excellent cat-and-mouse game played between the two leads. There's even a substantial amount of risk taken with some key players, and a simply exceptional final showdown. Sure, some of the staple characters are underutilized, and there are certainly moments of very questionable acting, but for the popcorn-munching fun and adventure of it, this is a film that fans and non-fans can both enjoy equally.

9 out of 10.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)

Wow. What went wrong? Let's all be honest here: you shouldn't expect much from a movie based on a cartoon that was based on a series of toys. Still, somehow director Michael Bay managed to make magic happen with the first film, concocting a light romp in which giant robots beat the snot out of each other for our amusement. It was funny, exciting, quickly paced, and pleasantly inconsequential. This film, on the other hand, is a morass of terrible screenwriting on top of embarrassingly bad acting, and an air of over-inflated self importance. Even the exceptionally glossy sheen of absurdly good special effects can't overcome this half-cocked mess of gaping plot holes and horrendously irritating characters. Meanwhile the action, the one part you could hope to count on, is nothing but a few slow motion explosions splattered over a some confusing whip-pans. There are a pair of decent action sequences in here, but twenty-five minutes of awesome is not worth enduring two additional, excruciating hours of tripe. This film goes down about as easy as swallowing a cheese-grater.

3 out of 10.

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)

Also known as Kaze no tani no Naushika.
Set a thousand years in the future, as the last pockets of humanity fight to survive in a world covered with a vast toxic jungle, this environmentally friendly tale of a pacifist princess's struggle to defend her peaceful home from warring neighbors is crammed full of imagination and excitement, but is perhaps a bit too ambitious for it's own good. To be fair, it's based on a very large series of manga. But even with the manga's writer/artist as the film's writer/director, there are just too many things brought up that either aren't resolved well, or lack development. Characters swing from one side of the fence to another without so much as a moment to reflect on why (one key character's climactic change of heart is hilariously explained by her simply saying “I've chosen the bloody path.”), while entire civilizations are encountered, and left to ruin in moments. Yet despite the short-changing of just about everything, there is still a lot of grand adventure and heartfelt drama going on. By the end, you really feel for the princess, and her people, and the giant killer insects threatening humanity. It's a good, family-friendly time, but still one in need of either far more time, or far less ambition.

7 out of 10.

Note: This film was also released under the name Warriors of the Wind in the late 80s, however the Warriors of the Wind version of the film is heavily edited, removing just over twenty minutes from the runtime, causing significant changes to the plot. Avoid that version.