Dead Man Down

More often than not I agree with the user ratings on IMDB.com. Dead Man Down currently holds at 6,5/10, so I expected to be entertained but not too impressed with the film. Also, I don't much care for Colin Farrell, which further lowered my expectations.

What a pleasant surprise this was (if you can call a film about a man seeking revenge for the murder of his family "pleasant").

Victor aka Laszlo (I wonder if this is deliberate. If you don't know what I'm talking about, look up "Victor Laszlo".) has been working on an elaborate plan to take out an entire crime organisation responsible for killing his wife and young daughter two years back. The film starts when one of Alphonse's henchman, Paul, is found murdered. Paul has gotten a little to close to uncovering who has been sending his boss all these photos of Alphonse with the eyes scratched out and pieces of another picture, that still has the revealing bits missing.

So Victor has to start improvising. His mission is further complicated by his neighbor Beatrice, who lives opposite his apartemen and can see inside. She witnessed Paul's murder and instead of reporting it to the police she blackmails Victor into helping her with her own revenge. Beatrice is disfigured since a car accident. She was hit by a drunk driver who got a sentence of all of three weeks. This will not do and she asks Victor to kill him for her.

The elaborate plan starts spinning out of control and all the while another guy from the organization is getting closer to learn what Paul found out. In the end, it all comes to blows at Alphonse's residence in one massive shoot-out.

I thought this was actually quite brilliant and the supporting cast alone is well worth the time. Also, Colin Farrell never looked this good. Still not much of a fan but Damn! Plucked his eyebrows and all.

8/10

Babycall (The Monitor)

Noomi Rapace as Anna, an overprotective mother gone off the rails. She has a restraining order against her ex-husband, who tried to throw their son Anders out the window. Or so she claims.

Anna and Anders live in a non-descript apartment complex in a non-descript town and the mother is in a state of constant panic. She only befriends Helge, who works in an electronics store where Anna purchases a baby monitor to always keep track of her 8-year-old son.

In the end, everything was totally different from what we thought - and from what Helge thought happened.

It's a strange one. Set up as a thriller/horror film, it is not really all that horrifying (for someone like me, who watches a lot of horror films). There is some element of tension, especially before we learn what was really going on.

Unfortunately, the idea is much better than the execution. Even with Noomi Rapace carrying the film.

3/10

Prometheus

My first post on a film-of-the-moment! One that is actually in theaters right now. I give you....Prometheus, the film that has been hyped and hyped and hyped some more over the last year or so (felt that long, didn't it). So, does it live up to the buzz?

Yes, it does. It has its flaws, no doubt, and quite a few of them. But it is what it is supposed to be - a sci-fi summer blockbuster that alternately awes you and freaks you out.

It starts with this guy killing himself. Or something.We do not know where he is (is it a he even?) and we do not know why he drinks that funny stuff he (she?) is drinking. But he (she?) is our ancestor. That much is clear.

So this team of scientists sets out to find a star constellation that has been discovered in many cave drawings by all kinds of different ancient civilizations. They take about 2 years to get there. While they sleep in their fancy futuristic beds, David is manning the ship by himself. David is an adroid without any emotions, that somehow still manages to be quite the douchebag (with an agenda, apparently). He spends his days watching old films (Lawrence of Arabia) and dyeing his roots.

As soon as all the scientist are woken, there follows a lot of exploring dark caves. Ominous lighting FTW!After some exciting discoveries that may or may not prove the initial theory of where all life comes from, the horror kicks in. Black liquids oozing out of vessels (vases), people disintegrating, quite the gross abortion (the horrific highlight in my book!), one big-ass face-hugger...well, more of a full-body-hugger, really.

Thankfully, the film has eye candy galore. There is David (the actual reason girls will watch this):

Despite the bad hair, Michael Fassbender is a welcome sight. There is the badass captain:

Even a character as unemotional and slick as Charlize Theron's succumbs to his rough charms. Sort of. And then there is the guy who looks like the cute brother of Tom Hardy:

Wait. Did she just sort of diss Tom Hardy? Yes, I believe she did. *gasp*

And all that in 3D! Which is totally wasted on this film. There is next to nothing that warrants the use of 3D, other than it looks pretty and sharp. Can we be done with 3D, please?

What was slightly annoying was the ending. We get no answers whatsoever. Because Elizabeth Shaw is "still searching". Uhm, ok. So, there's going to be a sequel, right?

5/10