Ghostbusters Review

You might wonder why so many films now are remakes or reboots of old franchises. Usually; it's because the original films are old and with modern technologies and hindsight, their stories can be expanded and made into something better.

Remakes can work. Invasion of the Body Snatchers, John Carpenters' The Thing, Scarface, True Grit, The Fly and many, many others have proven that remakes can work, given the right circumstances, attention and love.

But a question that lingers is; if a film has a legitimate problem, in that, even with all new technologies and hindsight, if it has no chance of surpassing the original, is it worth remaking?

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Review

A decade ago, the Star Wars franchise for all intents and purposes, looked relegated to a children's television series, an expanded universe so deep and large that it was nearly impossible to grasp, the odd, decent game (and a few that should have been flung into the Death Star's core) and a series of web reviews by a senile murderer from New Jersey, which eviscerated the prequel trilogy and provided infinitely more entertainment than they ever did.

Jurassic World Review

Like many, I was probably too young to watch Jurassic Park on first viewing. It wasn't the raptors in the kitchen which scared me, it was the dilophosaurus exploding at Newman, then spitting venom at him and then eating him in the car which disturbed and horrified me unlike anything I saw before it.

But like all kids, being scared is the ultimate form of entertainment and that's one of the reasons why Spielberg's masterpiece is still revered today. That and the groundbreaking special effects which even today look superb no matter how many times you think rose-tinted glasses play a role in it.

Jurassic Park never got the sequel it deserved. The Lost World: Jurassic Park was a mess which saw Jeff Goldblum return to try and save another island's free roaming beasts from an evil corporation which ends on a forty minute epilogue in San Diego which, even as a youngster, felt like padding.

Jurassic Park III in the meanwhile tried to streamline and make a simple rescue mission. What we got was an annoying female lead, special effects that looked better a decade earlier and non-inspiring set-pieces which, for intents and purposes killed the franchise stone dead for over a decade.

Thankfully, in an era of superhero movies, no ideas and nostalgia and much like the resurrected dinosaurs, life finds a way and the series is back; bigger, brighter and possibly...better than ever?

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) Review

With recent life events, I've been thinking about my childhood and the events and programming that moulded me into the guy I am today. Ask my four year old self what I wanted to be and, apart from telling you I don't talk to strangers unless bribed, I'd likely tell you I wanted to be a Ghostbuster when I grow up.

Needless to say, this didn't inspire me to get into the pest control business, much like that no matter how much I loved the eighties cartoon adaptation of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (or Hero Turtles in the UK because the word 'Ninja' was deemed too violent) I didn't turn out to be a ninja (although I do eat far, far too much pizza).

Prometheus - Review

Prometheus promised a hell of a lot just simply with its existence, a prequel to Alien? That’s big stuff especially with Ridley Scott at the helm. As much as Scott tried to convince us otherwise in the build up there is no way this film is not a prequel, there’s just far too much content that links it to Alien, some of it works and some of it falls short.

A few words on…. Men in Black 3

The third film in a franchise, only so few have been decent, is Men in Black 3 any good or is it another cash in from the now creative-less world that is Hollywood now?

Xenomania '11: Alien Resurrection

You'd think that with, you know, your main heroes dying in one movie without setting up another would kill your franchise. You'd be right, most of the time. But this is Sci-fi! All we need is a half-baked, plot hole filled explanation and bang! We can make that sequel that can re-coup the losses the studio made on the last film...I mean, give the fans the sequel they deserve.

And thus is the only reasons I can think that justify Alien Resurrection's existence.

Even if Alien 3 killed the work of Ridley Scott and James Cameron in their prime, it at least had a somewhat concrete conclusion to the story of Ripley. But this being the late nineties; it's a transitional period between unnecessary sequels to long standing franchises and just before reboots became a safe bet for studios, hence why, Alien Resurrection serves the purpose as both.

It's a sequel because it does carry on from Alien 3, this time set two hundred years after with Ripley cloned from a sample of blood left somewhere in the prison. Although we'll be covering Ripley in her aforementioned section, in short; she's changed a lot.

But anyway, when we sat down and watched this (after being drained by Alien 3), Resurrection, despite being ultimately pointless, plot hole laden and at times, frighteningly stupid, the film returns to the routes Cameron created in Aliens.

The first half an hour, like every other film in the franchise, is used to primarily used to re-establish Ripley's character, her new setting and the secondary protagonists. It also, unlike every other film in franchise; shows the classic Xenomorph's early because, screw it, they can't surprise us anymore so they might as well give the audience some phallic shaped eye-candy.

But the moment the Xenomorph's inevitably escape and cause carnage, the film becomes a dumb action movie. It lacks the subtlety and sense of isolation in the first two (I put this down to lighting because Resurrection is always in bright, huge corridors compared to the dark, tiny ones with the first two).

Also, because it's the late nineties, everyone minus Winona Ryder is an action hero, evoking their inner Van-Damme throughout. To it's credit, I can at least remember who was in this film compared to 3 where describing any of the other characters beyond "prisoner and bald" is an uphill struggle.

By the end, it kinda fails as you don't really enough care if anyone survives (minus Ripley and Call) but it's has a half-decent, if questionably open ending. See, this is where you can regard Resurrection as a reboot (substantial changes to an established character/s, new updated setting and the possibility of further stories), but, as nothing came of this, the franchise now ends on a strange cliffhanger with no real closure, which can be frustrating.

But what's really frustrating is the lack of scares. Even Alien 3, in all it's terribleness and boredom, did have a few, minor jumps. Even Aliens, the film Resurrection tries to emulate and what replaced Scott's ongoing horror, is still more terrifying than most horror movies.

Resurrection however, never escapes it's foundations as a pure action film. It has a few visually striking and disturbing moments, but its more intrigue than scary. You can argue that, after two decades, it'd be impossible to make the film's antagonists scary, but, this is a franchise with the most disturbing species in cinematic history, so I put this down to direction.

It's a fun b-movie but nothing more. It remains in the shadows of the first two films but can stand proud against 3 and ultimately, maybe that was the whole point...if you ignore the opening paragraph...and the idea that it's a reboot.

...Yay!

Ripley's Believe It or Not: If Resurrection does one thing, above all else, it gives Ripley new direction and motive, which depending on how you like the idea of further sequels, will depend on your enjoyment of the new Ripley.

After sacrificing herself for the greater good, the space government (as the original company was bought out by Walmart...moving on) clones Ripley to extract a clone of the Queen inside of her during Alien 3. Because of plot convenience, Ripley has genetic memories (think Assassin's Creed) but also, because of the cloning process, her genes have been spliced with the Xenomorph. So now she has acidic blood, heightened reflexes (backwards three point shot anyone?), increased strength, can sense nearby aliens and also has a motherly bond with the hybrid offspring

This isn't however the biggest change to her character. Because of said cloning process, most of her memories remain, but ones like Newt's name are gone. She also spends of the film in this part veteran survivor, part stoned off her tits with strange mannerisms. She constantly tells the other protagonists they are doomed to die, but remains confident of her own survival (then again, after three films, you'd have to be a tad confident at your chances).

She spends the most amount of time with Call. Call originally wants to kill her but this changes when the Xenomorph's escape. They spend the remainder of the time bonding before Call is apparently shot dead and returns ten minutes later, relatively unharmed, revealing herself as an android.

It's here where the film either has a stroke of genius or it's a plain coincidence. See, surprisingly, you could view this as the natural development of Ripley's character arc concerning androids. With Ash going haywire in the first film, she learns to trust Bishop in Aliens, even if it's right at the end and in Alien 3, albeit briefly, she searches for him and then grants his wish to die when it becomes apparent he can serve no further use.

In Resurrection; Call serves as Newt, if she lived long enough to grow up. Before her reveal, she seems headstrong but vulnerable and plays the daughter role to Ripley. With the reveal, it shows how far Ripley has come from the Aliens concerning androids, where Call's true identity doesn't really change anything with them and if anything, Call's abilities become incredibly useful to the group when it's out in the open, rather than hidden.

But despite these fleeting moments; Ripley is a whole new character. The scene with her discovering her botched clones (which is so good, it's been parodied twice on South Park) is disturbing, but in the context of her character, doesn't really make sense. It's never referenced again afterwards and just seems to be to show the depravity of the government; which is only touched upon in the first act and after the Xenomorph's attack, are only channelled through Dr. Wren.

Although it's nice to see Ripley return visually, she's basically a husk of her former self. I'm not a fan of this incarnation of the character and, if there were sequels to Resurrection, I have no idea where'd they'd go from here with her.

Game Over Man!: If the lack of Xenomorph action in Alien 3 annoyed you, then Resurrection more than makes up for it.

We might as well get the most startling developments out the way. Because of the cloning process (was The Jackal in the development for this process?), the Queen inherited traits from Ripley, in this case, a womb. So rather than the penis-like Ovipositor, the Queen posses a womb and vagina, basically doing away with the whole egg-facehugger-chestburster process in the original movies.

The offspring is a horrifying creation that inherits far more human traits than it's regular incarnations. It has pale skin, visible eyes, a human-like mouth, a human-like nose, is emotional and, for reasons not really explained, thinks Ripley is it's Mother.

Also, in an effort to give the hybrid something of a Giger-esq quality, the original had a mix of human genitalia which was edited out post production.

The original Xenomorph's are relatively unchanged minus it's established they are good swimmers and can climb ladders. The behavioural pattern in having hosted carted off and killing in self-defence returns but other behaviours are also revealed.

In the beginning, the government doctors are trying to get the Xenomorph's to understand basic instructions, with the use of pressurised liquid nitrogen. After attacking the glass and being sprayed, they Xenomorph's stop after being threatened. They also, when they escape, reveal they know how to use the button and use it to kill an investigating soldier.

In one final note; the Xenomorph's also plan their escape by killing one of their own and using it's blood to burn through the enclosure. It's a shocking if logical way which establishes the beasts as creative thinkers, rather than mindless killing machines.

Overall: Alien Resurrection is the final entry before the Xenomorph's went off to battle the Predator franchise. Go in with low expectations (or watch Alien 3 before it) and it has a fun b-movie feel to it. It has a lot of great action scenes, some neat ideas and some visually horrifying moments, but it lacks the tension and scares which the original two so fantastic.

On it's own; it's ok, but has been done far better by Cameron and despite all the neat ideas, there's a lot of nonsensical rubbish too and ultimately, is a pointless addition.

Which brings us to an end of Xenomania! '11. We hope you've enjoyed these retrospectives and hope you've had a fun Halloween. Until next time...which will be sometime this week with a review for Florence and the Machine's new album.

...Huzzah!

Xenomania! '11: Alien 3

I once said in the review for Toy Story 3 that film trilogies never work. It can be a combination on plot threads left ultimately unfulfilled, bizarre, outlandish character developments, rehashing the previous entries in the franchise or simply being unjustified in existence.

But rarely can a film encompass all the points above with such spectacularly, terrible results than Alien 3. I mean, holy roman empire, this is bad. When me and Reece sat down to watch this on Saturday; I warned what was to come ahead, but it still came no where close to the actual quality of the film.

In a sentence: How on Earth can a film about a visually striking creature which rapes it's victims to procreate be so mind-numbingly boring?

The answer:

For one thing; all the events of Aliens are basically jettisoned into the vast void of discontinued plot threads, negating them from existence. Warning bells screech in the opening credits when only Sigourney Weaver and Lance Henriksen are mentioned. Then within ten minutes, the film does the unthinkable and says all the previously well established and likeable characters (minus a mangled Bishop) are dead (Newt gets Women in Refrigerator-induced treatment when her corpse has an autopsy for the audience's pleasure...niiiiiicccccceeee!).

So from the offstead, Alien 3 commits the cardinal sin of undoing all the work of the previous film. It's nowhere near as bad as the transition between Highlander and it's first sequel but it's on the same lines.

But this is just the start. The film wholly takes place on a prison planet, where the near thirty, all male inmates are described as "Rapists, murderers and child molesters". So yep, the characters we want to see survive the events unfold are basically irredeemable and aren't worth saving.

The film tries to throw a curveball by showing the inmates have embraced a religious philosophy that's part Harold Camping, part Friar Tuck. This leads to several long-winded scenes with main believer Dillion holding funerals or speeches that basically amount to "We're all screwed, but at least we'll be near God".

See, the main problem with Alien 3 is it tries to combine the tension of the original with the action of Aliens. The action is questionably scaled back to just one, poorly rendered CGI Xenomorph (this time emerging from a dog or an ox in the Director's Cut) which not only looks ridiculous and dated, but also makes the situation less grandeur from the hordes of monsters in the previous film.

The tension meanwhile is non-existant. The main focal point at the start is Ripley having a vagina and the inmates not seeing a woman for years. This is quickly glanced over with the discovery of the alien and then the film tries to evoke the spirit of the original by having an enemy in the shadows which could strike at any time.

This would work if the characters were likeable and engaging minus Ripley and then in the third act, it's discovered Ripley is immune to the Xenomorph's advances, therefore negating any tension in the film to zero and making any events entirely pointless.

It's only the last five minutes that are interesting and even then, it's more of a way to close the franchise off beyond any questionable doubt (more on that irony next time). On the whole, it's a poorly executed result of a poorly executed idea. The film is far, far too long, lacks any remotely likeable characters and the action sequences lack the bombastic thrills of it's predecessor.

And above all else, it's boring. Sleep inducing, soul draining and mind-numbingly boring.

Ripley's Believe It or Not!: Alien 3 is the only film in the franchise that doesn't take place years after it's predecessor and, to it's credit, Ripley is still the level-headed gal we left at the end of Aliens.

The major development in Alien 3 is Ripley being given a queen embryo, therefore making her a walking time bomb but also causing the attacking Xenomorph to completely avoid her (as she puts it "It won't attack it's future").

After this discovery; Ripley becomes suicidal, simply to prevent the Queen from emerging. She hunts down the Xenomorph as a means to die but the beast avoids her. She asks Dillion; a confessed rapist and murderer of women to kill her, but he refuses on the grounds of plot convenience.

By the end, the company arrive and despite the original Bishop's plea to take the creature, she sacrifices herself in molten lead, taking the Queen with her. Naturally, the idea of someone melting would normally finish that character, but this isn't the end of Ripley...to a certain extent.

Game Over Man!: The major change to the Xenomorph in Alien 3 is that it's now quadrupedal (since it's inherited it's parentage from a dog/ox). This basically fully establishes that Xenomorph's take on traits from their hosts (if you didn't already notice the subtle visual hints in the previous film).

Also, the previously established behavioural patterns in having the alien not kill all it's victims but return them to a nest is either retconned, partially forgotten or fully noticed as this Xenomorph basically kills everything it sees.

I'd like to say the latter as there's no Queen and therefore, no nest to return potential hosts hence why it kills everything but I think they just wanted to have the Alien as more of a simple monster, hence why it's probably the former.

Also, as if i've not said it enough, it seems Xenomorph's won't attack those carrying queens. It seems even they have a concept of regicide.

But minus that, there's very little newly stated facts to the Xenomorph's. If it makes you feel better, the next film will have a far more extensive look at behaviour and evolution.

Overall: Alien 3 is bad. Really, really, really bad. It's boring, lacks the tension, horror and terror of the previous two films and is an archetype of how not to do a sequel. It's so bad, it makes the next and final entry on this list look like Citizen Kane.

So join us tomorrow for Citizen Xenomorph!

...

I mean Alien Resurrection.

Xenomania! '11: Aliens

Whilst Alien is an oddity for being the first in a franchise where it's predecessor's are different genre's, James Cameron's sequel Aliens, is an oddity in it's own right for being one of those rare films which surpasses the original in entertainment value.

Rather than induce the slow-burn that Scott had accomplished with the original to create tension; Cameron calls Aliens "Forty miles of bad road". It's over an hour longer, has forty minutes at the beginning to re-establish Ripley as a character and, with the film now fifty-seven years in the future, cover the events to set the stage for the main chunk of the film's story.

Once the film is done explaining the universe, it's basically two hours of pure, unadulterated terror. Rather than tension, the film puts it principle players in scenario's that are practically impossible to survive, constantly. From the opening futile battle in the cooling tower to the film's final moments; it's no-win situation after no-win situation with narrow escapes and brief blemishes of hope.

This is made all the more engaging and captivating with having nearly all of the cast likeable. Whilst the Marines are your stereotypical obnoxious, loud and trigger happy crew (fun fact; Cameron asked everyone to read Starship Troopers before the film. Now watch both back to back and see the similarities), the combination of having them partially endearing and the scenario being so horrible makes you want to see them survive, even if they're main purpose is to up the ante and serve as a body count of the antagonists.

Aliens also brings back the idea of an antagonist in human form; this time in the form of smarmy business folk. From the first few moments where Ripley's entire story on Nostromo being declared mostly fabricated in a business meeting to Carter Burke's utterly horrifying actions on LV-426; Corporate America has never been more cruel (to the point where Ripley wonders which is worse; the Company or an alien race that procreate by raping other species...you be the judge!) and gosh darn it, it's what this film needed!

On the whole; Aliens is practically flawless as an action movie. Although you can argue that it's simply a precursor to the slightly superior Terminator 2 (evil race of antagonists, strong female character, good-if-at-times-morally-questionable robot, strong female character and good-if-at-times-morally-questionable robot defending innocent child and Michael Biehr), Aliens maintains elements that made the original good but changes the overall formula enough to make it not only worthy enough to exist in the universe Scott established, but make it a more thrilling, engaging and enjoyable film.

And just think, this was guy who eventually made Avatar and Titanic! Talk about how times change!

Ripley's Believe It or Not!: Whilst Ripley was basically a lucky if slightly sympathetic survivor in Alien; Aliens is where the Ripley everyone knows and loves comes into fruition. From the opening moments, we discover Ripley's daughter has died in the time she remained in hypersleep. Although she briefly grieves over her loss, the film focuses more on her post-traumatic stress of the events of Alien; including vivid and horrible nightmares in the opening act.

With the proper introduction of Newt in the second act, Ripley plays the motherly role. It's a stroke of genius by Cameron as Ripley is now an archetype that the audience can fully relate to (unless Norman Bates is watching the movie) and embrace.

She comes across as sympathetic, gentle, vulnerable and determined to protect her adopted child compared to the pure working ethic in Alien. Her finest moment in the entire series comes at the end as she storms into the Queen's nest, threatening her children for the sake of one of her own before finally battling her antithesis in a mechsuit to save the others (also stating one of cinema's best lines in the process).

She still retains her logic in the original although again, it's increased for the plot's sake and allowing the audience to project their thoughts to the other characters. She an advisor for the Marines, but even before the opening battle, she's fully aware of the Xenomorph's powers and constantly tells the crew to be more careful. When it all goes belly-up, she takes command for the operation from the C.O to rescue the survivors.

She also has, without sounding like a 'shiper; a strong relationship with Corporal Hicks. It's never really hinted at, but the pair get along well, share the same ideals in terms of operations and he plays up to her stronger character traits (which is made all the more tragic with Alien 3, but that's a point for next time).

Finally, after her violent clash with Ash on the Nostromo, she remains sceptic/vehemently against the use of newer model Bishop throughout the film. In fact, it's only until the film's final moments that Bishop's loyalties are made clear and her character can grow past her previous experience with androids.

Overall; a huge shift in character but necessary, believable and entertaining.

Game Over Man!: Whilst the Xenomorph's here are practically the same as the one in Alien; the social structure and Species hierarchy is revealed in Aliens and in short; Xenomorphs are ants.

It's revealed that a...family of Xenomorph's (I guess)? Anyway, the family has one huge Queen (complete with huge penis-like Ovipositor and egg sac..Giger would be proud!) which lays the eggs (without the need for procreation).

The regular Xenomorph's will then capture hosts, encase them in mucus at the nest (which has to be somewhere hot, in this case a nuclear-powered atmosphere reactor) , ready for the Facehugger to spring out and gestate and then spring out again as a chestburster.

See Aliens, unlike the original cut of Alien and it's sequels, doesn't really show human's dying at the Xenomorph's hands minus self defense. Instead, they kinda take them away screaming and let the next generation inadvertently do it. This also allows events like Newt's capture near the end to make sense and the prospect of saving those captured (although again, Newt is the only one successfully rescued).

And on a slight note, it seems they're capable of reasoning, although primitively. Ripley threatens to torch the entire nest unless she is allowed to go free with Newt and the Queens tells her guards to back off and allow her. They also seem familiar with the concept of revenge as Ripley still torches the nest and the Queen gives chase, ripping off the egg sac and ovipositor in the process...niiiiicccceeeee!

Overall: Aliens is fantastic. It's a film that never loses it's appeal on multiple viewings, has plenty of memorable moments and is a welcome change of pace from the original. If you haven't seen it already, do so, immediately! You'll enjoy it from start to finish.

But like all good things, it has to end and it's kind of ironic that Aliens is the series high; because the next in the franchise is easily the worst. Check back soon as the the series returns to it's singular title with Alien 3.

Altogether now:

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Xenomania! '11: Alien

The first Alien is an oddity. I know that sounds rather strange as it’s the first in a line of four movies (or six if you include the atrocious vs. Predator duo) but the original, in comparison with its predecessors; is a straight-up horror film.

Compared to the all guns blazing sequel which would partially carry over into Alien 3 and return entirely for Resurrection, Alien is a film which challenges it’s viewers to delve into an environment of isolation with seemingly no escape, against a foe of disturbing proportions.

This despite the human character’s being barely fleshed out over the half an hour before Kane is impregnated by the Face-Hugger (which leads to possibly the most gruesome screen debut in cinematic history), you generally feel sorry for their circumstances.

This mainly comes down to the crew being a compilation of your everyday, relatable worker rather than say, scientists who basically asking for it (the Nostromo is the equivalent of a tow truck and only landed on planet under direct orders from the unknown company).

Even Ash, who serves as the main human antagonist (although it’s gruesomely revealed he’s an android in the third act), always remains within this inner circle of people to work, but still remains loyal to his employers above all else, something many people will find relatable as the office suck-up.

But of course, the most memorable moments of the film involve the new discoveries of the said Alien. Starting off with killing Kane, it begins life on the ship as more of an unknown pest; small, quick and something seemingly easy to resolve with such a robust crew.

As the film continues, more details of the Alien are revealed and by the end, despite learning so much and witnessing so much death and jumps, we’re still left in the dark on what else this visually stunning and consistently disturbing creature is capable of.

Even at the end, the creature doesn’t die with the hero/heroes standing triumphant of their vanquished foe; instead, Ripley moves from one isolated, contained ship to an even smaller ship and is forced to flush the thing out into space, finds solace in entering hypersleep with her cat and is happy with the prospect of drifting for a number of years.

On the whole, watching Alien today is still an unusual experience. Like all great horror movies, it stands the test of time as the basic formula would still work nowadays. But what holds it back is the lack of mystery.

The film’s success is it’s own curse as the journey through the unknown is gone with the Alien entering public conscience; from the iconic Chestburster all the way to it’s mesmerising decent from the ceiling, it’s been parodied, mentioned in iconic lists and studied, but the introduction to Alien is still a unique experience despite each passing decade.

It’s a well directed, well orchestrated and well acted debut for the Alien Quadrilogy. But the horror elements would be shifted in the years to come in favour more pure terror and adrenaline, beginning with James Cameron’s foray into the franchise and the idea of more people fighting multiple Aliens.

Ripley’s Believe It or Not!: You wouldn’t guess Ellen Ripley would be the human face of the franchise from her original outing. Rather than the guns blazing action hero of Aliens or the unusual entity in Resurrection, Ripley here is a regular worker whose gender means nothing to the overall character (much like everyone on the ship)

She shows logic when Kane is attacked on the planet by wanting him quarantined only for Ash to over turn the decision, she constantly creates idea’s to stop the Alien from wandering around the ship killing crew members, but shows pure, unadulterated fear when the gravity of the situation deepens. Even when she kills Ash, it’s a horrifying murder against an almost unstoppable machine.

Overall; a likable if not too particularly distinctive character. One who would receive more depth with Aliens and Alien 3.

Game Over Man!: The basic lifespan of the Alien (or Xenomorph in future instalments) is revealed in the original film along with several characteristics which would set the foundations for one of sci-fi’s best loved monsters.

Beginning life as a fleshy egg (that would originally resemble a Vagina…yeah Giger is pretty weird), a Facehugger with acidic blood impregnates victim by forcibly entering an embryo down the victim’s throat (so yep, this new born Alien is a rapist too, niiiiiiccccee).

Said Facehugger dies, victim can act normal for a number of hours before the embryo grows enough to burst open out of the victim, killing them. Appropriately titled Chestburster will molt and grow-up fast (the alien grows from a foot to over two metres in a matter of hours in the film).

Newly evolved monster is fast, silent and takes on characteristics from its victim’s species. In this case; an androgynous look with features likes human fingers, walking hunched but on two legs and a lack of sexual organs...minus that phallic looking head (species inheritance would be further explored in Alien 3).

For plot convenience, the Alien has acid blood which can burn through steel (hence the lack of firearms in the film in case of combustion in Space) and displays some intelligence (it follows Ripley to the escape pod for a final showdown rather than remain on the Nostromo’s).

It also has a retractable tongue with a small pair of jaws for double the biting action!

Also in the Director’s cut, the entire life cycle was shown with a cocooned Brett being converted into an Egg and Dallas being used as a host for the eventual Facehugger. This was dropped entirely with the advent of Aliens but in context, creates a disturbing idea that every egg on the Space Jockey’s ship was a victim of a previous attack.

Overall: Horrifying and uneasy viewing with a strong, relatable cast and an introduction to one of most unique and disturbing entities on cinematic history, Ridley Scott’s Alien is a strange, grotesque but enjoyable introduction that paves the way for one of Sci-Fi’s biggest franchises. Up next; Aliens

Inception Review

The Mindfuck. It's a common phrase on the internet (so much so that it spawned it's own picture meme) but for the mainstream audience, there first encounter of this phenomenon would probably have been mentioned from Puff Diddy Daddy in Get Him to the Greek, where Puffy explains a certain version of it, although it's more of a combination of mindrape and reverse psychology.

For an acutual quick definition, it's a term of phrase to describe an event either part confusing, part awesome, part surreal or at least two of the above combined.

Why am I explaining this, because we're looking at Christopher Nolan's mindfuck of a summer blockbuster; Inception.

Yep, it seems Warner Brothers really wanted another Matrix (not my words, apparently Nolan's first job by Warner Bros. was to make something like The Matrix as it was the flavour of the month) and while a decade late to the party, it's a rather refreshing and intriguing little gem of a movie.

The plot is an absolute nightmare to describe in detail but the main point is this. Leonardo DiCaprio (famous for his roles in Titanic and Critters 3) and a small group have the ability to get into people's dreams to steal valuable information. A Japanese businessman (played by Ken Wantabe) wants the group to infiltrate a business rival's mind (Cillian Murphy) and implant an idea in the form of a dream so he can sell his business before it becomes a monopoly.

Now that is the main plot, however like any good story, Nolan craft's his characters and the universe they inhabit and despite being way over two hours in length, the time will fly by (anyone (ok, everyone) who saw The Dark Knight should be confident that Nolan can carry a long story without the boredom fairy ruining it (...boredom fairy?)).

So, in a nutshell, Inception is basically a strange mix of The Matrix meets Insomnia meets The Cell. Within the first hour, the film expositions all the details about entering the minds, the risks, the lulz etc and we get a healthy dose of character build-up.

DiCaprio's character Dom (dubbed the Extractor because he's the main idea thief) has the largest amount of character background. Although Dom is confident and seems fully in control of the worlds he inhabits, he hides a very dark secret which could destroy everything the group strives to work for.

Rounding up the team of Inceptors is the intensely likable Arthur (played by potential future Riddler Joseph Gordon-Levitt). Arthur is the Point Man (responsible for research into clients) and sadly spends the last half of the movie in a long battle for survival full of gravity defying stunts and snogging Ellen Page (who plays the Architect, someone who builds the world the Inceptors inhabit). Page is thankfully not in Juno mode but plays the viewpoint character (as she's just as new as this as we are).

Tom Hardy plays Eames, a character who can manifest himself as different characters to get the dreamer the reveal more information and Michael Caine plays Dom's father in law.

So enough about plot, there's roll on the with rest. First of all, the set-pieces, camerawork and editing are fantastic. For the first time in a Nolan film, there are large amounts of CGI but rather than use it as a basis for the story, the added effects give more depth to the dream world setting of the film and that's all. Your focus is entirely on the predicament of the characters and trying to absorb the knowledge given to you.

Slow-motion is prominent but actually has a purpose other than looking good. Location's are surprisingly vast and always changing (due to the erratic nature of dreaming) and by the end, you'll notice there's four events leading to the climax, each never losing it's interest and everything plays an important roll.

Hans Zimmer returns to score and while nothing is as memorable as Why So Serious? from The Dark Knight, the music has a very Ennio Morricone feel; guitars are prominent but not distracting and make a welcome change to the usual string and drum affair to soundtracks for big budget thrillers.

By the end of this two and half hour roller coaster, Inception will leave you head scratching. Not from the overly confusing plot, but rather, why does Hollywood not go for more features like this? It's an incredibly engrossing, smart movie with plenty of action, twists and turns, but never once does it sacrifice a drop of substance or intelligence for a cheap thrill.

If The Dark Knight hasn't cemented Christopher Nolan and his close team of producers, writers, composers and actors as one of the most powerful forces in Hollywood, Inception will. It's by far this summer's most intelligent and outright best action thriller, but also easily one of the films of 2010 and possibly, this entire decade.

Well, what are you waiting for you? Get to the cinema now!

9/10

H