The Revisitation

Someone said that the greatness of the Alien franchise lies in continuous re-invention. Alien Romulus is an installment after some gap - in 2142 a space probe investigates what looks like the abandoned USCSS Nostromo. As expected they run into the xenomorphs at some point - what you perhaps do not expect are a young protagonist (Rain - Cailee Spaeny) who is trying to escape the servitude of her current assignment and escape to the planet Yvaga, a synth (Andy - David Jonsson) with the calmest of demeanors that belies its cold calculating self, and Rook - a synth aboard the spacecraft with an exceedingly conflicted primary directive. I do not recall the Alien franchise - not Gravity - demonstrating the law of conservation of linear momentum to dodge xenomorph acid in zero gravity stasis. Also the last fifteen or so minutes traverse an entirely different genre - perhaps a new strain of sci fi mutant horror in the series. This is no Doom or Quake style FPS through the corridors of a spacecraft. It is less frenetic, more deliberative, no less ruthless and amoral, and in the end also a survival story with a fresh cast, fresh science and a fresh outlook

16.5/20

Engineering Marvel

What is engineering - applied science - all about? It is about solving problems one by one, rigorously, from first principles, till a specific and possibly difficult goal is acheived. What if that goal were to be to return to Earth? Botanist and astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) shows us how engineering is done. I have as of yesterday been totally floored by The Martian, and its rigorous step-by-step engineering approach to problem solving, which quote frankly I cannot recall seeing in any other movie thus far. This is an absolute must-watch, and this is the sort of movie that twenty years later some scientists will quote as the early inspiration for their chosen path in life

16.5/20

Moses Reloaded

Moses (Christian Bale) is a general and member of the Royal family of Egypt. His bond with Ramesses (Joel Edgerton) is strong – borne out particularly by saving the latter’s life in a face-off with the Hittite army. Moses is also ambivalent to the fate of the Hebrews – Israelis – his very own race, toiling away as slaves to build the great pyramids of Egypt. It takes certain revelations for Moses to leave the kingdom for good, and seek out his destiny elsewhere. And then a vision – visitiation from God? Or just inspiration? leads him back to Egypt to free his people and take them to the Promised Land. Exodus – Gods and Kings stands out for the sheer mastery of the build-up of the character of Moses from a general of an empire, to a much older and wiser leader of a people. Perhaps a little marred by the liberal use of some barely believable special effects, the movie is nevertheless an essential watch in a year of movies that, while dull for the most part, seems to be ending off rather nicely

14.5/20

Lease of Life

In the year 2093, seventeen men and women set off on spacecraft Prometheus to the one planetary system that science as well as historical evidence suggests was the origin of mankind. In the meantime, Earth gets struck by a veritable array of natural calamities, which changes the mission of Prometheus to that of finding a new home for mankind. The craft makes a safe landing at the destination planet – but, somehow, the exploratory mission gets struck by tragedy. Not least of all owing to the undercurrents of the real motives of the Weyland Corporation represented by the mission chief Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron) and by the actions of cyborg David (Michael Fassbender) that suggest a certain lack of alignment. Will the mission eventually be successful? Or will it get mired in in-fighting and external attack-induced tragedy? Prometheus is well-produced and well-directed, but as far as the genre goes, utterly lacks originality (think Sphere, The Deep, and many many more). A man no less than Ridley Scott should have done a lot more

11/20

Until Lambs become Lions

The latest edition of Robin Hood is about how Robin Hood, the outlaw, came to be. Robin Longstride (Russell Crowe), later Robin Hood, fought alongside King Richard the Lionheart (Danny Huston) in the Crusades. When King Richard dies in battle, Robin and a small band of fellow-soldiers end up in custody of the royal crown, and Robin, in the guise of Sir Robert Loxley of Nottingham, a knight killed in the same battle, maes the journey to Nottingham. Robin soon brings back life to the hamlet and wins the affections of Robert’s widowed wife Marion Loxley (Cate Blanchett). The peace is not to last, however – renegade English knight Godfrey (Mark Strong) is planning a French invasion of England even as he pillages English towns in succession for the collection of taxes for the royal coffers. The paths of Robin and Godfrey cross, with tragic consequences for Godfrey and his nefarious plans. But, the subsequent adulation of Robin Longstride, and his views on empowerment of the people of England, are taken none too kindly by newly crowned Prince John (Oscar Isaac). This is an under-rated movie, the reception of which was marred by expectations from the Robin Hood mush camp.

15.5/20

Lie Low

In Body of Lies, Ridley Scott juxtaposes two faces of America in the War on Terror. The one, cold and aloof, ensconced in comfortable American suburbia. The other, tough and gritty as he is vulnerable, the man on the ground who has fallen in love with the Middle East. While movies like The Kingdom show the war on terror as a series of military actions, Body of Lies manages to capture the human touch of being in the Middle East and having to deal with Middle Easterners. One liners like “Nobody Likes the Middle East” and the potent understated argument against Americans linger long after the movie. For those who would like to know what America is really working on in terms of counter-terrorism in the Middle East, this is possibly the best movie yet. Di Caprio continues where he left off from in Blood Diamond and The Departed and puts in another sterling performance.