This week's heat film reviews - Snow White And The Huntsmen, Prometheus and LOL

Posted by heatworld.com on 01 June 2012 13:21 Comments

This week the heat team grabbed their popcorn and Minstrels and headed to the pictures to watch the three biggest releases in Moviesville this week - Snow White And The Huntsman; starring Kristen Stewart and Charlize Theron, Prometheus; starring Michael Fassbender and LOL; starring Miley Cyrus

Here's what we thought:

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STARRING: Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron, Sam Claflin
DIRECTOR: Rupert Sanders (CERT 12A, 127 minutes)

The plot: What is it with Kristen Stewart? Once again, she finds herself at the apex of a love triangle, as the titular huntsman (Hemsworth) and her former childhood friend (Claflin) compete to be her chosen one. But all that comes later. First, her princess Snow must escape the clutches of her evil stepmum Ravenna (Theron), team up with the huntsman dispatched to bring her back, and fall in with an octet of diminutive bandits. With this ragtag army’s help, can she rally the oppressed people against their oppressive ruler?

What’s right with it? Directors who hone their craft making commercials often fall into the trap of style over substance (Immortals’ Tarsem, Tron: Legacy’s Joseph Kosinski), but feature debutant Sanders manages to ravish the screen while taking us on an engaging emotional journey. The sequence in the fairy forest is adorable as the kingdom of animals and magical sprites responds
to Snow’s inner beauty. Bless!

What’s wrong with it? Despite a few attempts to give the story a contemporary political edge (Ravenna is just standing up for her gender), the film doesn’t penetrate the beauty-youth equation very deeply, while Snow’s special status emanates from her being a true-born princess – hardly a progressive message from a film claiming a fresh twist on a classic tale.

Verdict: Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all? Mopey Kristen Stewart might not be the first answer we’d all give to that question, but the surly one effectively holds the centre of this supremely stylish assemblage of road movie, romance and fairytale action-adventure. HHHH @charlesgant

STARRING: Noomi Rapace, Charlize Theron, Michael Fassbender
DIRECTOR: Ridley Scott (CERT 15, 124 minutes)

The plot: Initially conceived as a prequel to Ridley Scott’s seminal sci-fi horror hit Alien, Prometheus sends scientists to a distant planet to investigate clues to the origin of mankind, led by star-map cave drawings dating back to early civilisation on Earth.

What’s right/wrong with it? The film didn’t screen to critics in time for us, but going by the 13 minutes of footage we did see, original Girl With The Dragon Tattoo Rapace’s archaeologist character evolves into the kind of kickass heroine that worked so well in the original movies. Fassbender is evidently having fun with his gentle-natured robot role.

Verdict: We are always concerned when films don’t show to critics, but all our fingers and toes are crossed that this is as good as it appears. @charlesgant

STARRING: Miley Cyrus, Demi Moore, Ashley Greene, Douglas Booth
DIRECTOR: Lisa Azuelos (CERT 12A, 95 minutes)

The plot: Heartbroken Lola (Cyrus) realises her best friend Kyle (Booth) has potential as rather more than a best friend. The trouble is, her super-popular best friend Ashley (Greene) agrees.

What’s right with it? Miley Cyrus shoots an arrow right through Hannah Montana’s heart, sort of. Reality bites about sexting, sex, drinking, drugs and even Brazilian waxes.

What’s wrong with it? Not too much, so why did the film vanish from US cinemas so fast? Maybe its content was just too out-there for a country that’s still puritanical in parts. Demi Moore (Lola’s mum) is oddly unaffecting in some of her emotional scenes.

Verdict: This ain’t no High School Musical, but its reality is a little sobering. Teenagers, if not their parents, will LOL. HHH TESSA MURRAY