Sheep Movie Review: Dead Man Down

Dead Man Down directed by Niels Arden Oplev is a mystery suspense staring Colin Farrell, Noomi Rapace, Terrence Howard and Dominic Cooper. While the movie falls short of the cloak and dagger mystery aspects, it does slip into a place of human drama and good old fashioned revenge. 

Plot: 

Niels Arden Oplev, the acclaimed director of the original The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, makes his American theatrical debut with the new action thriller, DEAD MAN DOWN. Colin Farrell and Noomi Rapace star as two strangers who are irresistibly drawn to one another by their mutual desire for revenge.

As stated in the plot above, Niels directed Noomi in the awesome original Dragon Tattoo films. While those were amazing beyond words, I had a harder time dealing with the believably this time around. Noomi is a stellar actress and Colin, well good ole Colin is my future husband. He'll get the memo, eventually. With two actors who can spill their guts on the acting table, I wanted a story-line that could tailor to these powerhouses. What we get is a paint by numbers mob story with all the bells and whistles, throw in some badda-bing Albanian style meat-heads and upchucked action. Maybe that was a tad harsh, but the point is; Niels should stick to what he's good at. Drama. 

Colin pretty much makes the movie for me. From beginning to end, his character is mysterious, dark, conflicted and intriguing. You can guess what's coming from a mile away and while that aspect of the film was pretty predictable, it's enjoyable to watch him throw the thugs for a loop. The man has Irish fire in his eyes and you team this up with Noomi's touching vulnerability and what you're left, with these two alone, is enough to carry the film. 

The plot twists are a bit odd and disjointed at times, with a slow moving pace that takes a while to get the audience where it wants you to be. Again, what was meant to draw you in has a tendency to make the eyes start rolling at the shear absurdity in parts. It's a bit silly here and there and overall needed some finer tuning with the script and editing in general but that's just really getting on the nit pick wagon. This is a ultimately a plot-heavy flick that's got some spastic sparks of hope, by the end you won't be shouting to the rafters over the awesomeness of the film, but you will be entertained enough to feel half way okay about the hefty box office ticket price. 

Overall, catch the matinée or better yet wait for the dvd. Colin is smoking hot for sure, but if you're needing some Colin love check out Fright Night for better chills and thrills!  

Getting 3 'leave your shirt off, Colin' Sheep 

KD

Sheep Double Movie Review: Prometheus directed by Ridley Scott

Prometheus, directed by Ridley Scott stars Noomi Rapace, Guy Pearce, Michael Fassbender, Logan Marshall-Green, Charlize Theron and Idris Elba. This one's really tough to review for the simple fact that I am STILL lost in space on the storyline. Someone pull the airlock hatch and let's just abandon ship already!

Plot:

Ridley Scott, director of Alien and Blade Runner, returns to the genre he helped define. With Prometheus, he creates a groundbreaking mythology, in which a team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a thrilling journey to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race.

Maybe my opening line was a wee bit harsh but really what was the point? This film felt like half a movie or a short story maybe. The plot is one of those slow burn types that's supposed to build up to some epic event but that event never took life for me. I was more entertained with the flashy bright lights and special effects then anything the plot had going for it. Characters seemed to be just thrown in for tickles rather than serving an actual purpose; like what was the point of Theron even being in the film?! She had nothing major to contribute and overall lacked any depth whatsoever. Was she supposed to be the bad lady who won't let them play with her toys in the school yard? I don't know. It just added to my feeling of being lost in space.

Giving credit where credit is due I did like Fassbander's robot character and never knowing just whose side he's on. Is he good, is he bad? You aren't sure but it's fun watching him make his final touch down at the ending. Some gruesome scenes of gore and guts just kinda thrown in for the Alien crowd but those felt force fed and I couldn't really get into it. Overall I wish I would have watched an old rerun of Alien on TNT or something. Anything would have been better then this.

Getting 2 'come here little buddy' sheep

KD

Sharon what did you think?

I was entertained and that is all I ask for with this type of movie. If you go in expecting an Alien movie you will be disappointed. I was also confused by what was really going on...They tried to get all deep and philosophical with the whole "who made us and why?" The robot was used to show us just how arrogant humans are with our need to live forever. I also loved David (robot played by Fassbander). He was creepy in all the right places and nice to look at, but Noomi Rapace's character got on my nerves most the time.

You know when characters who should know better, do stupid stuff? Like the teenagers in a horror movie walking into the dark house instead of running from it? There was a lot of that going on in Prometheus. For scientists with all this cool technology to travel in cryo-sleep across the galaxy they sure do dumb things. If you landed on an unknown planet with no idea of what is there, would you jump off your space ship and go running into the alien structure? No, you would send in a robot to scope it out first. If two of your crew got trapped in said structure would you keep an eye on them via their high tech space suits until you could rescue them? Or would you go have sex so you wouldn't be there when they got attacked? Don't get me started on the "head" that Dr. Shaw carried through a 200 MPH wind storm and then had to ask the robot David to pick up later because it was too heavy.

Even with all the "headdesk" moments there were tons of "cool" moments and there is plenty for you and your other nerdy friends to discuss afterwards. So like I said before, I was entertained. I am giving this 3 1/2 sheep. Don't waste your money on 3D though.
3 1/2 Sheep 
SharonS