The rivalry between the manipulative boss of an advertising agency and her talented protégée escalates from stealing credit to public humiliation to murder. From: IMDb.com

Brian De Palma's fascination with femme fatales continues....and lesbians.

Good news about this movie is that it's definitely better than De Palma's other recent thriller attempts, such as "Femme Fatale" and "The Black Dahlia". The De Palma of the '70's and '80's has long been gone but with this movie he somewhat returns to form. The movie definitely has some hints of a great movie in it and there are some awesome classic De Palma touches- and moments of greatness in it but overall the movie still remains nothing more but a very average thriller unfortunately.

De Palma's biggest inspiration and influences always have come from Hitchcock- and Giallo movies. In this movie, both influences are all, once more, very noticeable. However, it's only really noticeable in its final 30 minutes though, which was also the only part of the movie that truly had me excited as a De Palma fan. Before that point, it's all buildup and the buildup in this case really isn't making it apparent where the movie is heading at with its story and characters. A bit annoying and it also certainly lets the movie drag at points but it's a technique that isn't uncommon for a De Palma movie. Sometimes it works out absolutely great for his movie ("Body Double" and "Dressed to Kill" for instance) but sometimes it just isn't the most engaging or interesting approach to take. The suspense and mystery isn't really all that great or much present throughout the movie its first half, which is a big problem.

It still shows some hints of a great- more classic type of thriller, with some strong female leads and a femme fatale type of character in it as well. Unfortunately Rachel McAdams isn't a great femme fatale though. She feels slightly miscast and perhaps she and Noomi Rapace should have switched roles. Noomi Rapace is much better as an actress in this movie and a good, strong, main lead for the movie its story.

The movie loves to present itself as an erotic thriller but is it really? It certainly isn't as erotic as perhaps its cover and title would suggest and there for instance is no real nudity in this movie either. There are a couple of sex scenes and some lesbian kissing but nothing too graphic or arousing really. It's certainly nothing we all haven't seen before in some mainstream modern movies and TV-series. No, even the lesbian stuff is quite tame and not as sensual as you would expect from De Palma, especially once you have seen his earlier movie "Femme Fatale".

And actually, now that I'm starting to think back more and more about this movie, lots of stuff that's happening in it really doesn't make any sense. I loved the ending for instance (I certainly did not see all of those twists coming) but at the same time, it's leaving way more questions than answers. Maybe I need to watch the movie again but I seriously doubt that is going to help me with all of the answers. It just isn't the type of airtight- and clever thriller. It feels more like entertainment instead, that isn't ever really trying to a very realistic and believable enough movie, all throughout.

On the one hand I'm very enthusiastic about the movie, seeing how it's De Palma's best out of recent years and how it has some real moments of greatness in it but on the other hand, I still have to be fair and say that it just isn't the best or most effective thriller you could ever watch.

6/10

Watch trailer

Still not really sure about whether this was a good movie or not. On the one hand, it isn't really doing anything terribly wrong but on the other it's just never the most exciting, entertaining or interesting movie to watch.

It's one of those thrillers that's going for a more gritty and realistic approach but the problem with it is that the movie its story isn't really suited for such a type of approach really. The movie is told in a (needlessly) complicated and slow manner but the story in itself is a quite simple and straightforward one actually. The movie may have worked out better, if only it had a more clever and less formulaic type of script involved. It still tries to tell its story in a clever and surprising way but without getting its viewers ever involved enough with either its story or characters.

The movie is told in such a complicated way at times, that the movie actually becomes hard to follow, despite its still very straightforward main plot line. Ultimately it's nothing more but a revenge flick, only told as if it's something way more than just that, without ever really truly becoming something more interesting or better than just the average revenge thriller.

It's a bit of a problem that the movie is taking itself so seriously, all throughout. There is never any room for any sort of entertainment or even any other lighter type of moments. So no, this is not a movie you should expect to get any fun out of. And it really could have used some more bright spots and lighter moments in it. The movie as it is does not only look very bleak, it also really feels that way.

But that's also due to how the actors portray their characters in this movie. They constantly keep a straight face and it seems to be impossible for them to smile (well, at least for Noomi Rapace's character there is a good explanation for it, early on in the movie). Especially the movie its main character, played by Colin Farrell, feels like a very bland one, just because of that. He's not a very likable protagonist, also because the movie does a poor job at giving him enough background and a strong and sensible enough character motivation.

It feels that the movie either should have been one totally focused on its characters and as a sort of character study if you will, with more depth and emotions to it, or as a more Hollywoodized thriller, with some more intriguing twists and developments to it. The movie now isn't really being either one of those and it feels stuck somewhere between different movie styles, without ever doing anything interesting or surprising enough to constantly keep you intrigued and involved.

The movie is still not a bad one and I also do still consider it to be perfectly watchable but it just isn't one that I can wholeheartedly recommend as well.

6/10

Watch trailer

In New York City, a crime lord's right-hand man is seduced by one of his boss's victims, a woman seeking retribution. From: IMDb.com

Directed by: Niels Arden Oplev

Starring: Colin Farrell, Noomi Rapace, Dominic Cooper and others

Current release date: March 8, 2013

A young businesswoman plots murderous revenge after her boss and mentor steals her idea. From: IMDb.com

Directed by: Brian De Palma

Starring: Rachel McAdams, Noomi Rapace, Paul Anderson and others

Current release date: September, 2012

So this movie wants to be seen as a standalone movie, rather than a prequel to Ridley Scott's own 1979 movie Alien, which takes place in the same 'universe' as this movie, so lets also take it that way. And as a standalone genre movie it is pretty good, though it's nothing new or too exciting really.

It's actually a shockingly standard movie, with a quite standard story in it, though I perhaps should also add that I have seen plenty of other science-fiction movies, that did some similar things as this movie as well. I still say shocking, since after so much secrecy surrounding this movie, I expected something deeper and more clever perhaps. I just never really got any of that out of this movie.

This movie only has hints of a great movie and great ideas in it. in that regard this movie maybe works better as a setup movie for a potential sequel(s).

The final 30 minutes of the movie are definitely its best but before that it mostly is being a slow moving one, even while it gets apparent pretty early on already what direction the story will be heading at and what will happen next. But still, the movie is such a well made- and good looking one that it never becomes boring to watch neither.

Despite not wanting to be taken as a prequel, the movie still makes a few nods to the other previous Alien movies, especially to the first movie "Alien". For instance with certain scenes, things that can be seen, pieces of dialog, characters and character behavior, etcetera. It's all enough to please the fans but not too much for those who aren't familiar yet with any of the other previous Alien movies. So in other words, it never gets anything too annoying or distracting from this movie, for anyone.

The casting is being a bit of a mixed bag. Some actors fit their roles very well, while other clearly don't. Charlize Theron for instance isn't being very good or convincing as a tough, cold cooperate executive. She just doesn't has the right looks for that, unless she gains 30 pounds and stops showering for a week or two, like she did for her Oscar winning performance in "Monster". Michael Fassbender on the other hand was much better and probably also the best and most interesting character out of the entire movie, even though he plays an android that is not supposed to have and show any emotions. It perhaps should also tell you something about the movie and its characters that he was being the best and most interesting one, out of it.

Seems that the movie wanted to have far too many characters in it. Really, 5 or 6 characters should had been the maximum. But because there are so many different ones, you don't ever really feel like you get to know any of them and some of the characters even get pushed to the background way too much, which also goes at the expense of some of the great actors in this movie. There are even persons with hardly any lines in this movie. The Asian looking guy for instance didn't had any lines, until its very end! I could be wrong though but point is that I didn't even knew what his purpose was. And that is the case with too many of the characters in this movie, that is besides for most part is missing a good, strong but above all visible main character in it.

Another thing I really didn't like about this movie was its musical score. Now, I know that Jerry Goldsmith is dead but just listen to the scores of the other Alien movies. It's all being somewhat similar in tone to Goldsmith's score and share some of the same motifs. The score for this movie, composed by Marc Streitenfeld (who?), really didn't seem to suit this movie and its atmosphere, or it at least did nothing to strengthen it. It's just being too much its own thing.

Still it really isn't a movie that you could or should hate. The only way someone could hate on this movie, is if that person was expecting a new brilliant movie like "Alien", or one that was being more similar to it at least. But really, you should see this movie with a more open mind and don't have you expectations up too high for it. When you are able to, you will get to see a pretty good genre movie. Really, technically and visually there is very little wrong with this movie.

It still remains a great and well made genre movie but it's just still nothing to get too excited about, in my opinion.

7/10

Watch trailer