Prisoners of the Sun (2013)

Drawn in by the premise, appetite whetted by the opening sequences promising the possibility of a cool battle between aliens who had been here thousands of years ago and scrappy present-day humans for the domination of earth, I found myself taken ever deeper into a journey of ancient dangers, wondering mostly which character would die next and by what predictable means, although the millions of wasps was a novel idea. Too bad that death also killed any further expectation of something new in this well-traveled genre, as the wasps were duly conquered with flame-throwers that could easily have been used before the young soldier volunteered his life for the greater good of the mission. It was clear this crew of boundless treasure seekers was inept when they went in but this lowered expectations to nil.I was still waiting for the battle to ensue when eight shots were fired from a six-shooter, ending any such possibility.Only Emily Holmes as the clairvoyant Claire Becket who declares "I don't have a good feeling about this" (truer words have rarely been spoken) pulls off her role with some aplomb. David Charvet appears never to have left the set of Melrose Place and Carmen Chaplin almost pulls off the role of mistreated daughter descended from ancient princess but misfires, just like the romance between her and Charvet. John Rhys-Davis has, of course, been here before so he knew his lines but introduces nothing new to the role.This would have been a good sci-fi read as a short novel. Alas, books don't get funded these days, but less than optimal films do. Listen to Emily: don't go there.

We start from an 'ancient astronaut' theory. The 'Osiris' were (plural) a group of space faring aliens who wished to overtake Earth in ancient Egypt. A cunning pharaoh put them down and imprisoned them. He locked them beneath a pyramid. This includes an elusive key. Every 5000 years, the Osiris can contact home and get re-enforcements. That time is about up again.The key surfaces on the black market. Professors Masterton and Mendella seek to find the key and unlock the secrets. Peter Levitz gets the key first and frames Masterton for murder, so we have a good start in intrigue and conflict. Levitz is looking for treasure, Masterton is looking for knowledge, Adler replaces Mendella and does not seem up to the job at first. The ancient forces in the pyramid have their own motives. Sarah seems to have some destiny to fulfill.The pyramid is breached by Masterton's team, which is now swollen with local representatives and members of the military. The entrance is marked with a curse, and nearby within there are dangerous insects. That, of course, is not all, and more deaths occur. Even worse, they are soon sealed in the tomb. Adler and Rohit take point on finding the path for the group. They make their way to Princess Amanphur's tomb. At the bottom of this, they apply the key.Then the path goes on, and the real discoveries start. There is an active mummy 'guardian' in the tomb. Masterton has unannounced plans for his daughter. There are working alien artifacts deep in the tomb as the 5000 year cycle comes to an end.Will Masterton's intentions come into fruition, or will the masterstroke of the pharaoh 5000 years before hold sway?-----Scores-----Cinematography: 5/10 The camera work is rather nice. The related CGI was another matter; some was OK, but other parts were just poor.Sound: 6/10 Fairly good, but could have added more to the overall feeling of suspense or danger.Acting: 4/10 David Charvet (Baywatch) as a PhD? Give me a break! Carmen Chaplin was moderately good.Screenplay: 3/10 This was old, tired, recycled material with a layer of not impressive new CGI. The ending was abrupt, and the exposition of motivations was too slim.

Decided to watch this on a bored Saturday thinking maybe it'll be a bit like The Mummy, how wrong I was. The editing was amateur, the characters were just unappealing & the acting was either over the top or absent. The use of cheap CGI didn't do it any credit & the "Mummy", well I've been more scared by my cats jumping on my bed while I'm sleeping.The only appealing thing that got my attention was the "historical" storyline involving Egypt & Osiris which should really have been expanded on & possibly used to great effect. I've given the film 2 out of 10 because of this, but I would advise you to avoid watching as you really won't be missing anything.

Take a healthy dollop of Indiana Jones, a substantial amount of Aliens and Predators and some sprinkling of The Mummy - no, not any of the remakes! The original! I take it that John Rhys-Davies and Joss Ackland are short of cash in their dotage...This pretends to be a mix of old time adventure and some meager sci-fi and it fails.Acting is OK. There are no more damsels in distress than what is usual today - meaning none. Gender equality-wise, that's good! Women are quite capable by themselves and they really don't need men with hair on their chests to rescue them from anything.There's no sex and no nudity - tends to get sort of awkward. Comforting! That means we're "down to some serious action". Ahem... Well...The plot starts out OK, promising actually, but this production doesn't take off and doesn't deliver. It may be comforting to see old faces amongst all the new ones but wrinkles doesn't cut it.There's neither hero nor heroine in this concoction.The CGI is good, but with the software available today, who'd flunk it?See it if you have to. But you don't, do you? No really!