Under The Skin (2013)

[zelmo73]

Has anybody in here watched this movie yet? It stars Scarlett Johannsen and was hyped up as being her first "nudie" film, and while she does get sexual in this film, most of her naughty bits are confined into one prolonged scene of her looking into a mirror while naked; though she looked fantastic in that scene, it was decidedly non-sexual due to the nature of the character she was playing. I wanted to give this movie a proper review, but I've only seen it once because a buddy brought over a bootlegged copy on his USB flash drive so we could watch it on my smart TV, so perhaps at a later date when I actually own the movie, I'll give it a review that it actually deserves.

In a nutshell, ScarJo is some kind of space alien who comes to Earth, apparently for the purpose of eating people. Her main method of hunting down her prey is by seducing them with her obvious good looks, a skin that she acquired from some hapless dead woman who looks like Scarlett Johannsen (someone better check to see if the real ScarJo is still alive, folks), taking these men back to her house which is apparently nothing but a big garage that hides her mother ship, then stashes them in some kind of ethereal...umm, ether...within her mother ship to consume from the inside-out later. This succubus-like method of fine dining is helped along by her trusty assistant, some crotch-rocket-riding biker dude who is apparently a real life crotch-rocket-riding biker racing dude-turned-no-dialogue-speaking actor-of-sorts. The biker assistant rides around the countryside of Scotland for no other apparent reason aside from keeping ScarJo and her devious acts out of the watchful eye of the local authorities (I hear those Scotland Yard guys are quite good at what they do, considering how they do it without sidearms.)

This movie scored about a 73 average on Metacritic, so apparently more people liked it than hated it, but it definitely got mixed reviews across the board, and I can see why because this movie is definitely not for everybody. While the plot screams Species (1995) on the surface, the film's delivery is anything but camp; it instead focuses on an art house quality which definitely hinders its accessibility to your average moviegoer, many of whom were undoubtedly expecting the ScarJo that they saw in The Avengers (2012). This movie was a welcome departure from what was dangerously becoming a typecast for Ms. Johannsen. While I enjoy her sultry good looks and sexpot assets the same as anybody else, it was nice watching her actually act with very little dialogue at all. She spoke using primarily body language, and not in a sexual manner either.

I recommend this movie for anyone who desires to watch something different, and who enjoys watching a filmmaker take an old idea and give it a different perspective, because quite frankly, I'm getting a bit bored with the tired, formulaic dreck that is being pushed upon movie audiences these days.  

[Rev. Powell]

Yes, I liked it a lot. It just fell off my top 10 of 2014 list today, in fact (replaced by BIRDMAN). It's very similar to THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH. Johansson looks great nude, but she proves herself to be an excellent actress as an alien slowly figuring out what it means to be human. Some of the visuals are fantastic. The only downside is it's too slow-paced at times for most people (the scene of her eating pie did drag on).

[zelmo73]

I thought that the one actual sex scene was hilarious because her alien reacted exactly as you would expect an otherworldly being to react to human procreation. 

[lester1/2jr]

It's a good movie

[indianasmith]

I've thought about this one, but wound up putting it back on the shelf each time.

[BoyScoutKevin]

I thought it was interesting enough that I actually made plans to see it, if it ever came to a theater near where I lived. It did not come to a theater near where I live, so I have yet to see it, and I am afraid my interest in seeing it is waning.

I think two of the most interesting aspects of it are . . .

(1st) That the men she picked up were actually non-actors she picked up from the side of the road, and that none of them recognized that it was Scarlett giving them a ride.

(2nd) And the scene of the baby was controversial enough, that people actually walked out of the theater during that scene.

[zelmo73]

I thought it was interesting enough that I actually made plans to see it, if it ever came to a theater near where I lived. It did not come to a theater near where I live, so I have yet to see it, and I am afraid my interest in seeing it is waning.

I think two of the most interesting aspects of it are . . .

(1st) That the men she picked up were actually non-actors she picked up from the side of the road, and that none of them recognized that it was Scarlett giving them a ride.

(2nd) And the scene of the baby was controversial enough, that people actually walked out of the theater during that scene.

I think people may have walked out before the movie properly revealed that the character was, in fact, an alien. That has less to be blamed on the plot of the movie than it does on the movie's delivery, which is admittedly really confusing. I honestly wasn't really sure what was going on until about halfway through the film when it showed the guy being eaten while floating in the ether or whatever that black stuff was.

[lester1/2jr]

^spoiler 

[Alex]

Has anyone read the book it is based on? Just wondering if its worthwhile looking out for.

[zelmo73]

^spoiler 

Not really. The opening scenes of the movie were weird enough to know that ScarJo was obviously not what she seemed to be. The people that walked out on the baby scene obviously weren't "getting it."

[Ash]

I was completely absorbed by this movie.  The soundtrack is hauntingly good.  Especially when she brings a man into her dark void to be consumed.
A big 

[lester1/2jr]

it was very sci fi a la Ray Bradbury not like an action movie with a cheesy environmentalist message or something