After what has seemed like an eternity of waiting,
Prometheus is finally here. No other film this summer has been more hyped, more eagerly anticipated, or had more speculation thrust upon it. Many of those questions have been kicking around our heads since Ridley Scott showed the first
Alien bursting from a human chest back in 1979. Other questions have revolved around the nature of the film itself. Would it be a sequel? A prequel? Or something else entirely different? The combination of secrecy and Scott's return to his sci-fi classic has risen the expectations for Prometheus to an incredible level.
That may be the biggest thing holding back Prometheus for a lot of people, that it somehow doesn't meet the lofty goals we set upon it. A line of reasoning like that doesn't make a whole lot of sense, and thinking that way will shut some out of what is truly an awe inspiring, ambitious film that will appeal to newcomers, but also will speak volumes to long time fans. Does that mean it's perfect? Of course not, but walking into any film hoping it meets that criteria is a fool's errand.
Speaking of foolish quests, that's what lies at the center of the story, hammered together with gusto by writers Damon Lindelof and Jon Spaihts. Without giving too much away, the opening sequence simply can not be missed, both for the jaw dropping grandeur of it, but for its significance to the rest of the story. Not much is going to make sense if you walk into the movie a few minutes late, so save that bathroom trip for after the final credits. Emboldened by the discovery of ancient cave drawings that seem to hint at an invitation by an alien race, the infamous Weyland Corporation puts together an expedition into the stars, led by archaeologists Elizabeth Shaw(a riveting Noomi Rapace) and Charlie Holloway(Logan Marshall-Green, who looks like Tom Hardy's skinnier twin). The mission isn't simply to find the presence of extraterrestrial life, but is really the ultimate existential journey to discover the origins and purpose of humanity. So this isn't just some leisure trip.
They're accompanied by a host of colleagues, each with their own motivations for tagging along. The Weyland Corporation has invested a lot of money into the project, so they send ice queen corporate stooge, Meredith Vickers(Charlize Thereon) to lord over everything. The company is further represented by the mysterious android, David(scene stealer Michael Fassbender), who seems to have an unnatural curiosity about humans and an equally disturbing love for
Lawrence of Arabia. Janek(Idris Elba) is the ship's blue-collar captain, who along with a number of other hired hands, is just looking to fill his bank account. He doesn't have a stake in answering the larger questions of the universe, and would rather spend his time trying to get Vickers in the sack. Everyone is about to see their faith, or lack thereof, tested in a way they never could have expected.
Waking up from two years of forced hibernation, it isn't long before they land on their destination, a desolate looking planet full of deep, cavernous mazes of unnatural design. Once they've grabbed their space gear, a thorough search of the subterranean depths turns up everything we know spells bad news. A gigantic stone head, surrounded by little pods filled with some nasty goo. Think they're smart enough to leave that stuff behind? Of course not. It ends up on the ship, and soon after all Hell breaks loose.
What people forget about both Alien and
Aliens is that they were meant to be horrors first, one decidedly more psychological than the other. The paranoia festering through the ship will remind many of Scott's 1979 classic, as the most terrifying aspect is what we don't see happening, like the thought of an extraterrestrial finding purchase in someone's body, or the shady human machinations in the background. In the midst of all this, issues of love and faith and duty make for a powder keg of ingredients. While Prometheus may not have nearly as many impactful scares as Alien, that's really not the point. And still, a scene involving Shaw and a laser surgery device is the most squirm inducing thing you're likely to see all year. Trust me, it's even more disturbing to see Shaw afterwards.
Scott hasn't lost a beat when it comes to establishing massive set pieces, and Prometheus may be the most beautiful film he's ever shot. The dazzling opening sequence alone, filmed in Iceland and featuring raging rivers against a frigid, mountainous backdrop, will leave you slack jawed. It's a state you'll likely stay in for much of the film. From the natural landscapes to H.R. Giger's iconic creature designs, to the dazzling technology employed, Prometheus just looks and feels epic.
As questions of evolution and creationism swirl around in the first half of the film, too much time is wasted on explanatory dialogue that goes nowhere. Some of the subplots, of which there are many, just completely fall flat. There's a pretty big one, involving Vickers and the Weyland Corporation, that seems like it was tacked on at the last moment, even though it adds not a lick of texture to the story. Also, the soundtrack, which was such a huge part of making Alien the gem that it is, doesn't have much of a presence except in that opening scene. Eventually, as many questions still continue to linger, it does appear that Lindelof and Spaihts give in to turning Prometheus into a rather conventional action flick, perhaps because they knew some would complain about the lack of loud booms and explosions. That's not to say this half of the film is any less effective. It's superbly staged and intense, but a completely different animal than what we were given earlier.
Does every loose end left over from Alien get resolved satisfactorily? Probably not, and the best advice is to try and look at the film on its own terms, and stop trying to connect the two. Just sit back and enjoy it. Prometheus in more ways than one shares a DNA thread with Terrence Malick's
The Tree of Life, in that they both ponder some of the great wonders of the universe, the type we rarely see explored in a big budget Hollywood movie. And much like that film, the answers, or lack thereof, aren't going to make everybody happy. The point is to make you think, and talk about it long after the credits have rolled. Prometheus is a bold, audacious film that restores Alien to its former glory atop the science fiction heap.
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