Prometheus Review By Adam
Disclaimer: I will avoid any direct spoilers in this review. This is a film best seen fresh (don’t even watch the trailers). I will talk about my reaction to it and the way it fits into the Alien universe – this may allude to certain elements of the film, but I won’t be specific.
For 33 years people have been asking two questions: what exactly is the ‘alien’ and where did it come from?
Now, we are supposed to have our answers with Ridley Scott’s prequel to Alien, Prometheus (and it is a prequel, make no mistake about it). Intriguingly or infuriatingly (depends on how you look at it), Prometheus is far more interested in asking questions than giving answers. This film expands the Alien universe exponentially; not through varied locations though, but by sheer mythology building. It turns out that the Xenomorph (the alien in question) is but a small factor in the far reaches of space.
'Sure, I'll take my helmet off. Nothing's every happened before, right?'
As promised above, I will keep the plot developments to a minimum, and my version of minimum is as follows: scientists Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapance) and Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) discover a series of cave paintings that span centuries and continents. All of the paintings have the same symbols, which turn out to be a star map. The scientists believe that this is a message from our creators, that the wish was for us to make contact. Joining forces with wealthy industrialist Peter Weyland, the scientists and a small crew board the impressive intergalactic ship ‘The Prometheus’ and head to a foreign planet in order to find the origin of the paintings. That’s all I’m going to give up. Anything else is an arsehole move. I find it ironic that a bunch of critics want to give up every detail on a film that is about discovery.
This film is huge. Fucking massive, in fact. It is apparent from the outset: Ridley Scott wants you to be awed by his creation. After all the rumours, the one thing Prometheus actually is is a spectacle. The opening to this film is jaw-dropping and this sense of wonder does not dissipate for the entirety of its run time. Ridley Scott is considered a master stylist and Prometheus is his best looking film. So, by default, Prometheus may be the best looking film of all time. I’m serious. This film is absolutely gorgeous.
Even androids loved snow globes
Director of photography Dariusz Wolski keeps this film’s look clean and efficient, even when the frames are flooded with action. A lot of Prometheus takes place in cavernous locations, and one of the problems of 3D is that is darkens the image. Usually, the combination of a dark setting and 3D is quite disastrous, but thankfully this is not the case with Prometheus; the 3D is the best I have seen. The film offers very little in terms of blatant pop-outs, but instead uses the technology to layer the screen with sci-fi staples: we get a cavalcade of holographic monitors, projections and even recorded dreams. This film is a sci-fi nerd’s nirvana.
Prometheus’s transcendent visuals owe a lot to the production design. Few would argue that the reason Alien has endured as long has it has is due to its striking design elements. From its low-tech spacesuits and milk-veined androids to its nightmarish creature, Alien’s technical credits elevated it from a B-movie fate. Prometheus is a design marvel. Every element of production designer Arthur Max’s work looks spectacular and complex. The film is a seamless blend of CGI and practical sets as new technology has allowed Scott to let his imagination run unchecked. While I was blown away by this film’s design, I’ll be completely honest: there is nothing in Prometheus that rivals the original’s Xenomorph. That design is one of cinema’s most disquieting images and, while Prometheus has a huge level of invention, it is not going to make you sleep with the lights on as the original did. But don’t worry, it is still icky, freaky and flat-out repulsive at times.
This brings me to the tone of Prometheus. The first departure this film makes from previous incarnations is its score. Composer Marc Streitenfeld’s score is quite triumphant, a mile away from James Horner’s iconic, pulse-raising Aliens score. While the sound design is amazing in Prometheus, those expecting a carbon copy of the first film’s quiet atmosphere will be disappointed. In fact, a lot of the tension in Prometheus is viewer-generated – we have seen what happens when you go into a biomechanical hive, and it’s not good. I’m not saying Scott doesn’t build a great atmosphere (and tension to boot), but Prometheus is definitely bolstered by previous Alien set-ups.
In space, vodka was the enemy
Prometheus is almost entirely a sensory experience. The characters are not as important as the locations they are investigating. Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof’s screenplay is preoccupied with big, operatic ideas; the characters are but cogs in a machine. That being said, everyone does an amicable job with what they are given, everyone except Michael Fassbender. Fassbender is a revelation as the android ‘David’. He single-handedly walks away with this film. I know it has become almost redundant to state, but Fassbender really is the best actor of this generation. He has nailed his character’s strange physicality and he imbues David with a child-like sense of wonder. Though David himself cannot feel fear, his cavalier attitude towards his surroundings creates extreme tension. Scott has cast this film with an abundance of talented performers (Idris Elba, Guy Pearce) so it’s just a shame that they don’t get more of a chance to establish their personalities. I will admit, however, that this seems like an unfair gripe – to complain about Prometheus’s character development is akin to chastising a Ferrari for not being an aeroplane. You need to accept this film for what it is, not what it isn’t.
Prometheus may or may not be the film event of the year; it all depends on your sensibilities. The majority of the critics I saw this with didn’t like it and that just baffles me. To them I say: this is a monumental work by a classic filmmaker and still you want more? I can completely understand why the reaction to this film will be heavily divisive: almost every Alien fan has a theory on what Prometheus’s story should be. Unfortunately for them, only one man is in charge of this franchise –Ridley Scott. It is his to do with as he pleases, and I, for one, am spellbound by his approach. Very few films can create a genuine sense of wonder and discovery, and Prometheus manages it for its entire 124 minute running time. Like all great sci-fi films, Prometheus does not tie things in a neat bow. It contains large, expansive ideas and often alludes to things without clarification. This is purposeful, this is what sci-fi is for: it is meant to engage the mind and make us think ‘what if?’
Even in 2093, inter-racial couples had to hide in plain sight
I hope this film blows up like Christopher Nolan’s Inception, with people making their own wild speculations on what it all means. Like Inception, even if you don’t want to intellectualise and speculate on the film’s meaning, there are enough visual pyrotechnics to keep even the simplest mind occupied. Did I get the Alien film I wanted? No. But what I got instead was entirely gratifying, in a wholly different and unexpected way. All this leads me to think is: will people be talking about Prometheus in thirty-three years time? I hope so.
Five Stars
Another well-written review. You were spot on with Avengers so I’m willing to give this one a chance. Maybe it’s not the next 2001 but it will probably be entertaining.
I will be trucking along to this one, even if my female friends would rather go to “The Five Year Engagement”…..I shall have to go alone……Love Ridley Scott, what a talent.
Without giving (Major) spoilers away, after watching this for every question raised there were another two attached to that question – the black goo being one of them and there is no clear chain of evolution with the aliens (aka: egg, facehugger, alien.) And for a race of clearly intelligent beings, why are we then witnessing a Frankenstein at the end? Many more but I won’t dwindle on them. Great film, but I can’t but help feel the writers couldn’t intertwine the sum of the parts of the film.
If someone like James Cameron made this, 1) it would be amazing 2) everything would make sense. Cameron is an incredibly clean screenwriter, but that is not what Prometheus is. I, personally, like how freaky and strange this is. It lends itself to multiple theories and I like that. SPOILERS: the goo is a weaponized agent that killed the engineers. But why did they make it? Are there different factions of the engineers? So many questions.
All valid points (that’s what I assumed about the black goo) but I can’t help that feeling that the writers dug a hole too deep and said, “oh its part of the alien world, we’ll just have a monster ending.” SPOILERS: That was the main thing that didn’t sit with me. If the engineer heard his own language, wouldn’t he be a bit curious and why no reaction to David being an android? This thing had been asleep for 2000 years and awoken up by humans, wouldn’t he have questions?
In any case, good film, wonderfully directed but could have been better.
Great review man. I just saw this a couple of days ago – with Turkish subtitles. I held back from reading any reviews before hand so I wouldn’t have any pre-conceptions, I’m glad I did! Now I am reading them and seeing so many disappointed fans, I think you have summed it up perfectly, though expanding the Alien universe massively, Prometheus should also be appreciated as an epic spectacle of it’s own.
Idris Elba deserved even more screen time, what a badass!
Very few films can create a genuine sense of wonder and discovery, and Prometheus manages it for its entire 124 minute running time. So TRUE!! I loved it. Hoping to see it again – in 3D this time – great review as always!
Thanks, gentlemen. I’m not some Ridley Scott apologist. I just call ‘em as I see ‘em and I am truly perplexed by some of reactions to this film. Will a clearer, more fleshed-out director’s cut surface on Blu-ray… I’m sure of it. But the fact this film has that which most do not (ambition), means it is worth debating and most of all, worth seeing. People are aggressively and actively looking for faults in this film. I’m not even being coy when I say ‘I’m just glad we have another big, sci-fi film from a master filmmaker.’ I really mean it. I fucking hate this moronic vein running through contemporary sci-fi/action films (See my review of Battleship for proof) and the fact that we have something shaking up the formula is rad. For (almost) every perceived problem in this film there is a logical solution, e.g. why would he pet the snake? Well, he is a biologist, so I imagine he doesn’t shy away from natural life, plus, he is encountering the first alien life (which hasn’t yet proved to be hostile) and it has no visible fangs. But people are like ‘I wouldn’t pet a snake, so that’s dumb’. Fuuuuuuccck. People don’t want to find the logic, they are more happy to shitcan it with rest of the trolls. The glass is half full, bitches.
Adam, spot on. Just found your site via that cesspool of ‘tards from AICN. I agree, my best friend and I went to see it in IMAX and it was perfect! Way better than Avatar in 3D. Better than Avatar as a movie.
His favorite film is ALIEN so he loved it logn time and I dug it too. Great review you didn’t follow the hate train like those Lucas-haters love to do.
Very good.
Check my site out when you can….
Will do Dan. Cheers.
i totally agree with all everything you’ve said. i absolutely cherish the film, and hope as you do that it will still be under discussion after we’ve gone to meet our makers
While I agree on the visuals part, and even more on the “hidden questions” and exceptional jewels of stories in the movie, I am deeply marked by the contast you had in the way you perceived the movie as a whole.
Meaning, I perceived it as a bad movie because of its ridiculous scripting, extremely bad scripting that you do not even mention.
I can’t ignore, or bypass the lack of realism in the characters as a whole (Fassbender excepted), and the pure joke of it that removed most suspense, to the point of making people more than pure comedy scientists, but actually scenes insulting the viewer.
Actually, in another review you wrote:
“These films forget one of the cardinal rules of genre filmmaking: you can’t have suspense if you don’t give a fuck about the characters.”
There were crystal clear words.
And I would use your exact same sentence for Prometheus.
This is what is opposed to Alien for instance, or instant-classics.
What is left in Prometheus, for which I am thankful, is the visuals, the mysteries and Fassbender’s performance. The problem is that every single scene (the first quarter minutes excepted) is extremely poorly scripted.
Suspense is removed from the movie because some of the script is silly.
In this regard, I find it even more ridiculous than Battleship, which is something; Battleship which also suggests mysteries from the original aliens weaponry, ascendancy and behaviour by the way, but that people easily bypassed.
Prometheus is being saved, though, by much superior direction and art, exhilirating visuals.