Movie Review #14 Prometheus (2012)

- We dive into the world of Alien and NOT the world of Alien Resurrection!

Ridley Scott is back to the helm with a mostly connected prequel to the famed movie Alien (1979). Originally the movie was conceived as a proper prequel but now it's more of a retooling of the same universe kind of movie. They wanted it to draw in fans of Alien, but I guess they wanted to have an out when people screamed this isn't Alien at all! The movie certainly isn't as horror/thriller as the first one.

The movie has some tense sequences and maybe it's just that I'm so much older watching this than when I watched the original Alien but I certainly see Alien as a far scarier movie than Prometheus. I thought the entire horror/thriller aspect of the film was a little subdued and I appreciate that this movie was a mix of Science-fiction and horror. I felt both genres were mixed rather well then any one taking centre stage. Fans of both genres have something to see here without ostracizing the other.

I have to admit, I have quite the crush on Noomi Rapace, so it is no surprise I was impressed yet again with her performance as the researcher into the creators of human beings, Elizabeth Shaw. And again, another movie with Michael Fassbender so if you read my Shame review you know that I'm a big fan. I actually think he was the best in the movie. He really did a great job of playing David and securing himself as a well-played anti-hero. Unfortunately, Charlize Theron (who I also love) wasn't really a fleshed out character so it was not possible to really get a good feel to her character in the movie. She needed a few more scenes and if Ridley Scott releases a director's cut maybe we would see them. A scene with Janek (played by Idris Elba) springs to mind instantly, and if you have seen the movie you know exactly what I'm talking about. Guy Pierce was the other actor who was sort of a dud in the film. He plays the decrepit Peter Weyland, which I guess is fine but why didn't get they an actual old man? His character was sort of wasted, he really could have had one or two more philosophical debates with Elizabeth Shaw and Charlie Holloway (played by Logan Marshall-Green).

There seems to be quite a bit of the movie that is lacking substance and explanation. On multiple occasions, the viewer is left to either make a wild assumption or ignore a scene because it gets in the way of logic. The beginning sequence is never firmly explained, and so I'm mostly just assuming its importance while another scene with a drugged out geologist and we are left to assume that all the problems he encounters (on the scale of complete utter disregard for human preservation) are due to the aforementioned drug abuse. Sometimes the science-fiction/horror genre just needs to put in stupid people into their movies so the viewer can scream “Don't do that”. I didn't let them bother me because...

The visuals are the best visuals I have ever seen in a movie. I had the pleasure of seeing this in IMAX 3D and I am totally thrilled to have done so. I missed out on that experience with Avatar so seeing a movie filmed in 3D instead of post-production 3D was a top priority for me anyway. Just about every single scene your eyes are treated to something. From a visual perspective there were no bad scenes. It was never too dark, never too bright. The hologram map and projectors are probably the best reach out and grab on scenes and the beginning waterfall scene was down-right pretty; I would have swan dived too giant albino guy. The storm is also something to behold.

Have you ever seen a more unhappy group to land on a brand new planet?

Even with its story elements being a bit weak, I thought the core of the movie's storyline along with great acting from its main characters and of course the visual feast for the eyes that the weakness just faded away for me. I'm not saying it doesn't have them. I'm saying they don't matter.

I found I had to give it a 8/10

PS: Holloway absolutely calls out Noomi instead of Elizabeth during an action sequence.