Review – Prometheus
Director Sir Ridley Scott will be 75 years old in November and he’s looking for answers. There is no doubt that Scott has earned his success and even a knighthood with iconic films such as ‘Alien’, ‘Blade Runner’ and ‘Gladiator’. Scott could drive around a car made out of gold if he wanted to but it’s obvious that he’s looking beyond the triumphs, money and accolades. He’s looking for the deeper meaning to life and that search begins in ‘Prometheus’.
In the year 2093 a group of archaeologists and the crew of the spaceship Prometheus set off on mission to explore a planet that may have connections to the origin of life on Earth.
The presence of the Weyland Corporation that funds the expedition makes it clear that ‘Prometheus’ is linked to ‘Alien’ but it’s a new story. The plot is vague and often hindered by the relationship with Scott’s other film. A majority of the time the connection is used as a gimmick rather than a genuine attempt at something different. Due to the fact that the film was written by Jon Spaihts and then re-written by Damon Lindelof the film is inconsistent, characters are underdeveloped and the dialogue is dull.
‘Prometheus’ works best when it’s attempting to address those big life questions with a few belief systems thrown into the mix including Catholicism, Atheism and even a dash of Scientology. The creation of life and who or what is responsible is forever in question and its best represented by the android character David played by Michael Fassbender. Fassbender delivers a sublime performance and his character holds up a mirror to the humanity of the crew and intentions of the mission that’s spearheaded by a big corporation.
Scott doesn’t linger on the serious stuff and there are a few thrilling moments. Not all of the action works though because the characters never reach an emotional level that’s worth worrying about them when in peril; in fact, some of them deserve it for stupidity.
The landscapes of Earth, space and the alien world are breathtaking and the bigger the screen the better when seeing ‘Prometheus’. The retro sci-fi look of everything in the film is simplistic and beautiful, as always, Scott’s visuals are outstanding.
It’s great to see Scott back in the realm of sci-fi but ‘Prometheus’ is a superficial attempt to brand something new with the familiar elements of ‘Alien’.
2.5/5
‘Prometheus’ is released:
1 June 2012 UK
7 June 2012 Australia
8 June 2012 US
Why did they spend so much money to make this crap movie?? An episode of South Park has more entertainment value and thought-provoking ideas, compared to this boring complete waste of money. Sheezuz, Hollywood has really run out of ideas.
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Lots of potholes on this planet… Im sure Ridley has a directors cut coming out for the real fans… this theater release was just to get back the cash they spent on Guy Pierces makeup. They could have just hired John Hurt
Really boring movie. Another “Hugo”, if you will. People want to be entertained when they go see a movie–on this point alone Prometheus fails miserably.
The worst part of this movie is that the story is so stupid and riddled with plotholes that it insults your intelligence and just kills your suspension of disbelief.
The best science fiction movie in the past 3 years remains District 9–made on a small budget yet was superbly entertaining and thought-provoking. Even “Moon” by Duncan Jones (another sci-fi movie made on a small budget) kicks Prometheus’ ass bigtime.
Ridley Scott hasn’t made a good movie since Black Hawk Down. I think part of the problem is that he has not chosen good scripts lately. Visually, Ridley Scott is a genius but movie audiences want a story and characters they can relate to–Prometheus is such a huge disappointment in this respect. Nice visuals but no heart. Prometheus never connects with the audience at any point, and this is a real problem. Even the corny Dances with Smurfs by James Cameron was miles better than Prometheus because audiences could relate to some aspects of the story and characters.
Honestly, since 1986’s Aliens, there hasn’t been a truly great sci-fi movie. Aliens just hit all the right buttons–great characters, great suspense and thrills, and great action. Who can forget Ripley in mum mode kicking the alien queen’s ass? It just connects instantly with audiences–there was no need for tons of meaningless semi-mysterious dialogue like in Prometheus. Everyone understands how ferocious a mum can get when defending her child, people get this instantly. There is nothing like this in Prometheus, just emotionless dialogue and characters doing stupid irrational things.
Wish that movie directors in general would study Aliens and get back to basics. Seriously folks, this is not rocket science–people just want to be entertained. If you’re going to spend hundreds of millions on a movie, (1)don’t insult the audience’s intelligence and (2)make sure the movie is entertaining. Look at Avengers 2012, not a classic by any means but entertaining and it cleaned out at the box-office.
Heck, even The Artist 2011 was way more entertaining than Prometheus–and it was made on a $15 million budget in black and white! If Blade Runner 2 is going to be more drivel like Prometheus, seriously Scott–don’t bother.
ugh, district 9 was HORRIBLE. thought provoking my…
Stop saying mean things! I thought Prometheus rocked! I think people kind of want it to be bad. How can you say the characters were underdeveloped? Give me one character whose motive you didn’t understand! And how can you say that you didn’t feel for them and thought they deserved their fate due to stupidity? Have you no heart?
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