Alien re-imagined or re-hashed?
Prometheus is supposed to be Director Ridley Scott’s triumphant return to the world of science fiction. It’s been 30-years since he directed the classic Blade Runner so it’s no shock that Fox threw the marketing kitchen-sink at consumers this blockbuster season. And yet the question remains: has Sir Ridley crafted a sci-fi game changer or a beautiful, block-headed spectacle? Unfortunately…it’s far too much the latter.
Prometheus begins with a stunning visual prologue that nicely sets up the human-alien connection.
Post-opening credits we’re introduced to Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and her partner/lover Charlie Halloway (Logan Marshall-Green.) They have just discovered the last in a series of ancient cave paintings they believe point to humanities creators and their time on earth.
We jump forward two years to find our favorite archaeologists on the good ship ‘Prometheus’ – a corporate-funded mammoth space craft – on their way to a distant earth-like planet they believe may contain the secrets to our creation. On the ship we get our first introductions to the crew. David (Michael Fassbender) is a droid who has spent the two years on-board Prometheus studying ancient language, teaching himself bicycle basketball and doing lots of robot chores. Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron) is the steely corporate leader. It’s unclear why, but she carries a general disdain for everyone on-board which makes for some good stare-downs. The ship’s captain Janek (Idris Elba) is the leader of the hired, wise-cracking misfits. Their job on Prometheus mostly consists of flying the ship, spouting one-liners and walking alone in dark hallways.
The actors generally fair well here. The two stand-outs are Fassbender – whose turn as the glassy-eyed robo-human David adds another check to his already astounding list of acting credits – and Rapace: the original Lizbeth Salander. Rapace is asked to do some harrowing things (including some cringe-worthy body horror) and is convincing throughout. Fassbender finds a perfect balance between the vocal inflections of Hal (2001: A Space Odyssey) and Ian Holmes character ‘Ash’ from the original Alien. Idres Elba is given a few choice lines as well to differentiate himself from the other grunts.
The problem with most horror films is there must be enough cannon-fodder to vaporize before the end-credits. This leaves a lot of actors in Prometheus with little to do. They all have generic space jobs like biologist, geologist and guy with a Mohawk. Their few scenes drag down the narrative momentum and left me waiting for their quick extinction. The same can be said for Theron (an actress I admire) who seems to be on a different wave length than the other leads. Her character is very thinly drawn and when her motivations are revealed it got more than a few snickers.
The script was penned by Damon Lindelof, who on LOST, was able to delve into several interesting themes over nearly 200-hours of television. While he didn’t satisfyingly wrap up all of those loose-ends (no LOST debates please) he did craft some of television’s most compelling characters, through which those themes were explored. In Prometheus (for the most part) these characters don’t exist. When the script pauses long enough to question the nature of human creation it’s usually interrupted by a grunt, eye-roll or dissenting one-liner. Lindelof does pen a compelling start but when the script begins to explore the newly discovered planet it runs off the rails. I wanted the film to commit to a payoff, not blow up a spaceship full of set-ups.
The film, for all its faults is immensely watchable. Scott keeps the pace taut and finds ample time for some solid monster-movie scares. He has always been a master behind the camera and the scale of this 3D-beheamoth is something to behold in IMAX (this is one movie to pay to see in IMAX 3D.) He is obviously enamored with detail and finds great pleasure in crafting the various sets. From the ship to the alien-planets slimy caverns, the details (and Alien Easter-eggs) are endless.
Sir Ridley masks many of the films faults with his immeasurable directorial skill but it still comes up short. Prometheus never decides what it is: a meditation on creationism or an ultra-violent monster mash. This in-decision leads to a narrative fracture from which the film never recovers. Is it a prequel to Alien? In the end it’s not really important because Prometheus fails to answer the central question of any film: Why should we care?
