Post by Fickle81 on Jun 24, 2012 18:20:42 GMT -5
Prometheus is not only prolific director Ridley Scott’s return to the Sci-Fi genre, but also a return to the universe he was one of the key creators of 33 years ago. I had been saying since day 1 that this was an Alien prequel, and I fucking called it. That nonsense Scott and others were trying to prattle off about it not really being one was a load of a load of shit. However, just because it’s an Alien prequel doesn’t mean you should expect to see Xenomorphs in it (whether or not there are any in the film I won’t dare give away). This movie belongs to The Engineers (AKA The Space Jockeys), the dead creature the crew from Alien found in that giant chair, as this film tries to explain the relevance the creature has in the universe of the Alien saga. Instead of going for full on terror much like Alien did, this movie instead moves into philosophical territory kinda like Scott’s other iconic Sci Fi film, Blade Runner. This movie has the set designs, creature effects, and exploration of Alien mixed with the introspective philosophy of Blade Runner with sprinkles of 2001: A Space Odyssey (a considerable level of vagueness) thrown in there for good measure.
While I liked the movie overall, I did walk out VERY disappointed as there are a PLETHORA of flaws. The film’s main problem seems to be that it tries to be an incredibly plot driven film while at the same time trying to be subtle and ambiguous. Doing something like this is EXTREMELY difficult, if not downright impossible to achieve without causing the movie to shoot itself in the foot. No better example of this is with the actions of David, played by Michael Fassbender, the android of the ship. He does something specific to certain characters around the middle of the film only for his true agenda to be revealed towards the end…and it turns out the thing he did to said characters had fuck all to do with his true agenda…so why do it? Even if it was supposed to applied to the theme of the reason to create the film was sporting, it made no sense. Due to the fact that he had a different agenda than what he did to certain characters, it made what he did to these characters a waste of time. My other major problem with the film is that some of the conclusions the characters come to leading to major plot points seem to come out of thin fucking air with no way in hell for any of the characters to come to said conclusions…the big example for me was what turns out to be the motive of The Engineers…there wasn’t ANYTHING in the movie that would lead to the character figuring out said motive…the first thing I thought when the character stated the motive was “And you know this…HOW?” This movie also sported stupid character actions in order to serve the plot (that’s right dumbshit, keep trying to pet the “cute and cuddly” alien snake creature that’s obviously about to attack you cause your dumbass keeps trying to get close to it)…this is EXTRA inexcusable cause most of the characters are supposed to be brilliant scientists (the dumbass I just alluded to was). Also for an Alien prequel, there ARE some slight continuity problems (although they aren’t NEARLY as bad as the AVP films)…in addition to this, the movie sports a vague nature in which it leaves a lot of questions unanswered. However, I can forgive these last 2 flaws somewhat because this movie is supposed to be the start of a new trilogy, so hopefully 2 more movies will be made to fill in the continuity gaps and answer some of these questions.
This movie has been getting polarizing reviews from fans and critics alike. For the most part, this is a love it or hate it film…but I actually find myself in between, even after 2 viewings (girlfriend wanted to see it, so I sat through it again). This has become my new No Country For Old Men, in the sense that I wanna love it...it has some really good ideas behind it and is very engaging...however, too many holes in logic as well as too many unanswered questions hold it back from the greatness it could have achieved. It’s FAR from perfect, but it had enough great moments to satisfy me, provided me with a little grey matter stimulation, had some great acting, and was visually astounding. I recommend seeing it, but leave your preconceived notions at the door.
3.5/5