Prometheus is a good Sci-Fi film with great acting and an interesting plot, but sadly it wasn’t a great Sci-Fi film and definitely wasn’t this generations Alien. But I would love to see a sequel which could easily fix the problems I found with this film. The best advice I can give to anyone going to see this film would be not to have your expectations to the level that the hype has put it.
Ridley Scott, director of Alien and Blade Runner, returns to the genre he helped define. With Prometheus, he creates a ground-breaking mythology, in which a team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a thrilling journey to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race.
To start off let’s talk about the acting. The acting was very professional and you could feel the emotion but the main flaw I found with the characters and the film in general were that you couldn’t connect with the people. The main character Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) was the exception to this with a realistic but strong character who survives at all costs (credit goes to her with a great performance). Sadly the characters you start to like get very little screen time and the one’s you don’t really care about (Charlie) get time that was more boring than interesting. Then there’s my main fault with this film. The crew don’t really mix very well and you get the feeling their all in their own little worlds, rather than experiencing something as a group. So in that respect it loses some of its authenticity.
Think I have moaned enough about the characters for now, so let’s talk about something more fun like the visuals. The special effects, physical props and visual landscape shots where both excellent viewing and brilliantly immersive to the universe that Ridley Scott’s created. There’s nothing quite like being four rows from the screen of an IMAX 3D showing of Prometheus and I would definitely recommend that experience. At one point the spaceship felt like it was landing two feet from your seat which was a little shocking because I have never sat that close at an IMAX. The best thing I felt about this films look was the way that the ships interiors and the alien building where all real and built in the Pinewood Studios which gave everything a realistic touch which helps to bring you closer to believing you’re in that world.
The plot is very much its own. If nothing else this film is not like any other and for that Ridley Scott has made a great addition to his Sci-Fi resume. My favorite scene without giving anything away would be the end scene of the film and if you have seen alien you will know why, but the other would probably be anything involving the Android David (Michael Fassbender) because he was such a great character and played brilliantly by Michael Fassbender who was being great as always. So if there is a sequel which after watching the film I would be expecting one, then I hope that they keep David but give him more face time and a better physical presence.
Finally I would like to address the question of whether Prometheus is a prequel to the Alien film. In my opinion it certainly was a prequel and the film does nothing but leave clues to the original films plot and origins. The end gives you the strongest connection to the original; they couldn’t have made that last scene more revealing to the alien origins if you saw the crew of the Nostromo land at the end. Simply put though this film needed to be more like alien and have a more structured and sensible plot that wouldn’t confuse viewers, I did feel that the film alienated (pure coincidence I used that word) people who wouldn’t get some of the more subtle and complicated plot strands. So go watch it because the film is a great viewing pleasure and will keep you thinking for a long time after about what happened.
grizzly rating 4.5
Grizzly Bomb 