Directed by: Ridley Scott
Written by: Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof
"In space, no one can hear you scream."
That was the now-immortal tagline that graced the poster of director Ridley Scott's 1979 sci-fi/horror masterpiece, Alien. And indeed, this was a concrete case of truth in advertising. A terrifying and teeth-gnashing exercise in sheer cinematic horror, Scott's film was a landmark in both genres, as well as an early example of both surrealist "body horror" and feminist heroism that left a series of pale imitators in its wake.
It was followed was a series of films that included entries helmed by future superstar directors James Cameron and David Fincher, as well as two spin-offs crossing over with the Predator franchise. But after those two AvP flicks petered out commercially and critically, it was unknown as to whether or not we would return to the universe that Scott built. And lo and behold, after a very long sabbatical, the Creator returns to explore the beginnings of his Alien universe in the incredibly ambitious but philsophically ambiguous quasi-prequel Prometheus.
It's the year 2093 A.D., and the starship Prometheus has just arrived to its destination after a long two-year journey. Coming out of cryo-stasis is its crew, headed by archaeologists Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green). Four years earlier, the two had discovered a star map in Scotland that was linked to several different finds across the world, leading them to believe it was a sign from the actual creators, or "Engineers", of the human race.
With the funding of the wealthy and now-deceased Peter Weyland (Guy Pearce), Shaw and Holloway obtained their ship and a crew consisting of pilot Janek (Idris Elba), geologist Fifield (Sean Harris), biologist Millburn (Rafe Spall), and an android named David (Michael Fassbender), who was considered to be a son to Weyland. Accompanied and overseen by the pragmatic Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron), the crew have landed on a distant moon, discovering a pyramid-like landmark that was obviously built by something other than nature itself.
However, Shaw and Holloway's quest to discover the true origins of mankind are hindered when they enter the labyrinth below, and the crew must contend with terrifying forces that threaten not only the mission, but also themselves and possibly the Earth itself.
Admittedly, I was very anxious to witness Scott's big comeback to his creation. Even though James Cameron's Aliens was my personal favorite in the series, I nonetheless revered the original film for its masterful use of claustrophobic suspense, idiosyncratic visual and tonal aesthetics, and a bone-chilling villain that will go down in history as one of the all-time great Hollywood monsters.
But like any long-awaited return to a revered franchise, hype and impossibly high expectations reared its ugly head (remember the Star Wars prequels?). After all, this was Scott's first foray in the science-fiction realm since his 1982 seminal classic Blade Runner, and there was some doubt as to whether or not he could equal or even exceed the brilliance of his previous Alien flick.
Also adding to the worries was whether or not this was a true prequel to the franchise. Before the film's release, Scott went on record to say that while Prometheus indeed took place in the Alien universe, the connections were minor at best, and that his new project would branch out on its own while raising new "questions".
Primarily, those questions revolved around the true origins of humanity, and whether or not those far-off "engineers" had anything to do with it. A lot of my peers who saw the film before me alternately complained about or lauded the fact that the film asked questions that never got answered, but quite frankly, I never noticed any real questions to begin with. When I was expecting a Tree of Life-style existential mindfuck, I instead got a film that tried to ask lofty questions but dropped them almost entirely by the third act. I wasn't confused at all, and it was kind of disappointing, if you ask me.
But the biggest problem for me was how surprisingly predictable the film was. I easily called out almost every single plot twist and swerve, ranging from scary jump scenes and alien kills to the character revelations and connections to the Alien films that were a lot more numerous than Scott let on-- in fact, the latter serves as fanservice filler that contradicts Scott's very specific goal of making Prometheus its own unique animal. We've seen this stuff before, and it just would have been nice for Scott to save all the homage for an inevitable sequel or threequel and leave a bit of mystery for the viewers.
But let's not take away from the fact that this is Ridley Scott we're talking about, because aside from the issues with the plot and somewhat on-the-nose script, Prometheus is a visually gorgeous and proficiently-acted picture. Like the films before it, Prometheus is loaded with killer production design and creature features, with clear Lovecraftian and Giger-esque influence fueling the various alien monsters and environments. Reportedly shot on mostly practical sets (rather than using an abundance of green screens), the film definitely has the "epic scope" pat down. Scott also hasn't lost his touch on the gross-out/claustrophobic scares, including one disturbing scene that's not only a nice homage to the classic "chestburster" scene from the 1979 original, but one that puts a horrific twist on the phrase, "the miracle of life".
The cast is mostly stellar across the board. Though she only has the Sigourney Weaver "whoop-ass heroine" thing kick in by the third act, Noomi Rapace is good as the vulnerable yet determined scientist. Marshall-Green, Spall, and Harris do what they can with their various crewmember roles, though there's plenty of charisma and humor from Elba (who's fast becoming one of my favorite "up-and-coming" actors).
Theron seems to be continuing her streak of "bitchy ice queen" roles (following last year's Young Adult and this summer's Snow White and the Huntsman), this time as the mission's steely overseer who has more than a few secrets of her own (not to mention a plethora of skintight uniforms, a development that I absolutely had NO problem with).
The best role, however, goes to the impossibly talented Michael Fassbender as the calm, collected, and slightly devious android. His David is a mix of the impeccably proper C-3PO and the chillingly logical and motivated HAL-9000, a creation who seems to be increasingly disdainful of his creators and the perception that his lack of humanity makes him subordinate to his homo sapien superiors. It's a terrific performance that Fassbender can just throw on top of the pile of his many other terrific performances.
I knew I was going to be conflicted after seeing Prometheus, but I wasn't expecting to be conflicted for reasons other than what I was predicting. The film certainly had an air of grand ambition to it, a drive to become "that movie" which would alter the artistic and psychological landscape of cinema forever. If it hadn't cannibalized the conventions of its franchise forebears and stuck to its own unique path, it could have very well happened. But this marked, quite possibly, the very first time where I entered a heady film and left the theater looking for questions instead of looking for answers. Though certainly not a bad film by any stretch, Prometheus nonetheless falls victim to its own ambition.
Letter Grade: "C+"
