Review: Prometheus

     One of the great cultural phenomenon's of the last decade was the TV show Lost. It captured audiences with it's movie like production quality, strongly developed characters, and most notably the mysterious and winding plot, often filled with holes. A demand for answers to the questions created by the show was a driving force in keeping the fans interested enough to stick around for six seasons. While many people feel Lost didn't provide a satisfying amount of answers (although this blogger disagrees, and so do I), the show itself remains as one of the best TV shows of the last ten years. A key contributor to the show's mystery was creator/writer Damon Lindelof. In Prometheus, a prequel to the Alien franchise, Lindelof brings his ability to write mysterious, action-packed, character rich, if hole-filled plots.

     Prometheus is the story of a group of earth scientists headed to a far away planet after discovering a number of depictions from a number of ancient societies of giant figures pointing to a system of stars or planets. The scientists believe that the images show an alien species pointing to their home world, and that the alien species is responsible for the creation of humans. Sure enough afer over two years of space travel, the scientists arrive at the alien planet to find that the aliens they had hoped to encounter are all long dead. The scientists explore the ruins of their civilization only to find that everything is not what it appears to be. Quickly, the philosophical posturing of the film devolves into the type of horror film the Alien series is known for.

     I may be coming across as overly harsh. The film does do a number of things very well. The cinematography and digital effects are extremely well done. I saw this movie in 2D, so I can't speak to the film's experience in 3D, but I imagine it would be something like a darker version of Avatar. Overall, the acting is excellent in this film as well. I was also pleasantly surprised to see a decent amount of in camera special effects used along side of the GGI magic. Michael Fassbender is excellent as always as David, the ship's android capable of translating and speaking the alien language. His role is very reminiscent of the villainous AI of HAL 9000 from Kubrick's 2001. Fassbender's performance is captivating, playing an emotionless automaton with a hint of angst for not being able to have emotions, as well as the smallest bit of malevolence towards those who can. Watching him imitate Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia is a particular treat. Idris Elba also does a fantastic job as the ship's captain stuck between trying to protect the scientists mission and the interests of the Weyland Corporation's who is financing the expedition. The onboard presence of the Weyland Corporation is held by the commander of the ship, played by Charlize Theron. Noomi Rapace plays the lead scientist and protagonist of the film, but her performance simply isn't as strong as her supporting cast.

     The pacing of this film was also very awkward. The first half of the film moves at a glacial pace, setting up who every one is, where they are, and why they're there. Once people start dying though the film moves at a breakneck speed, introducing new plot points one after the other, twisting the story into a complex mess. THIS VIDEO highlights a number of the plot holes that left me scratching my head (WARNING: SPOILERS). The plot is also over-stuffed with Chekhov's guns, that make the final scenes rather predictable. The ending of the film implies an eventual sequel. Hopefully, the sequel deals more with the scientific and philosophical elements that were so hastily dealt with here.

Rating: 6.5/10 - Moral