Prometheus

I think this serves as a pretty decent stand alone sci fi. I like quite a lot about this movie. The cast is good. Noomi Rapace in particular is very good.

I like the idea of the engineers, I like the idea of the black goo, I mostly like the idea that this all spawns the xenomorphs we know and love but I don't really understand why.

Not everything needs an origin story and I preferred Alien when we just thought they were out there somewhere. I don't think we needed an origin/backstory/genesis story.

Take out the final scenes which, if I'm honest, felt a little forced, and Prometheus would still have been a fairly decent sci fi.

And most notably, Prometheus does teach us not to run in a straight line.

It's good to see that Ridley Scott still has the same vision for stylistic sets and atmospheric lighting.Lots of dripping water and eery shadows as one might expect from the old master. The special effects are impressive, the CGI is great, the technology is plausible for the turn of the next century. But - and I'm afraid it's a big but - the plot is disjointed, the characters two dimensional and the script is, well, not the best. Far too many things happen which simply make no sense at all, or just don't tally with "what we know already" about the Alien universe. Far too many plot mechanisms, bits of tech and even shots and scenes are borrowed from other films - Serenity, independence day, The Mummy, Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull, Pitch Black, X- Files. I won't go into detail because I can't do that without using spoilers, but try it yourself. Watch the film and see how many ripped off bits you can spot. Spectacular, yes. A great film? No. sadly not.

Prometheus seems to have disappointed many viewers. Luckily for me I had no expectations, despite being a Scott film set in the same universe as the Alien franchise. The ship Prometheus goes looking for the beginning of mankind and what created us. It's a rather ambitious idea and the film should be given credit for trying to have some kind of theological and scientific debate. Unfortunately, the script also feels as though it has to give us the scares and frights that we associate with the Alien films. The majority of the film is intriguing but for every positive there is a negative. We get fascinating characters such as David, Vickers, and Janek. But they are mostly pushed aside to focus on the stupid scientist characters. Did the writers not realise how bad their work was? Rapace refuses to let one character take weapons on an expedition because it is a "scientific" mission. I call BS on that. No scientist would be so stupid as to explore a new planet, with no information on said planet, without a bit of protection. Characters decide to do stupid stuff, such as approach viscous looking new species etc. and it is here where the film annoyed me. The set design was beautiful, and I enjoyed the quieter moments the film had to offer, such as David's trying to understand emotions etc. The most interesting ideas the film has are delivered in single lines of dialogue, but are never explored. It's head and shoulders above many science fiction films of late, but it also needs a few sequels to clear things up. Unfortunately, that means it wasn't so great as a stand alone film.

Prometheus is an eminently rewatchable film that provides new layers of meaning with each repeat visit. How often does a master filmmaker get to revisit their original oeuvre and recreate an even bigger world around and about it? The myth of the engineers and their world changing experimentation is absolutely romantic, compelling and terrifying at the same time. It hurts even more to see how badly utilized this new mythos was in the follow up Covenant. The true mark of success that Ridley Scott achieved was igniting years of debate around the origin and nature of the engineers and their creations. Deep connections to established historical finds on earth make this origin story even more personal - the myth of alien astronauts, benevolent or cruel giants from the stars with incredible, magical technology - creators and destroyers of worlds. Getting back to the film itself - such gorgeous cinematography and production values. I recently rewatched in 4k format and developed a greater appreciation for small clues hitherto unseen - for example navigation hologram destinations in a reactivated ship of mass destruction. David is himself a conundrum and a polarizing figure. Was his programming to blame, or the algorithmic output of his treatment at the hand of cruel masters. The android is a central theme in the alien mythos, an expression of creation and self awareness. The only criticism I have of Prometheus and the sequel Covenant is the proliferation of human stupidity. Predecessor films did not showcase human hubris and blundering to such a great extent - protagonists always took calculated risks. If anything the buffoonery of crews almost seems to justify their fate and reduces sympathy accordingly. Ridley Scott may still have time to catapult his mythos to legendarium, if his subsequent sequels after Covenant retain purity of spirit with his expanded universe. I for one look forward to seeing more of this wondrous unravelling and exposition.

Don't get me wrong. It's gorgeous to look at, and I'm definitely going to go and see it again. It's really impressive.

But... It's stuffed with scenes without any payoff. Again and again it sets stuff up and then just... walks away from it.

In at least one unforgivably stupid scene, someone *literally* just walks away from an antagonist and leaves it there. And then doesn't tell anyone about it. Some of it's really effective. There are some scenes that are absolutely gripping. But so much of it doesn't make any sense...

Having said all that I think it's very clear that what I just saw was Prometheus part 1. It's very definitely supposed to have a sequel and I will certainly go to see the sequel. I think both movies taken together might score a 10.

But this movie by itself doesn't.