If there's been one film I've been dying with anticipation to see this year it would easily be Prometheus, the pseudo-prequel to the 1979 claustrophobic space bound horror masterpiece Alien. This of course isn't the second entry into the franchise; we've already had 3 direct sequels of varying quality, and lest we not forget two dreadful but now thankfully retconned spin-off movies in the Alien Vs Predator franchise. However this is the first in the franchise to see the return of the original films director Ridley Scott, which makes me exceedingly happy and excited in equally large doses due to the fact that I consider Alien to be by far and beyond the best film in the franchise, and because I rate Ridley Scott amongst the greatest directors ever. A bold statement I know, but all I have to say to anybody who disagrees is "go watch Blade Runner, and if you've already seen it, watch it again".
So, after a day of priming myself for my long awaited trip to the cinema on a healthy diet of Blu Ray Alien - which coincidently is utterly stunning both visually and audibly - I finally got to see Prometheus.
Was it what I expected? Yes.
Did it go above and beyond in the way I had hoped after seeing the first trailer? No, for a variety of reasons.
First off I want to reiterate just how paramount my expectations were. In the back of my mind I was secretly thinking to myself it had the potential to be one of the all time great sci-fi movies. As I said, the finished product was as I expected- a sturdy, highly enjoyable science fiction film laced with blood and theology. The problem comes in that both feel restrained by its blockbuster status. The horror moments are fantastic and made the entire cinema jump on several occasions (though the scares never felt cheap) however they were just to few and far between. And the script is clearly desperate to evoke questioning and wonderment of the "bigger picture" but it drifts between being neither as visually thought provoking as say 2001:A Space Odyssey, nor as exhaustively wordy as Contact. Instead it just sadly comes off as being a Philosophy 101 class. I'd best compare it to how Inception was, for a Hollywood film, a real mind bender, but compared to say a David Lynch film, it seems relatively straight-forward. Still, Inception was great and a lot of people loved it and I have no doubt the general audience will embrace this similarly.
Now I've got that gripe off my chest I can get down to all the really good things about the film.
The acting was stellar all round from the top billed cast, Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender in particular really standing out. Just as great as Sigourney Weaver and Lance Henriksen in their respective comparative roles in previous franchise entries. The real aching disappointment for me from the casting side of things was Guy Pearce as Peter Weyland. After seeing the viral video of his TED speech (embedded below) I was really psyched to see how his role would play out in the film, but his screen time was small and altogether pretty boring, purely there to drive the story forward. A sad waste, but for people who haven't seen the viral video im sure its a non-existent issue.
The cinematography and set design as well are as you'd expect from a Ridley Scott film. Everything is meticulously crafted, and shot and lit with fully intended purpose. The Prometheus' interior is as you could imagine it would look given how our current technology is evolving. Lots of clean, clear, sterile environments with an Apple white gloss. It contrasts excellently with the ever stunning H.R.Giger interiors of the alien ship and in my mind helps the film seem like less of a clone of the original as it's so different to the dark dank look of the Nostromo. Another thing that really helps to set it apart from Alien is the much talked about orchestral score. Its a loud movie. Very loud. The music is sweeping, epic and fits every scene to a tee, much as Alien's minimalist score added so much to the constantly growing tension.
The film's ending is probably what left me with the sourest taste in my mouth though. At 2 hours in I was completely immersed in the universe Scott had created and suddenly, as my excitement reached fever pitch... it just bloody ended! Wide open for a sequel. Which I wouldn't mind were it not for the fact that with Scott's current schedule its unlikely we will see a sequel before 2015 which is just too damn long away. My fear is that the sequel will be passed on to another director as Aliens was, but I really feel that the sequel to Prometheus would not benefit in a shift of tone the way Aliens did. My hope is that should the film do sufficient at the Box Office a sequel will be fast tracked over Blade Runner 2, but I sadly doubt it. Still, on that note if Scott can do with his Blade Runner project what he has done here with Prometheus I would be more than happy. Overall, a fantastic film, but not a classic film.
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