Rent Prometheus (2012)

Could have been such a better prequel! - Prometheus review by DJ

I read somewhere that originally this script was written with a much stronger linked ending in the movie Alien but Ridley Scott didn't want to go over old ground again ("it's what the viewers would want!") but personally this should have been linked more to Alien and then Aliens. This movie is at it's weakest in the direction it went in after being rewritten that it's the prequel to us as humans. The origin of our species, not the alien species. Where did we come from? Is there a God? This movie is simply not intelligent enough for the deep philosophizing it does. It's at it's weakest in those parts and also the narrative and some of the acting related to this. There are even plot holes due to editing with crew members coming alive again, due to moving around the movie.

The movie is beautiful though with great special effects. Some of the main characters are fabulously portrayed, Elizabeth Shaw portrayed by Noomi Rapace is a really interesting lead protagonist. Just falls apart with the faith stuff (which they have to make really obvious) and the relationship with her boyfriend fails because he is cute but they just don't sell the relationship well enough. Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron and Idris Elba are excellent characters. Idris keeps his accent up the whole film! The rest of the actors are so so and you end up not really caring if they live or die which is a problem in this movie.

If you watch the movie several times, it becomes more endearing somehow. The first watch is just confusing as you try to follow the narrative. Without spoiling it, the movie does end with big hints or links to the Alien series. I liked this movie in the end but it could have been a lot better! I did like the character of Elizabeth Shaw and she could have been a new Ripley but was disappointed to read they don't continue with her very long in the next movie of the series. In fact I have read that Alien Covenant a lot worse than this one but that I still have to watch :) Worth a watch, does contain some horror and scenes that make you jump but not as good as Alien / Aliens ultimately.

A really mixed bag: great individual performances & visuals, but a meandering & drab script - Prometheus review by TB

The Alien universe has never again hit the acclaimed heights that it did in the 70’s/80’s and the ‘92 Alien3, although for many people this is a bone of contention. Despite the enormous amount of goodwill and fandom, Alien Resurrection was not great, despite the massive budget. And then when they started to combine the Aliens and the Predators in the AVP series, it was absolutely a case of diminishing returns and not great to begin with. 

Then Ridley Scott announced that he had come back to the franchise, with a script written by two veterans of the sci-fi genre, Jon Spaihts & Damon Lindelof. There was also an amazing cast, enormous budget and pretty much complete creative control (unlike the massive battles Scott had in Alien.) The general feeling was one of excitement. I was so excited about this that I even went to see it in IMAX. But there was one thing that I had seen Scott repeatedly say in interviews regarding this film: in no way was this a sequel to the Alien franchise. This was a continuation in that world and people shouldn’t look at this film as being in any way a sequel. Needless to say, an enormous number of people did not take that advice, although the film has other far greater problems. 

However, the film starts extremely well. The opening scenes of Michael Fassbender (David) walking around the ship alone and amusing himself, all whilst obsessing over Peter O’Toole and his performance in Laurence of Arabia, are without doubt the best part of the film. In 15 minutes we get a wonderful building of the character and the world. Then, as the ship approaches its destination and the other characters are brought out of hypersleep, we start to build up to something which looks promising. They leave the ship to investigate the world and then we wait for the proverbial to hit the fan…

And that’s where the problems start.

Prometheus cannot decide what it wants to be. It is a film which keeps cutting back and fourth between the ship and the planet, never settling on either location and what it wants to have happen there. The characters are also another major issue: there are far far too many of them. And any great potential performances are lost in the sheer number of actors on screen. For example, Kate Dickie is an outstanding actress, who whenever I have seen her in other films and especially bit parts, will be amazing. And here she stars as a scientist who has the barest of bones of a backstory but who could be something more. Her performance and anything which she was trying to give to the character is lost totally in the mishmash of direction and story. And the same goes for Sean Harris, who could have been so many things but just is turned into a hippie who also is obsessed with money…

The actual story itself as well is stupid in many ways. It takes the religious themes of belief and stretches them to ridiculous lengths. We are meant to accept on face value that a crazy billionaire becomes involved with a couple of archaeologists who despite their science backgrounds are devout religious individuals. He then pours the entirety of his wealth pretty much on going into space and to what is effectively a wild goose chase on a whim… not something that works very well under any type of scrutiny. 

And yet, strip back and suspend disbelief and actually there is a decent amount to be enjoyed here. It looks stunning, there are some great moments and the ending is also satisfyingly pulse-racing, even if you aren’t fully invested in the story. 

There is also one more reason for giving this film 3 stars: it is significantly better than its sequel Alien: Covenant. Now THAT is a terrible film.

Prometheus (2012) - Prometheus review by CP Customer

As with any Ridley Scott movie the viewer either loves what he makes or hate it. Personally, I thought that compared to the Alien movies the was a comparatively poor spin off. Saying that it wasn't what I would describe as consider to be a terrible sci-fi movie and as far as that goes I thought it to be average and overall I can't say I disliked it for what it turned out to be.