Prometheus (2012)
Genre: Sci-Fi
Format: Non-3D Theatrical Release
Director: Ridley Scott
It's been a while since I first head the news that Ridley Scott had started working on a prequel to Alien and I remember how I excited I was about the prospect of that idea. Another claustrophobic horror sci-fi movie is something that is amiss from the current cinematic world. Prometheus stays pretty close to that territory but it's a departure from the series and it still shares similar themes to the original in both its ideas as well as visual design and execution.
If you have seen the theatrical trailers for this movie, the unfortunate thing here is that you pretty much already know almost everything that happens in the movie. I was one of the victims of this marketing catastrophe and I am so disappointed that Scott failed to control his advertising team to ensure that the entirety of the movie's main storyline remains hidden until the actual viewing. If you haven't seen those trailers, I of course, will only give you what those trailers should have done: a basic premise without sharing the detailed plot. A team is sent to a remote planet to find a civilization that had potentially created human life on Earth. When they arrive, they eventually learn that their lives may be in jeopardy.
The main strength of Prometheus is that the movie provided a rather convincing atmosphere of intrigue by allowing plenty of the things that take place on screen left unexplained. The problem with this however is that the movie is quite uneventful. There are only a total of two or three powerful scenes in the movie that will forever haunt my memory. The rest of the movie just feels stretched out. That being said, the film feels unique in which it's a blend of creature feature and character drama. The movie does manage to bring up some interesting comments about theology and it even goes into questions in regards to artificial intelligence but none of these really make too much of an impression when all is said and done. They become nothing more than convenient plot devices.
Do I like Prometheus? Yes, I had fun watching it. It has great performances and convincing special effects consistently grace the screen but the movie just doesn't feel meaty enough. I like that it differentiated itself from everything else in the Alien series but just being different is not enough when little impact is made. Maybe it needed a little more horror and a little more gore to make it whole. The movie has a serious tone to it but perhaps it just needed to be a little darker - a spaceship full of people heading towards their doom is not necessarily a path less travelled. So at least litter it with plenty of bread crumbs or even blood spatter along the way to make things a lot more memorable.
RATING: 3 out of 5
4 comments:
I'll be watching this movie tomorrow with my dad since him and I loves the Alien movies. From your review, I expected that's how the movie is going to be already. At least it'll be an entertaining movie. Great review!
- The Girl Gamer
Thanks, and have fun to the both of you.
The promotion for this film made it look freakin’ awesome but also, a lot like Alien and I think that’s the big problem with the film. It’s pretty much the same formula used over again and even though Scott tries his hardest to get our heads past that, it’s too obvious, too quick. Good review Loner Gamer.
I concur with your review overall. I enjoyed it, I'll probably pick it up to go with my Alien Anthology, but it could have used just a bit more horror/dark terror in my opinion.
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