“ITS STRUCTURAL PERFECTION is matched only by its hostility,” says Ian Holm in 1979’s Alien. “I admire its purity.”
True, he’s talking about a soulless, vicious alien, but what he says applies just as well to Alien. A perfect film, it’s a sci-fi B-movie made with A-list skill; despite budget woes and the risk of casting an unknown, untested actress as the film’s lead, a young British director named Ridley Scott made one of our scariest, smartest films. Beautiful, horrifying, and masterfully shot and edited, Alien remains an uncut dose of nightmare fuel. Scott went on to further explore his grim vision of the future in 1982’s Blade Runner; since then, Alien sequels have come and gone, none involving Scott. Hell, after Blade Runner, Scott moved on entirely—in two films, he reinvented science-fiction, then never returned to it.
Until now, that is, with Prometheus—a prequel to Alien, Scott’s return to science fiction, and, on both counts, a disappointment.
The setup: Doddering kajillionaire Peter Weyland (Guy Pearce) funds the spaceship Prometheus, which, among its largely disposable crew, carries scientists Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green), an android named David (Michael Fassbender), and an icy executive, Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron). Shaw and Holloway have found evidence that humanity’s creators reside on a distant planet—and indeed, the Prometheus has only to fly over said planet for a few minutes before miraculously discovering creepy, unnatural structures. Naturally, everybody decides to go inside; naturally, everything goes wrong.
Written by Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof, Prometheus‘ script echoes Alien‘s in a lot of ways; some are creative, most aren’t. The biggest differences are the films’ aims: While Alien followed blue-collar workers merely trying to survive, those onboard the Prometheus tackle what one character humbly proclaims to be “the most meaningful questions ever asked by mankind.” The scale is epic, the stakes are huge, and big questions are raised. But the answers are hollow, uninspired, and silly; the anxious horror that slicked every frame of Alien is replaced with flashy spectacle and clunky exposition; the story crumbles apart the longer one thinks about it.
Which isn’t to say it’s a total loss: Prometheus is gorgeous to look at and listen to, thanks to Scott’s remarkable eye and music by Marc Streitenfeld and Harry Gregson-Williams; boil it down to nothing but aesthetics and the film has a haunting, bleakly majestic mood. Theron’s excellent, and Fassbender’s phenomenal—had Vickers and David been the focal points rather than the dull Shaw, Prometheus‘ narrative might’ve stood a chance. And two terrifying sequences—one involving a penis eel sliding from black muck, another a stomach-churning scene that I’m not even going to try to describe—prove Scott hasn’t lost his touch when it comes to horror.
What he does seem to have lost touch with is the purity that made Alien remarkable—in clumsily attempting to do so much more, Prometheus accomplishes far less. Ending on all but a cliffhanger, Prometheus hints that Scott wants to say more in a sequel. If he gets the chance, here’s hoping he comes up with something worth saying.
Hey, if this film stars Noomi Rapace from the ORIGINAL GWTDT (e.i. the awesome 3-pt Swedish one, not that crappy American re-make), then that along is a great selling point for me.
I’m going to be nerdy, and it has nothing to do with aliens: why has the obnoxious neologism “prequel” has become so popular? There was a word for a piece that picks up a narrative, at any chronological point — it was “sequel.” A perfectly good word. And no, “se” is not a removable particle that denotes any temporal quality.
@3: In my defense, I did say upfront that I was off-topic. Oh, and I’m not Charles Mudede.
Granted it wasn’t as good as Alien, but Prometheus was pretty fucking good. Not perfect, but still very good. In sum: Prometheus the movie is not nearly as disappointing or out of touch as Erick Henrickson of the Portland Mercury’s review of said movie.
This movie is the Sam Beckett of the Alien franchise. The plot is pure swiss cheese.
I just vomited little in my mouth with the very thought of going to see this shitbag of a movie.
You actually take Eric seriously? The same dork that screens shitty 80’s movies for the other dorks to be “interactive” with? I actually just saw Prometheus, and am not “disappointed” or upset. Yes, the plot is a little weak and the writing leaves something to be desired. But it is a visually stunning and enjoyable film.
the reviewer, in my opinion, is pretty close to spot on. anyone, wishing to discredit his essay needs to address the movie’s overblown grandiosity. it misuses a great deal of its energy alluding to existential questions, only to end up failing to produce any story worth actually telling.
plus, the space duffles the crew have been issued are bullshit. i don’t believe a multi trillion dollar mission would blast off with nondescript, non ergonomic luggage. if i was launching a mission to grapple with the greatest questions mankind has ever addressed i would sure as shit outfit up!