Ridley Scott’s highly anticipated ‘prequel’ to his 1979 masterpiece
Alien is equally mesmerising as it is
disappointing. Immediately Prometheus establishes itself as worlds
apart from the claustrophobic womb like environment that Alien offers us. The film opens with sweeping landscape shots of a
world not unlike Earth, the bright daylight contrasting with the dark and
atmospheric lighting of Alien. The
world is beautiful and the being we are introduced to resembles a human but isn’t
one. After this intriguing beginning we are transported to Scotland where we
meet our main protagonist Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace), a scientist who
studies ancient cave paintings and believes the drawings have an important
message about the origins of the human race. After discovering links between a
series of images all over the world, Shaw and her partner Holloway (Logan
Marshall-Green), are employed to go and investigate the meanings behind these
images. With a team of other scientists the two travel on the Weyland
Industries funded spaceship Prometheus across the universe to a place that may
hold all the answers.
As a stand-alone film Prometheus
is impressive and distinct but of course it is impossible not to draw
comparisons to Alien. The prequel is
far more of a science fiction film than a horror film set in space like its
predecessor, although there are still horror elements. Prometheus is brave in
the respect that for a summer blockbuster it has remained a 15 certificate and
rightly so, rather than striving for the all-encompassing 12A certificate that
so many films do.
As with all the Alien
films there are a diverse group of characters that the story centres around.
Shaw is a suitable lead, she is no Ripley but her fighting spirit is
reminiscent of the heroine, and Rapace does a great job of portraying a
character desperate to know the truth, although she is not the most charismatic.
She is however not the best character within the film, that would by far be
David the morally ambiguous android played astoundingly by Michael Fassbender. Fassbender’s
David echoes David Bowie but with the menace of Ian Holm’s later model Ash, his
calm feminine voice, reminiscent of Hal, perfected to sound slightly robotic
and all the more eerie. Idris Elba is well cast as the captain of Prometheus
and Rafe Spall and Sean Harris have good smaller roles. As with most of the
Alien films smaller characters are still developed enough to add depth. Charlize
Theron plays icy boss Vickers to perfection, her cynical and robotic nature
ruined by an annoyingly sentimental plot ‘twist’.
The plot is at times a little confusing and certain elements
feel like they were absent-mindedly thrown in for convenience, such as Shaw’s
inability to have a child but overall Prometheus is very enjoyable. It never
drags, which considering its runtime of 124 minutes is surprising. The whole
Peter Weyland (unnecessarily played by Guy Pearce) plot strand does feel
completely redundant and Prometheus
could have benefitted from a bit of tightening up. Also the script at times
really stands out and not in a good way, but it is still a very good film.
Visually Prometheus
is stunning; credit must be given to cinematographer Dariusz Wolski and production
designer Arthur Max. The film cultivates its own unique world but with particular
elements that are correctly designed in the familiar black bio-mechanic style. The
technology within the film and the look of Prometheus does seem light years
ahead of what Ripley and her crew have later on, which perhaps makes certain
aspects unbelievable and the chronology of the films less flowing. But issues
like this can be argued away with explanations such as the fact Prometheus is a
well-funded scientific research ship whereas Nostromo was merely a commercial
towing vessel. The costume design by Janty Yates is also worth mentioning, the
sharp futuristic platinum grey suits and navy piped with orange space suits
reminiscent of a high end fashion show and these stylish ensembles will no
doubt be imitated by the high street in one form or another in the near future.
If you are expecting a tense, claustrophobic thrill ride
Prometheus will disappoint. There are a couple of relatively tense scenes but
this is much more about discovery than an edge of your seat experience. The
film successfully explains how the aliens evolved into the familiar form we
have come to expect and it does it in an intelligent way, never force feeding
information but instead allowing the audience to piece it all together. We are
never given all the answers which some might find frustrating but a satisfying
amount is given with a suitably open ending.
Even without comparisons to the brilliant Alien, Prometheus is flawed but despite
these flaws it is hugely entertaining. It is the most unusual blockbuster you
will see this summer and is resilient enough to be viewed as a stand-alone film
although the links to be made between Prometheus
and Alien just make it all the more
enjoyable. The vast themes Prometheus
attempts to explore are perhaps too ambitious and fans of the Alien franchise
who are expecting another Alien film will no doubt be disappointed. Prometheus has such high expectations from
fans that it is no surprise people feel let down. Despite all the frustrations Prometheus remains a thoroughly enjoyable
original sci-fi film.
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