Prometheus (2012) Review

Prometheus is a sci-fi thriller directed by Ridley Scott, who back in the late 70s and early 80s, make Alien (1979) and Blade Runner (1982), two films that has had a huge influence on science fiction since. Now he is finally back in the genre he defined, with Prometheus, which is a film related to his classic science-fiction horror Alien. The film is set about 60 years prior to the original and follows a group of scientists on an expedition out in space where they hope to find life, and maybe even the origin of the human species. As you might have guessed, the expedition does not exactly go without problems.

Let me start of by talking about how it relates to Alien. Many fans of the Alien series seem to have been disappointed by Prometheus, as the ties to the series are not all that strong. The iconic Xenomorph, which terrorized moviegoers back in 79, isn’t really directly present here. There are a few visual nods to the creature though that tells us a bit about its connection to this story, but if you are going into this film, hoping to see a Xenomorph bust out of John Hurt´s chest while he is eating dinner, you will probably be disappointed. However the film does have many ties to Alien, however since the events of Alien don’t happen for another 60 years or so, there is a lot that can happen in that time. At least we finally figure out what that strange “space jockey” as it for some reason is referred to, that we saw, for about two seconds, in Alien is.

The main character of the film is Elisabeth Shaw, a religious scientist, who is determined to find answers to where we came from. She is played by Swedish actor, Noomi Rapace, who does a very good job, my only problem with her performance is that she didn’t always nail the accent, but that is minor. Shaw is a strong character, though almost a bit too reminiscent of Ripley from the Alien films; however she is still very much her own character. Her boyfriend, Dr Holloway, is played by Logan Marshall-Green (who for some reason looks a lot like Tom Hardy) and he his performance is probably the only weak performance in the film, however his performance is just really annoying which almost takes you out of some really good scenes. It has to be mentioned that his character is total dick to start off, but in the scenes where we are supposed to sympathize a little for him, his performance just doesn’t allow us. On the other side of the spectrum we have Michael Fassbender as the android David. He gives one of the creepiest performances I have seen in quite a while and brings so much character to this android. Despite not having emotions, you can tell he understands them and might slowly be developing some of his own. The scenes early on with him alone inside the spacecraft are some of the most interesting scenes, showing us a lot about David and his curiosity and creepy vibes. In a somewhat similar performance we have Charlize Theron as Vickers, who oversees the expedition. There is a lot of mystery around her as she lurks about, trying to hide her characteristics, but in the end we are left with one question about her, is she an android? I am not going to say what film says about this, but she does have many similarities to David. The rest of the cast all do a good job and though I actually thought most the characters were surprisingly good for the amount of screen time they got, there were a few that really had no reason to be in the movie and almost ruined some scenes.

As you would expect from Sir Ridley Scott, this film is pretty flawlessly directed. Certain scenes in here are so immensely suspenseful and Sir Ridley captures the fear of characters. Some of the most horrifying and horror-like scenes in here (one in particular) really burn an image into your head. Scott manages to bring a very creepy and unsettling mood to the film and you really do not wish to be in their situation.  It is however important to remember that this is not a horror movie, at least not in the way that Alien was. There are few films this year that have been so gorgeous looking. Ridley Scott is so good at using lighting and colour to create beautiful pictures and I was surprised at how fresh this film actually looked. The whole film felt very original in its visuals, by not using the same old costume and set designs we get in every sci-fi film nowadays. The cinematography is very well done and finally a film that gets 3D right. Watching it on blue-ray without 3D I realized how it actually really benefited the film. Every shot was set up with incredible depth and you really could tell they thought of ways to maximize the 3D depth. I actually recommend seeing this in 3D, and I hate 3D. The score also worked really well with the pictures, combining an almost Star Trek-y theme with creepy, horror background music.

So to the films one flaw, which sadly is a pretty big one, the films script. The script is so incredibly mixed, as certain scenes (like David and Holloway discussing creating life) are very well written and thought provoking, but them you get certain scenes where there is some cringe-worthy dialogue. The story itself I enjoy and find interesting, however certain scenarios are at times silly. The film also has some plot holes here and there that could have avoided. That being said, there are not as many as some people claim there are, for example the scene where something looks like its being stapled (if you have seen the film you know what I mean), which seem totally illogical, because it would not have that effect, however lets not forget this is 80 years into the future and we really don’t know what these things are or what they do, only that they look similar to staples. However there are a few plot holes in here that really don’t add up no matter what way you look at it, which does take you out of it occasionally.

Despite its issues in the scripts, this is still a very, very good film and is very well acted and masterfully directed. I understand why some people hate it, but personally I really enjoy simply because it does have good characters, especially David which is very interesting to watch, and it is so incredibly well directed. The best way of going into this film is probably being unsure what to expect, because if you want sci-fi, its not really a sci-fi, if you want horror, its not really horror, if you want action, its not really action and if you want Alien it really isn’t alien, but if you just want a good film then you might be satisfied.

4/5