Review: Prometheus
One thing cannot be denied about Ridley Scott's return to science fiction with Prometheus, and that is that this film is even more epic than it appears to be on the surface. His return to the genre comes with much fanfare and anticipation, and in a lot of ways Prometheus doesn't disappoint. It's absolutely beautiful to look at, the visual effects are stunning and it's even a good 3D movie. He's created this movie in a massive universe, one that we're all familiar with, yet the story is intimate and small. It's also filled with tension that only the creator of the Alien franchise can deliver.
In the mysterious opening sequence, a human-like being is left by a ship near a remarkable waterfall and he ingests something that kills him as he falls into the water, becoming nothing but ash and smoke. We learn later on that these are the beings who have left the paintings discovered by scientists Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green). Years after the couple's discovery, the Weyland-Utani corporation is funding an expedition to the planet where Shaw and Holloway think the "engineers" originated from, as well as the origination of our species.
The film itself is told in a very small world, but it reveals a much bigger universe than indicated in the Alien franchise. The most interesting thing about that fact is that Prometheus takes place many years before the events in the 1979 film Alien. So much further before than it shouldn't be considered a true prequel, as has been indicated by Ridley Scott already in several interviews.
Any expectations you have of this movie being related to Alien should be put on hold. That being said, there's still a lot of great stuff to focus on. Michael Fassbender's performance as David is beyond great and is every bit the great performance that Fassbender delivers on a consistent basis with every role he's in.
The rest of the characters in Prometheus are some of the familiar archetypes of sci-fi voyage movies. Some of those them are a little thinly developed and that's a shame because there could have been so much more to them. Often times a line of dialogue is inserted where it would have made a better film had some exposition been shown rather than restoring to a throwaway line. That's a minor performance gripe though.
While there's a great performance from Fassbender, some incredibly tense moments, and really beautifully shot scenes, Prometheus has something else up its sleeve that could be an amazing thing or a hair-pulling thing. It's co-written and produced by Damon Lindelof, who created one of the most hotly debated television shows of all time, Lost. Like Lost, Prometheus is going to encourage debate, it tells an epic tale in a massive world, and there will be many questions to ask.
Prometheus might even require a revisit to properly delve into the story and understand the bigger picture of the movie. It's not a superficial film that will have huge box-office numbers and then be forgotten by the masses. There may be few who go on to enjoy this film, but those are the few who will get the most out of it. It might not be what you were expecting, but that can be a good thing. There's a great film in Prometheus, despite some character development issues and some silly third act issues, and sci-fans should be pleased with this effort from Ridley Scott.