I've heard less than stellar things about Prometheus (although Claudia Gray seems to like it), but I still wanted to see it. The trailers were fantastic and I love both Alien and Aliens. I haven't seen the other films in the series, due to that hearing less than stellar things thing.I think Prometheus had one major problem: it's philosophy isn't that interesting. There is lots of listening to people talk about why humans were created and what their purpose is which is a question many people care about, but it's irrelevant to reality when the movie is proposing the answer lies with giants in space. Plus, the scientists have zero evidence for believing the aliens are benevolent creators, rather than people who just happened to visit Earth. And yet that plot takes up almost half of the movie.
Many people forget the pacing of Alien, how long it takes before a facehugger appears and then a guy gets his chest busted open. The fault in Prometheus is not that the aliens don't appear soon enough, but that what happens before the aliens appear is pseudoscientific nonsense and pseudophilosophical babble. And Prometheus does improve exponentially once the aliens appear and people start worrying more about survival than the origins of humanity.
The casting is fantastic. Noomi Rapace is beatific and miles away from her fierce, star-making role as Lisbeth Salander. Michael Fassbender is strangely inhuman and quietly furious at his own creators. Charlize Theron manages to make herself a plausible villain despite doing nothing truly villainous and being one of the most competent people in the movie. (Everyone in Prometheus makes at least one dumb, out of character mistake. Why is the geologist who maps the cave and can pinpoint his coordinates the one who gets lost?) And Idris Elba is fantastic as always and injects some real personality into the Prometheus's crew.
Prometheus could be much, much worse. But as sci-fi horror goes, it is no Alien. It does not live up to the promise of its trailer. However, I can fast forward through the worst babbling scenes to enjoy the true scares the second half of the film delivers.
I actually liked Prometheus despite it's blood. (I'm very squeamish). But I suppose that's because I enjoyed the philosophical touch they added to it. And that it's my first hardcore scifi movie.
ReplyDeleteI can take blood in horror movies but not medical shows. I think it's usually out there enough not to bother me.
DeleteI guess at least one person disagrees with me about the philosophy!
I consider Prometheus "2001 without the snoozey parts." I attended with my husband who loves Alien, etc. so it helped me to put everything in perspective. I think Charlize Theron is awesome but totally wasted in this - she stood out too much for the role.
ReplyDeleteI never made it five minutes into 2001. Mostly because my roommate and I thought the TV broke when the screen went black and stayed black.
DeleteLOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah, it's a snoozefest. Just say the word "2001" and my eyes close.
DeleteIt just wasn't bold enough to follow through on what it was promising all the time, especially with the trailers. Good review Liviania.
ReplyDeleteThanks! Perhaps the sequel will live up to the promises.
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