So. Prometheus. I hear people have a lot of feelings about this movie - and so do I.
I really wanted to like this one. Every time I heard another negative review or saw more backlash, I became more determined to enjoy it. And at the end of day, I did enjoy it.
But it's not a good movie.
Superficially, it's a treat. The visuals are stunning, with sweeping vistas and brilliantly envisioned technology. The horror elements are, at times, jaw dropping. The music is largely effective (although there were moments where I didn't feel the score matched the tone of events). All the dressings are there, but the structure itself is flawed.
The premise of the film is thus: two scientists (Noomi Rapace and Logan Marshall-Green) trace a number of disparate ancient pictograms to one star system so far away from Earth that the artists could not have possible known of its existence without being told by (presumably) a superior being. Somehow, these two scientists decide that those superior beings must have engineered humanity's existence. Somehow, this determines that our scientists, along with a team of other scientists, will travel to that star system in order to, in a phrase, meet our makers. Now, I have no problem with exploring the tension between science and religion - that would have been an interesting thing for the movie to explore in depth, and a solid foundation for that particular story.
But that's pretty much all we get about that, except for a few throwaway lines about Rapace's character's faith. And a whole lot of misplaced religious references, which might have supported a stronger theme if Scott had committed.
And that right there is my basic issue with the film: somehow, it has managed to be both overly ambitious and incredibly lazy. It pursues about four different big ideas but commits to none of them, and as a result we have the seeds to the aforementioned science v. religion film, a solid Alien body-horror movie, and some half-baked ideas about classism, robot bigotry, colonization, and the generation of life, but nothing conclusive on any of them. Well, except the vague sense on leaving that science and curiosity might be bad for your health, and some uncomfortable ideas about pregnancy. It's problematic, to say the least.
My secondary issue is that not only are none of the scientists in the film particularly likeable, but they're all bad scientists. No one seems concerned about quarantine, containment measures, contamination, or even briefing the scientists on what they're doing (the biologist, who you'd think would have the most to do on this kind of mission, wanders away a quarter of the way through the film). Michael Fassbender gives absolutely the best and most convincing performance as the android David, who balances clinical robotic intelligence with childlike naivete (which is why I've assigned Prometheus the subtitle of David Don't Touch That - it's a repeating chorus from the other characters).
There is some good stuff there - the parts most clearly related to the previous Alien films are tense and visceral, and the ideas presented are definitely worth chewing on. At the end of the day, I would rather a movie try for the big ideas and fail than not try at all. At least it got a conversation going.
I really wanted to like this one. Every time I heard another negative review or saw more backlash, I became more determined to enjoy it. And at the end of day, I did enjoy it.
But it's not a good movie.
Superficially, it's a treat. The visuals are stunning, with sweeping vistas and brilliantly envisioned technology. The horror elements are, at times, jaw dropping. The music is largely effective (although there were moments where I didn't feel the score matched the tone of events). All the dressings are there, but the structure itself is flawed.
The premise of the film is thus: two scientists (Noomi Rapace and Logan Marshall-Green) trace a number of disparate ancient pictograms to one star system so far away from Earth that the artists could not have possible known of its existence without being told by (presumably) a superior being. Somehow, these two scientists decide that those superior beings must have engineered humanity's existence. Somehow, this determines that our scientists, along with a team of other scientists, will travel to that star system in order to, in a phrase, meet our makers. Now, I have no problem with exploring the tension between science and religion - that would have been an interesting thing for the movie to explore in depth, and a solid foundation for that particular story.
But that's pretty much all we get about that, except for a few throwaway lines about Rapace's character's faith. And a whole lot of misplaced religious references, which might have supported a stronger theme if Scott had committed.
And that right there is my basic issue with the film: somehow, it has managed to be both overly ambitious and incredibly lazy. It pursues about four different big ideas but commits to none of them, and as a result we have the seeds to the aforementioned science v. religion film, a solid Alien body-horror movie, and some half-baked ideas about classism, robot bigotry, colonization, and the generation of life, but nothing conclusive on any of them. Well, except the vague sense on leaving that science and curiosity might be bad for your health, and some uncomfortable ideas about pregnancy. It's problematic, to say the least.
My secondary issue is that not only are none of the scientists in the film particularly likeable, but they're all bad scientists. No one seems concerned about quarantine, containment measures, contamination, or even briefing the scientists on what they're doing (the biologist, who you'd think would have the most to do on this kind of mission, wanders away a quarter of the way through the film). Michael Fassbender gives absolutely the best and most convincing performance as the android David, who balances clinical robotic intelligence with childlike naivete (which is why I've assigned Prometheus the subtitle of David Don't Touch That - it's a repeating chorus from the other characters).
There is some good stuff there - the parts most clearly related to the previous Alien films are tense and visceral, and the ideas presented are definitely worth chewing on. At the end of the day, I would rather a movie try for the big ideas and fail than not try at all. At least it got a conversation going.
