Prometheus marks the return of Ridley Scott to the Sci-Fi genre, a genre he helped to define with his towering classics of the genre Alien and Blade Runner, Prometheus however concerns Dr. Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) who finds some old cave paintings in the Isle of Skye in Scotland that could well mark the origins of the human race on a planet out there in the galaxy, origins that they may not wish to know.
I went into Prometheus with some degree of hope and also a degree of skepticism, I was very keen to see what Scott had in his bag of tricks given his long absence from the genre but at the same time I wanted to avoid the films marketing campaign like the plague as it hinted at the film maybe being a prequel to Scott's own Alien film, as time progressed however one question went through my mind.
That question was this: "Is this new Sci-Fi film by Ridley Scott any good?"
Well surprisingly I thought it was, the film has a nice sense of visual detail, it has some good performances from Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Logan Marshall-Green and Guy Pearce, all four earn their stripes quite nicely but Fassbender is the show stealer, his David is simply a fantastic character brilliantly performed and its him that will stick in your mind long after the film's finished.
Which leads me now to my next point, I can't say with any confidence that this is a great film or even all that memorable a film, mainly for two key reasons which will outline below:
the story goes into directions that leave you thinking "this is going to go there", "that will happen to that character" and "this thing will turn into that down the track"
2. The characters pretty much end up becoming stereotypes of themselves as the film goes on, I also found Rapace to be somewhat annoying after a while with her constant screaming and screeching, something Sigourney Weaver never did with her character Ellen Ripley in Alien and Aliens.
Which leads me to the second part of my unmemorable feelings, both Alien and Aliens are memorable in their own way, Alien for having a sense of mystery, terror and grit and Aliens (my personal favourite of the series) for James Cameron's relentless action direction, his exhilarating pace, his witty one liners and his characterization like Hudson, Hicks, Newt, Apone etc, Prometheus has very little of those ingredients that make those films stand tall since their original release years and as a result you pretty well forget about it almost immediately after its over and your making your way out of the cinema while the end credits roll on the screen.
And lastly I must talk about the 3D which to my surprise isn't terrible but just ends up being distracting and pointless, if you were to see this film in 2D properly projected and on a nice big screen with a good sound system you will have every inch the immersive experience and you'll probably appreciate the visuals a lot more as the 3D won't be there to put you at a distance from it all.
So all in all, I think Prometheus is a good film, it was enjoyable for me, I found it entertaining but I don't think it will stand up like Alien and Aliens did, still I do recommend people see it as I thought it was worth the money and I hope others feel the same way, 3 out of 5.
4 comments:
So I'm not the only one who found Noomie Rapaec's character a little annoying. A lot of the characters lacked any real personality, they were just your generic scientists with the lingo and constant observations etc. I very much enjoyed Prometheus as a stand alone sci-fic film which it does set out to be. And I agree that the 3D isn't really necessary. Great review mate!
I actually thought Rapace was great. She was a strong heroine, and it was extremely intense what she went through. Along with Fassbender's David, she was the film's strongest character. I also think the film has plenty of legs. I certainly didn't forget it quickly, and continued to consider it over the whole weekend. It kept me guessing, and on the edge of my seat. As a cinematic 'experience' I think it ranks amongst the year's best so far. It was a little frustrating because of the ties in to Alien, but if you think of the film as an individual entity, it only gets better. I will say, the script tried to include too much - no reason for one particular story to play a part - and some of the dialogue was shoddy, but on a visual level, an atmospheric level and an awe-inspiring level, Scott is back.
I really enjoyed your review mate, very balanced and well-written.
I wasn't someone who enjoyed the film as much as I had hoped and thought that it became really preachy after awhile and it lost me with the religious overtones.
As far Rapace becoming annoying, I can definitely understand that because she didn't hold a candle to Ellen Ripley.
On the upside, I thought it was visually stunning and thoroughly enjoyed watching it in 2D, shame the story let me down.
Great review, my friend.
I agree with Andy about Rapace - I thought that second to Fassbender, hers was the strongest performance in the film. I tend to agree with you about the film overall. Good, with some spectacular visuals and memorable scens, but not 'great' or 'mind-blowing'. I can't help but compare it to Alien in those terms. Still, an enjoyable film! Great write up!
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