Directed by:
Ridley ScottCinematography:
Dariusz WolskiComposer:
Marc StreitenfeldCast:
Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, Guy Pearce, Logan Marshall-Green, Sean Harris, Rafe Spall, Emun Elliott, Benedict Wong (more)VOD (3)
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Ridley Scott, director of “Alien” and “Blade Runner,” returns to the genre he helped define. With PROMETHEUS, he creates a groundbreaking mythology, in which a team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a thrilling journey to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race. (official distributor synopsis)
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Pretend you’re going to watch Alien vs. Predator 3 without the Predators and you’ll be ecstatic. The first third is an absolute sci-fi orgasm – exciting, epic, atmospherically captivating, visually engaging, with attractive actors and a promise of great things to come. Everything here is so perfect down to every tiny detail that one wants to cry with happiness. Plus there are some nice ideas conveyed through the dialogue (and monologues). The second third slows the pace down and brings a more intimate tone when it tries to tell us more about the characters. The last third is hastily put together action horror with butchered editing and storytelling, which doesn’t elaborate on the originally outlined themes, and is ridden with genre clichés and Emmerichian heroism. Luckily, the closing scene setting up a sequel somewhat mitigates the disappointment. Fantastically shot piece of screenwriting crap. I feel cheated, Ridley.
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Ridley Scott no longer knows how to come up with something new. He intensively copies from Alien and subtly quotes other masters of the big screen (Kubrick, Lean), but he doesn’t manage to put together a sophisticated mythology from a lot of enigmatic allusions. The more consistently straightforward, less ostentatious final third of Prometheus, when broken bones, flamethrowers and heroic gestures take the place of tautologies that go nowhere and the attempt at philosophical sci-fi rapidly morphs into an intergalactic variation on rape-revenge movies (by which Scott again shows himself to be a filmmaker capable of unusual feminine empathy and very clever use of gender stereotypes). The change of approach to the material is so sudden and unexpected that it gives rise to the hypothesis that perhaps the director was playing a cruel joke at the expense of the excited viewers. It’s as if he thought, “fine, they wanted something spectacular, so I’ll really prepare them for it at the beginning, but then I can more brutally bring them back to reality with a guilty-pleasure genre movie.” However, I rather see the reason for that in the necessity of cutting the film short than in the director’s sense of irony, which means that we will have to wait for the full-fledged Prometheus to arrive in the autumn, when the director’s cut will be released (after Kingdom of Heaven and Robin Hood, I’m starting to wonder if this isn’t actually a clever marketing move – to give viewers the feeling that a distinctive creative work was butchered by evil studio bosses and if they want to see the film as it was originally intended, they will have to spend more money on the DVD). Prometheus is a breathtakingly unstylish product with an unclear purpose. Because it doesn’t offer a satisfactory answer, both its suspense and its stumbling block consist in the prolonged uncertainty triggered by the advertising campaign. I’m afraid that the film’s “point”, which is very funny in its own way, will neither make anyone angry nor elicit a sly smile on the second attempt. If the aim of the film was to cause embarrassment, it accomplished its mission, but it doesn’t offer satisfying summer entertainment. By that, I’m not saying that I didn’t enjoy it. I did, but similarly as I did with Pitch Black, in whose case the price-performance ratio was significantly different. 75%
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Prometheus has landed! The critics have spoken at length about the illogical behaviour of the characters and the unresolved jumps in the plot, so I will write something in its defence. Yes, those complaints are undoubtedly warranted and that’s a real shame, without those issues this film would be almost perfect, because everything except the script is very good. However, part of those flaws in logic could be excused saying that instead of a “team of methodological, 100% reliable and careful scientist” the expedition features “scientists driven by an inner desire for answers and discoveries”; some of the unresolved motifs can be easily guessed and some of the incomprehensible behaviour and weird details aren’t actually that impossible to understand, it’s just the viewers who don’t understand them (e.g. the behaviour of David or the settings of the medical equipment). And I also think it’s good that there are things left unsaid about the mythology, because thinking about a mythology on your own is A LOT of fun (BTW, the often used combo “Scott ruined the mystery around Alien” + “Scott didn’t explain anything” is logically contradictory). What’s left, and can by no means be excused (the scientists getting lost in the mapped galleries, etc.)… well, how you see it will depend on the type of viewer you are. If you demand films should be 100% coherent, with a clear theme that is addressed properly, and where all the questions are answered and all the motifs are addressed, tough luck. If, in contrast, you like a more open text, where the interpretations of and the musings over the meanings (or, rather finding the meanings, in this case :-D) are just as important, if not more, than the film itself, then you will know how to forgive Prometheus’s mistakes. Fortunately, I’m in the second group. /// The visuals are intoxicating, the ideas about the creator-creation relationship (because we can) are interesting, and the mythology, which only peeks behind the curtains, is even more interesting. 8.5/10 and relative satisfaction (!!!), though it certainly had more potential. PS: I want an extended version on DVD and in two years I want a sequel not written by Damon Lindelof :-D PPS: From a certain perspective, this film, together with its advertising campaign, is a brilliant package because it gives the viewers an experience very similar to the protagonist. Elizabeth joins the expedition to find answers to important philosophical questions. Her motivations are not mundane, she expects something like enlightenment (figure out who we are, why we came to be and what is our purpose). The campaign and the film’s first act prepare the viewer for sophisticated and uncompromising science fiction – a genre milestone. Elizabeth gets to the planet and, instead of finding satisfactory answers, she and the entire crew have “their asses kicked” by angry extraterrestrials. The viewer goes to the cinema and, instead of the intellectual sci-fi that was promised, they get brutal horror with notes of B-movie. It’s hard to jump in joy at this, but as a joke it’s good :-D
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When white and white together give birth to black, the result is Alien without an Alien, like Jára Cimrman’s “Hamlet" without Hamlet. It’s not compatible with the Alien mythology but it overflows with today already cult and specific “Alien" atmosphere more than anything else made after 1979, you have to give it that. Just a shame that it pretends to be cleverer than it really is (even though it’s hard to say, because it’s just the first half) and double shame for the surplus of unnecessary characters. Visually captivating in some of the scenes it’s without exaggeration impeccable (David’s space routine, birth giving through abortion, fall from the heavens), but as a whole so far (at least till the director’s cut or a sequel is made) it just damn good.
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I'll be polite, and I'll only say yuck! Prometheus, whether it's the work of the director who started the Alien saga, a very clever online advertising campaign with well-timed videos and interviews, or speculation about its accessibility, promised a lot and managed to get genre fans hyped up to the highest level of expectation. The initial reactions were lukewarm, but I attributed that to unrealistic inflated expectations. So, what can I say about what I saw? It's really hard to describe because you really need to see this film to understand. I honestly can't attribute my disappointment to high expectations, as I was prepared for an imperfect film. However, if you want to enjoy this film, forget about any associations with the original Alien. It is, in fact, a spiritual sibling to Aliens and Predator - with an unbelievably, and I mean unbelievably, stupid script, terrifyingly dumb dialogue, and completely illogical behavior from practically everyone involved. The film is saved by the great visuals - the level of special effects has of course improved fantastically since the late 70s, and Scott had a more than decent budget, which is evident in Prometheus. Because there are very few high-budget sci-fi films made, Prometheus doesn't have much competition. It's a shame that the director settled for such a mess and didn't even try to achieve some sort of compromise because this really isn't a compromise, it's an absolute resignation to the original essence and atmosphere of Alien. You'll find everything here from aliens to mutants to alien babies, grand spaceships, action, and dying, but the result is pathetic. This is a summer blockbuster that doesn't expect any brain activity from its viewers. Noomi Rapace won't become the new Ripley, not so much because she lacks acting potential, but rather due to the incompetence of the character, thanks to the lobotomy performed by the screenwriting team. The previous four Alien films were different in every respect, but each was unique and despite the fluctuations in quality and certain logical lapses, none of them disappointed me. Prometheus is a disaster, mainly due to its terrifying inconsistency, with dozens of motifs that the screenwriters slapped together strangely. Overall impression: 25% for the stunning visuals and quality marketing. I have some things to add a week later in response to the ongoing Prometheus discussion and numerous comments... I have to admit that when I visit the movie theater in the summer months, I always come a little late, to skip the advertising bombardment of the blockbusters that are being mass-promoted at that time. They are so stupid that even the trailers make me feel depressed. Before watching Prometheus, I was forced to watch the American president jumping around like a monkey and killing bloodthirsty vampires left and right. Immediately after, a mutated piranha tried to attack me from the sink drain, and I eagerly awaited something that made sense. Ridley Scott never made great art, and his early films, like Alien or Blade Runner, didn't have the same intention as Tarkovsky's Stalker or Solaris. However, he had one huge merit - he showed that genre films (specifically sci-fi, but you can project it onto any genre) can be entertaining and at the same time smart, and can appeal to the widest masses of audiences. Scott started from scratch, but he turned it into a masterpiece. Several decades later, he humbly returned to that scratch, because he made a really stupid film. When I look at the Alien saga in retrospect, the best film is definitely the second one, although Cameron's militaristic drama is not as close to my spirit as the atmospheric first one. Aliens has a quality script, attractive characters, a dynamic plot, and capable actors. Compare the last soldier designated for extermination in the first action scene with the losers presented to us by Prometheus as crew members. In the first case, even the minor characters have developed personalities, while in the second case, you hardly learn anything about the main characters. Right after Aliens, I rank Scott's original film Alien, which has been slightly affected by time in terms of the special effects and the development of the genre, but thanks to its visuals, cast, and atmosphere, it is still deservedly a legendary work. Alien 3 was marked by a lack of funds, which resulted in less grandeur and the choice of a script set in an unattractive prison environment, but let's admit it openly, the fans' disapproval was also caused by moves that led to the loss of beloved characters from the previous installment and the death of the main heroine. Otherwise, it is still a clever and very well-directed film, which is a gem in its genre. The fourth one, which was so far the weakest, was marked by the choice of a director who aimed at something else from the very beginning and made a film that ironizes and turns the Alien mythology upside down. It's like letting Michael Bay direct "Hamlet," John Woo direct The Ballad of Narayama, or Tarkovsky direct A Nightmare on Elm Street. However, if you were willing to join the director's game, it was still an above-average film that, in addition to the creatures, still had something in common with the original Alien, but had a different tone. In Prometheus, not only does the second half fail, but it's also stupid with its mythology, dialogue, literalness, lack of imagination, casting (except for Fassbender and partially Noomi) - basically, everything except for the visuals and music. The subsequent discussion, which tries to find meanings that the film simply doesn't have, is a reaction to the fact that the images don't make sense due to the stupid script. Prometheus is the ultimate example of big-budget trash with well-crafted visuals. It surpasses many B-movie productions in its cleverness. As can be seen, there are quite a few viewers for whom the cleverness of the film is not a significant element in their evaluation. After all, with a silly film, you can easily stroke your ego. Scott, as a co-producer, had disproportionately greater creative freedom than his predecessors and committed a cinematic crime. A-grade sci-fi is nowadays like Cinderella - it requires a large budget but usually cannot appeal to the so-called family audience and those who prevail among viewers, i.e., teenagers. It is no coincidence that dozens of comic book adaptations with superhero characters are being made, while dozens and hundreds of significant literary works in the sci-fi genre remain on the sidelines. They require a more educated audience and are commercially less appealing. Only twice have directors had the chance to make a sci-fi film without compromises, and in both cases, they messed it up. Besides Prometheus, it was both sequels to The Matrix...
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