BACK TO THE OLD FREEZERINO'S

Well I've just got back, last night now, from seeing Prometheus. I am not going into a scene by scene analysis of the film because that would introduce spoilers and there are enough of them going around already and I think it's a real shame for those who are yet to see it. Forget the "Alien" masterpiece, this film has nothing to do with that. In fact this film doesn't actually have anything to do with anything, least of all a coherent story, Unlike the Nostromo which, during that brooding opening, gave the impression of a deserted ship, Prometheus is quite literally an empty vessel without, as Empire correctly submitted, a soul. It has been said many times that Ridley Scott never wastes a frame, each being a cameo of light, shade and texture. Well it isn't the case here, the actual filming is nothing more than adequate. Even the part where Prometheus enters the atmosphere and goes into land is rushed, where we should have been allowed to marvel at those vistas', it was wham, bam touchdown. This was a cast of great potential and Charlize Theron was excellent, as was Michael Fassbender but in the end they were the only cast members that had any halfway decent things to say, the rest were buggered by an awful script that was shallow and clichéd. There was a piece in Star Wars were Han Solo was boasting to Obi Wan that he, Han, "...had been from one end of the universe to the other and seen a lot of strange things..." . It is well documented that Harrison Ford found this a cringing line and you could see it in his acting. I had the same feeling about Idris Elba, some of his lines seemed to stick in his throat like a face hugger. The cast just didn't blend, there was no filling-out of characters and I have to say, some of the acting was wooden, particularly Kate Dickie during the planet approach and landing. I cannot criticize the script too much, it has, along with the shitty editing f*****d this film. The design isn't "that great", nothing really original. The ship, Prometheus, was cool, but is obviously based on Ron Cobb's original designs, that were too expensive for "Alien". The editing was an absolute disgrace for a film of this stature. Ridley often cites David Lean and much has been made of Lawrence of Arabia playing an influential part in this product. Well David Lean could tell a story, he took time to. This film is put together like a puzzle, the parts fitted with a hammer. I fancy a huge amount has been stripped out to bring it into the "optimum" attention span. The set pieces involving Milburn and Fifield, the battle of the loading ramp, all rushed, blink and you missed them. There were threads that just didn't go anywhere and it likely the DVD release, "editors cut", will mend the story line but that aint gonna fix that miserable script. So much had been promised, we entered the cinema last night full of anticipation and left absolutely deflated and let down, there was no conversation about story points, the effects wizardry, acting or visionary filming. Nope, it revolved about what this film wasn't. This film after all is just another product and anyone who thinks it's been made for "us fans" is completely deluded, it was simply a vehicle to re-launch wring a bit more money from a busted franchise and I do not agree with Ridley's premise for the film. Who really wanted the "space jockey" explained? Surely it was enough for us to wonder, that was part of the "Alien" universe. 2/5