July 13, 2012My thoughts:
All in all I found Prometheus to be an interesting if flawed science fiction film. I think Ridley Scott showed that he's still one of the best eyes in the game and delivered a specatular looking film where the 3D was utilized in interesting ways and really added depth to the scope of the film. Whereas Alien was a more claustrophobic film with narrow hallways and tight corridors, Prometheus is a more epic film with huge ships, structures, rooms and ideas.
The cast is fine, with the most notable performance belonging to Fassbender's David - a truly complex and fascinating character. Everyone does exactly what's asked of them for the story and deliver. Some characters may make silly decisions, but blame the script not the actors.
Certain situations seem to happen for the sake of "Hey, we need them to do this action in order to get this creature into the film!" Fifield and Milburn are the prime examples of this. Granted, the scene with the hammerpede is intense and creepy and disturbing, but the setup for it is too convenient and a bit lazy.
I feel Holloway could have been a more endearing character and some of that is in the performance but most of it is in the writing. Had he been a little more awestruck and selfless, his transformation and sacrifice would have had more dramatic weight.
However, my biggest issue with the film is that it relies on the concept that it is the first of a [i]series[/i] of films. Prometheus doesn't quite stand on its own and the thing is that the writers completely planned for this to be the case. Prometheus, on its own and if we never have the sequel(s), feels incomplete and it's not as satisfying as a stand-alone film.
However, the promise of what it is setting up and the universe it is beginning to expose us to is nothing short of fascinating!
I'm interested to see what Shaw will find when she goes to the true homeworld of the Engineers. Also, are there factions among their group? Was the life-giver at the beginning a member of a sect of Engineers who are peaceful? Was he perhaps working against the wishes of the overall race? Were humans planned or an accident? Why did the mural in the main chamber show a Giger-stylized creature which resembles the one that comes out of the Engineer at the film's conclusion? Is it the first of its kind or is it what the Engineers were hoping to create? Were there others like it and is it those creatures that destroyed the Engineers discovered in a pile by Fifield and Milburn?
All of these questions are great because they mean that the film made me think and come up with ideas and it's been a damn long time since a film has made me do that! Overall I enjoyed Prometheus, finding my second viewing even better than the first. I am left anticipating a sequel!
Hopefully I'll get that sequel!
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