Review of 'Prometheus'

Ridley Scott returns to the origins of the Alien franchise with this summer's “blockbuster” Prometheus.

After a series of artefacts from history are found from different civilizations on earth all pointing to a distant star an expedition is sent out to investigate. Sent by the frail president of the Weyland compay Peter Weyland (Guy Pearce), the cool Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron) is put in charge. They land on the planet to quickly discover an underground complex that houses many mysteries including numerous pods reminiscent of the egg sacks in the Alien movies (and perhaps just as dangerous). The android David (Michael Fassbender) is another cold customer that appears to not have too much value for human life and appears to have a separate agenda. The two scientists who spurred this trip, Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) are pushed to the side and end up racing to save the human race…but are they too late?

Of course, the effects are wonderful but the story, as can be seen by the above, seems all to familiar. There are a few story elements that answer questions from the original Alien franchise (not exactly satisfactorily, if you ask me - I like the idea that they are completely ALIEN) and things are left in a pretty straight-forward fashion. I am not entirely convinced about the “everything is out to get you” idea but it is played out in spades here so if you are looking for a bit of a fright, you have come to the right place. Acted reasonably well for a bunch of relative newcomers at times they appear to be lacking a bit in character (even Vickers is pretty plastic).

Enjoyable popcorn fodder but not the same as the original, gritty Alien. Go back and watch that to see how Scott was at his peak. I am afraid he is not at his peak here. But, to be honest, Scott off-peak is better than most other directors in their prime…

Rating: “It is OK but I have some issues”

Review Date: 2012-06-02

Directed by: Ridley Scott

Studio: Brandywine Productions

Year: 2012

Length: 124 minutes

Genre: Science Fiction

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1446714/

• Gladiator (2000)
• The Martian (2015)
• Alien: Covenant (2017)