As promised, here's the review for
Ridley Scott's return to the franchise he kicked off, a prequel (A
prequel, not THE prequel, we'll get into that) to the sci-fi horror
classic, Alien, a film entitled Prometheus.
After discovering a star map in a
cavern, archaeologist couple Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and
Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) become part of the crew for
the ship Prometheus, a ship sent out by the Weylend Corporation to
locate the beings who created the map, beings Shaw believes to be the
creators of the human race. The 17 members of the crew go seeking
answers to the creation of all life on Earth... and nearly meet the
destruction of all life on Earth.
I will say right now, there are bound
to be spoilers, even for a non-direct prequel such as this.
Despite a few points I'll get to, I
really enjoyed this film, both on its own merits and as part of the
Alien franchise. Obviously this entry would have more in common with
Alien than the other films, not just because Scott directed both, but
also because it's trying to invoke the mix of science-fiction and
horror. Biggest difference is that whereas Alien is a more character
orientated film, Prometheus opts for the bigger picture, the
questions we constantly ask.
Character-wise, I'm awarding best
performance to Michael Fassbender as David, the ship's android.
Before the rest of the crew is awakened from stasis, we spend a
little time with him on his own and it's interesting how he spends
his time. Besides fulfilling the commands we presume he was given
before the ship's take-off, we see him watching Lawrence Of Arabia,
trying to imitate the speech and mannerisms from the characters.
Despite the fact that throughout the movie he's fairly neutral, I
like this scene for displaying David's desires to be accepted or more
relate-able to his shipmates (that's how I see it anyway). He may be
an android, but he's capable of showing understanding of human
concepts like hatred (saying he wished his “father” was dead) but
never changes his tone. Michael Fassbender is quickly becoming one of
my favourite actors and I'm looking forward to what he'll be doing
next (incidentally, I managed to pick up a copy of Shame. Expect a
review in the coming weeks, hopefully before the end of the month).
It's good to see Noomi Rapace again,
and with a character so widely divergent from her last two roles.
Here she's an optimistic believer in higher powers, eager to get
right in the thick of it. It was a good move to not make her a Ripley
clone, but at the same time, to not make her helpless and defenseless
either. She's proactive and inquisitive, and knows just what to do
when it comes down to the crunch. In one scene, she finds out she's
been impregnated with some sort of alien (despite the audience
finding out earlier she can't have children) and her first course of
action is to get the damn thing cut out of her, so she climbs into a
medical pod and sets it for a caesarian.
Before I get into the next character, I
want to say that I love that scene. The panic, the intensity, the
claustrophobia, Noomi's acting, the blood... not to mention the fetus
itself. Also, the medical pod is a brilliant machine, in design and
purpose. The whole scene is amazingly done and is a highlight of the
film.
The other character I wanted to praise
is Meredith Vickers, played by Charlize Theron. Despite being almost
antagonistic, she's logical and practical minded. Yes, she's got that
stereotypical “I am the company out here and the company owns you”
mindset but I can't say that's uncalled for. I mean, given what kind
of expedition this is and how these probably aren't all that
frequent, it's understandable that she'd want to make sure no one
cocks up anything on their journey.
Now for the negative points, of which
there are five, some of which are minor, and none of these are in any
particular order.
First, Shaw and her cross. This has
been brought up by many people, the fact that even when confronted
with aliens who share our D.N.A, she never considers that God may not
exist. Yes, she says that if someone created us, someone created our
creators but then, doesn't that make it THEIR God? It's nice she
believes but the movie never has her question her beliefs.
Second, I don't see the point in
casting Guy Pearce in the role of Peter Weyland. He underwent an
extensive make-up and prosthetics session for what is essentially a
supporting role, and be virtually unrecognizable. What, you couldn't
get an actual older person for the role? Did you not consider
Christopher Lee or Max Von Sydow? I mean, Guy's not bad but it seemed
pointless to cast him.
Third, for all the questions the film
asks, it doesn't seem too interested in answering any of them. And
you can't give me that “Well, that's why they bait you for the
sequel” because
A. You're assuming you'll GET a sequel and;
A. You're assuming you'll GET a sequel and;
B. If you have this attitude of not
answering questions so people will come back, you may drive them away
because they'll give up.
Fourth, and something I knew would
happen when more details were shed, a larger crew than in Alien just
means less screentime for most of them. Besides Shaw, Vickers, David
and Holloway, the only other three members to get anything resembling
decent characterization is are the captain, Janek (Idris Elba, who is
amusing) and Milburn (Rafe Spall) and Fifield (Sean Harris), the
latter two being a botanist and geologist respectively and serve as a
somewhat odd-couple-esque pair who serve as the first victims of the
film, which is why they were probably built up, so we'd feel
something when they died. But you also have the captain's two
offsiders, who get little to no dialogue, and the ship's medic, who
has no real personality. Yes, that's still a fair few people, but a
little more interaction with the crew wouldn't have gone astray.
Last point, and it's the biggest
problem I have, is how everybody treats David. And it's not because I
like his character the most that I make this complaint, it's based on
the fact that they talk down to him, like he's a possession. Look, I
get that people aren't going to be comfortable around robots that
look like humans and do the things we do, but as scientists, or at
least, highly educated people, you'd think they'd be more
open-minded. But nope, they constantly remind him of his origins,
like he should be ashamed or that he should remember his place.
Y'know, if he was black, this would just look so much worse...
At least in Aliens, the mistrust of
Bishop comes from the fact that as Marines, they're probably drilled
on being the best and how they unite as a team, so he's an outsider
and they're used to spending time with a lot of humans as part of
their training. Plus, not being big thinkers (and that sounded less
insulting in my head). So the crew's dismissal of David just seems
dickish. Guys, little note: in most cases, robots are superior to
humans. Deal with it. Same goes with mutants.
In spite of it all, I really enjoyed
this movie and if a sequel does happen, I'll be there. 4/5
(P.S The soundtrack is brilliant, too.
A lovely mix of ethereal wonder and foreboding darkness)
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