PLOT: A team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a journey to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race.
THE GOOD: Special effects. Prometheus is one of the most gorgeous films I have seen in the last few years. Obviously a lot of it is CG heavy, but even the locations, the set designs, and the cinematography are beautiful. I saw the film in LIEMAX 3D. I would say that this is one of the rare films where the 3D enhances the film. There are some moments where it's not necessary, but I really enjoyed the hologram aspects in this format.
One word for you, pal: Sunscreen.
Sound and score. The sound effects in Prometheus are top-notch. It doesn't get much better than this these days. Kudos to Mark Stoeckinger, Ann Scibelli, Victor Ray Ennis, Charlie Campagna, and the rest of the team at Soundelux. Marc Streitenfeld has kind of been director Ridley Scott's go-to man when it comes to scoring his films for a little over five years now, but has worked with him for over a decade. Streitenfeld's score for Prometheus is great. Definitely memorable and worth listening to in full. To create an "unsettling" sound, he provided the orchestra with reversed music sheets to have them play segments of the score backwards, before then digitally reversing it. You can listen to the whole soundtrack on YouTube.
Acting. I thought Noomi Rapace was a bit weak in the first half of the movie, but really shines and makes a name for herself in this franchise in the second half as Elizabeth Shaw. Michael Fassbender has the best performance in the film as David, the android on the crew of the Prometheus. The man really is having an incredible last two years with some very impressive roles. The rest of the acting is good, but actors are not given enough to work with in the script. Charlize Theron is good. Her character is pointless, but she looks and acts great. Idris Elba plays the captain of the ship and he has kind of a weird accent, but I enjoyed seeing him in this movie. Logan Marshall-Green is probably going to see a few more important roles after his performance in this movie, but something bad happens to him just as his character was getting interesting.
Pacing. While there are set-pieces, they blend together so well that it really makes the movie feel fluid. Scott has always been a master at this as I can never recall a time where I looked at my watch while watching any of his films. The movie is 124 minutes long, but it doesn't feel like it.
Um... guys... the giant head and all the capsules you were looking for are behind you. Just turn around. Behind you, there. They don't see it.
THE BAD: Plot holes. Just to play it safe, I'm going to warn for spoilers in this entire section. Highlight to read spoilers: After reading countless other reviews and listening to podcasts, I'm shocked at the outcry towards writer Damon Lindelof. People seem to solely blame him for all the plot holes, unanswered questions, and dumb decisions in the film, and while I'm sure he deserves plenty of the blame, he wasn't the only writer and he also didn't make all the final decisions on the film. If I'm not mistaken, it's Ridley Scott's name above the title of the movie. The script is indeed a mess and part of it is because of all the plot holes that the movie offers. Plot holes happen all the time in movies, especially those in the sci-fi genre. For example, why didn't the all-powerful Yoda just go with Luke to Cloud City to fight Vader together? Why didn't Marty McFly's parents recognize him when he got back to his home in the future? And let's try not to get hung up on the latest Star Trek's whole "Of all the ice caves on all the habitable planets in the entire galaxy, you had to walk into mine." So, if all those are true, why all the flack for Prometheus? Plot holes should only be a problem if a single one negates the entire existence of a film's story. Take Eagle Eye, for example. A computer like that could never exist, even in a fictional world, so the whole movie is null to me. The plot holes in Prometheus exist, but are small ones that just make it difficult to connect one action to another sometimes. Like, why did the engineer go after Shaw instead of just fly another ship away? Because it connects two scene together, that's why. Yeah, it's confusing why, but it's a necessary explanation. I recognize it as a negative aspect of the movie though, but if people are intent on completely discrediting the film because of these, you must do the same for some of the good ones like Star Wars, Back to the Future, and Star Trek.
Unanswered questions. Alright, then you have people complaining about all the unanswered questions that Prometheus presents. For example, what was that black goo? Why did David give it to Holloway? What was that thing swimming in his eye? Many have brought up the TED Talk by J.J. Abrams in which he discusses the magic mystery box. The idea is that whatever is in that box will never be as cool as what he imagines. It's his basis for a lot of his work on Lost, Cloverfield, and Super 8. Some people have a problem with this. They don't like to be presented with questions that don't have any clear answer. I enjoy a little mystery in a film. Some of my favorite films don't give you all the answers like Inception, Blade Runner, and Lost in Translation. The problem with Prometheus is that it's not just ambiguous, but it asks way more than it gives. Again, I have no issue with unanswered questions, but when you ask too many, it can be frustrating.
Apparently underwear no longer exists in the future and everyone wears white cloths. Even the engineers (see first).
Characters. There is not a single character in this film who doesn't make a stupid decision. This is my biggest problem with the movie. It reaches teen horror movie bad, in my opinion. If plot holes and unanswered questions were the only problems with this movie, I would have said that Prometheus is just short of being a masterpiece for me. Unfortunately there are just way too many incredibly dumb choices made. It really takes away from the story and theme.
Message. I'm not quite clear on what the intentions were behind this movie. I mean, besides making money and giving us a clue on where the xenomorph Alien comes from. Obviously the major story is trying to discover where we as human beings came from. But there's this symbolism about Shaw not being able to bear children, yet becoming pregnant anyway that feels like the Mary story. Except she gives birth to a monster. What are you trying to say, movie? And the engineers wanted to destroy us because of something that happened 2,000 years ago. Um...? Oh, and the first evil creature we see come out of the black goo is a giant worm type thing. Like, a serpent? All these Christian parallelisms left an uneasy feeling in my stomach.
THE END: If I don't question or really think about anything, I loved Prometheus. Adored it. When I start asking simple questions like why characters can't seem to run perpendicular to rolling things, I get frustrated. I shouldn't get frustrated while watching a film unless that's its full intended purpose. While I find it to be a broken movie, I can look past many of its imperfections and still call it good. I think most of the movie community has treated Prometheus unfairly and seem to hold it to a higher standard than most sci-fi, or even just regular fictional movies. I like it and you need to see it so that you can enter yourself into the debate and discussion around this film, too.
DISCUSS: What did you think of Prometheus? What other Ridley Scott films do you like? What were your issues with the film? What did you think of the graphics and audio? Do you want a sequel?
"Heeeeerrrrreeeeee's Johnny!"
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