So don't go into Prometheus expecting to have your lid blown off by some big epoch-shattering reveal that will change how you perceive life as you know it. Also don't go into Prometheus expecting a straight-up prequel to Alien, because while it slides into the overall continuity well enough and shares some similar themes, it's a different beast and makes its own territory, for better or worse. It's in the Alien universe, in the same way that The Avengers is in the same universe as Thor and the Iron Man films, but it shouldn't be compared to Alien. It should be judged on its own terms. How does it hold up?
Well...
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| Poster by Ibraheem Youssef. |
Visually speaking, Prometheus is absolutely spectacular. Ridley Scott has always had an eye for aesthetics, going all the way back to his start as an ad director, and he manages to craft a look that has some similarities to Alien but still has its own identity. The titular starship is cleaner, tidier and packs more sophisticated tech than the Nostromo (which makes sense as the Nostromo was an old rusty shitbox used for transporting cargo), the kind of space vehicle Apple would have made when they inevitably set about conquering the heavens. H. R. Giger's biomechanical designs also make a welcome return, with the Engineer's ship filled with space-age skeletal detail on the walls and corridors resembling ribcages. I saw the film in 3D, the first time I've done so in a while, and Scott does make good use of the format, keeping it restrained and mostly using it for the many, many holographic interfaces the film likes to show off.
Handsome though the film is, the characters are disappointingly thin. I hate to say it, but the crew of the Nostromo seemed more human, although that may be because they were intergalactic blue-collar workers and there were only seven. There are 17 people onboard the Prometheus, and you're only going to give a tuppenny toss about four of them - maybe five, at a stretch. Rapace struggles with her British accent, and Shaw herself isn't given much characterisation beyond "is a Christian" - her field of expertise varies from archaeology to xenobiology when the plot demands - but she remains a likeable enough heroine, alternately strong and vulnerable. Idris Elba, as the stalwart captain Janek, manages to do a lot with very little. Charlize Theron's company executive has some interesting revelations, but they come too late at the end of the film and she ends up little more than a colder version of Ripley.
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The real standout, as many others have mentioned, is Michael Fassbender as android David, the ship's butler and, ironically enough, the most human-acting of the crew. Early on, while the Prometheus travels to LV-223, the crew are in stasis, and David spends two years wandering around the ship - he plays basketball, he learns alien languages, and dyes his hair to look more like Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia, a film he enjoys. Not quite as villainous as Ash in Alien, nor as benevolent and heroic as Bishop in Aliens, David is a more amoral character, following an unknown directive, alternately helping the crew and using them as experiments. Even then, it's still human behaviour - the crew member he chooses to experiment upon is the one who gives him grief for being a robot - almost too human in a way, as our flaws are magnified in him. It's a magnificent performance of the most intriguing character in the film.
In my Alien review, I made a point of distinguishing "plot" and "story" - the plot is the events that happen, and the story is what the film is about. With Prometheus, I'm...not entirely sure what the story of the film is. It's not about Shaw finding out where humanity comes from, because that answer's revealed in the first hour to her, and to the audience from the spectacular opening sequence that I won't mention because, unlike the trailers, I'm not going to spoil. It's not about Shaw coming to terms with her faith, as that never really changes. The most concrete theme I can put down to is the same one explored in Scott's Blade Runner - what is the purpose of life?
Alien posited the idea of how small humanity was in the grand scheme of things, an idea that Prometheus blows up to widescreen. The corridors of the Engineer's ship are immense and, decorated with rib cages, give the impression they're little more than germs in a much larger entity. The Engineers themselves dwarf their progeny, and the first shot of the Prometheus shows it as a mere pinprick of light against the sheer vastness of space. Shaw desperately wants to believe that life is more than just the end result of an accident, that there's some greater purpose to life...
...but there is none. Questions just lead to more questions, and "where did we come from?" gives way to "why are we here?" and "who is it that created us?" The ultimate reveal of what the Engineer/Space Jockey actually looks like is disappointing, but it makes sense in relation to this idea - they're so close to being understood, yet so much of them remains untouchable. Even when Shaw finally has the opportunity to meet her maker, her questions are never answered. Prometheus is probably the first summer blockbuster since Men in Black to tell the audience that they're utterly meaningless in the grand scheme of things - it's a gutsy move, but it doesn't really say anything beyond that. It's like a big 3D neon sign reading "YOU ARE NOTHING".
It's a shame, because it feels like Prometheus wants to say more but never quite does. Damon Lindelof, who rewrote the original script by Jon Spaihts, is also one of the gentlemen responsible for Lost, which also asked questions that it didn't really have the answers to. The central myth of the Engineers is not a new one, coming from Erich von Däniken's Chariots of the Gods? that ancient astronauts who helped seed life were worshipped as gods, an idea already seen in Thor, Jack Kirby's Eternals and H. P. Lovecraft's In the Mountains of Madness - in fact, the latter was slated to be a film by Guillermo del Toro but Prometheus has pretty much scuppered that.
I'm sort of hoping that all this vagueness was intentional on some level because, plotwise, the script is an absolute mess. After a fairly solid first hour that builds up some atmosphere, the film basically falls apart with no narrative propulsion, and becomes more like FIRST A THING HAPPENS! THEN ANOTHER THING! THEN ANOTHER THING AND ANOTHER AND ANOTHER AND ARE YOU ON THE EDGE OF YOUR SEATS ARE YA ARE YA?! Mysteries are answered, things happen, but there's no real connect between them, with revelations happening one after the other like ducks at a shooting range. So much goes on that only one scene, involving Shaw and a - shall we say - unwelcome passenger, really hits home, if only because of how uniquely gruesome it is, and how it puts a new spin on Alien's fear of rape and sexual contamination. Considering how beforehand we got an attempt at asking deeper questions, the fact that the film ultimately boils down to a traditional B-movie monster mash feels rather rote, and ends on a stupid, stupid last scene that makes no sense not just in the film, but Alien altogether.
Prometheus also succumbs to the B-movie problem of having its characters act like idiots in order to move the story forward. No Shaw, I don't care if you planned on this being a purely scientific expedition. You're entering a potentially hostile environment, you bring along protection. No Millburn, don't reach out your hand to pet the space snake like it's a dog. You don't even need qualifications to know that's a bad idea. Why does nobody seem to obey quarantine protocols? Why do they take off their helmets in an aerobic environment even though they outright state there could be something virulent in the air? Why do the star maps even point to the location of the Engineers if they left Earth long before intelligent life? Why does the Engineer's ship have all those convenient holographic maps that help fill out the story, and what triggers them? And why has Stephen Stills, a band all but forgotten in present day, somehow managed to become remembered in 2093?
I can't help but think there's an extended version or Director's Cut of Prometheus waiting in the wings that fills in some of these questions, or at least feels more coherent. Scott as a director rarely releases a movie without having some alternate cut that proves better than the theatrical version - see also Blade Runner, Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven. (Not counting Alien because Scott was satisfied with every frame of that, and the Director's Cut is more of an alternate version) Sadly, for the time being, there are no plans for Prometheus, which is a damn shame. There's so much that's good about it, but it feels hamstrung, and the flaws do bring the final product down, most damning of all being raising questions it doesn't completely answer. As Tim Minchin said:
Life is full of mysteries, yeah
But there are answers out there
And they won’t be found by people sitting around looking serious and saying 'Isn’t life mysterious?'
Let’s sit here and hope.
'Let’s call up the fucking Pope.
'Let’s go watch Oprah interview Deepak Chopra.'
That said, do I recommend Prometheus? Hell yes, I do. There's nothing worse in my book than a completely safe film that takes no risk; I'd much rather watch a film that's too ambitious than one that has none, and - like its mythological namesake - Prometheus certainly reaches for the heavens. It's probably not going to be a sci-fi classic, but as sci-fi pulp, something that excites and tries to provoke philosophical thought in the audience, it's a pretty good example. I don't know if I can call Prometheus a great film, but it's a blockbuster with brains and drive, and I think that deserves to be rewarded.
Prometheus will provoke different reactions from different people. I look forward to seeing them.
Prometheus will provoke different reactions from different people. I look forward to seeing them.
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