(Spoiler-free) Let me start off by saying that I really did want to love this one, gentle readers. I did. But after watching Ridley Scott’s 2012 “Is-it-an-Alien-prequel-or-not?” Sci-Fi film about a team of explorers searching for clues to the origins of mankind, I must admit my feelings of disappointment and lack of enthusiasm toward the movie, as a whole.
There’s no doubt that Mr. Scott is a genius. His resume speaks for itself. And in terms of direction, cinematography, CGI, etc., Prometheus is a success, and a very, very beautiful film to boot (The filming locations of Scotland and Iceland sure as hell help!). Noomi Rapace worked exceptionally well as the lead, Elizabeth Shaw, bridging the gap between her foreign work as a girl with a memorable tattoo and a modern, American Hollywood picture directed by an industry legend. I definitely hope to see more of her. Despite all of these pros, and even new IT-man Michael Fassbender (who also played a great role as the android David), nothing seemed to be able to save Prometheus from itself.
In terms of Damon Lindelof, you know what they say: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. The script, co-written by the former Lost executive producer and writer, was too focused on setting up a series and less focused on serving the story of the film at hand. Though setting up this universe may lead to some potentially amazing films down the road, it was done at the cost of something original and special. There are great ideas and possibilities floating sporadically throughout Prometheus, but they are never fully explored or fleshed out, nor do they ever really correlate with each other. Which worries me…especially based on how Lost panned out. If a sequel does happen and Lindelof continues writing for this series, I’m definitely going to think twice before dropping $15 for a ticket.
Based on the trailer alone, my expectations were perhaps a tad high. The film looked epic, and huge, and intense! But where did all that suspense go? Despite a few nicely done scenes (one involving a peculiar surgery), I barely felt on edge. I didn’t feel it. It was lacking something, mostly due to the missing puzzle pieces and lack of cohesion, which therefore affected the energy level.
Who created us? Why did he, she, or they choose to do so? And what happens when these “beings” are tired of us? All of this has so much potential to blow our freakin’ minds, but the film ends up leaving us with just as many questions as we had going in. And again – for a movie whose sequel isn’t even greenlit yet, that’s awfully ambitious, and frankly, kind of annoying.
