One of the most celebrated visions of sci-fi horror is without a doubt Ridley Scott’s Alien. Not only did it launch his career, but it also spawned a nine film franchise and a strong pop culture presence. And in 2012, a prequel was made known as Prometheus. With Scott returning to direct combined with a viral marketing campaign built a lot of hype for the film. But upon its release, it received a lukewarm reception and even became the butt of internet deconstructions. So how does it hold up over a decade later?
Doctors Shaw and Holloway (played by Noomi Rapace and Logan Marshall-Green, respectively) lead an expedition to a mysterious planet discovered through ancient civilization star maps. They’re accompanied by a crew including Meredith Vickers (played by Charlize Theron), Captain Janek (played by Idris Elba), and an android named David (played by Michael Fassbender). Hoping to find the creators of mankind and potentially learn more about their existence, they all find themselves unprepared for the horrors that reside on the planet.
This is a film that really wants to be examined thematically more than the rest of the franchise. Said franchise was built on an allegory for sexual assault. So Prometheus must have the most complex themes and ideas in the series, right? Well, the film presents an abundance of ideas and questions that pertain to creation and man’s relationship with God. But we never get answers to any of these questions. Rather than introducing a myriad of ideas, it would’ve been better to explore a few in depth. To add salt to the wound, the many unanswered questions serve to frustrate more than to encourage further analysis. All of this only gets worse when you realize that the plot suffers from the consequences of these issues.
Despite the questions raised by the film, the plot is actually straight forward. And although it seems polished, it completely falls apart when you scrutinize the details. For example, the crew composed of scientists and explorers actually suck at being scientists and explorers! One of them finds out the air is breathable, so he just removes his helmet. As if he never saw how War of the Worlds ended. When they find a preserved severed head of this creator species, they decide to reanimate it. What is the point of this experiment? Because the only benefit to humanity this experiment has is to satisfy some bizarre sadism they must have. Why do these professionals do their jobs as poorly as the glorified space truckers from Alien? Because there wouldn’t be a movie otherwise.
Oh God, I haven’t even talked about the black goo. What is the black goo? It’s a bio-weapon that mutates organisms into something more violent through contact. However according to the beginning of the movie, it also helped spawn all life on Earth. So what is it? Is it a destroyer or a bringer of life? The film never gives a proper explanation for the goo aside from its danger. Combined with the film’s habit of leaving questions unanswered results in the black goo being more confusing than it should be as a plot device.
Ok, so the movie has its fair share of plot-related issues. But at the same time, there are some elements that work in its favor. The best example that comes to mind is Shaw’s c-section. Despite being infertile, Shaw finds herself having a rapidly growing pregnancy. Knowing it isn’t anything good, she rushes to a medical pod. What follows is easily the most anxiety-inducing scene. It is graphic, horrifying, and looks incredibly painful. And no she doesn’t have a human baby pulled out. Noomi Rapace sells the scene with her performance showing off both pain and horror as she does the procedure.
Even though Noomi Rapace does wonderfully as Dr. Shaw, the character isn’t that memorable compared to other characters in the series. I can easily recall the personalities of the main characters in both the original Alien and its sequel Aliens. But I can’t describe Shaw even if you pointed a gun to my head! Meanwhile, Holloway is a jerk even to his girlfriend, Dr. Shaw. Making his death to the black goo feel more deserved than tragic. Actor Logan Marshall-Green describes him as the atheist of the crew. But since hardly anyone displays any form of religiosity, his atheism means nothing. And while Guy Pearce isn’t a bad choice to play major lore figure Peter Weyland, the old person make-up looks very uncomfortable. They could have easily cast an elderly actor in the role, especially since his de-aged scenes were scrapped.
Then we get to Vickers. I’ve struggled for so long wondering what is wrong with this character. And I think it’s because she turns out to be pretty irrelevant in spite of her significance. Vickers is the corporate executive who monitors the expedition for Weyland and is also revealed to be his daughter later in the film. So why is she irrelevant? Because out of the entire two hours of the film, she only goes off the ship twice. The rest of the time, she just menacingly observes what’s going on. And when she does leave the ship during the climax, she dies in like two minutes. And to add insult to injury, her death is the most joked about moment in the film. Why would they get Charlize Theron just to have her stand around and do nothing? Talk about a waste of talent.
Finally we have my personal favorite character: David, the ship’s resident android. Michael Fassbender highlights David’s balance between his humanity and callousness. He strongly dislikes humans while simultaneously needing them to function. Remember Holloway’s death? Well, David is actually responsible for infecting him. David even justifies his actions through loopholes in his programing. At the same time, he also gives his perspective on Holloway’s goal, highlighting his disappointment with humanity’s flaws. In a franchise with many android characters, David stands out as one of the best.
Not surprisingly for an Alien film, the visual effects are solid and mesh well with the environment. However compared to the aesthetic wonders of today, they don’t really stand out. I have to appreciate the designs for the various creatures rather than just relying on the Xenomorph. If anything, this film introduced some of the most unique creatures in the franchise. Combined with the practical effects being well integrated with the CGI, the end result is effects that are good overall and whose effort is clear in the design of the creatures.
Unlike what the popular internet consensus says, Prometheus is far from the worst film in the franchise. But it’s nowhere near as good as the best it had to offer. Despite having some great characters and performances, the plot is far too demanding and has no payoff. However, it was still successful enough to garner a follow-up film, Alien: Covenant. But even if any of Prometheus’ questions are answered there, it still doesn’t help this film. You should never have to watch a follow-up movie to understand the movie you’re currently watching. And while you could enjoy Prometheus as a standalone film, you could just watch Aliens, a far superior film. The choice is yours.
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