Prometheus

Starring;

Noomi Rapace

Michael Fassbender
Charlize Theron
Idris Elba

Director;

Ridley Scott

In three words; Disappointing - Woeful - Shameless

Plot;

After discovering a star chart via several ancient civilisations on earth, the crew of Prometheus head to the far reaches of the universe to find their maker. However, they find more than what they were expecting.

Review;

Prometheus has been one of the most eagerly awaited films for many years. It has also been surrounded in secrecy and supported by a huge publicity campaign. All this has cumulated into high expectations and perhaps this is the films biggest obstacle. Before the opening titles rolled many of the audience, including myself, were willing for this to be special, to be the film of the year, to be amazing. But it wasn’t. It was disappointing and full of flaws.

Ok, maybe I should start with what I enjoyed about the film. Visually the film looks amazing. Iceland was chosen as a filming location for the early part of the film and it does not disappoint. The set design is stunning and whilst it compliments aspects of Scott’s original extraterrestrial thriller, it stands alone very well. The human spacecraft contrasts the alien world that the crew become enveloped into. Don’t be surprised to see Production Designer Arthur Max nominated, and most likely win, when the awards season kicks off.

What’s interesting about this flick is there are elements of both Alien and Aliens; Scott has gone down the Jim Cameron road of assembling a motley crew of characters, most of whom don’t get along, and send them to the far reaches of the universe. It is early on we find out that the crew of Prometheus have not been briefed about the reasons for their journey. This is a crew which comprises of intelligent people, scientist, doctors, a botanist and a geologist. Despite a collective IQ which would make Stephen Hawking look like the div kid at school they appear happy enough to have boarded a spaceship for a two year journey without any knowledge of where or why they were going!

Noomi Rapace plays the lead role of Elizabeth Shaw. The strong female fighting to survive bringing morality into the picture and showing that men are stupid idiots! Rapace plays her role very well, despite a few accent issues, however I felt there was more to her character that we didn’t see and she desperately needed a strong script. This is a major flaw in this production. Shaw’s love interest is Charlie Holloway who is played by Logan Marshall-Green. In a woeful performance LMG is able to pull the film into the dark depths Sci-fi suicide where he wouldn’t be out of place in Starship Troopers or Slipstream. His ‘acting’ background has not prepared him for a film of this magnitude as he sinks into obscurity in most of his scenes. Undoubtedly obscurity is where his career will lead him.

Guy Pearce has been cast as the infamous Peter Weyland, most notability for the viral marketing campaign. However, he makes an appearance in the film as an aged Weyland. Why oh why Scott could not cast an older actor in this role I don’t know. Ultimately it is obvious that Pearce has been plastered with layers of latex and make up and this looks out of place. Charlize Theron plays Meredith Vickers, a Weyland Corporation employee sent to oversee the expedition. Theron is an excellent addition to the cast and one of the best performers. However, once again the script lets the film down and has failed to capitalise on what appears to be a very interesting character.

The stand out performer, and the one who will gain the most from this flick, is Michael Fassbender who portrays the obligatory Alien franchise accessory, an android. Clearly a lot of time has been spent developing Fassbender’s character David, perhaps in detriment to the rest of the Prometheus alumni. David has been created down to the minutest detail; from his fingertips to his Peter O’Toole inspired hair. Fassbender excels as the ‘I want to be a real boy’ synthetic, but yet again the script lets the film down with not enough for the character to embrace which is such a waste.

The rest of the crew of the Prometheus are made up of British actors who all perform well. Most notability Idris Elba as Janek, the ship’s captain. However, the characters are made to make cliché mistakes akin to teen horror movies which I found insulting to the audience as well as the actors. Once again a poor script has let everyone down.

Ridley Scott is a fine director and has made some excellent films. However, when I started to think about the last film he made which was really stood out as something special I had great difficulty in coming up with one. After reviewing his filmography I concluded that he hasn’t made a brilliant flick since 1991’s Thelma and Louise. I’m sure many people will read this and point to the multi award winning Gladiator however I am not a fan of this overrated nonsense. Perhaps Scott has had his day.

Ultimately Prometheus fails to compliment the original Alien film but does manage to shamelessly create a new franchise which I am sure the studio bosses will exploit for many years to come with piss poor sequels and yet more spin offs. With a strong script perhaps we would have been presented with the special something I was longing for but the script has been pushed to one side whilst most of the director’s time has been involved in the visual feel of the film.

There will no doubt be a director’s cut released one day which perhaps will run over the three hour mark but ultimately make much more sense, adding depth to the characters and further explanations of the direction of the film. However, until that time comes (if it happens) I have to conclude that Prometheus is a major disappointment.    

Verdict;

2 out of 5.