Prometheus

Released: June 1st 2012

Director: Ridley Scott

Stars: Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce

Certificate: 15

Reviewer: Luke Walkley

It appears to be the general consensus that Ridley Scott has been at the helm of some of the greatest movies ever made; Gladiator, Blade Runner and of course Alien. So with his latest project, Prometheus among the most highly anticipated movies of 2012, would his latest project live up to the hype surrounding it?

The film follows the crew of the Prometheus, who having discovered a series of clues in various locations across the planet, set out to find the origins of humankind. However what they discover could soon see the end of the world and the responsibility to save the human race falls on their shoulders.

As so often is the problem with blockbuster movies, the anticipation often affects expectation in adverse ways and heading into Prometheus I hoped this was not the case. A breathtaking opening scene combines stunning landscapes with Scott’s love affair for technology and futuristic design. It really sets the standard for the rest of the film, the vehicles, buildings and general technology have all been designed fantastically and while the visual quality may have changed, they are not far removed from the ideals of Blade Runner, which as a Scott fan is a nice touch.

Alas while he is known for his inventiveness in terms of objects and his cinematography, he has a fantastic ability for character development, Ripley in Alien, Frank Lucas in American Gangster and Maximus in Gladiator and this is certainly the case with Prometheus, though somewhat ironically the most well rounded character is in fact an android called David (Michael Fassbender). While Noomi Rapace gives a decent performance as main character Elizabeth Shaw, it is Fassbender’s performance that perfectly combines simplicity with a dark ulterior motive that creates one of the most memorable personas of all of Scott’s creations.

The remainder of the cast including Charlize Theron and Idris Elba are decent side characters and along with Guy Pearce (Whose make-up leaves something to be desired) and Logan Marshall-Green the story has a decent support that at times offers more than Alien, but is too inconsistent to sustain itself throughout the duration of the film.

With pacing issues starting to form from the offset it becomes quite a subdued film for the most part, never really living up to it’s Sci-fi Horror tag, sure there is Sci-Fi and a fair bit of gore, but it has a distinct lack of suspense based horror. At no point during the film does the audience find itself on the edge of their seat, bracing themselves for what they think is around the corner. When the film does delve deeper into horror territory it follows the typical clichés that one would have hoped it steered clear of. All this could have been forgiven had it not been for the fact that a film posing so many questions, never really answers them.

The opening 10 minutes shows us what the crew are trying to find and then we spend the next two hours awaiting the answers as more and more questions are created. Being a prequel to the Alien series the answers the audience want are skimmed over and, avoiding spoilers, the whole film becomes pointless to a certain degree due to the last 30 seconds of footage.

All in all, Prometheus is going to be this year’s marmite blockbuster.  If you are a fan of the Alien series you will find faults with the latest offering and as a fan of Ridley Scott you can find solace in his desire to create a world in which every aspect is beautifully designed. However if you take it simply as a sci-fi film then it offers pretty much everything you could ask for, just never to its full potential.

Prometheus has arrived, but after a turbulent ride, it feels more like a crash landing.