review by Marcin Wichary
Prometheus 2012
Rewatched Jun 08, 2012
Marcin Wichary’s review:
It was perhaps unavoidable that Prometheus would disappoint given the colossal expectations, but then again it was Ridley Scott’s decision to tie it so closely to Alien. If you never saw the original, the prequel must be a puzzling mess. If you did – it’ll be a puzzling mess still, but also a fascinating case study. Either way, though, it won’t be that good of a movie.
Some individual pieces in Prometheus approach brilliance. The beginning harks back to great first-contact sci-fi in its grandiose scope and ambition. The production values, the sets, the special effects, that rare feeling you’re inside a universe that actually exists are all here, top-notch, arguably even setting new standards. And the tense moments are truly enthralling and masterfully done; I found myself literally gasping for air a number of times.
Where the movie falls apart, though, is in its portrayal of our heroes and their interactions. Literally no one in Prometheus makes any sense as a human being. Unclear motivations, 180-degree personality changes, random behaviour as necessitated by plot requirements – it’s all so bad you start wondering whether the movie has some sort of movie Asperger’s, having profound difficulties in understanding people, and just throwing in The Epic Music Theme in Major or Minor whenever it wants to evoke particular emotions.
And then, the prequel factor. Some of the numerous ties to Alien here are creative and wonderfully satisfying. Others, however, smack of pattern matching, rote memorization, and desperate fan service. It is fun to think through everything that happened afterwards (you bet there will be tons of sites analyzing every single detail linking all the movies) but it seems like the proverbial lipstick on a bulldog – just stockpiling references and mysteries to cover up for blatant holes in plot, the arbitrary and selective technology, and some trite dialogue and contrived subplots.
In the end, I couldn’t shake a feeling Prometheus landed much closer to Star Wars prequels than we all expected, made by Scott perhaps not as much out of love for the original material, but some need to prove himself or maybe even pay himself a tribute. I saw this twice, and the second viewing was better. By then, however, I knew I was about to watch a failed experiment.
Okay, I hope we are allowed to go into spoiler territorys in the comments. This is a fantastic review, but I disagree on the characters. Can you elaborate on certain examples?
I agree that not much is shown but when thinking about it, you might find a satisfying motif. I agree that it's not good storytelling to have your characters' motivation so hidden but I really liked it. But then again, I enjoyed the shit out of LOST.
Let’s see…
SPOILERS AHOY
David. “Big things have small beginnings.” Don’t let the fourth wall hit you on the way out. Why so ominous?
Elizabeth Shaw. A pretty regular person at the beginning. Then goes crazy (“Get it out!”) within seconds. Then, after the abortion, carries on as if nothing happened. Then long after that remembers that she needs to have a meltdown, for a whole of three seconds. Then gets all bad-ass on the guy. And then randomly decides to go on what seems like a suicide mission without gathering any support/resources first.
Charlie Holloway. The actor was pretty bad in general, the romance was flat, the enthusiasm forced. His “despair” after it was proclaimed Engineers were dead was fake, came out of nowhere, and the notion that they were dead wasn’t even confirmed (and turned out to be false). And, why did he go all crazy near his end, committing suicide by Vickers, instead of begging/hoping for help?
Scientists. First they can’t wait to go open their Christmas presents without any proper reconnaissance, even though the sun is setting soon. Then they immediately go back because of some stupid storm, even though they are all enclosed and safe. Make up your mind!
Captain. Early on doesn’t care enough about the two missing scientists to even keep regular contact with them (only realizes they’re gone after everyone else’s back.) Then suddenly cares so much he immediately assembles a team and goes in person after they’re found to be missing.
Captain’s friends. “You’re a shit pilot. We’re staying.” Comes out of nowhere, given earlier on the captain was actually bragging how good of a pilot he was.
The Old Man. Supposedly a clever man given he created an incredibly wealthy company, but decides to go to visit the lone Engineer without any research or security, hoping for… what exactly? I am not even sure.
Fifield. Random, overacted breakdown about the rocks and bodies that comes out of nowhere – and then isn’t continued at all, as him and his friend go on exploring instead of waiting for the night to end.
Milburn. Brushed off by Fifield during lunch, and yet decides to accompany him back to the ship on a whim. Then, after seeing all the death and destruction, after freaking out about the “glitch,” still wants to play with an alien life form that looks absolutely hostile?
The sad thing is I could go on for a while.
Absolutely spot on assessment. Couldn't agree more.