Prometheus:
In the year 2089, some scientists discover markings at several ancient ruins. In the year 2093, after a two-year journey in cryogenic sleep, the scientists, played by Noomi Rapace and Logan-Marshall Green, arrive with a crew of other scientists, an android named David, and the cold overseer of the mission, Meredith Vickers. They were sent by an aging trillionaire named Peter Weyland to find some aliens who might have engineered us. Of course, being a prequel to Alien, things don't go right. The film is full of spectacular sets and special effects, with gruesome creatures, and strange alien temples, and a high-tech spaceship. The look of the film is slick and clean, ignoring the surrealist, Gothic look of the original film (which was brilliantly designed by Swiss artist H.R. Giger). The story leaves a lot of big questions open, looking for a sequel. Also, the film has many references to Alien, but strays a bit away from it, but does reveal the origin of the "space-jockeys" from the original film's alien ship, and (SPOILERS) teasing you at the end with the primitive version of the alien creature. The writers revealed if they get a sequel, they'll stray further from Alien. I love the CG and the visuals. Instead of the very claustrophobic ship in the original, the ship is massive, and the crew leaves the ship frequently, showing off the vast, desolate landscape of the alien planet. The music is haunting and eerie, with a techno-sounding trailer theme song. The aliens are very unoriginal, and some of the characters are extremely naive. (Noomi won't let a guy bring a gun to the planet, claiming this is a "scientific expedition", she just assumes the aliens are friendly.) The scientists are okay characters. Charlize Theron is sort of pushed aside, and plays as a sort of villain as Vickers. Michael Fassbender, who has credits in such films as 300, Fish Tank, Inglorious Basterds, Shame, A Dangerous Method, Jane Eyre, and X-Men: First Class (where he played a strangely sympathetic and threatening Magneto), here plays a sympathetic but also creepy and mysterious android David, who fashions himself after Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia. Guy Pearce spent five hours in make-up as Peter Weyland, a small role that lasts about two minutes. The crew in the film are pretty okay, not building too much character. The horror scenes in the film are reminiscent of "body horror" (types of horror films popularized by the films of David Cronenberg) and are disturbing and disgusting. There isn't much gore, but there are some unpleasant and grueling scenes that make you want to squirm in your seat or puke into your popcorn bowl. The film is a mystery, leaving the audience confused and in question, in a good way, making you want more: more answers, more action, more aliens. Although the visuals, some of the acting (especially by Theron and Fassbender), and special effects are great, Prometheus is somewhat of a disappointment, and being just sort of a movie begging for a sequel, like it's trying to re-start the Alien franchise. It doesn't live up to it's massive hype. If you like horror films, gross-out horror, sci-fi, Ridley Scott, or Alien, see the film. (Also see it if you admire good CG, special effects, and amazing visuals.) 3/5 stars.
(Check out Mathew Buck's "Bad Movie Beatdown" review of this film, and the "How It Should Have Ended" video.)
Coming soon: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Ted, and (possibly) Brave.
Next month: The Amazing Spider-man, Savages, and The Dark Knight Rises.
No comments:
Post a Comment