*CONTAINS SPOILERS*
*Directed by Ridley Scott
*Starring Noomi Rapace, Logan Marshall-Green, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, Guy Pierce
The Plot: A team of explorers and scientists travel to the mysterious planet LV-223 in hopes to find these living beings called Engineers that are responsible for the creation of human beings.
So much was surrounding this film when it was released back in June of 2012 as to how Scott would connect it to Alien or if was just an original science fiction film on its own. Once it releases there was a mixture of responses and controversy as to how it left so many questions unanswered and that it wasn't a true blue prequel to the original Alien. This was a film I did miss in theaters and I did get to see it in later months and I remember liking it fine. I didn't really get the whole unanswered questions thing and the ideas of how it's connected and not connected I misunderstood at the time. Now that I can watch things for myself and judge films properly I can finally say that after rewatching Prometheus for the first time in five years that I think it's kind of a phenomenal film.
Is it an achievement in Scott's filmography like Alien? Maybe not, but for what this film had to offer and hint at what's to come to bridge into Alien, I feel Prometheus succeeded. What I just can't get behind is the idea that people judge the film because of it having numerous plot holes and too many unanswered questions. I think it's a little unfair to go that far due to the fact that this is another film that should be processed with some aspects left to great artistic interpretation. Even though considered a prequel, it's still not a direct prequel to Alien as Scott says in his own words. Prometheus is merely a film that is just laying out the bridge of what's to come and as it's own film it tells its own story, but at the same time caps things off in this larger than life universe.
First off, I really liked the originality of this film and that it opened up so much more in this universe and created all this fascinating lore about the Engineers and the kinds of creatures that inhabit the planet adding to the universe of Alien. The ending even does a great job at hinting where we'll see the story go and how Xenomorphs will be included later on in the mix. It wasn't just exciting to see that creature in all its glory at the end, but seeing that image just hints at the possibilities of where the story could go and how we'll maybe see it play out in future installments like Alien: Covenant very soon.
I loved that there was focus on the Engineers this time around because it was as if in Alien when we first saw the Engineer in the crazy Space Jockey, it was Scott's way of saying take a look at this striking image and imagine what could've played out. Now with this film we got more nuggets of information as to what these creatures are and what they entail. The movie was just a story about what it took to find them and how they would affect their mission.
Like the first Alien it was about how the creature was the driving force for the plot and how it manipulated our main characters to garner certain motivations. It definitely applies to how the Engineers manipulated certain members of the crew and I loved how different that aspect of the story was executed thematically. Speaking of the crew, the characters in this film were rather satisfactory. Might be a nitpick-y complaint, but it did take me a while for me to become invested in them and I did think they came off as bland, but as the film progressed they started to become more enticing as the conflict escalated. Noomi Rapace was definitely really great as Dr. Elizabeth Shaw with a very intriguing backstory and someone like Ripley who can hold their own in stressful situations. She gave a lot of gravitas to her performance and for that reason was a major standout.
I also really liked Logan Marshall-Green as Charlie Holloway, who was very down to earth, full of personality and very charismatic. The biggest standout for me and probably others was Michael Fassbender as the android David. It bears repeating, but Fassbender can just transform into the roles he's in and to just see his different actions play out through the film, it just gives us viewers a fascinating look about the psychological mainframe of David as an android. Each performance was great to give every character personality from a solid script that made them feel important to the story.
Of course, another aspect to make this film deeply immersive was in Ridley Scott's utterly magnificent direction because the visual presentation of this film was fabulous. To make Scott's brilliant vision come true the production design was incredible, in which we see in the interior of the different spacecrafts. Such great intricate detail and to go along with that the visual effects were terrific and added to the atmosphere of space and the interior environments. Even the make-up prosthetics for the Engineers and heck Guy Pierce, great performance, as old Peter Weyland both looked really darn believable. On a visual perspective I was blown away!
In the end I really loved Prometheus and feel in its own right it gave science fiction a great name in today's modern age. I loved how the plot had intrigue and grew more enticing in its conflict. It was immersive on a visual perspective and while the characters could be a little bland, they increasingly become more worthwhile as the film progresses. Prometheus does a lovely job expanding the lore of the Alien universe, while still maintaining on being one of the greats in science fiction in recent years.
Facebook.com/thealexcorey
Twitter and Instagram: @alexjcorey
Alien Reviews Playlist
*Directed by Ridley Scott
*Starring Noomi Rapace, Logan Marshall-Green, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, Guy Pierce
The Plot: A team of explorers and scientists travel to the mysterious planet LV-223 in hopes to find these living beings called Engineers that are responsible for the creation of human beings.
So much was surrounding this film when it was released back in June of 2012 as to how Scott would connect it to Alien or if was just an original science fiction film on its own. Once it releases there was a mixture of responses and controversy as to how it left so many questions unanswered and that it wasn't a true blue prequel to the original Alien. This was a film I did miss in theaters and I did get to see it in later months and I remember liking it fine. I didn't really get the whole unanswered questions thing and the ideas of how it's connected and not connected I misunderstood at the time. Now that I can watch things for myself and judge films properly I can finally say that after rewatching Prometheus for the first time in five years that I think it's kind of a phenomenal film.
Is it an achievement in Scott's filmography like Alien? Maybe not, but for what this film had to offer and hint at what's to come to bridge into Alien, I feel Prometheus succeeded. What I just can't get behind is the idea that people judge the film because of it having numerous plot holes and too many unanswered questions. I think it's a little unfair to go that far due to the fact that this is another film that should be processed with some aspects left to great artistic interpretation. Even though considered a prequel, it's still not a direct prequel to Alien as Scott says in his own words. Prometheus is merely a film that is just laying out the bridge of what's to come and as it's own film it tells its own story, but at the same time caps things off in this larger than life universe.
First off, I really liked the originality of this film and that it opened up so much more in this universe and created all this fascinating lore about the Engineers and the kinds of creatures that inhabit the planet adding to the universe of Alien. The ending even does a great job at hinting where we'll see the story go and how Xenomorphs will be included later on in the mix. It wasn't just exciting to see that creature in all its glory at the end, but seeing that image just hints at the possibilities of where the story could go and how we'll maybe see it play out in future installments like Alien: Covenant very soon.
I loved that there was focus on the Engineers this time around because it was as if in Alien when we first saw the Engineer in the crazy Space Jockey, it was Scott's way of saying take a look at this striking image and imagine what could've played out. Now with this film we got more nuggets of information as to what these creatures are and what they entail. The movie was just a story about what it took to find them and how they would affect their mission.
Like the first Alien it was about how the creature was the driving force for the plot and how it manipulated our main characters to garner certain motivations. It definitely applies to how the Engineers manipulated certain members of the crew and I loved how different that aspect of the story was executed thematically. Speaking of the crew, the characters in this film were rather satisfactory. Might be a nitpick-y complaint, but it did take me a while for me to become invested in them and I did think they came off as bland, but as the film progressed they started to become more enticing as the conflict escalated. Noomi Rapace was definitely really great as Dr. Elizabeth Shaw with a very intriguing backstory and someone like Ripley who can hold their own in stressful situations. She gave a lot of gravitas to her performance and for that reason was a major standout.
I also really liked Logan Marshall-Green as Charlie Holloway, who was very down to earth, full of personality and very charismatic. The biggest standout for me and probably others was Michael Fassbender as the android David. It bears repeating, but Fassbender can just transform into the roles he's in and to just see his different actions play out through the film, it just gives us viewers a fascinating look about the psychological mainframe of David as an android. Each performance was great to give every character personality from a solid script that made them feel important to the story.
Of course, another aspect to make this film deeply immersive was in Ridley Scott's utterly magnificent direction because the visual presentation of this film was fabulous. To make Scott's brilliant vision come true the production design was incredible, in which we see in the interior of the different spacecrafts. Such great intricate detail and to go along with that the visual effects were terrific and added to the atmosphere of space and the interior environments. Even the make-up prosthetics for the Engineers and heck Guy Pierce, great performance, as old Peter Weyland both looked really darn believable. On a visual perspective I was blown away!
In the end I really loved Prometheus and feel in its own right it gave science fiction a great name in today's modern age. I loved how the plot had intrigue and grew more enticing in its conflict. It was immersive on a visual perspective and while the characters could be a little bland, they increasingly become more worthwhile as the film progresses. Prometheus does a lovely job expanding the lore of the Alien universe, while still maintaining on being one of the greats in science fiction in recent years.
Verdict: A
It was quite refreshing to revisit this film after a long while in time for the release of Alien: Covenant. This has been one of the many movies I promised myself I'd revisit considering it'd been years since I've last seen it. Great to have a love for this film now and finally see how it bridges into the newer Alien films that will finally bridge into Alien.
Very exciting stuff and speaking of newer Alien films stay tuned this weekend for my review of Alien: Covenant! So glad I'm finally able to see it and get my thoughts out on that! Looks very promising and I hope it infuses more energy in the franchise we all know and love. For more updates be sure to follow me in the social media links below as well as a playlist of my other Alien reviews if you were interested in my thoughts those:
Twitter and Instagram: @alexjcorey
Alien Reviews Playlist
Man, it's a great time to be a film fan! So many amazing things to look forward to! Thank you all so much for taking the time to read this review! Love you guys! Be sure to see some movies and all that good stuff!
Take care. :-)
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