Prometheus (2012)

Ridley Scott’s much anticipated return to the Alien universe, and the science fiction genre in general, has been a long time coming and sets out as if to please many masters, be it fans who just want more ‘Alien’, those who are interested in the back-story of the original film, or those looking for a smart, adult science fiction story about the origins of human life. Unfortunately as it stands neither group is likely to be completely satisfied with the end results, Prometheus as finished product is undeniably stunning to look at, but is constantly hobbled by a script that is, frankly, something of a mess.

The film starts strongly enough, a wordless and visually amazing opening sequence depicts a mysterious alien figure seemingly seeding life on Earth. From this we skip ahead to the year 2089 where a team of scientists make a discovery, a series of symbols found throughout Earth’s history that resembles a star map. An invitation to meet our makers.

And just like that we skip ahead again, another 5 years to join the crew en route to LV226, a small moon in a faraway galaxy, and in one of the films strongest sequences, as we see David (Michael Fassbender, the clear standout character and actor in the film) the ships android roaming the halls and occupying his time as his shipmates slumber.

Already you will probably sense the Alien parallels here and these continue throughout, the film is clearly designed to evoke that original film, from its design, structure and even character, but more often than not these echoes only act to distance the viewer and prevent the film from truly stepping into its own. It is also clear as the film progresses, and especially with the ending that this was never meant as a standalone story, it lays hooks and questions for further sequels, but this sort of franchise building is something of an insidious trait that is creeping into modern films. The nature of the business and safety that sequels can provide have perhaps made it inevitable, but when a film seeks to provide vague or nonexistent answers purely in the hope of drawing you back for more, it feels slightly unsettling.

Not that the lack of answers is what bothered me about Prometheus, indeed for most of the film I was engaged by the story and mysteries, but then frustrated by the leaps in logic and odd tonal shifts that constantly threaten to overwhelm the action. From scene to scene character behave erratically, reactions to events are either over the top or nonexistent, these feel like people (too many people at that, so most become a blur of background extras) whose every move and behaviour is being dictated by the plot, mere chess pieces. It leads to lazily written scenes of characters wandering off on their own because, well because the story needs them too, or other characters suddenly spouting detailed exposition that they can’t have known, purely because another character needs to hear it. It is a constantly frustrating experience to be pulled from the narrative so frequently by these moments and scenes that just ring hollow.

There was even one scene in the film (that ultimately leads to one of the best sequences in the film in isolation) that felt so tonally off, and strange that I was convinced for a few minutes it must be a dream sequence, but it wasn’t. Noomi Rapace does a decent enough job in effectively the lead role, but her character is paper-thin and never expanded on, a scientist with deep religious beliefs this potentially interesting juxtaposition is never really explored. The same can be said for many of the big ideas the film focuses on, the question of where we come from and why we are here is as old as time itself, and there are some interesting ideas hinted at in the film, but they never really gel and there is little internal consistency . This extends to the threat in the film, which seems to have no clear pattern or logic, as such it stands in stark contrast to the original Alien, which had such a pure premise and clear focus. It seems harsh to land so much of this at the feet of the script, but it really must, whether in trying to remain faithful, yet explore the new, or mix blockbuster thrills with more cerebral ideas, it seems to fall short at every turn, not excelling at any one facet and weakening the others in the process. Lost scribe Damon Lindelof is credited with the script (from a first draft by Jon Spaihts and with considerable input from Ridley Scott by all account) and it is a shame that, coming from a TV series with one of the greatest casts of memorable and interesting characters, we see a film emerge with hardly any.

I realise as I write that this seems a stream of negativity but the truth is that Prometheus is not a bad film, it is technically astonishing at times with a fantastic use of 3D, some good performances and has some big, interesting ideas. But the failures in execution serve as much to render the rest worthless. I felt disconnected from these characters that the events of the film held no impact. A damning sign of this was when the end credits rolled (and after a rather horribly misjudged final scene) I had very little desire to see the story progress, despite the clear intention to leave the door for a sequel wide open, a fact that, given how much I was anticipating the film, saddens me.

My issues with the film do not primarily come from a desire to see Alien remade, I was entirely behind the idea of Ridley Scott doing something new within the same basic boundaries, instead I lament a potentially smart and interesting blockbuster that frequently feel stupid and nonsensical.