Ridley Scott produces and directs Prometheus after his 2010 stint involving a certain Gladiator playing the role of Robin Hood. I had been a dedicated follower of Scott’s films after Alien, Blade Runner and Thelma & Louise but began to lose interest after the likes of White Squall and GI Jane, from then onwards it became a bit of a hit and miss era – the more the titles the less the interest. Sci Fi was his best genre and coming back to it full circle made sense, although it would be an extremely tough act to follow, Scott was determined to get those aliens back into play.
Although I am not the biggest fan of 3D (not the best solution for those of us who wear glasses) the movie truly looks beautiful when seen in 3D. The plot revolves around a group of scientists set on an expedition to find the origins of mankind, yes, as simple as that. This is the genre of sci fi and as my friend quoted, the possibilities are endless. The cast put together was very impressive and as soon as they headed into outer space my expectations grew immensely and I was in an ‘alien’ mindset, back to Ridley Scott’s supposed play ground.
Noomi Rapace is the main scientist on board, the more emotional of the two as her boyfriend Green – played by Logan Marshall –is more of a sceptic. Leading the ship is captain Janek played by Idris Alba and Charlize Theron plays the ‘leader’ of the lot while Michael Fassbender is the android created to answer/solve all the questions humans are not able to. Like I said, quite an impressive cast. Sadly though, with all the incredible effects, the pristine backdrops and the highly respected cast Ridley Scott failed to bring back his glory as the master of sci fi.
The story felt off right from the start, it took a lot of time for the ‘expedition’ to start and instead of finding out how what and why everything came about we are given bits and pieces of each character’s history. The fact that it took quite a bit of time for the cast to gel together made it even worse in terms of storyline. There are so many questions throughout the film that are quite relevant for the scientists to find out but instead of dwelling more into what things are we jump straight into the visual side of the film. Very disjointed in many scenes, the only time I felt compelled by the story was when the android David (Fassbender) was on screen. To give him credit, he plays his role flawlessly, as an actor who has been in multiple character driven films to turn into a cold, almost statue-like character is quite the feat. He was brilliant and was the saving grace that this movie was desperately holding onto.
Everything else about the film just continued to show us the planet stunningly but chopping us through the story. I knew right from the start that there would be traces of ‘Alien’ in there, one can’t really help but rely on excellent past material but even in that form it fell flat. Finding another human-like form in its grandeur was very typical of an action film where the gore and the hostility take full control. There was nothing close to keeping you at the edge of your seat or even surprising you with a twist. A beautiful picture seen through the dazzling effects of 3D, but most definitely a miss in terms of a worthy sci fi: 5/10.
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