(Next time, turn down that invitation. Jackasses...)
CAST: Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Logan-Marshall Green, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, Guy Pearce, Kate Dickie, Rafe Spall, Sean Harris, Emun Elliott, Benedict Wong, Patrick Wilson.
DIRECTOR: Ridley Scott.
WARNING: Minimal SPOILERS ahead - trust me, this is how you want it....
IT'S LIKE THIS: In this sort-of-prequel-more-like-sidequel to that awesome classic ALIEN from 1979, a group of space explorers surmise that cave paintings found in various locations around Earth are actually an invitation from extraterrestrial beings to come visit them. Now, obviously, these dumbasses didn't heed (or cared) about real-life scientist Stephen Hawking's warning that we shouldn't be trying to communicate with beings from other galaxies because we may not know what kind of fucked-up shite we'd be bringing onto ourselves. Sage words, but ones that are apparently of no use to the folks in PROMETHEUS. Because, before you know it, these guys and gals are jetting on over to a far-flung galaxy on the spaceship "Prometheus" where a planet system similar to the symbols in the cave paintings awaits them. Hoping to shake hands with the mysterious beings they believe sired us humans. Or something like that.
They are comprised of your usual mixed bag of: (1) idealistic types: Elizabeth Shaw and Charlie Holloway (Noomi Rapace and Logan Marshall Green); (2) icy corporate types: Meredith Vickers and David Weyland (Charlize Theron and Guy Pearce); (3) comic relief types: Fifield and Milburne (Sean Harris and Rafe Spall); (4) bickering buddies types: Chance and Ravel (Emun Elliott and Benedict Wong; (5) earnest doctor types: Ford and, well, just Ford (Kate Dickie); and last but definitely the weirdest: (6) bizarro robot types: David (Michael Fassbender). There a few others whom we meet very quickly in passing, but I haven't bothered to list them because, well, they don't have much personality like the ones I mentioned. And they die pretty quickly...
So... what happens when the Prometheus lands on planet LV-225? What's waiting for them? Is the invitation a benign one? Or is there something sinister lying in wait among the mountains of the planet. What happens when they discover a temple-like structure in the middle of a valley? What is inside?
Find out for yourselves. But don't say I didn't warn you....
BUT, SERIOUSLY: One of my favorite films of all time is ALIEN. In my humble opinion, it's the perfect horror film: intelligent, brooding, atmospheric, with an emphasis in suspense and dread - and not just on blood and guts. Indeed, with the exception of the infamous "chest-burster" scene, ALIEN is a fairly gore-free film. Director Ridley Scott just tricks you into thinking you've seen more blood than you have. Such is the power of the film. ALIEN is also elegance personified in its structure: in essence, it is a "Haunted House" film set in deep space, with the ghost being a shape-shifting, elusive creature - and seven people who are decimated by it, one-by-inexorable-one.
PROMETHEUS is a more complex film than ALIEN was. It juggles many more different elements than the previous film did. As such as it is a bit less streamlined than its forefather. It is also a very frustrating film that poses a lot of questions that are never given any clear answers. Even though they are of completely different genres, PROMETHEUS reminds of THE TREE OF LIFE in its ability to make you think about the film and analyze its various puzzle pieces - until you get to some kind of resolution.
I kept the earlier plot breakdown purposefully short, because PROMETHEUS is most effective when you don't know what is coming. Director Ridley Scott brings the same visual splendor to this film, but uses a lot less of the brooding, silent, slow build-up that made ALIEN's scares all the more effective when they finally arrived. Here, things move faster, and there are perhaps some reveals that could've been handled more gracefully. Also, a lot of the various plot threads don't quite dovetail in the end. Nevertheless, it has the same mood and feel as ALIEN, just jazzed up a little. And perhaps we are meant to search for answers the way the film's heroine is.
The cast is solid. The standouts are easily Charlize Theron and Michael Fassbender. Theron recently played an icy, distant, and mysterious character in SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN. Even though Meredith Vickers is cut from the same cloth as the Evil Queen from that film, Theron portrays her differently. It's this unerring capacity to bring nuance and shading to any role she plays that makes Charlize Theron a supremely gifted performer. Meredith Vickers may be cold, ruthless, and relentless, but she is easily the character who makes the most sense in this film - and she is easily my favorite in the bunch. And Theron doesn't forget to hint at the frightened woman underneath Meredith's cool, composed facade.
Fassbender delivers a more quirky and whimsical performance as the android David. While the character is, in the end, a little too inscrutable, Fassbender nevertheless makes him a consistently intriguing figure. He also has the capacity to suggest menace or innocence with the smallest of facial expressions. Since both David and Meredith are at the heart of some of PROMETHEUS's key plot twists, I don't want to say more. Except that Theron and Fassbender basically steal the show.
As the nominal heroine, Noomi Rapace is a little too nondescript. I understand that Elizabeth Shaw is supposed to be a woman whose strength is hidden in the depths - and only comes out when the chips are very down. But Rapace too often gets lost in the background in the first two acts of the film. I don't want to say too much here, either, but I have to wonder if Rapace was really the best choice for this role. Elizabeth is supposed to be low-key, but not invisible. I can't help but wish someone with more "star presence" was chosen. Same goes for Logan Marshall Green as Charlie Holloway, Elizabeth's partner in work and love. While Green is one very attractive guy, he doesn't really bring much to the role of Charlie beyond a certain cockiness. Which really isn't enough to make him interesting. As it is, Theron and Fassbender blow them right off the screen every single time. In the end, Theron and Fassbender have an effortless X-Factor that Rapace (despite her GIRL WITH DRAGON TATTOO fame) and Green are missing here.
The supporting cast of Idris Elba, Rafe Spall, Sean Harris, Kate Dickie, Benedict Wong, Emun Elliott, and Guy Pearce (in an interesting semi-cameo) are all okay. Ultimately there are too many characters here to effectively delineate as well as ALIEN did with its crew of seven. But, ultimately, PROMETHEUS succeeds despite its miscast leads and sometimes inelegant plotting because of a genuine sense of awe, discovery, dread, and, ultimately, terror. And also because of director Ridley Scott's graceful and painterly film-making style that irresistibly pulls youinto the story despite its flaws....
And the rest is for you to discover....
In closing, the original 1979 trailer for ALIEN, which has the same mood as the previews for PROMETHEUS:
