Prometheus

Somehow I'm not making strides when it comes to Ridley Scott films, opting for another sci-fi work of his. I've never been a fan of alien life form screeching on the screen (hence I'm not likely to catch the Alien movies), but it doesn't appear so much in Prometheus, the loose prequel of Alien. Coupled with a great cast, Prometheus is supposed to strike as a work of grand sci-fi art. While the film was visually appealing, and the concept is interesting, I was expecting it to be something more.

Scientists Dr. Holloway and Dr. Shaw have been looking for the source of humanity - how humans were created. While Shaw represented the religious belief of the expedition, she was with a team of logical minded people, herself included. When they find similar drawings between the different eras, they interpret it as a sign, hence the launch of their expedition to find these so called engineers and interact with them. The mission is aided by Janek, with Merideth Vickers to overlook the expedition. Among the crew is David, an android programmed to be the eyes of the financier Peter Weyland. Landing on the planet, the crew resume their search for answers, uncovering vital information that is necessary for survival. As far as alien films go, this was not an unusual turn of events, with undetermined substances out to feast on the living. 

The plot was quite simple, although it could have used a lot more activity and cast participation (from the underused characters, and there are actually many of  them), considering its length. Most of the film's activity of importance occurs at the latter part, and while the pacing was never entirely an issue for me, Scott's finale was lackluster compared to the scenes leading up to the climactic finish. It sort of tries to redeem itself, but it seemed like a half-hearted effort. 

The most notable character would have to be David. His character posed some questions: it has been emphasized that he was studying how to be human, and therefore would question things. His being an android allowed him to have a mysterious persona, and as David ventured through the expedition, a sinister form of thinking began to emerge. He always used his logic, and despite causing Dr. Holloway his sickness, he did entail a method of experimentation. His brief exchanges with Dr. Shaw indicated that he didn't have a heart and has no process of the human emotion. However, he uses Dr. Shaw's humanity in his advantage when he was in distress. 

With that said, despite Michael Fassbender playing a secondary lead to Noomi Rapace, he stood out the most, both his character and performance. He managed to look stoic throughout, even his voice work didn't change to pretend he was at all human. Noomie Rapace was great as well, if she wasn't screaming half the time. The operation scene was fantastic - it was her best scene (and what I thought to be the best scene as well). I found Meredith Vickers, played by Charlise Theron to be superfluous. She wasn't given much material to work it, and was supposed to be the ship's antagonist force - but that could have been easily played by David himself. It would have made more sense if the necessity of the role be merged with Fassbender's character.     

Prometheus didn't lack the necessary effects to take its audience to a world where humanity might have started. The detail alone is great, and the story was interesting. It tried to bring in some detail to its characters, but not many stood out, or didn't have enough viable scenes to be able to have some presence in the film. I found a lot of the actors to be underused despite the talents that they have. Nonetheless, it is a good film as a loose prequel to the Alien franchise. 

Final Word: Prometheus might be playing the big scale, but it simply fell at the final minutes of the film. 

Cast: Noomi Rapace, Logan Marshall-Green, Michael Fassbender

Director: Ridley Scott

Year: 2012