Wednesday, June 13, 2012

PROMETHEUS: Galactic Beginnings

NOTE: Be forwarned, this review features a screenshot of the final shot of the film. Spoilers abound. Thanks - Zack


In 1974, writer Dan O’Bannon teamed with up-and-coming director John Carpenter to make an absurdist sci-fi comedy film called Dark Star. It centered around the crew of a space freighter on a 20-year mission to clear a path in space by destroying planets that are in the way of navigation routes. They soon encounter a runaway alien that looks like a beach ball. After the film was released, Carpenter went on to bigger projects like Halloween, Escape from New York, The Thing… and Memoirs of an Invisible Man. However, Dan O’Bannon was struck with a thought: what if the alien from Dark Star wasn’t a beach ball played for laughs, but a truly terrifying monster from the unknown? Re-tweaking the idea into a “haunted house in space” story, he met with director Ridley Scott to create 1979’s Alien.


The film was a massive success and made a star out of Sigourney Weaver. Instead of continuing on with a sequel, Ridley Scott parted ways with the franchise. James Cameron took over directing duties for 1986’s Aliens, which changed the genre from horror to action; the resulting film achieved even more box-office success than the original.  In 1992, acclaimed music video director David Fincher the solemn Alien3, which took the series in a darker direction than before; the negative reaction from the fanbase was widely spread. And it would only get worse with 1997’s Alien Resurrection. Despised by its screenwriter (future Marvel’s The Avengers director) Joss Whedon, the film was even less well-received than Alien3.


At the same time, Ridley Scott’s career continued to flourish with films like Blade Runner, Thelma & Louise, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, A Good Year and American Gangster. Still, fans of the Alien series were wondering when its first director was going to return to the franchise he first started and bring it back under control. For years, Scott had seemingly avoided science-fiction projects. In reality, Scott had been thinking about doing a prequel to the Alien series, while still maintaining an original storyline. This developed into 2012’s Prometheus.



Where do we come from? Who created us? And where did they go? These are the questions being asked by Dr. Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace). She and an exploration team aboard the starship Prometheus – funded by elderly billionaire Peter Weyland (Guy Pearce) – travel across the galaxy to a remote place to search for the mysterious “Engineers” that created us. The crew aboard the ship includes good ol’ boy pilot Janek (Idris Elba), Shaw’s closest confidante Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green), calculating businesswoman Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron) and curious android David (Michael Fassbender). When they arrive, they begin exploring an ancient structure. What they find there launches another mystery which leads to questions about the true nature of their mission and a horrifying conclusion that awaits them.


It’s no secret that this film is an Alien prequel, despite conflicting reports of Ridley Scott denying an xenomorph appearance while co-writer Damon Lindelof confirmed the truth. I don’t quite like it when directors tell lies about their films; there are easier and better ways of avoiding the truth and protecting your film. Even so, the film is a return to form for Ridley Scott. Noomi Rapace could easily become the next Natalie Portman; she just needs more movies to be in. I think Idris Elba has the best American Southerner accent possible for a British guy. It seems like Charlize Theron is playing the exact same character she did in Snow White and the Huntsman, someone cold and cruel. As my friend Hunter Duesing said, “Just a one-note character”. Since last year, Michael Fassbender has been quickly making a name for himself as a top British actor from films like X-Men: First Class and Haywire (and of course, Shame). Here as David, he uses the android’s natural creepiness as comic relief; balancing speaking ancient languages with practicing basketball and imitating Peter O’Toole from Lawrence of Arabia. His “motives” at times are questionable at best, but he is not an evil character.


One thing I have to applaud the movie with the realistic look of LV-223. Unlike the entire CG (albeit beautiful) look of Pandora, it is refreshing to see an alien planet that looks and feels like a genuine place. You could say the same for Barsoom in John Carter and the rock planet in Galaxy Quest. There are places on Earth that look otherworldly. Also, Scott makes good use of the famous Pinewood Studios, where Aliens and Alien3 had previously been shot.



Prometheus starts out as a team’s journey to the far reaches of space to find out where we came from. What they end up with is a cautionary tale befitting the film’s namesake. In a viral TED Talk to promote the film, a young Peter Weyland explains the Prometheus myth about the man who stole fire from the gods; as a result, he was severely punished for his crimes, Sometimes, history has a way of repeating itself…


No comments:

Post a Comment