Prometheus

The fire that danced at the end of that match was a gift from the Titan Prometheus, a gift that he stole from the gods.

That Ridley Scott sure can make a film.

Arguably hyped up to be the motion picture event of the year, 'Prometheus' is the ultimate fan-boy wish granted, with Ridley Scott returning to the 'Alien' universe to answer the ultimate question - what the hell was that giant elephant headed creature we saw in that crashed ship on LV-426? Also probably the other ultimate one, you know about life, the universe and everything*?

*spoilers follow*







Sadly, it's not quite the motion picture event of the year, that honour goes to (so far at least) 'The Avengers' still. Maybe there was too much hype, maybe it was just the way Ridley Scott has been made to tell his story, but it was all a bit much for me. I may have to see 'Prometheus' again to truly get what's going on, but at times I wondered if I was missing something - and actually, judging by the way 'Kingdom of Heaven' and 'Robin Hood' were both cut down for cinema, I wonder if Scott's had to make cuts that may seem trivial to the morons folks in charge that actually play key roles - we'll have to wait and see if a DVD release yields anything.

Getting down to the cast I can't really put anyone at a fault for the roles they played or how they were done - Sean Harris's character seemed a bit back-and-forth but I'm not sure if that was down to him or the script - either way his hair did not suit a geologist. Yes, he's the geologist. The only person who really excelled themselves was Michael Fassbender, he is quickly becoming a man of legend - he plays David, the android that accompanies the crew and is clearly, like all the others in the 'Alien' series (Bishop aside) serving some kind of unknown agenda. It's a difficult role that has been ably played in the past (Ian Holm, Lance Henriksen and Winona Ryder, kind of) and thanks to Fassbender this streak continues - there's little touches in his movement, reactions and even the character's Peter o'Toole obsession that rings truer than everything else.

There's one last thing to talk about, it's not the soundtrack (which was annoyingly kind of bland, not subtle, just bland) but the visuals - there at least everything came together. While there's a few let downs (the Space Jockey is basically a human with black eyes) there was enough to leave me delighted at times - the interior of the spaceships, the high-tech of the Prometheus itself (this ain't no barge, Nostromo), the desolate planetscapes on Earth and the mystery planet** - all of them looked great (though not for needing 3D, just go see the 2D version).

So overall, it wasn't the piece of brilliance I was expecting, it falls somewhere between 'Alien' and 'Aliens' in tone and never seems sure which to go for, the final act in particular is a stumbling block, but it's a good film - and if Ridley Scott got this far maybe he'll be able to go further as well.


*I think I prefer Douglas Adams's answer, it has more potential.
**Alien fans will know from my name-drop, it's not the same one... and Sir Ridley has mentioned he could fit a few more films into the timeline if he gets the chance...