Prometheus – Review

Film, Reviews, Theatrical Reviews

Ridley Scott dips into the well for a bucket of black gold.

When that moment in Alien came when the alien creature is sitting in the giant chair with its chest burst open, not only was it a chilling foreshadowing of things to come, but it left many asking, “Wait, what happened here? I want to see that movie!” The question floating around Prometheus since the film going community first learned about it was whether or not that question would be answered. So does it answer the question? Honestly, whether it does or doesn’t, doesn’t really matter.

Prometheus itself is such a strong film, both visually stunning and deeply thought provoking, that the fact that it is a kind of/sort of Alien prequel almost takes away from the enjoyment of the film for some. They go into the film expect so many things that they are disappointed by what they get. Not because what they get isn’t good (cause it’s great!), but because they wanted one thing and got something else.

So forget for a moment that the film is related to Alien. Let that aspect of the film be an added bonus.

In the film an archeologist, Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) has found a string of connections in ancient cave paintings that she thinks will lead to answers as to the origins to life on earth. Her findings convinced a rich business man, Peter Weyland (Guy Pearce) to fund a trip into face to find these “Architects”. Noteworthy members of the crew include Captain Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron), Charlie Holloway (Logan Marschall-Green) Shaw’s partner and lover, and David (Michael Fassbender) an android with a bit of an obsession with Lawrence Of Arabia, Peter O’Toole and putting his finger where he shouldn’t, just to see what happens.

To explain more of the plot would give away way too much. What can be said is that movie moves forward like a classic sci-fi film; a slow, tense build to an exciting ending. The movie does movie along at it’s own pace not in a hurry to get where it needs to go. This might annoy the modern day film-goer that eats up crap like Transformers, but the educated film fan will appreciate the film allowing the viewer the time to absorb what is happening on screen and begin to process it so they might come to their own conclusion as to what’s going on.

Which brings us to the other aspect of the film that is going to annoy some people. The film doesn’t spell everything out. It doesn’t explain why everything happens or the all the motivations why certain characters do certain things. Again, this is to allow the audience to come up with their own ideas as to what is going on and why.

The acting across the board is very solid, even the more underdeveloped characters (and sadly there are many) are well acted. But it’s Michael Fassbender who steals the show, as he has in the last few films he’s made. Fassbender usually plays a dark and brooding character, but playing an android, he has no emotions. So Fassbender brings a whole other level to his acting game. He shows in this film that he will continue to surprise us and has so much more to offer.

It’s by no means a perfect film, there are moments that logically don’t work (i.e. running straight away from something falling instead of left or right) but the rest of the film is so strong and engaging that these little faults don’t come to light until you’re thinking about the film afterward. And after you watch Prometheus you will be thinking about it, long after the credits have rolled. So if you don’t like thinking about stuff, you should probably just go see Men In Black 3 or wait for Battleship to come out on Blu-ray.

Personally, I thought it was an awesome, engaging, thought provoking film and not only one of Ridley Scott’s best films, but easily one of the best of the year.


Director: Ridley Scott
Notable Cast: Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron and Guy Pearce.
Writer(s): Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof

Mike Noyes received his Masters Degree in Film from the Academy of Art University, San Francisco. A few of his short films can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/user/mikebnoyes. He recently published his first novel which you can buy here: https://www.amazon.com/Seven-Days-Years-Mike-Noyes-ebook/dp/B07D48NT6B/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1528774538&sr=8-1&keywords=seven+days+seven+years