Prometheus - Review

Since the dawn of mankind, our greatest minds have pondered over many questions; why are we here? Is there a higher being at work? Can there be more than two decent Alien films? In Prometheus, director Ridley Scott – returning to the franchise he created and that launched his career 33 years ago – attempts to answer these questions, and pose a couple of new ones.

In the year 2094 a team of scientists aboard the spaceship Prometheus, named after the Greek legend of the man who stole fire from the Gods, arrive at the distant planet of LV-223, following a star map discovered on the Isle of Skye. 

Led by the reckless Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) and his more cautious partner Shaw (Noomi Rapace), the crew investigate the planet for signs of life, and an answer to the origin of our species, but don’t necessarily find the answers they were hoping for, and not all of them survive long enough to hear them.

Amongst the rest of the crew, Charlize Theron and Idris Elba stand out as the icy, businesslike Vickers and the laidback, blue collar captain Janek, but Michael Fassbender as the ship’s robot David steals the scenes he isn’t even in. His performance is a masterclass in pretending to be an android, making David a restrained, often creepy creation.

This film has to be an early contender for next year’s visual effects Oscars, as everything from the sets, the costumes and the creature designs are stunning. The attention to detail is breathtaking, and everything is so realistic you begin to question whether it’s real or not.

The story begins to fall apart in places, but eventually the slower-paced first half gives way to a more action-packed, and occasionally frightening second half. Some scenes could be difficult to watch, especially a particularly traumatic encounter Shaw has in a surgery pod, and at times characters’ motives are questionable, to the point of not making sense as the script rushes along from one scene to the next, without allowing itself any time to look around and see if it’s going the right way. A couple more weeks spent rewriting could have helped wonders here.

In 1979, Alien was a groundbreaking sci-fi horror that casts a long shadow over Prometheus. It tries hard, but would have needed to do considerably more to step out into a fresh, new light. There are familiarities between Prometheus and the original – so it could be a kind of semi-prequel, that eventually weaves in to the original story – as well as some elements from the 1986 follow-up Aliens, directed by James Cameron. 

Those too remain far superior in terms of story and characters, but Prometheus still holds its own and is worth a look for fans of the others.

Rating - 7/10

You can read more of Jason's film reviews at lifevsfilm.blogspot.com or on Twitter @LifeVFilm