Prometheus Review

I know that this movie came out a couple weeks ago, but no one is reading this yet anyway.  Prometheus is an interesting film. Both for good reasons and bad.  Let me just say this: I enjoyed it. There were still a lot about it that bugged me, and continues to do so. Yet you could say that the movie achieved in making me think about it weeks after I saw it, so there's that. Also, I am not touching the "Is it an Alien prequel or not? Mainly because everyone else and their overbearing mother have talked about it, never coming to any real result. Partly, because it ultimately doesn't matter or affect the film.

Alright, good things. The movie looks terrific. Lots of beautiful blue tinted sci-fi imagery that will make any science fiction nerd dream of stellar space exploration. Mr. Ridley Scott delivers on this front. Even though I'm not sure who to credit. Ridley Scott, or his cinematographer. I say this because some of the best shots of the film are almost completely CGI. That said, there are some great uses of practical effects too. There are a few very good performances. In fact, it seemed the better the performance the better the character. Take the example of David the android(which is not a spoiler. It's obvious from the first shot of the film It is revealed minutes later, and not as a twist.) David is played brilliantly by Michael Fassbender and is arguably the best character in the movie. He is constantly taunted by other characters about his inhumanity. Ironically comes off as the emotional person in the film. In a curious what makes the flesh-bags tick kind of way. Noomi Rapace, the original girl with the dragon tattoo, gives the second best performance as the main character Elizabeth Shaw. Edris Elba and Charlize Theron are also very good. Half the cast is very good, including the actors I've just mentioned. The other half of the cast is laughingly bad.  This does not help when the story relies on the stupidity of the characters for the plot to keep moving.

Before I get ahead of myself let me explain the story. If you are reading this you already know the gist.  Group of scientists discover the possible origin of humanity, big cough cough evil cough cough corporation funds trillion dollar(which by the time this movie takes place is probably  the equivalent of five bucks) expedition to find said origin of the entire human race. That by itself is a great idea. An original, despite the alien attachments, idea that feels like a classic science fiction novel.  The problem is the story asks a lot of questions, fails to answer them, and then turns into a simple horror movie.  Granted, the horror elements work very well. There are some very thrilling sequences including a horrifying one which my friends who saw the movie with me dubbed "The abortion scene".  The script was penned by lost veteran Damon Lindelof. I can see this through the great setup, and again through the less than great execution. Not to say Lost was bad. It was terrific. The last season compared to the rest of the show is not.

 Lets go back to what I said about stupidity. The crew of the Prometheus is supposed to be made up of the some of the best scientists the human race has to offer. Yet they continually make the worst decisions possible. Example: two trained scientists find an obviously hostile alien life form. Hostile alien life form unfolds and hisses at said scientists. What do supposedly highly trained scientists do? They try to pet it like a sad dog that's lost its owner. As you can guess, things don't go so well. This trend continues throughout the film.

Over all, I enjoyed the experience. Which is all you can really ask of anything.  Prometheus just was not the sci-fi masterpiece it was built up to be. That said, I would still recommend it.  If you can, with a group.  The horror scenes are the best part, especially accompanied with the terrified reactions of friends.