Monday, July 16, 2012

Ridley Scott: Prometheus

I've always liked the Alien movies and have a soft spot in my heart for almost each one of them. There's much to like even in David Fincher's Alien3 and almost in Alien Resurrection as well (don't mention the Alien Vs. Predator movies here). I was almost excited to see Ridley Scott's Prometheus, though I must admit I haven't particularly cared for anything Scott has done since, with the possible exception of Thelma and Louise. (I don't actually much care for Blade Runner either, but to be able to say something precise about it, I'd have to see it again.) Especially Gladiator left me utterly cold.

Prometheus has an intriguing, if over-developed and over-familiar premise (von Däniken, anyone?). I liked the way the film seemed to say: there's no point thinking about whether your God likes you, you have to go on living nevertheless. But the film also has lots of meaningless subplots and too many characters that are not developed enough. When you think "now this is finally getting somewhere", the film ends. (And the ending is particularly stupid.) There's still some nice tension-building throughout and some spectacular scenes. I liked the way this is an Alien film without actually having any Aliens (save the end).

3 comments:

pattinase (abbott) said...

A real disappointment.

Todd Mason said...

Eh. ALIEN was aggressively stupid. ALIENS was a James Cameron film, w/o even the mild wit of THE TERMINATOR. ALIEN [CUBED] was an interesting meditation, and ALIEN RESURRECTION was actually something of a baroque and witty romp (probably thanks to Joss Whedon). So, even with the female cast in place, I had no desire to see the rehash/prequel to ALIEN.

Meanwhile, the Scott Bros. might be doing their best work of late as tv producers, with NUMB3RS and the even better THE GOOD WIFE.

Anders E said...

This is a very funny slam of it.

http://digitaldigging.net/prometheus-an-archaeological-perspective/