Film #34 - Prometheus

And so famed director Ridley Scott returns to his old stomping ground,  with his first science fiction film since 1982’s Blade Runner box office failure – with a loose prequel/remake of his first large scale success, Alien.

Scott, of course, famously declared he was done with the genre after that mishap but after a decade of his career going nowhere particularly exciting (arguably his last great film was 2001’s Black Hawk Down) and Blade Runner now regularly taught in film school, you can see why Scott might be tempted to regain some magic by visiting the scene of past glories.

And in its way, Prometheus does just that. Scott’s clearly picked up some masterful tricks over the years and they go a long towards creating a solid sci-fi film that’s both expansive and philosophically declarative. The question is – does it have a place in the Alien universe, now that the franchise has become so embroidered by other visions, both onscreen and in print media. And to that, I’m not sure if I can say that it does.

What worked so well about Scott’s original Alien was that it mastered the art of claustrophobia. We rarely saw the creature at all but we felt its presence all over the screen. Even in James Cameron`s more ballistic sequel Aliens the creatures remained largely a mystery and not knowing what they were capable of, or what directed their actions, enabled both directors to get a lot more out of the human cast members.

In Prometheus, the paradigm seems inverted and ultimately this works against the film. Scott pulls no punches in his efforts to make the alien planet and the artefacts thereon epic in scale, and by the end of the film we have a lot more information about what`s going on that we ever have before (at least filmically). Yet, paradoxically, the humans caught in the crossfire have never seemed less important.

For the uninitiated, Prometheus (while not being a prequel in the sense you might think) follows the broad brushstrokes of Alien`s plot. 

A group of scientists (led by the original Girl with the Dragon Tattoo`s Noomi Rapace) touch down on an alien planet – this time looking for answers about the origins of the human race after having being led there by star maps found in multiple cultures` primitive art. Almost from landing, it`s clear things aren`t what they`ve been lead to believe. The resident android (played by Michael Fassbender, intriguingly as if he were a queer butler) seems to be acting against their interest, the corporate benefactors may know more than they`re saying, and there`s something decidedly nasty going bump in the night. After something from outside is accidentally brought in, all hell breaks loose and a lone female protagonist (Rapace again) must inevitably show down against some very vicious creatures.

So far, so good. But where Alien created tension from its earliest sequences, Prometheus only works because you`ve seen Alien and know that you`re meant to feel tense here. Part of the problem comes from a much expanded human roster which doesn`t give us a lot of chance to get to know the protagonists as much more than cannon fodder, part of it comes from an emphasis on style over emotion so that Scott`s admittedly impressively setting overshadows events. Rather than stick to one creature threatening the crew, Scott throws a veritable house of horrors at his cast until it`s a bit unclear what the rules of the game are. Why do some of these creatures take one form, and others another. That might be okay cinematically (for all we know we`re witnessing a whole ecosystem here) if Prometheus  didn`t seem to making a big deal overtrying to capture a unifying theory for things.

Because part of the problem is that Prometheus seems to spend a lot of time talking when it could be doing. The script attempts to contain some complex ideas about the role of faith in a world of science (those familiar with Damien Lindelof`s work on Lost won`t be surprised to see him in the credits) but I`m not convinced it really anything of enough substance to justify its presence in an already overlong film. Rapace`s Dr Elizabeth Shaw (amusingly, also the name of a Doctor Who companion) is a scientist who comes to her conclusions and then justifies them as articles of faith, who somehow manages to get a major corporation to fund her expensive expedition to check out if her gut`s been right this whole time. The android, David, seems unnaturally interested in her crucifix yet repeatedly reminds us that he`s not programmed to feel emotion. As he clearly demonstrates emotion (I`m sorry, Mr Fassbender, but weren`t as po-faced as others have suggested). It doesn`t quite make sense.

Luckily a lot of this stuff is largely constrained to the particularly slow first act and, after the first big set piece (an oncoming storm makes playthings of the crew`s equipment) things settle down as the larger plot goes into motion.

There`s denying that what happens next has some great little gimmicks (the operating booth sequence in particular is hilarious in its extremity). The creatures are menacing, major characters make great sacrifices, the plot twist is an actual twist, and Michael Fassbender is creepy. But without the tight focus that Alien had, do we really care?

By the time the much-maligned finale rocks around, we’re pretty much reduced to understanding that we’re here for the spectacle and little else. For what it’s worth, I didn’t have the problems with the finale that other reviewers have, though making the pace more even throughout the film would have certainly helped. Though if anyone could explain Rapace’s Shaw’s decision making process for the third act, I’d be much gratified.

Performance-wise, there’s not much to write home about in Prometheus. Fassbender is impressive in that vaguely annoying way he always is, Charlize Theron as the ship’s commander is effectively steely, and Idris Elba has lines. Logan Marshall-Green is along for the ride and, while I quite like the actor, the script writes him in a way to ensure you won’t miss him. As for Rapace, I do feel that she may have a great English-language film in her, but she hasn’t found it yet (she was also one of the many weak elements in Sherlock Holmes 2 earlier this year).

Ultimately, your experience of Prometheus will probably be inversely proportionate to your fondness for Alien. While certainly a decent Cineplex experience in its own right, and an encouraging move for Ridley Scott, I feel this is probably more of an initial step in reclaiming his throne among the pantheon of Hollywood’s best directors than a victory lap.