Prometheus (2012)
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Prometheus Movie Review
Prometheus is a 2012 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender. It is a prequel to the Alien franchise and it polarized audiences, but it is in my honest opinion a very good and incredibly smart movie.
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“Big things have small beginnings.“
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The plot is the highlight of the movie. It is about a group of people who follow an ancient clue and go to a planet where they seek the origins of the human race. It surprised me how clever, but also how different from ‘Alien’ it is. That franchise is more horror than sci-fi, but Prometheus is pure science fiction that is a lot smarter than ‘Alien’ because it deals with a lot of existential themes and questions in a fascinating way. Comparing it to that franchise, it is definitely weaker because it has many problems for sure, but it is also much smarter in my opinion and it engages the intellect.
I also think this should be the prime example of how to do prequels – visit the same world but with a totally different approach and story, but still tying it up with the original in the end. And it does do it in the last scene which is a perfect ending that shows you how these creatures came to be in a thrilling conclusion. Prometheus has a great ending, but it starts wonderfully as well, making you interested instantly with a great atmosphere. I love the mystery aspect of it too.
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I love the subject matter and themes. It asks the never-ending question of where we came from and if somebody created us. In that respect, I would say that Prometheus is a religion in and of itself. It creates a new religion and one which is a fascinating and very clever way of dealing with those questions. It presents aliens as God in a very interesting way. It is filled with thought-provoking quotes, but the highlight is the one in which David the android tells Charlie that humans would be disappointed to find out that they were created just because the creators could do it technologically and that parallel between our own creation and our creating of robots is fascinating and an interesting talking point.The movie is incredibly smart which I really appreciated and it is filled with such powerful atmosphere, ranging from mystery to horror, but mostly being just a great mystery and human drama and above all plain powerful, thought-provoking science fiction as I like them best.
The characters are good, but nothing too remarkable. But this kind of science fiction does not need great character development. Elizabeth Show is solid as the protagonist, but I still found her somewhat annoying and too much of a rip-off of Ripley. That is one of the main problems of Prometheus – her character as well as the stuff that happens to her and her sole survival in the end is just taken from the original from start to finish. Meredith is a typical cold leader, but Charlie is fine and I really liked Janek and he brought some humor and light to this film.
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But David is of course the standout, he is similar to the android in the original, but he is still an incredible character because he is given a lot of screen time and he has many great scenes. I love his ambiguity and relationship with humans. He is really well imagined and of course acted by Michael Fassbender who is just incredible in this movie. He gives such a powerhouse performance and is perfectly believable as a robot which is why the rest of the actors here pale in comparison to him.
The technical aspects are marvelous. The effects are awesome. The imagery is absolutely gorgeous and it needs to be seen on the biggest screen possible. The planet and the ships and design of the creatures is spectacular. The score is also really good and quite tense often. The tone is great, ranging from dramatic to horrific. And I really like its authenticity in dealing with its thought-provoking themes. The dialogue is terrific, but I wish there was more of it as the themes are so fascinating and demanded much more.
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The movie has a brain, but I also liked how it incorporated the horror elements as well with a couple of really creepy scenes. It does have a lot of ominous atmosphere that provided many creepy moments, but there are some scenes that are too gross to watch. The imagination I really appreciate as the director has it in droves. And it is a well edited and paced movie, but it is too predictable at times which is one of its biggest detractors.
Prometheus is an incredibly smart, always engrossing and just fascinating film that deals with its thought-provoking existential questions in a very unique way and it perfectly works as a prequel that is set in the same world but has a different genre approach and different story, but still ties it up wonderfully. It has its flaws and those are mainly the central character and her story which is too reminiscent to Ripley’s and the movie is sometimes too predictable, but it is visually spectacular with terrific imagery and great effects, the story is riveting and clever and it perfectly reinvigorates the Alien franchise.
