Prometheus **** (2012, Noomi Rapace, Charlize Theron, Michael Fassbender, Idris Elba, Guy Pearce, Logan Marshall-Green, Sean Harris, Rafe Spall) – Classic Movie Review 4,813

Ridley Scott’s tense and scary Alien universe prequel film Prometheus, in which a team journey to a distant moon and find a structure with a monolithic statue of a humanoid head and stone cylinders of alien blood, is strong visually and as story-telling. 

Director Ridley Scott’s beautifully crafted Alien universe 2012 prequel film Prometheus, in which a team journey to a distant moon in the late 21st century and find a structure with a monolithic statue of a humanoid head and stone cylinders of alien blood, is strong and fascinating both visually and as story-telling.

Playing like a shadow or avatar of his original 1979 Alien, it is ultra tense, exciting and scary. Without any really classic scenes, truly memorable characters or atmosphere forming build-up to the horror, it is not quite as good as the original, but it is still a thrilling movie and in the ballpark.

Searching for the origins of humanity in 2093, the crew of the spaceship Prometheus follow a star map found among the artifacts of ancient Earth cultures and arrive on a distant world, where they discover a threat to mankind’s existence.

Scott turns in a typically awesome-looking movie, and the sets (Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards Best Art Direction winner Alex Cameron), visual effects and cinematography (by Dariusz Wolski) are truly stunning and satisfyingly complex. The ambitious screenplay by Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof has quite a few flaws in terms of clarity and exposition, but nevertheless it holds tight, despite the drawbacks of its unresolved and predictable elements.

The hand-picked star cast of strong female lead Noomi Rapace as resourceful archaeologist Elizabeth Shaw, Charlize Theron as the tough-minded Meredith Vickers, Michael Fassbender, Idris Elba as Prometheus captain Janek, Guy Pearce unrecognizable under acres of rubber as ancient old Peter Weyland, Logan Marshall-Green as Shaw’s boyfriend Charlie Holloway, Sean Harris and Rafe Spall as engineers Fifield and Millburn, Emun Elliott as Chance, Benedict Wong as Ravel and Kate Dickie as Ford all do their stuff very effectively. 

Rapace, Theron and Elba all make strong impressions, but Fassbender is the standout as the android David, in a mesmerisingly creepy performance and weirdly unreal visual and vocal appearance based on Peter O’Toole in the film Lawrence of Arabia, which David is watching obsessively.

Costing $130 million, it was shot with 3D cameras on studio sets and on location in England, Iceland, Spain and Scotland. It grossed a comfortable but not outstanding $404 million.

There was an Oscar nomination for Best Achievement in Visual Effects for Richard Stammers, Trevor Wood, Charley Henley and Martin Hill, and a Bafta nomination for Best Special Visual Effects too, as well as a London Critics Circle Film Awards  nomination for Supporting Actor of the Year for Michael Fassbender.

Puzzlingly and shamefully, there was a Houston Film Critics Society Awards nomination for Worst Picture. Oh, and talking of shameful, it actually won the Oklahoma Film Critics Circle award for Not-So-Obviously Worst Film, as well as the Golden Schmoes Award for Biggest Disappointment of the Year.

The film was initially conceived as the fifth instalment in the Alien franchise, developed as a prequel to Scott’s 1979 Alien. In 2009 Jon Spaihts wrote an Alien prequel screenplay but Scott wanted a different direction and Damon Lindelof rewrote the script in late 2010, developing with Scott a story that precedes the Alien films but is not directly connected to them. Scott says the film shares ‘strands of Alien’s DNA’ and takes place in the same universe, but explores its own mythology and ideas.

Spaihts went on to write Doctor Strange (2016) and Passengers (2016).

It was screened again in cinemas on 26 April 2017 as the first film of Alien Night, preceding a showing of Alien, in the build-up to the release of Scott’s sequel, Alien: Covenant, premiered on 4 May 2017 at London’s Odeon Leicester Square, and released in the UK on 12 May 2017 and in the US on 19 May.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 4,813

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