Prometheus

An over hyped, grandiose, and unnecessary addition to the Alien universe, Prometheus delivers its tagline: "The search for our beginning could lead to our end." Way back before the Alien franchise was tarnished by Alien vs. Predator, Ridley Scott and James Cameron had an inkling to make a new Alien film. Unfortunately, the story was shelved for nearly a decade. Without the better half of the franchise, Scott decided to drive solo an idea for a new film: a prequel to Alien. After numerous re-writes which probably led to the philosophy of "less is more", Scott and his writing duo Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof (Lost) created a story that would tease those hopeful fans of the Alien franchise. 


Well congratulations on writing that finalized script, Scott and team. In doing so, an intricate plot with room for precise storytelling and smart writing was sacrificed to create a convoluted, 'ask more questions than answer' story with insulting twists and pointless plot points. This popcorn flick disguised as a philosophical sci-fi thriller should have stayed Alien-free in the clutches of the production company "Scott Free". Instead of going all in, Ridley Scott's desperate attempt to play it safe and reclaim the Alien title failed


The fantastic acting, apart from the disappointing Noomi Rapace, saves this film. Michael Fassbender never ceases to amaze and the subtle creep-factor would make Lance Henriksen (Bishop in Aliens) proud. The scenes that were written with Alien in mind worked for the most part and were the only real memorable scenes in the film, but they were lost in the mush that was needed to pad the weak story . Thankfully the 3-D filming was a success and the post Avatar era of 3-D filming does not seem bleak. Cinematography was not noteworthy except for the mention that it was average and riddled with post-production tricks and special effects. Perhaps expectations were too high. Even though the plot was compiled together like a bunch of darts thrown on a board, it is not complicated and can be easily understood but the viewer is left asking "why?" too many times and a plot can not be honored by assumptions. The latter days of Ridley Scott's career have been absent from his sci-fi roots and it is disappointing to see his experience in that genre have diminished immensely. His hopeful future endeavor with the Blade Runner series is in jeopardy along with any other film he produces/directs/destroys. Some origin stories should be left a mystery; you never know, it could lead to the end of a franchise.


::Bottom Line::
-Overdrawn out story that tried to put too much in too little space
-Cheap "hey that looks like...." gimmicks to save the film's weak plot
-Michael Fassbender.... that is all


::Verdict::