A Beautiful Clutter

Rating: 6/10 (17 January 2019)

10 June 2012. Like Avatar (2009), Prometheus has the dazzling set design that brings an entire new universe onto the audience's doorstep, taking both technology and breathtaking landscapes into a visionary and compelling experience. Nevertheless, Prometheus the movie, like the God, reflects an overreaching one's own God-like stature with the tragedy that the script was overly ambitious and resulted in the unintended consequence of diminishing and powerful impact of the visual wonderment of the movie itself. The unnecessary opening two sequences, unlike Stargate (1994) didn't really contribute or add to the movie and would have been better served with a flashback. The script was overloaded with too many subplots and confusing conspiracies that detracted from the movie and in some instances appeared just so much manipulative dialogue to show off the amazing visual effects. Unlike the powerful resonance of the authenticity and simplicity of the original Alien (1979) or the adventure thriller of the militaristic sequel, Aliens (1986), Prometheus looses both the scientific fascination of discovery such as found in Sphere (1998) and The Triangle (2005) or the scientific investigatory challenge in The Andromeda Strain (1971) or the action adventure of The Matrix (1999) or its sequels or The Thing (1982).
The over-use of similarities to Alien (1979) and the on-ship politics were too overboard, melodramatic and irrelevant. The script had too many illogical holes in it with space travel protocol being overlooked too convenient for the sake of the typical dramatic effect...research wasn't carefully carried out, constant monitoring not adhered to, personal motivations only partially revealed.
Instead Prometheus fails to live up to its promise in a similar fashion as Event Horizon (1997) that started out with a strong sci fi element and descended into a horror film. What Prometheus left out was a singular focus on a depth of credibility like Super 8 (2011) that capture a sci fi mystery but retained its more authentic human element as opposed to more two dimensional and sometimes unreadable characters. Even the low-budget Epoch (2001) had a focused element that allowed its audience to experience instead of think and puzzle over the contents of the movie. Prometheus also left out the opportunity of a more humanistic rendering, ultimately a love story as found in Solaris (2002) or the television series Defying Gravity (2009).
In the end Prometheus comes across as a traditional, unmemorable story wrapped in a very, very pretty package and brushes up the some of the worst elements of movie making. If only Ridley Scott could have followed up with Forbidden Planet (1956) as his masterpiece to Alien (1979).