An exploration into human desire

Rating: 8/10 (22 December 2012)

I knew that Prometheus had been receiving polarized reviews, so I was unsure what I was going to see. I had not seen Alien either, so if you are looking for an unbiased review, I will try to fill that need. After watching Prometheus, I can honestly say that I have no idea why it is being bashed so hard. Ridley Scott proved once again that he's still got it. Prometheus is a thought provoking and suspenseful exploration into the ultimate human question and what people will do to have it answered. Where are we from?
The characters are highly polarized, which was criticized among other reviewers; however, this decision is for good reason, as the views of the question itself is highly polarized. On one side there is Elizabeth Shaw, whose religious views are fueled by a desire to expand her appreciation for creation, and her lover, Charlie Halloway, whose non-religious search for an explanation for his genesis. The contrast becomes intriguing with Naomi Rapace's (Shaw) performance, who wanders through the world in a sense of wonderment at the discovery, and with an also solid performance by Logan Marshall-Green who feels grounded and "matter of fact." To him it is data.
Ridley Scott does a good job at being impartial, which keeps Prometheus from becoming a flame war, instead, focusing on the idea. Human desire for answers. The paint-pallet of characters all have their various reasons for venturing down to the alien planet the film is set on, but their ultimate goal is all the same. Answers. In all the characters I fell a sense of urgency; when the ship "Prometheus" lands, the crew frantically disembarks and rushes toward their objectives like gold prospectors. I have mentioned a couple characters, and to mention many more would possibly spoil the film.
However, there are flaws in the ideas. There was a lack of purpose to their idealistic struggles. What does the answer to this question mean to the characters? The only explanation the film gives to my question is, "Because they want to know." But I feel they needed an emotional connection to the truth of the origin of life; what specific need does it satisfy? Arguments could be made that it was kept vague in order to allow the audience to be able to relate the characters's desire for answers to the same desire in their own life. On the contrary, I feel that there is a common emotional desire that could have been addressed.
There were a couple of logical slip ups that had been pointed out on forums and youtube videos, yet I feel many of them were insubstantial. Things such as a seasoned biologist trying to make friends with an obviously dangerous snake alien, resulting in the snake biting his hand and then some, are trivial. I did not find them overly distracting and should be overlooked.
The style of the film was gorgeous. Normally I don't mention CGI, but the art direction in Prometheus deserves a big nod. The ships and vehicles were awesome! The alien planet looked cold and haunting, and the design of the crew and equipment appeared breathtakingly thorough. It all felt very real.
Overall, Prometheus was a solid drama with grand set pieces to back it up. Well designed characters played convincingly gave a constant sense of urgency, which reached out to me as well, and I found myself in a similar state of wonderment as the crew. The goals of the ideas seem slightly detached from the emotions of the characters, but nevertheless, Ridley Scott's Prometheus is a methodical, philosophical adventure that ultimately satisfies.