Now that the storm has past, enjoy Prometheus for the amazing film that it is.

Rating: 9/10 (17 June 2013)

I'm writing this a year after the theatrical release of Prometheus, a film that was preceded by, and ultimately fell victim to, a manic level of hype and expectation. A prequel, or as it turned out, not-so-distant-cousin to Ridley Scott's landmark sci-fi horror masterpiece ALIEN, Prometheus was an audacious endeavor from the get-go. Bestowed with the impossible task of living up to its for-bearer who over more than 30 years spawned three official sequels, two bastard spin offs (those AVP abortions) near countless comic book iterations, and influenced filmmakers, designers and pop culture in general. Prometheus also saw the return of Scott to the genre he helped define in cinematic terms so how could it ever completely satisfy such a sprawling legacy? Scott and 20th Century Fox did successfully maintained a high level of secrecy throughout production with Scott cleverly saying on numerous occasions that his new film stemmed from the 'DNA of Alien'. At the time we had no idea what he meant. After a long period of silence an aggressive marketing campaign kicked in. The posters and trailers were fantastic and awe inspiring, spawning endless viral videos and images online all the while maintaining the mystery. Was Prometheus actually an Alien prequel after all? How did all these pieces fit together with the aforementioned 30 year legacy? A year on from the release of Prometheus some are still asking these and countless other questions. What seemingly all could agree on was that visually, Scott had again crafted a film of sweeping majesty. From the opening frame Prometheus is splendor to behold. Unanimous praise was also given to Michael Fassbender for his portrayal of the android David. Where the film found its greatest criticism was in the script. Many legitimate film reviewers and thousands of online postings decried a myriad of so-called 'plot holes', unresolved ideas and just plain stupidity in the behavior of characters. The finger became squarely pointed at Damon Lindelof who had already upset fan boys with his writing of the conclusion to the TV series LOST. The online crucifixion of Lindelof was brutal and completely unfair. Lindelof was one of only two writers on the project, very little for a studio film when many summer blockbusters have upwards of ten writers and they're just the ones who actually get credited. The one constant and the man literally steering the (space) ship was Ridley Scott. If anyone should have been in the firing line it should have been him but for whatever reason the director was given a pass and Lindelof became the scapegoat for everyone's apparent disappointment in the film. I, like many, was so excited in the lead up to Prometheus to finally have a new entry in the world of ALIEN. I liked the film immediately but agreed with some of the criticism. There were certainly parts of the film I didn't understand and a few character motivations seemed very odd. What I really liked however was the film's ominous sense of dread and by its end, a sense of almost complete futility. I could see that this was an unusual and bold 'Hollywood' movie. Despite the negativity that surrounded the film, it created such intense debate online the likes of which I hadn't really ever seen. I don't think anyone has ever debated the meaning of a Transformers or Fast And Furious film but with Prometheus the criticizing and theorizing went on for months. I saw the film a second time in cinemas and got a lot more out of it, subtitle hints and lines of dialog I had missed the first time brought more sense to the film and its characters. I wouldn't say I found any 'answers' upon second viewing but I wasn't really looking for any. In fact I enjoyed and respected the film's ambiguity even more. As a reaction to what many claimed was a film full of frustratingly unanswered questions, Fox's marketing campaign around the Prometheus DVD / Blu-ray release promised that 'Questions would be answered'. The truth was both yes and no. In my opinion, Scott's only crime with Prometheus was his appeasing of the studio and modern movie audiences by cutting down the film to the 2 hour make and increasing the pace by omitting a host of integral scenes. Considering how bold Scott's choices were in other areas concerning Prometheus it's a shame he caved in on duration and pacing. Never have I seen a collection of deleted and alternate scenes that were SO integral to the overall film. Every questionable character motivation in Prometheus is put the rest in these AMAZING deleted scenes. We get a far greater understanding of Charlize Theron's Vickers and Idris Elba's Captain Janek. We get a massively better understanding of the motivations of Guy Pearce's Peter Weyland. And most importantly, the scene that bugged me the most where Fifield and Millburn behave so strangely toward an obviously dangerous snake alien now made sense due to a preceding delete scene. With these delete scenes in mind I watched the entire film again for a third time and completely fell in love with it. This wasn't because the 'big questions' had been answered, quite the opposite, I actually had even more questions because now I felt I really understood the characters and could see the film operating on an entirely new level. I'm looking forward to a Prometheus sequel, whenever that may come, not for answers but for more questions. The most enjoyable and addictive part of the journey so far in the world of Prometheus is examining the questions it has thrown up, looking for signs and clues as to what it may mean and coming to your own conclusions whether they be the filmmakers intention or not. Sadly too few films elicit such a long lasting debate as to its meaning and merit, forgotten as the house light rise and we return to mundane normality.