No science, bad fiction

Rating: 6/10 (22 January 2013)

Two hipster "scientists" persuade a dying ultra-rich guy to fund a trillion-dollar expedition to a star system 40 light years from Earth. They don't do this based on evidence but based on what they "choose to believe" - because beliefs and convictions have always been more important to scientists and rich guys than facts and evidence. The rich guy's motivation for all this? He's older than Mr. Burns, dying and wants to tag along to meet his maker to obtain more life from him. Obviously never watched Blade Runner, this one ..
Prometheus was without a doubt one of the most eagerly awaited films of 2012. And with Peter Jackson's adaptation of The Hobbit also coming out that year, that's saying a lot. Expectations were sky-high and it was pretty clear that the filmmakers would have to pull off a small miracle to meet them.
On paper, everything looked pretty good: Ridley Scott was back in the director's chair. Not only was this his first science-fiction film in decades, but also his first film ever that's based on one of his previous efforts. The cast looked good and early stills and trailers made it pretty clear that this wouldn't be a soulless greenscreen-fest with second rate effects and cheap sets (AvP anyone?). Then, shortly before release, the fans got the icing on the cake with the confirmation of the R-rating. How could this thing possibly suck? Well, my first paragraph should give you an idea.
It's certainly not the look and feel of the film. Those aspects are spot on. If you like the look of Ridley Scott's excellent Alien and Blade Runner, you'll be in for a (visual) treat. And during the first hour of the film, the whole thing is really gripping - despite the idiotic characters and highly illogical plot. But a gripping first hour does not a good movie make.
The story, starting with the basic premise, is just plain idiotic. There really isn't anything that makes sense. The characters fit right into this however, because they too act like morons and none of them seem to have any motivation for their actions. Breathing the air on an alien planet? "Don't be such a skeptic!" Trying to pet a clearly hostile vagina-penis that's hissing at you? "It's OK, baby ..." One exception is David (the android) whose actions are all pretty sinister, but at least we understand why he takes them.
And while I'm talking characters .. It's pretty clear that the writers wanted to give us a mix of the kind of characters we got in Alien and Aliens. We get the strong female lead (Shaw/Ripley). We get the level-headed black dude who is in command (à la Sgt. Apone), the corporate suit who only thinks in profits and dividends (Vickers/Burke), the evil android (Ash/David), etc. The problem is that in Prometheus, we don't get to know any of those people, there are too many of them plus none of them are likable. So when they start dying, we either don't know who just bought it or we don't care. In contrast, Alien almost had the feel of a stage production. There weren't that many characters, we got to meet and know all of them before anything sinister happened and consequently we did care when they were bumped off later in the film.
The biggest problem however remains the writing. I'm not even sure that Scott and his writers knew what type of story they were trying to tell. The whole thing is visually stunning and some of the acting is really good, but there's no clear focus to the film: Alien was conceived as "Jaws in space".. and that's what it is. Well, maybe "Friday the 13th in space" would be more accurate.
But Prometheus aims to be something grander, something more important. It's about life, it's about creation, it's about who we are, who made us and why. It wants to be less like "Friday the 13th" and more like "2001 - A Space Odyssey". But here's the problem: When you're trying to tell a story with some deeper meaning, you better have *some* ideas or concepts to impress your audience with. Prometheus takes the cheap route: It simply raises more and more questions - some of which are interesting or even intriguing. But it never gives us any satisfying answers. Or in other words: It's all build-up and no payoff.
Watch it for some stunning visuals, great production design and an excellent Michael Fassbender in the role of David. Beyond that, there isn't much here to get excited about.
6/10