Almost a religious experience unveiling the cause & meaning of life

Rating: 8/10 (17 June 2012)

Prometheus, Ridley Scott's twentieth feature (I'm not including the 'announced' Untitled Blade Runner Project, nor The Counselor, which is still in pre-production) as director takes him back to the world of his second, Alien. That said, it isn't an Alien prequel. In the words of Sir Ridley himself, "If there was a sequel to this, which there might be if the film is successful, there'll be two more of these before you even get to Alien 1." Got that? Prometheus is most emphatically not a prequel! However For those who know their onions, it acts primarily as the backstory to the space jockey, a skeletal, petrified creature that was revealed in Alien but, much to Scott's bemusement, was never revisited or explained by the directors who followed. After watching three sequels, which reduced in quality and impact with each release, and a few related aberrations, Scott decided to jolly well deal with it himself.
But it's more than even a backstory. Prometheus is almost a religious experience, or rather an esoteric journey through the cause and meaning of life. There's a great deal more to it than simply a trek across space to kill a few villainous aliens but that's not to say you'll need to be a Mensan to understand it, although I certainly feel the need and desire to see it at least once more to benefit fully.
As one would expect, it being an Alien film and a Scott feature, the sets are astoundingly intricate and beautiful. The camera pans may be slow but they are nowhere near gradual enough to take it all in. These sets and props are the very dark brother of Tim Burton's and even now H.R. Giger's influence is strongly evident in Arthur Max's production design. Prometheus begs repeated viewings for the aesthetics alone and one wonders how much more remarkable the original Alien would have been with a vast budget and the technology available to Scott now, although I sincerely hope he doesn't 'do a Lucas' and digitally enhance it for the sake of his wallet.
If the aura that surrounds the Alien franchise isn't enough to attract an audience, the cast should certainly add weight. If you haven't already, take a few minutes to view the two virals starring Guy Pearce as Peter Weyland and Michael Fassbender as David. They aren't imperative to an understanding of the film but they are superb introductions to the characters and the world they inhabit. Charlize Theron is on coldhearted bitch duty as Meredith and as controlled and compelling as ever. Cruel as it is to say so, though the comparison is inevitable, the Ripley role is filled by Noomi Rapace, as Elizabeth Shaw, showing further versatility and contrast from the roles she is currently best known in The Girl trilogy and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.
The supporting cast is ably rounded out by strong turns from Idris Elba, Rafe Spall and Sean Harris who further cements his status as the 'go to guy' for cynical arsewipes you wouldn't invite to a party but would be happy to stand behind in a battle.
The biggest star, beyond the design, is Sir Ridley. He's brought together a story, a world, a cast, an entity that gels and entices. My principal criticism is also one of the attractions: it doesn't satisfy completely. I left the cinema wanting more, needing to know more. Two sequels, providing Scott shoots them himself and with the same passion and detail, are a very attractive proposition indeed. I'm not sure I understood every aspect fully and I certainly wasn't able to absorb absolutely everything painted across the screen and so this week I'll return to Cineworld for a second immersion.
I'm not sure whether my cautious four stars are unfair and if my leaning towards a fifth is justified and, either way, like my cake of the month, one portions is not sufficient!
Addendum – 14 June 2012 The second portion has just been savoured. Prometheus remains a four star film; a very solid four star. It misses out on the fifth star, a mark of near perfection, because it could have been improved on. Without giving anything away, the prosthetic body part (I'm not going to be any more specific than that in case you haven't seen it yet) is obvious. It may only appear briefly but for those few seconds it is very obviously not real. With the rest of the CG on display, I'm not sure how or why Sir Ridley allowed that one through. More than that, though, there is some very clunky dialogue written for idiots and performed without belief.
However, those moments are thankfully brief and the overall film is just shy of excellent. For me it improved with a second viewing in much the same way as my tureen of red lentil soup matures with each glug of Bordeaux and reheating experience. But I need to see it again. I need to see it in my own cinema, with a HUGE screen and the facility to pause it frequently to admire the beauty of the photography, the magnificence of the sets and the vast, exciting, intricately detailed canvas upon which Scott has painted an epic. It may not be remembered or received in the same manner and affection as his original Alien, but it is substantially more complete and utterly exquisite.