Big Things (Alien and Aliens) have small beginnings (Prometheus)

Rating: 7/10 (24 May 2017)

Ridley Scott's divisive prequel to the Alien franchise was a bit of a mixed bag among critics and audiences. Prometheus -- the story of a group of scientists searching for their creator after finding a clue to his whereabouts -- was considered, by some, to be mysterious, ambitious, and full of deep philosophical questions that manifest the roots of science fiction. While others saw it as a slog that didn't answer any of the big questions nor give any payoff. There are a few elements that everyone can agree on: gorgeous visuals, solid acting, excellent cinematography and an overwhelming sense of adventure and mystery. Prometheus, like the Alien Franchise, combines elements from science-fiction, horror, and mystery. Though the question here is how well does it blend the above mentioned, and does it blend them skillfully enough to compensate for a lot of unanswered questions, illogical decision making, and disappointed audiences.
The science fiction aspect of this film is the strongest out of the three. Instead of completely focusing the film's plot on 'stupid' humans getting eaten by monstrous aliens, Ridley Scott takes a deeper, philosophical and even theological standpoint on the origins of mankind while sprinkling layers of Alien mythology on top. The film raises questions such as: is there a God? Is there life after death? If the 'engineers' created humans then who created them? If the 'engineers' created humans then why do they want to kill them? Much like the renowned 2001: A Space Odyssey, Prometheus asks these kinds of questions, but leaves most of the answers to the viewer's imagination, inevitably sparking loads of discussions and theories unless the answers come up in future sequels. Consensus: as a science-fiction film, Prometheus succeeds.
Just like the Alien Franchise, Prometheus had horror and suspense. Our characters trek down long and dark corridors in an alien-like pyramid. An idiot biologist gets killed by a fiendish snake-worm hybrid. Tom Hardy's twin morphs into a monster after being exposed to an alien-goo. Noomi Rapace's character must get an emergency caesarean to rid herself of a xenomorph octopus. An 'engineer' tries to kill the humans when he encounters them -- kinda a scary thought if your creator tries to murder you when he first sees you. Then that same 'engineer' is eaten by the adult version of the xenomorph octopus. The only horror moment that can contend with the mighty Alien is the squirm-inducing caesarean scene. Other than that scene the horror does not match the scares of the original Alien nor the action-suspense of Aliens. Consensus: as a horror film, Prometheus is solid.
Prometheus builds up a lot of mystery with undeniably no payoff. It doesn't answer any of its big questions nor does it, at times, make sense logically. Prometheus works as a sci-fi for having these questions but it is the responsibility of the mystery aspect to answer them. A film can leave secondary elements a mystery (the original Alien did), but it cannot leave the core of the film one. Some questions they didn't bother to answer include: Who created the engineers? Why do the engineers hate humans? What originally happened on the planet LV-223 to cause the outbreak that resulted in dead engineers? Why did the engineers leave a cave drawing leading to a weapons facility? What is the black goo? Does it change someone's DNA or just make them murderous zombies? Or both? Prometheus also had a lot of questionable breakdowns in logic like: Why did that biologist try and pet that fiendish snake-worm hybrid? How did that biologist and the geologist get lost with all that equipment while being in constant communication with the ship? Why did Idris Elba's character show no concern for the welfare of these two men? Why did the crew sign up for this 4-year expedition without any briefing until right before the mission started? Why does Charlize Theron's character only run in straight lines? Consensus: as a mystery film, Prometheus disappoints.
Because of Prometheus' lack of answers, it frustrated/confused audiences. After doing some extensive research for answers, a lot of them can be answered through deleted scenes, interviews with the director and writers themselves, or from the Prometheus website which gives a lot of character background. But a movie shouldn't require you to do outside research for answers. The film itself should have them somewhere in there overtly or covertly. Prometheus is an incredibly divisive movie and although it shows a lot of skill with visuals, acting, and in the genre of science fiction, it comes up short in the more important areas. The film seems as if it doesn't know what it wants to be. Is it a direct prequel to Alien? Is it a deep sci-fi mystery on the most profound questions? Is it a spin off to the Alien franchise? Is it just another deep space horror movie with grisly results, or is it trying to do too many things in too little time. Consensus: Prometheus is a visually appealing ambitious sci-fi that tries to jumble too many things and loses its footing falling into a dimension of mediocrity. 6.5/10