In an 'Alien' Universe but NOT Alien!

Rating: 8/10 (9 June 2019)

When Scott announced that he was making a 'Prequel' I was initially concerned that he would make the mistake of making an 'Alien 2 hybrid'. The fact is that the original Alien from 1979 is now such a Sci-Fi classic that to dare to tread down that path is asking for trouble! The astute James Cameron in his sequel (Aliens 1986) steered WELL clear of even attempting to match Scott's style and visuals and the other Films in the franchise did not fare well (for various reasons). With 'Prometheus' Scott decided NOT to make it a direct 'Alien' film but approach it from a from a fresh angle. Concentrating on the 'Engineers' (Space Jockey) from the first film, Scott and the writers posit a very different take on Human origins. Firstly, the Science here is pretty flawed (Evolution is side lined in favour of a more 'cosmic' origin!) However, this IS Science FICTION.... A pair of Scientists Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and her partner convince billionaire Peter Weyland (Guy Pierce) that they have found illustrations from ancient sites around the world pointing to an extra terrestrial visitation and that they have identified the System where these aliens came from. The 'Prometheus' ship is dispatched to this system to investigate with an eclectic mixture of Scientists, security - and Company persons. Even from an early stage it is clear that the 'Company' may NOT have the same goals in mind as the Scientists. On board also is 'David' - a synthetic human - a creation of Weyland's, who very quickly demonstrates that he may have is OWN Agenda for the Mission. Michael Fassbender's performance is excellent - David has a nasty ambiguity to him - at once servile but almost arrogant and condescending. Noomi Rapace's Elizabeth Shaw is the Scientist who still retains her 'faith' - and it is this combination that drives her to look for our 'Creators'.
The early scenes as the Prometheus reach the planetoid are beautifully done and there is a real sense that the 'Mission' will go badly wrong....It does.
Now, many Alien fans complained that they 'never see THE Alien' and didn't get this story at all. MY take is that this Film is all the better for NOT having H.R Giger's now famous creation. Yes, there are many elements that really could have been better - the characters behave in irrational ways - sometimes stupidly - and the Science isn't really thought-through. However, to those who state 'the characters are not rational' maybe they should read up on some expeditions (Scientific ones!) that took place in the 19th and 20th Centuries (including that of Captain Scott in the Antarctic!) where, frankly, the whole enterprise was not only flawed but badly planned and irrational from the off!
My overall impression of 'Prometheus' is that visually it delivers and some of the acting - notably Fassbender and Rapace - is actually good. The Story is passable and well-delivered. It DOES tie-in to the 'Alien Universe' and only at the very end does it give this away implicitly. However, I found it different enough from the original Alien (gothic-horror sci-fi) for me to enjoy it.
However, the story of 'Prometheus' doesn't really end here....it was clear that many people that saw 'Prometheus' PREFERRED it's newer storyline to the 'Alien-centric one'. In effect, it created a split fan base, one side wanting more of the 'Prometheus-story' - the other side were the die-hard 'Alien fans' who complained that there "wasn't an Alien in it" or "it was not at all like Alien".
These same persons continued to state this view and, in my opinion, it was THIS that caused the follow-up to this Film - 'Alien Covenant' - to be such a MESS. Scott ( and the studio) unwisely decided to listen to the 'we want more Aliens' comments and this resulted in the entire 'Covenant' Film being nothing more than a patchwork of 'Reboot scenes' from earlier Alien Films. The sad fact is that the 'Alien' creature is now so well known (after 40 years of coverage) that it has actually LOST it's shock value and mystery. People who declared they wanted to see more of the Alien merely pushed the filmmakers into that dangerous area where you try to revive the 'original' 1979 film by imitating it but also try and integrate the newer story elements. The result was a Film that NEITHER set of fans actually liked at all and was completely unsatisfying. So much of the interesting parts of 'Prometheus' were simply 'thrown away' so that 'Fans' could be given "what they asked for". The irony here is that 'Alien Covenant' was so badly received that the entire franchise now looks unlikely to be finished.
As for 'Prometheus' - I think it is a far superior Film to 'Alien Covenant' and, for all of it's faults, was the right way to go.