Trying to rationalize the writing failure that is Prometheus

Rating: 4/10 (12 June 2012)

Here is my attempt to rationalize the writing failure that is Prometheus. Not every incoherence can be explained but some are.
The first scene is understandable if we admit that the engineer is a member of a secret Cult devoted to seed life to barren worlds. It is part of the ritual that he should give his life in order to bring life to a new world: a noble gesture. A confirming clue is the Engineer's clothing: a kind of hooded monk's robe. Passing remark: we cannot be sure that the scene takes place on Earth even though the surroundings look like Earth.
To explain the later hostile attitude of the Engineer we have to admit that the actions of the Cult are considered an abomination by the mainstream Engineer society that has consequently decided to eradicate us.
The planet where the Prometheus lands is the planet used by the Cult to develop their biological seeds and their lab was later converted to produce a mass destruction weapons by the other Engineers: this explains why the cave paintings on earth point to that planet and not their mother planet. This can also explain why things went wrong by a lack of control over the change of technology from benevolent to malevolent. This could also explain the presence of the big engineer head surrounded by ritual black goo urns in what could be a ritual chamber. Or: maybe the Cult itself transformed the lab when it decided to eliminate the other Engineers to escape persecution.
The question about the inexplicable growth of the alien locked in the operating room. We have the same problem in the original Alien movie: not long after emerging from John Hurt's belly the monster has reached it's adult size and we don't know what it had been lived off in the ship's corridors.
The attitude of the android David. It is clear from the start that the crew of the ship is expendable by the very mistakes they make. And that's why they were chosen by Weyland. This can also explain why they don't seem to know each other when they wake up and why Weyland didn't bother to explain the true purpose of the mission from the start. We are explicitly told by Meredith Vickers that the crew was only partially recruited by her and she makes it clear that she considers the mission as a joke. In fact the only important persons are Weyland and David, and Weyland could have made that very clear to David during the 2 year voyage since David is apparently able to speak with him in his hyper sleep. This can also explain why the operating table was tuned for a man. That granted, David can use any crew member as a guinea pig for his experiments with the alien goo. Also: Weyland before his encounter with the Engineer has a cleansing ritual performed on him: this would confirm that the real purpose of the mission was not a scientific one (official goal to raise the funds for the project) but a religious one.
Going back to the title "Prometheus", there may be an entirely different meaning to the movie. As a reviewer has commented: it is as if the original Alien movie title was "Nostromo": it would have had very little meaning. Prometheus gave fire to mankind. What if in the first scene the Engineer doesn't bring life to Earth but intelligence to an already existing species? The whole story would then be ironical showing the poor use of this gift by the crew. All but two fail the elaborate IQ test the Engineers had in store for them and they barely make it. The fact that the alien movies follow more or less the same pattern give substance to the idea of a repeated experiment at the expense of mankind.
Finally since this movie is a prequel and we know what happens next, chances are low that Elizabeth, whatever her futures adventures are, achieves anything interesting on the Engineers planet unless she finds a way to reappear in a time line posterior to Alien: Resurrection.
I give a 4 only for the visual quality of the movie.