We messed up

Rating: 8/10 (9 June 2012)

Prometheus is a good film that could've been more, and could've been much less. It is strong and thought- provoking until it decides not to be, leaving a very 'meh' feeling leaving the theatre.
The film opens with a beautiful and mysterious prologue that has already led to several theories. It's in the realm of 2001: A Space Odyssey, especially with the opening shot, but argues a very different thesis. Cut to a short prelude, and then space, with the trillion dollar Prometheus on route to investigate a possible lead to the origin of life. The lead is found in several giant, hollow domes, and we experience a feeling of great awe and discovery with the crew. Then as one would expect, things don't go to plan. After some good shock horror and one particular "all bets are now off" moment, the tension is elevated for the rest of the film, although this is at the cost of answers.
Knowing that this film is related to Alien adds to the atmosphere, and that knowledge becomes a constant presence. Prometheus is decidedly more engaging and action oriented than Alien at the cost of tight structure. So while Prometheus may be a more interesting 2 hours, Alien leaves you feeling more satisfied. I should add that while I gave it an 8.2, I didn't particularly like Alien that much, preferring its sequel Aliens. I found Alien to be a fine film that hasn't held up so well today.
Prometheus tries to handle so much thematically: faith vs. science, man's relation to machine, and the creation of human life. It's unfortunate that the film buckles under these themes, as in the end it chooses to sideline the themes to wrap up the plot, which isn't concluded all that thoroughly either. Of course its impossible to offer a foolproof answer as to why we're here, but waving it in front of us then distracting us with explosions only leads to frustration. This is one reason people feel disappointed: Prometheus asks the big questions but avoids the big answers.
Tries to deal with so much: philosophy, faith vs. science (evidence), man and machine, creation of us and furthermore life, but in the end it chooses to sideline this to wrap up the plot, which isn't concluded all that well either. Obviously it's tough to try and answer why we are, but don't wave it in front of us then distract with explosions and epic music. This is why some feel disappointed: talks the talk, but the walk falls apart. This is a subsection of what I've determined to be the weakest, critical link in the film- the writing. I wrote a note of all the questions I could think of after seeing the film that weren't directly answered, and while not everything needs to be, some of them had to be. Sorry Lindeloff: I love Lost, but a 2 hour film is no place to tease us with ambiguity.
Despite the muddled ending, the story works as a sci-fi plot, especially with the great effects. The CG is fantastic and very infrequently feels fake or intrusive, cutting edge stuff. The scares are as infrequent as in Alien, but can still get you. Scary isn't a good word for the horror, shocking and grotesque is far more fitting. The horror composes some of the most memorable scenes in the film, like the 'space cobra', Fifield and the incredibly tense surgery, the last one especially if you've seen Alien. I won't spoil how, but no characters feel untouchable.
The characters are strong for a science fiction film that focuses on lore. Namely, the andoid David (Michael Fassbender), who, being a robot, is strange, and as devious as he is caring. Like Ash from Alien his agenda is questionable. I loved his mannerisms and Lawrence of Arabia persona. I don't think he can go wrong with the Academy doing a Peter O'Toole impression like that.
Elizabeth Shaw is the official lead, played by a favourite of mine, Noomi Rapace. Like Ripley she is a survivor, very adaptable. We care about her and her charismatic partner Holloway. Charlize Theron, as the ship's overseer and corporate presence Ms. Vickers falls as the snappy, no nonsense female archetype character. I'm trying to avoid the b- word here. I find that to be the cop out of female power roles. Then, unlike Alien, there are support characters in numbers. While most of them are merely body presence, the crew has some entertaining filler banter and the Captain is great adding comic relief and character development.
Prometheus had lofty expectations from decades of fans. It met the elementary requirements but fell short where it promised to stand out. It's an entertaining 2 hours, enjoyable on a basic level but frustrating when it comes to answers, which in this case are very important. My summary reflects three levels: the crew messed up by poking around in the dome and taking samples, and even just looking for answers. The Engineers messed up their attempt to clean up and it backfired, and lastly the filmmakers (writers especially) building up to so much that they couldn't explain it all on film, and thus committed the film sin of forcing the answers on the potential sequel. A little ambiguity leads to good discussion, but too much leads to disappointment. One can certainly have good discussions about Prometheus, I already have, but the evidence for arguments gets weaker as the film goes on. Prometheus is a good film with just too many unkept promises. 7.9/10