In space, nobody can hear you yawn.

Rating: 6/10 (8 June 2012)

I really wanted to love this movie. I love most of what Ridley's done over the years. And I usually don't write reviews, so forgive me my sophomoric style. But I have something I am compelled to say about this particular movie.
Prometheus has some fantastic elements, some very thoughtful, some funny, and some frightening. It has great CGI, beautiful ships, cool sets, Charlize-freaking-Theron.. all of which are potentially the soup of a great movie. And I can forgive holes in scripts, or ambiguous endings or threads of sub-story endings...
But where this movie fails is in the glue that holds it all together. The main storyline fails at grabbing all these disparate pieces, fitting them into a seamless (or even spotty) whole, and lifting them (and us in the process) up to a new level at the climax of the film. So ultimately, any of the elements of Prometheus, including Charlize-Freaking-Theron (whom I adore, if you didn't notice), become dispensable. They seem detached, and unimportant.
So what exactly is the storyline anyway?
I think it's actually about hubris - Ridley Scott's hubris in thinking he could take all of these multi-million dollar elements, put them in a blender with Charlize-Freaking-Theron and Naomi Rapace, and leave it to the viewers to make Promethean apologetics that would form an actual main storyline in the process. It was hubris believing we would ultimately envisage an underlying genius, given enough time.
I believe the old man in this film is symbolic of Ridley Scott. He has the money and the power to form this voyage, but really has no idea what is waiting at the end. Rather than sharing his wisdom and telling us what he does know, he will squander his chances by having his own creation attempt to interpret it for him of its own volition. Which will of course lead to mayhem and *** SPOILER ALERT*** ...more headless robots.
I think giving it six out of ten stars is generous.