Cosmic Weirdness In The Alien Universe

Rating: 9/10 (8 May 2018)

Prometheus is something of a unique film. It is set in the Alien universe as a prequel to the 1979 original, but features no actual Aliens (that is, the famous Xenomorph fails to make an appearance, but there are plenty of Xenomorph-ish nasties to be found in here) and instead focuses on the famed 'Space Jockey' found inside the derelict spacecraft on LV-426. As it turns out, these 'Engineers', as they are called, made mankind in their image and seeded Earth with DNA that give rise to all life - an odd blend of panspermia and intelligent design that is made to sound more significant in dialogue than the film actually shows, as the story culminates in familiar Alien-esque running-from-scary-monsters-in-tight-spaceship-hallways.
For this weird experiment to work, it is fortunate that none other than Ridley Scott returned to the Alien universe for this one, as the first director to make more than one Alien(ish) movie. Arguably, the film is somewhat bogged down by its heavy-handed premise and philosophical pondering about the meaning of life, which apparently caused a Ctulhu film to be cancelled for the time being due to the similar plot and subject matter. Until the Engineers wake up, Prometheus lacks a clear antagonist. That isn't bad per se, as Scott's marvelous cinematography and the eye-popping SFX (a good blend of CGI and classic puppetry) succeed in creating an inherent sense of dread and mystery as the characters survey the barren, creepy planet of LV-223 (clearly meant to be a sister world to the original films' LV-426). Throughout the film, we see hints of an Alien - murals, critters with acid blood, egg-like vases - with no real payoff, which actually helps in mythologizing the Alien as some sort of universal avatar of death, so powerful that we're simply not yet worthy of seeing the real thing (again) at this prequel stage. The Alien is suggested but never seen, but we feel that it's out somewhere not too far from the proceedings of this film, like Thanos lurking in the background of half a dozen Marvel movies before he finally appears.
The main story itself is an (albeit slow-paced) roller coaster in sci-fi body horror that we haven't seen on this filmic scale since the 80s. People mysteriously fall ill, find alien worms in their eyes and are horribly transmutated into mindless killing machines. If this sounds a bit pulpy, Scott can be credited for making it more genuinely horrific than silly.
The cast do a good enough job, with Michael Fassbender standing head and shoulders above the rest - even outshining Noomi Rapace, whose character feels like a more innocent version of Ellen Ripley, before she became obsessed with eliminating the Alien menace. Fassbender threads the uncanny valley as the android David, an innately creepy, mysterious entity whose true purpose and allegiance remains clouded in darkness - he doesn't become a full-fledged villain until the next installment, Alien: Covenant. Guy Pearce, inexplicably covered in old man makeup due to scenes with a younger version of his character never making it into the final cut, retcons the AvP movies by appearing as the eponymous founder of the Weyland Corporation, in a role that seems like it could and should have been more than the dark side of John Hammond (you know, the guy from Jurassic Park). The rest of the cast are somewhat nondescript, and the film relies too heavily on characters doing unwise things (such as taking off their helmets on an alien planet) to further the plot.
Despite all this, I'm awarding the film a 9/10 for the sheer fun of it. There've been few genre films like this in recent years, especially not on this scale. While it's thankful that big sci-fi has made a return in the last decade, most of it has been glossy PG-13 feel-good fare like Star Trek and Avatar, or run-of-the-mill (if not still good and enjoyable) action fare like Battle: Los Angeles, Edge of Tomorrow and Oblivion. Prometheus deserves to ber lauded for being something different, and for harking back to the days of cosmic weirdness and unnerving body horror in sci-fi.