Don't Let Fanboys Convince You That You're Stupid if You Don't Like This Movie

Rating: 6/10 (27 June 2012)

Wow, over 1300 user comments makes it seem almost pointless to add one more, but here are my thoughts (I'll keep them brief).
To anyone who's a fan of the "Alien" series, "Prometheus" will probably supply some at least modest fun, as there are enough tie-ins to the earlier films to keep you engaged. To others, it might seem like an esoteric and obscure sci-fi film that fades instantly from memory after it's over.
The slavering fanboys will have you believe this is the most profound movie ever made. It's not. The fact that it tries to be and fails is only one of its problems. It would have been much better if it had not tried quite so hard; the beauty of the first two "Alien" movies is that neither had great ambitions to be anything other than fiendishly entertaining horror/action movies, and they both succeed tremendously on their terms. "Prometheus" wants to be something more, but it plays like something conceived in great detail in Ridley Scott's head but only put down on film in vague outlines. There are all sorts of questions the movie raises that it doesn't answer. Fanboys will tell you that that's the sign of a brilliant movie and that you're a dolt if you can't answer the questions on your own. But there's a difference between purposeful ambiguity that serves a narrative purpose and ambiguity that results from bad writing. When you ask the audience to fill in too many blanks on their own, you're just being lazy.
"Prometheus" seems like a good movie while you're watching it (though even then it really starts to fall apart in its second half), but the more you think about it later, the worse and worse it seems.
Grade: B