Attention, fans of 2001: A Space Odyssey...

Rating: Null/10 (6 January 2016)

If you never saw "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1969), then run yourself silly in a giant hamster wheel for 10 minutes, watch "2001", then come back and read this review. 2001 is the one that started them all: those scifi epics that blended spaceships with the ontological questions of existence (and no, ontology has nothing to do with cancer. I looked it up). Kubrick's 2001 spawned an entire genre of film in the same way Darwin spawned an entire genre of science. Notable follow-ups to 2001 include Tarkovsky's "Solyaris" (1972) and Soderbergh's remake "Solaris" (2002), Robert Wise's "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" (1979), the recent Battlestar Galactica remake (2003-2009) and Ridley Scott's own "Blade Runner" (1982)... stories that hit on questions of existence, evolution and the creation of life. Here in "Prometheus" we have the latest foray into this small circle of films that blend suspense, philosophy... and big things that zoom through space without making any noise (AS IT SHOULD BE).
In 1979 when director Ridley Scott made his groundbreaking "Alien", it was apparent that he was stylistically influenced by Kubrick's "2001". He presented an ominously cold future full of enormous, sterile machines that reduced humanity down to a flyspeck. And from there he proceeded with a classic existentialist struggle of the human faced with an ominous, overwhelming conflict. Prometheus is visually and stylistically a continuing chapter of the Alien world, and in fact there are plot elements that tie into the Alien story as well (although some of those elements seem to be more gimmicky than substantial... tying this story with the enormously popular Alien franchise). From there we are led into an epic tale that blends good ole "2001" philosophy with "Alien" action. The question is: how do you prefer your balance between the two?
Another important question is: how much can you suspend your disbelief? Granted, all futuristic films require some suspension of disbelief, but in this case there are a few moments when you'll need a 50 story tower crane to suspend your disbelief. Others have covered some of these points in their reviews, so I'll just leave it and assume you can deal with it.
Regarding the deeper thematic elements (the meaning of life and all that jazz), here's where I'm speaking to the 2001 fans because I feel that's what "Prometheus" initially promises us. Much like 2001, it begins with a cryptic dramatic scene on Earth, eons ago, then soon jumps us to a colossal spacecraft of the future. The message being: this film promises to address the question of our existence by examining our future. But my personal feeling is, following this excellent introduction, the film gradually makes too many compromises for the sake of "momentum, pacing and time" (3 words which are used a dozen times in the DVD commentary to excuse the cutting of 37 minutes of film). And ultimately, the film delivers a wild scifi/action/fx ride that will certainly get your heart pumping, but not necessarily your brain cells firing.
I definitely recommend this film to scifi/action fans because it has an intelligent premise and manages to blend that with a fast-paced, classic blood & guts action story. But for any 2001 fans who might want more, I strongly urge you to watch the 37 minutes of deleted scenes. With only 1 or 2 exceptions, I think they all should have been part of the movie. Not just to further explain the story (which isn't really necessary) but to add dimension and meaning to the characters, expose what drives them and how it fits into the overall theme of searching for the meaning of life.
In particular there are 2 scenes between the captain of the ship "Janos" (Idris Elba) and the dragon lady "Miss Vickers" (Charlize Theron) which take these two characters out of their 2-dimensional, supporting-character roles and flesh them out as real human beings with internal conflicts and complexities of their own. In the commentary the cut was justified, saying that the scenes unnecessarily took away from the main hero's story. As if we're too stupid to handle a subplot. Other cuts were similarly justified for plot momentum (sanctioned by Ridley Scott himself, so we can't even blame some dumb corporate suit for butchering a masterpiece), and you soon understand that it was not Ridley Scott's intention to go so far into 2001 territory as it was to stay true to the "Alien" space horror formula.
And on that note, I felt a bit cheated because the formula in the 2nd half was almost identical to Alien, almost scene-for-scene toward the end, and I feel like it didn't offer anything above and beyond the original masterpiece. Noomi Rapace is an excellent actress, but she didn't quite fit the tough-as-nails Sigourney Weaver role that she was evidently expected to emulate.
Perhaps an unintended highlight of the film was the performance of Michael Fassbender as "David", an unusual character whose secret I won't ruin though it's revealed in the opening minutes. Fassbender was easily 50% of the reason why I liked this movie.
In the end I enjoyed "Prometheus" as I think every scifi movie fan will. But part of me felt let down because of what it could have been. I felt most cheated by the filmmakers' self-admitted compromises for the sake of moving the story along at a brisk pace. But at the same time, nobody can deny how majestic the visuals are, certainly the best scifi special effects I've seen in a long time, and the action succeeded in getting my pulse pounding twice as fast. "Prometheus" does make a very powerful, original statement. So yes, go see it. And maybe in a few years we'll get the "Prometheus full extended cut redux", or whatever it'll be called, for those of us who can take 37 minutes more. One way or another, I think this film is a step in the right direction for scifi.