Prometheus

***Prometheus*** is a 2012 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott, written by Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof and starring Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce, Idris Elba, Logan Marshall-Green, and Charlize Theron. A prequel to the *Alien* franchise, it was released on June 8, 2012. A sequel, *Alien: Covenant*, was released in May 2017.

## Plot

In 2093, after a clue to mankind's origins is discovered, explorers are sent to the darkest corner of the universe. Their different expectations take a toll on them when they find something unimaginable.

## Why It's Great

1. The entire movie is about origins (hence not showing Facehuggers, classic Xenomorphs, etc), and does a great job exploring the concept. It asks questions that people don't like to hear, and leaves the most jarring and ambiguous unanswered.
2. Very nice visual effects for the spaceships, USCSS Prometheus, and the Juggernaut.
3. Director Ridley Scott is back once again, just 33 years after he directed the original *Alien*.
4. Beautiful soundtrack that was performed by Marc Streitenfeld.
5. Suspenseful and shocking moments throughout the movie.
6. The film manages to combine horror and action while adding a philosophical exploration of the very nature of human existence.
7. Top-notch acting.
8. The filming locations and the cinematography are beautiful and dazzling, making you feel like that you're on another planet instead of on Earth, and manages to pull the viewer into the movie's world.
9. There are some of the characters that are a bit of fun, entertaining, and well developed, even if the characters aren't good enough.
10. The ending where the Deacon bursts out of the Engineer's chest is chilling.

## Bad Qualities

1. A major weakness of *Prometheu*s is how similar it is to the first *Alien* film. In particular, *Alien* was revolutionary for having its protagonists be a crew of a commercial space tug, but here, when the characters are well-financed and highly motivated elite scientists, they still act like unprofessional dabblers and look like they have never been in a field research (or even a field trip, for the inconvenience).
2. In a film that is by and large astonishing to look at, Guy Pearce's terrible aged make-up really stands out, the result of prepping a design on the fly during a then-tighter schedule. One could explain it in-universe as side-effects of Weyland trying to extend his age, but it can still be jarring or even creepy.
3. Some cringe-worthy dialogue, especially the infamous "I love rocks" line.
4. There are some plot points that show up are not resolved at all, and it tends to be all over the place, leading to multiple plot-holes.
	* Why did Fifield get lost, even though when he has the map on his arm from the whole time?
	* How did the Engineer know where Shaw was in the climax?
	* Why was there a shrine to a fully grown Xenomorph in the cave when the ending clearly showed us a 'proto-xenomorph' coming out of the Engineer's corpse?
	* Why did David spike Holloway's drink if he has no emotions?
	* Why did they pretend Weyland was dead the whole time?
5. The characters make a number of stupid decisions.
	1. There's a scene where Shaw and Vickers infamously run away from a giant ship rolling towards them in a straight line instead of out of its path, leading to Vickers being crushed to death. It was so bad that CinemaSins coined the trope "The *Prometheus* School of Running Away From Things" after this scene.
	2. For some reason, one of the scientists say that the air on the planet is safe to breathe in and removes his helmet, clearly unaware of the biological contaminants in a planet like that.
6. It completely ignores the events of the *Alien vs. Predator*films.

## Reception

*Promethus*has a 73% approval rating from 305 critics with an average rating of 6.95/10 on the review-aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes.

## Box Office

*Prometheus* earned $126.4 million in North America and $276.9 million elsewhere for a worldwide total of $403.4 million, making it the 18th highest-grossing film of 2012, and at its peak it was the 155th highest-grossing film worldwide unadjusted for inflation.

## External links

* ***Prometheus*** on IMDB
* ***Prometheus*** on Rotten Tomatoes