Movie Review: Prometheus (2012)

Just when we thought Hollywood was beginning to look more bankrupt of ideas than ever, leave it to the man who launched the Alien franchise to return and make the world safe for not only that franchise, but for the world of prequels as well. Ridley Scott returns to the realm of science fiction to show us that yes, movie lovers, there really is a Santa Claus. Having help from my own personal doppelganger, Damon Lindelof (Lost), certainly doesn’t hurt things either. Clearly, the man knows the world of Alien inside and out. Together, Scott and Lindelof have delivered a film that last year’s The Thing only dreamed of being. And if your chest is ready to burst from anticipation, the release of Prometheus is finally here.

On December 21, 2093, we meet the 17 crewmembers of the Prometheus. David (Michael Fassbender) is an android with a love for Peter O’Toole in Lawrence of Arabia, designed to look after the crew. Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) are archeologists searching for the answers to where we may have come from. Cave pictograms (some dated 35,000 years old) from ancient civilizations across the world have provided clues, which all seem to point to one location in distant space. Shaw and Holloway have convinced Weyland Industries to fund their mission to seek the possible answers to our creation. Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron) keeps a steady hand on the proceedings and works for the deceased Peter Weyland (Guy Pearce). Hoping to meet our makers, the crew of the Prometheus, including the ship’s captain, Janek (Idris Elba), find more than they bargained for when they discover that our “engineers” they were so hopeful to find, may have been seeking an escape of their own.

Steering clear of spoilers is obviously for the best. The closest I came was watching the original Alien and Aliens the night before the screening. But there’s plenty in the trailers, TV spots, and viral videos to clue you in on some of what Scott, Lindelof, and fellow writer Jon Spaihts are up to. But there are some amazing and huge surprises up their sleeves and I can’t wait to see where things evolve. Shooting for the first time in the third dimension, Scott and cinematographer Dariusz Wolski, bring a truly organic approach to the gimmick and don’t just rely on the typical horror/sci-fi tropes with lots of stuff lunging for the screen. I didn’t see it in IMAX 3D but would love to as this version has a more open aspect ratio. There are some beautiful, jaw-dropping moments where you don’t even realize how effective it truly is. Having Ridley Scott return to the genre after 30 years, he manages to live up to the hype as Prometheus stands as one of the best sci-fi/horror films of the year.

Photo courtesy Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation