Hamish Newland

(2013-05-17 22:17:03)

Best Movie Ever

I went to the cinemas not knowing what to expect, I had waited for agesto see this film and when I walked out of the cinemas it took abouthalf an hour to really compute how extraordinary this film was.Fantastic movie with a great storyline, that grabs you and makes youthink that you are actually in the movie. Absolutely amazing specialeffects, wonderful actors (David the andriod was fantastic, played byMichael fassbender) and some awesome and frightfully moments.Prometheus blows every other Sci-Fi movie I have ever seen out of thewater, and when you think its finished it gives you one last epic scaryscene. 10 stars!

haibane-tenshi

(2013-05-17 10:28:04)

Probably the biggest let down in a long time

Not reviewing many movies, usually because i'm too lazy, but this timeit's a little bit too much.I don't know if it's because of Fox or if Ridley Scott just lost it,but this movie makes no sense. The scenario is absolutely flawed, it is centered around the most basicexistentialist questions without providing any answer or making anysense with them. There's no suspense, there's no action, there's no thrill, there'snothing to think about, just scenes that are patched up one afteranother which make no sense overall.Maybe a director's cut would be something good, because this thing'seven worse than Robin hood.Honestly, i'm surprised at what Ridley Scott's becoming, after doingmasterpieces like Alien, Blade runner, Black Hawk Down, Gladiator,Kingdom of Heaven... I mean, even Robin hood is a masterpiece comparedto Prometheus, to say how low it sank...Anyhow, Ridley, please go back on track and do us some good moviesagain !

davidwright2673

(2013-05-16 23:53:12)

Cynical!

When the news of an Alien prequel to be directed by Ridley Scott wasannounced, the cinema going public, and in particular those with apenchant for sci-fi, began anticipating the long, thought to beimprobable, return to form of the franchise and the exorcism of theever diminishing returns since Aliens over 25 years ago!Initial reports, though sketchy, seemed hopeful until that was a MrLindeloff became involved. Nobody in the cinema industry is morequalified at dragging out an interesting premise than one of thewriters that somehow managed to make the story of stranded plane crashsurvivors last for over 5 years! That is what has happened here though,reading a recent interview with him he states the original script wasvery prevalent with Alien references, eggs, face huggers, et al but whycut to the chase in one movie when you can cynically drag it out for 3with hack writing, poor characterisation & schizophrenic behaviour fromwhat should surely by the cream of the scientific community on such animportant mission! It looks beautiful & Fassbender is great so there's your 2 stars! I'm all for thought provoking movies that credit their audience withhaving intelligence, and the idea of expanding the Alien universe is agood one but Prometheus fails at both. We already know the corporationis manipulative and out for it's own interests, or is that 20th CenturyFox? I'm confused.......I think I'll skip part 2 (if I gets made which I doubt) and wait forpart 3 and the Alien prequel.Oh and one final point, it appears by 2093 women have abandoned suchpassГѓВ© items as bras and pants in favour of wrapping bandages over theirbreasts and genitals, I bet you didn't see that one coming ladies!

Ralph Marz

(2013-05-16 06:16:07)

22 years of delay

I was waiting long ago to watch this film and here are my impressions.The movie is full with great special effects I find great theatmosphere of the scenes. The technology is also good specially thealien ship and armor. Now the plot....well... since Alien and BladeRunner do not have anything to do with each other, I was expectingsomething similar with Prometheus. Unfortunately it didn't happen. Theplot was very predictable borrowing lots of elements from other movies(including Alien and Blade Runner!). The characters were quite"typical" (the very same ones you find in any other 80s Sci-fi movie).If this movie could had come 22 years ago certainly it could have donea landmark...but this is not the case. Watch it and have your ownopinion. In my personal view what makes a big difference between goodand immortal artworks is, among other things, a plot that goes likeroller coaster and you never know what is going to happen in the nextminute. Im not really sure if I will be eager to watch the sequel.

wasabiu2

(2013-05-15 23:52:18)

Cool looks, meh casting

just saw it. visually satisfying (saw it in 3d), love the futuristicdisplays, holographs and mapping technology taken right out of Avatar.Few rants on casting, why give Guy Pearce the latex 'aged look'makeover when we never see him young anyway? His young feet were a deadgiveaway. Much more authentic to have hired someone like Bill Nighy orolder to actually play an old guy. Looked like an homage to Kubricksold man end scene in 2001.Obviously there were many references and deja vu-like moments takenfrom Alien(s), etc. but I always find it funny when travelingscientists have to give a lecture to the whole team AFTER they wake upfrom hyper sleep for 2 years as to why they are on this trillion dollarmission in the first place. They act like they don't know why they arethere and have wandered in from another movie lot.I initially thought Idris was a good choice for the chill, coolcaptain, but he was way way too laid back and seemed out of place. Thepassion just wasn't there and he looked better suited as a skipper fora charter fishing boat tour. Fassbender - who i really loved inInglorious Basterds - was visually spot on in this movie, but played itas stoic as he did in Shame (ok i realize robots are), but I'mbeginning to think his acting lacks emotional depth, but it could justbe the roles he's taking.Noomi great bod underneath all the layers, Charlize always lovely - butdied in a lame way (just run sideways!) overall visual feast withreferences (direct or indirect) to iRobot(the Engineers - i see itdon't you?), 2001, Aliens, Avatar, etc.watch it in 3d if u can.

Vaughn Fry

(2013-05-15 15:02:28)

Could be the worst film linked, even vaguely, to Alien and that's saying a lot these days

The Alien formula (enter cave, encounter creature, return to ship anddeal with stowaway) is remarkably effective and possibly played out. Sowhat happens when the prequel Prometheus presents a similar scenario?With Prometheus, the highly anticipated follow-up ala prequel to Alien(1979), many of the original brains are on board including directorRidley Scott. This time archaeologist Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) ison an exploratory space mission to find who she believes is responsiblefor life on Earth, an alien race she calls the "Engineers." JoiningShaw are android David (Michael Fassbender), and rich girl MeredithVickers (Charlize Theron) and a crew of too many aboard the titularscience vessel.It's with a heavy heart that I can't sing the praises of the film whichI had calculated would be the best Hollywood would have to offer thissummer, if not all of 2012. The cinematography, art design, and someperformances are the boundaries of that praise.The beauty of the 1986 sequel, Aliens, is in the exit from the sci-fihorror subgenre and metamorphosis into a sci-fi action film. Let's behonest, horror sequels do not work… at all. They're formulaic. A newgroup of oblivious folks happen upon Camp Crystal Lake or Elm Streetand have to catch up with the knowledge of the viewers. Alien³ (1992)played more like the first than the second; it's Alien on ground forthat matter. Afterward the series attempted to adopt the spirit ofAliens to various degrees of failure.Creatures, hornets, even lions attacking and devouring humans don'trequire much explanation or motivation for their actions. Hunger andinstinctual survival are commonplace motivations that audiences canaccept without issue. When the creature is a giant, advanced humanoidthat has created technology and civilizations—there better be a heck ofa motive. Prometheus prods audiences into anticipating a sequel, whichmay never happen, for the answers to questions raised by this foulscript.As the plot continues to unravel, there is a combined effort to askewall continuity with the '79 film, leaving me to believe that this isn'tthe same planet and if that truly is the case we have no business beingin this theatre. I suppose I could write a prequel to Rocky thatdoesn't feature Rocky Balboa but since Joe Sixpack is a boxer he servesthe same purpose and the big reveal could be that it takes place in NewYork City. So long as they visit the same pet store, it's a prequel.Somewhat boldly, Prometheus doesn't adhere to the Alien formula. No,these scientists can't make an exciting movie out of an expeditionbecause they're too busy traveling to and from the site and ship. Tryand imagine Aliens had Ellen Ripley repeatedly returned to the ColonialMarine's spacecraft, only to head back to LV-426 because Newt got lostin the tunnel. Better yet, think about Alien if the crew voted toquarantine themselves to the plant and consider their company'sintentions. Prometheus could very well be the worst film linked, evenvaguely, to Alien and that's saying a lot these days. At least Aliensvs. Predator: Requiem had the familiar creatures.See my video review and all my reviews at my website VaughOnMovies.comand follow me on Twitter @VaughnFry.

Paul Kartsev

(2013-05-15 01:19:22)

Good sci-fiction movie but not so good as expected.

I do not know why everybody so much criticizes the film. I agree thatthere is some confusion in the behavior of the characters and damnedacting. Noomi Rapace's face nice in general, but unnaturally strainedas if it's was lifted by surgery, the upper lip is almost not moving,cheeks and forehead look as if injected with Botox. Charlize Theron iscertainly pretty, but it looks very strange in this environment. GuyPearce as an old Weyland is a replica of Benjamin Button of the samemovie. All the main characters are written very sketchy, as if theywere a puppets on the director's stage.However I cannot accept the main criticism of the screenplay. Thestory, although is very simple, but it looks solid and having the idea.I will not disclose details, but let me comment on the points thatbecame clear to me even before seeing the film when reading somereviews and seeing the movie trailer and ads.A certain race of humanoids decided to place the life on the Earth.Then they periodically visited checking how the life developed. Whetherdeciding that life has evolved more than enough, and the experiment canbe finished, or the seeding was made initially to test the new weapon,the aliens decided to dump millions of gallons of this crap on us, butby coincidence of someone apparently has carelessly touched her withall the alien paratroopers' base was destroyed. What are the secretsand misunderstandings does the critics see? What Creators of ourCreators did the main heroine fly to seek for? The reached by"Prometheus" planet was a research or military base, and Elizabeth Shawgoing to the home planet of these humanoids. What will she finds there,and what will happen next - we'll see. One of the main advantages of the film is picture quality. Panorama andthe depth of 3D-scenes are at the Avatar level. In my opinion, thelatter still more spectacular, but Prometheus is not much behind him.And of course, as already noted, the outline of the film is made by"Alien" canon: a ship, scientists, a robot, a woman and a monster,everybody dies; there is only she and a broken robot at the end. So thefilm has to be palatable to the fans of the classic "Alien" withRipley.Now a bit about the robot. Yes, it is the main protagonist of the film,and the main idea of the film reveals around him : why do people makesuch illogical things? What force they are driven by in the thirst forknowledge? The robot apparently wants to understand this, because beinglike a man and even exceeding people in ability to assimilate andprocess information it has not these characteristics. And a soul aswell. And here I would not set an equal sign. The absence of the soulhere means the absence of empathy. That explains HOW he could make hisaction against the doctor. But the driving force of this act is thedesire to make something like a human being illogical, just to see whatwill happen? The robot asked the main questions: "How far can you go tofind answers? What are you ready for? "But someone has created ourcreators? So is there a God somewhere?Assessing the film, I can say that in my view it doesn't falls short ofthe "Alien"/"Aliens" level with due regard for time and facilities forspecial effects, and of the "Avatar" in the general entertainment, but"Avatar" is rather fantasy than science fiction, and in sci-fi"Prometheus" is one of the few and the best in recent memory. So giventhe shortcomings of the script and the actors, some of the blunders inthe details and the lack of "wow" effect I give 7 of 10 to him.

vitaleralphlouis

(2013-05-14 16:38:34)

In Space No One Can Hear You Laugh -- or Snooze!

Settled into Washington DC's fine AVALON Theatre, with curved screenand excellent stereo, we were anxious for veteran filmmaker RidleyScott's latest effort.It seemed, for about 40 minutes, that the movie might be breaking newground in originality; but disappointment set in Big Time at about thepoint when the two space nerds get strangled by the snakes. Can anybodysay "boring." It came to pass that we would get very little plot, nocharacter development, and no suspense; just CGI nonsense and lots ofnoise. Nothing scary. Not the snake scene. Not the alien abortion.Nothing! Why? No reason to care about the cardboard characters."Alien" was loaded with suspense. Even "Alien Resurrection" (wynonaRyder and the monks) was suspenseful. Both had character developmentand actual plots. In 2012, movies are aimed at the empty-heads and aswirl of CGI colors along with lots of noise is all they require toscore a movie a "10". Think about the role models for the youngaudience: Be a dumb-bell in school and you might land a job in spaceexploration.Not to be too negative, it was enjoyable as a Bad Movie. Shame on you,Ridley. You did a good job on CBS's "The Good Wife" but not here.

Tamas Polgar

(2013-05-14 06:35:06)

Not worth watching!

This is a terrible disappointment. What happened to Ridley Scott? Thesame what happened to George Lucas, David Lynch and many greatHollywood directors.There are simply no words describing the boredom and sketchiness ofthis flick. Characters are shallow or totally empty, they actually haveno characters. Most of them just stare at computer screens in a shock,or at alien artifacts with the same face. If we asked an amateur middleschool acting class to perform something "Alienic", probably this wouldbe the result. What we see on the silver screen defy the laws ofphysics, logic, and whatever comes. Heck, it even defies the Alienuniverse! For example, what the heck was the deal with the guy whoturned into an invincible zombie? There was never anything like that,and we get no explanation. Or how come they have fancy 3D hologram userinterfaces for their computers, yet the story predates the Nostromo'sdemise, where we only see randomly flashing lights and keyboards? Thestoryline is a catastrophe. A lot of events happen which are notexplained and do not fit into the previous episodes' concepts. Thecharacters often act against common sense, especially the twoscientists who lose their way in the alien ship. Just how stupid shouldyou be to start taunting an obviously hostile alien life form in analien planet which you have just explored? Also, Mr. Weyland's maskseems like from an 1980 kids' movie. Why didn't they simply hire an oldactor to play this role? A guy in a rubber mask in 2012 is simplyridiculous, at least they should have added some CGI.Some people love this movie for being so "spectacular". Sure it is:another CGI porn. Anyone with some taste or common sense must avoidthis movie, as it is awful, and not even worth downloading, let alonepaying for it.

Dan Franzen

(2013-05-13 20:46:43)

Prometheus is bound to please

If someone had to make a quasi prequel to Alien, I'm glad it was RidleyScott. This dark, energetic, and unnerving thriller takes us to thepurported point of human creation. It's as epic as the hype made it outto be, backed by a fluid, mysterious mythology and a passing nod to notonly Alien itself but also to 2001: A Space Odyssey.It's 2093, and man has discovered the same cave painting (predatingknown human existence) in remote locations across the globe. They takeit as an invitation to visit other planets, although you or I may takeit another way. They've pinned down where they think the creators ofthese drawings and have zoomed off on a long, long, cryogenicallyenhanced journey to meet their Makers.Like the Nostromo in Alien, the Prometheus is populated with an arrayof interesting characters. The scientific expedition is led by Drs.Shaw and Holloway (Noomi Rapace and Logan Marshall-Green) and includesengineers, biologists, and geologists. The captain of the ship isJanek, played by Idris Elba. The commander is Charlize Theron, and - aswith most Alien movies - there's a nonhuman, David, played by MichaelFassbender.We join the crew as the ship arrives at its destination, an unnamedmoon in a far-off solar system. This, they think, is where thoselong-ago visitors originated. They plan to, uh, talk to them. You know,sort of rap with them to find out why they abandoned them and so forth. Almost nothing goes right. The mission is funded by the WeylandCorporation (its long-dead owner gives the crew a message viahologram), but it's possible that its agenda and that of the scientistsaren't a complete match. I guess it's safe to say that everyone findsmore than they bargained for. Shaw and Holloway desperately want to be right - one for the sake ofscientific bragging, the other because of more spiritual, internalizedreasons. Personally, if I were in their shoes I'd be questioning why Iwas on the mission (even if I had discovered all the cave paintings)and if my benefactor had any ulterior motives. These are some trustingscientists, is what I'm getting at here.The movie is dark, which begs the question of why anyone in his or herright mind would pay money to see it in 3D. 3D absorbs light. If youhave a dark scene shot in 3D, it will be even darker. And you're in adark room. Poor foolishness. That's why I saw it in plain ol' 2D. Themovie looked terrific, from the bulky, craggy surface of the moon tothe tight-fitting chambers within it, mimicked to some degree by theinterior of the ship itself. The best sci-fi includes answers that lead to more questions, andPrometheus is no exception. We know about as much as the scientistsknow and almost nothing of what Commander Vickers knows. The plot takessome twists that are both plausible and unexpected, and the actionscenes are impeccable. Everything adds to the mythos of the Alienuniverse, but as soon as we learn something - something else doesn'tquite add up. Not in the illogical sense but in the sense that there isso much more that our characters (and we) just don't yet know. Andthat's good storytelling. We identify with certain aspects of most ofthe characters, even the cyborg David, and that means we manipulatewith and are manipulated by them in turn. It's a majestic movie, especially for one with so many scenes set inconfined quarters. Technology, innovation, and creativity, with scarceuse of CGI, are on display here. There may not be a scene that's quitethe equal of the notorious chest-bursting scene from the original, buttrust me when I note that there are plenty of close substitutes,including a couple of pulse-pounding death scenes. The acting is universally excellent. Theron has a tough role as the icycommander with a lot on her mind, but she pulls it off without seemingtoo detestable. Elba makes for a fine paradox, a laid-back daredevil.Rapace is a truly wonderful find as the gritty heroine. Guy Pearceshows up, although you won't recognize him. But they all take a backseat to Fassbender, who follows quite expertly in the shoes of IanHolm; in fact, he surpasses Holm's fine earlier work. Fassbender'sDavid is both intelligent and empathetic, even though he lacks feelingshimself. He is at the center of all the subterfuge in this film,circles around circles of deceit.Prometheus is certainly one of the best in the Alien series, surpassedperhaps only by the second one (Aliens plural). It includes stunningvisual effects, a taut, brainy storyline, humanized performances, andan eye-opening denouement.

capelaez

(2013-05-13 18:11:31)

Outrageous

I wanted to see this movie so much, just because of the title (which Ithought hinted at some really interesting story) and because of someposters I had seen (Which showed really nice aesthetics).Other than that, I was completely unprejudiced: I had no idea it was aRidley Scott movie, I had no idea it was a prequel to Aliens.I lamented not having been able to see it in the theater, but was happyenough to get it on BluRay. And when it started I stopped watching 7minutes into the movie because I though I needed to see this with awhole bunch of friends. It seemed like what was going to come was goingto be epic.What a letdown! The only word for this movie is "Aggravating"1) The loopholes in the plot are too many to enumerate. They exist inevery scene, some are just stupid and inoffensive, but many are verydamaging to the story. 2) The whole point of SciFi is to build believable and marvelousfantasies based on the wonders of science. This movie is about aspatial adventure in which they let stupid scientist come along. Oh myGod the were so stupid all of them! They kept screwing everything up! 3) Again, SciFi has to be somewhat believable in order to ignite yourbrain. In this movie you can have abdominal surgery, suit up and gofight monsters. Normally you are willing to take some bull from badscifi, but this is too much. It's like they don't even like science :'( 4) They have a perfect setting to tap questions about science, theconcept of humanity, faith, evolution, God, endeavor, loyalty, bigcorporations, Love, immortality, greed, ... But they never get into anyof this topics. So much wasted potential. What's really frustrating isthat they kindasorta bring these questions into the conversation onlyto answer them with a corny, clichГѓВ©d line (most of them literally fromother movies, as a form of inappropriate homage to them). 5) You could remove every character but two and the story wouldn'tchange. This movie could have lasted about twenty minutes.The more I remember, the more I hate it. The reason for this is that isnot just another bad scifi movie, it's because they had the chance forone of the best, most meaningful stories that could have been told andthey decided to make a horrible piece of non-action, non-scifi,non-character film. One and only good thing: Aesthetics. But not good enough to sit throughit.

robertllr

(2013-05-13 04:35:22)

Too awful to rate

There are not enough negative stars for me to adequately describe howbad this film is.I'm sure it's no surprise by now to anyone that Prometheus is nothingmore than a remake of Scott's own sci-fi/horror classic, Alien.Prometheus has the same line of action, the same characters, and thesame design elements. It begins, after two limp prologues, the sameway--with a ship in deep space--its crew in cryostat's; a human lookingandroid with it's own agenda--dictated by a higher authority--who holdshumans in contempt,; and a perky heroine increasingly on her own as theexpendables drop off. The same design of the alien artifacts; the samegirl stuck in a lifeboat with a parasitic alien. Scott even quotes hisown images--like the android's severed head still talking, fluiddripping from its mouth. Yeah, Riddley, we get it. And ultimately, ofcourse Scott ends the whole affair making it clear that the whole sillyaffair is not only a reprise of Alien, but its prequel.Then there is all the malarkey. Prometheus has a standard sci-fi plot:life on earth was seeded by aliens, and an expedition goes back to findthem. Indeed, the premise and the film's ending are lifted exactly fromthe 2000 film Mission to Mars. The science in Prometheus is dreadful--ahodge-podge of inconsistencies and non-sequiturs. For example, twoexpendables are attacked by the same alien parasite. One dies, theother is turned into a zombie. Why? And then David and Elizaeth alsohave different physiological reactions to being infected. And don't youjust love the way the blasted ship falls back to the ground--so gentlythat the two women stranded there can stand and watch it, and then runaway fro it. Hello, gravity accelerates falling bodies. Sheesh.What is the first prelude supposed to suggest? And why would theengineers, choose as a way of wiping out humanity on earth, to exportsuch vicious creatures, creatures they cannot control and that would,in effect would sterilize the whole planet, rendering it unfit forengineer habitation as well. Say what? Prometheus's end made me laughout loud. Our heroin determines to track the engineers to theirhome-world and find out, "Why create us and then decide to kill us?"The android asks her why it matters. She replies that it matters to herbecause she's a human and not a robot. On the other hand, to the film'saudience--comprising, we assume, humans and not robots-- it doesn'tmatter either.

wolf_rahm

(2013-05-10 19:40:38)

Too much like aliens.

"The movie disappointed me because it went in a different directionthan what I had hoped for." That's my opinion, and also a good analogyfor how overused the ideas in the movie is.At times I was frustrated by the predictability. Some movies have asolid story, and can provide surprise twists in a natural way. Othermovies have less of a story, and then they have to experiment withdoing the opposite of what the audience expects. Ridley Scottapparently does not feel he has to do anything to create twists in thiscompletely mundane storyline.You will see unprofessional crew, scientists vs soldiers, obviousexpendable characters, young actor with "oldman mask", stereotypicalalien base, stereotypical aliens, casual making the greatest discoveryin human history, and so on. I believe they are "TV-Tropes" orwhatever...I don't understand why there must be retards on spaceships that maketons of stupid mistakes just to further an empty plot. JUST LETEVERYONE BE SMART, AND MAKE THE ALIENS SMARTER! One good thing aboutthe movie is the main character played by Noomi Rapace. Heck, allperformances are at least decent. The CGI is great, it has some verybeautiful sceneries. The story isn't terrible either. My beef is mainlythat a movie about aliens should feel alien, shouldn't it? And theidiot/expendable characters... FFS.

kunstenaar-474-974335

(2013-05-10 13:13:35)

Disappointed

The best of this movie is actually, that I started to read the negativereviews here: and a lot of them made me just laugh, because of so manytrue remarks about this movie. Really, Mr. Scott, I am a big fan ofyour films. But this one... I don't get it, why the IMDb-rating intotal is now at 7,5...I mean: Its okay to go for the big adventure, and graphics areadequate, but why is this story so flat?, the characters sounderdeveloped?, the references to Alien (and alike) so cheap?, theacting mostly so horribly uninspired?, or pretentiously overinspired...And there sooo many details just no right: F.i., the old guy with somuch money and even more hope (way too much make up btw), he justcrawls over there to get a bump from the "Founder" and that's it? Thatwould be fine in a comedy, but here? Or the landing on the distantplanet: found the place to be right away, after such a journey. Wouldit not have been much nicer, to create some tension for the viewer bymaking it a bit more difficult to find this place? Or the pregnantgirl: just gets this rough surgery, then staples, to walk/work on? Andthe whole crew: big mission and then such a bunch of weirdos? Enough, Ijump to the end of the movie: seems pretty much like we have to fearpart 2. I just hope for the better... maybe we get some answers, if theFounder in the opening scene was a Prometheus, and if forced orhowever... but please: Mr. Scott, get at least a better script-writer!

sadfran

(2013-05-10 05:57:57)

A piece of work

OK, right now I don't have clear words to describe the experience ofPrometheus. But I know the truth about the experience. Prometheus isthe best movie I have seen since many years. It's intelligent, no...clever and enjoyable all along. Terribly scary too. The casting isgreat, the story is incredible, almost biblical. In fact,Prometheus isa gift from an old director to a new generation of audience who don'tknow what real great cinema is. The lesson is hard but life changing.You need to see Prometheus, because it's the idea you have about moviesand almost never find in it. And once you have find it, you will neverwant again all the junk studios give you since forever.

elmeeksio

(2013-05-09 17:13:30)

Not bad...but a lot of unanswered questions

When i first heard about Ridley Scott making an 'Alien Prequel' I wasvery excited, I'm a huge fan of the original films (ignoring AVP1+2),and was excited to see where he would take this story of the infamous'Space Jockey' and how we would perhaps end up seeing the birth of theXenomorph! Well if like me this was your hope for the film…..forget itright now. This is NOT an Alien prequel, at best you could call it aSpin-off' that utilises the same universe, and some crossover ideas,but that is pretty much where the links end. For one this doesn't eventake place on LV-426 (the planet in Alien) so if you were hoping tofind out how the derelict Alien ship crashes and what popped out thatfamous space jockeys chest…You Won't! Prometheus could stand alone as afairly decent sci-fi film, but in all honesty it isn't one that inyears to come you would regard a classic, and considering it is billedas a Sci-Fi HORROR, it isn't really that scary either. Lets start withthe positives: • It looks Fantastic! If you do choose to see this inthe cinema, 3D is a must. Ridley has captured a truly breathtakingvision of another world, you can almost feel the dust and bloodfloating around the theatre! The ship designs are also stunning, makingyou believe this is what future space explorers will look and worklike. • Fassbender, Theron and Elba are great in this movie.Fassbender's depiction of 'David' the android aboard the ship is trulyhaunting, Elba's ships captain is a throwback to the 'space trucker'attitudes of the original Nostromo crew, and Theron is great as thecold 'Vickers' an employee of Weyland industries who always seems likeshe has a hidden agenda. Unfortunately this is about as positive as itleft me feeling, the film is plagued with plot holes and unansweredquestions (Ridley has announced a sequel so maybe these will come intime) however some of my major concerns and dislikes were: (May containminor spoilers) • The creature designs are poor. Considering Scott saidthe original Xenomorph design was overused and no longer scary, what wegot in it's place was in my opinion no where near as good. One scene inparticular left me laughing at how ridiculous what I had just witnessedwas. • Apart from the three listed above, the rest of the characterswere pretty boring. Rapace as 'Shaw' is supposedly the backbone of thisnew story and to be honest I couldn't care less if she lived or diedthroughout the whole film – not a good sign. • Plot HOLES!! Not to givethings away, but massive continuity issues when relating to theoriginal film. Unanswered questions, Why was there only one engineerleft?...we never find that out.. Why does David deliberately infect acrew member?...nope, no answer for that either…Why did the spacejockeys leave a map that directs us to a baron dead planet rather thantheir home planet?...nope…. And they go on, and on. Rest assured, loveit or hate it, you will be discussing this film with your friends forweeks afterwards, disagreeing and seeing different meanings in thestory. But if you go into this movie believing you are seeing an 'Alienfilm…you will be disappointed.

Matchu73

(2013-05-09 01:11:50)

Weak story lines and character development...

Well this was an interesting film...for the wrong reasons ! My wife andmyself watched this film recently and though it promised much but thelack of understanding of the storyline and plot holes really made thisa missed opportunity.All too often we were confused by the vagueness of thestoryline....which would have been great if it was due to a cleverscript that purposely kept you guessing so as to deliver a gloriousconclusion towards the end. However, this was just not the case andpure frustration ensued.Ironically, as we discussed the film we talked of lazy script writingwhich assumes that keeping people guessing and confused is a "goodthing" when in reality it hides the fact that there is no substance. Anexcellent writer will keep you guessing before delivering understandingand a conclusion in a glorious climax.Indeed the irony was that as we discussed the poor script we likened itto "Lost" and low and behold two days later we realised that the writerwas indeed from "Lost" !!! This could have been and should have been anexcellent film, but the opportunity was "Lost".....

wb010b4494

(2013-05-08 13:46:05)

Flawed, yet perfect.

Origin story for the 'Alien' species. Not on the planet from the original film. We do see an early version of the 'Alien' at the end. Presumably goingoff to infect another ship close by where a sleeping "Engineer" (ourspace jockey from 'Alien') will take off, getting only as far as thenext planet/moon (LV426) where, at some point, he'll give birth to theXenomorphs we all know.As for our dynamic duo at the end, taking off in an 'Engineers' ship totheir home planet . . . who knows?The David character had me laughing with his very dry sense of humor,almost tasteless at times but that was totally the right way to go withhim. Perfect casting.Rest of the cast did well too, it was easy for me to tell who was who,where and when. Film was nice to look at too, no surprise really. Onlyflaw is that stupid characters still do stupid things but that's thesame of most films. Anyone expecting the tone and action of 'Aliens'will be really disappointed. Anyone expecting a thought provoking filmabout genetics, the origins of man, theology and a really tightly woundstory set in the 'Alien' universe won't be.

tomimt

(2013-05-07 20:32:16)

Scott's stunning return to sci-fi

Seeing Prometheus left me in a stunned silence. For a moment I sat inmy seat and thought to myself: "What have I just seen?" After a momentof silence I asked myself "Is this a good or a bad question?" And inall honesty I enjoyed of what I saw, Scott taking me for a ride in thefuture, playing around, teasing me with oh so familiar bits and piecesfrom Alien. In many places Scott dangles the bait, winking, "see, thisis Alien... but it is not. And then again it is." Visually Prometheusis stunning. Scott proves that he's not just at the top of his game,but he has given everything to create Prometheus a visually astonishingmovie despite the alien planet is visually less interesting than someother alien worlds. But that bleakness of a dying world is mesmerizingand Gigers designs are just as pleasing as they've always been.Basic story is as simple as it gets: We go somewhere we shouldn't haveand we pay the price. But in this simple story Scott asks some grandquestions, which he doesn't answer. And those grand ideas are what leftme stunned.I don't know if Prometheus will become a classic such as Alien is. Butwhat matters is, that Scott still has it and he is much bolder thanmany other sci-fi directors out there. He doesn't want to let you go tothe world where good and bad are basic concepts. Everything is, in theend, gray matter.

Andrew Woroniecki

(2013-05-07 07:45:50)

I've seen it twice with multiple groups of friends (some of which hadn't ever seen an 'Alien' movie). Excellent and worth many viewings!

For those who are fans of the 'Alien' saga, you'll love this film.Director of the original, Ridley Scott, does a great job exploringthemes and ideas about the origins of life on Earth, and how they mighttie in to the events of the 'Alien' story.The strength of this film, is it's balance of creepy horror and trulydeep storytelling. From a horror stand point, the creep factor of'Alien' has always been in the nature of the Xenomorph life cycle (Idon't want to spoil anything here for those who aren't familiar withit), and this film delivers it's share of horrific moments. Howeverit's never just for horror's sake, and the moments always lendthemselves well to the intellectual storytelling. The kind where theviewer has to do a little bit of thinking on their own, and come upwith some answers that aren't spoon fed to them, but instead, droppedin subtle hints and clever writing. Characters, who also don't knowwhat is going on, will sometimes try to lend their frantic opinions tothrow the audience some shapes, as they say.From the standpoint of someone unfamiliar with the 'Alien' saga, you'renot going to miss anything. The film functions as a standalone if youdon't know enough about the fore-story (I saw this with some friendswho hadn't seen any of the 'Alien' movies), and knowledge of the otherfilms only helps to enrich the viewer's story comprehension, not leaveeveryone else behind.It explores a lot of good philosophical ideas, such as thepossibilities of the origins of life, and the consequences of tamperingwith things beyond our comprehension (I found myself later consideringthe potential consequences of stem cell research and DNA tampering).There's also some religious implications. Although none of itoverwhelms the overall work, and the viewer, should they pick up onthese themes, is left to ponder them at their own will, instead ofbeing forced to roll their eyes as if to say "c'mon already, get to thegood stuff".As for the other non-script driven elements, the special effects weretop notch and the acting awesome. There wasn't any over cheeseyness asthere might be in other horror movies, and I personally love MichaelFassbender. I also appreciated the absence of a common absurditysuffered by many horror movies, namely: the tendency of characters toact as though everything is alright when it obviously isn't. Scottdoesn't insult the audience's intelligence, and the characters willoften do exactly what we would do: do what must be done in the interestof self preservation. This was a problem I had with the original'Alien', and it is thankfully much more down to Earth, so to speak.