I figured that if I keep things simpler, I'm more likely to update this. And this actually helps me keep track of movies/books I've gone through. So I'll try to keep things short.
I've been dying a little to see Prometheus. It sure has pedigree, with its Alien mother and all that. But to be honest, I did not find Alien quite that special in my heart, even though I find some brands of sci-fi entirely fascinating and will love anything disgusting by principle. True, I'm from a generation jaded with special effects, and there were certainly points in Alien that even I gasped and found memorable, but it just didn't quite do it for me, even after several viewings and some serious analysis in an English class where the lecturer beat "strong females portrayed in films" to death (literarily, not literally, of course).
So I was really hoping Prometheus would finally hit the spot, what with the advanced technology and green screen. And I absolutely love all three leads (Noomi Rapace, whom I adore from the original The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; I've been a fan for Charlize Theron since the Reindeer Games and Trapped days; Michael Fassbender can basically do no wrong (except for that seriously creepy grin during one particular shot of The X-Men: First Class)).
But alas, it was not to be. The story line is a bit ... convoluted and thin at the same time. The characters are quite 2D (despite the 3D presentation) and their motives are random and contrived and inconsistent. With the Alien franchise, it's not important to have Ripley's backstory, to know how she came to be Ripley, but it's important to know where she is going. In Prometheus, you are not very clear where anybody is going. It does not help matters that it's hard to like any of the characters and you don't very much care what happens to them. In fact, the character that you may grow most attached to is a robot who can't die but can dye his hair platinum blonde to imitate his cinematic idol.
The visuals are pretty impressive in some aspects (the planetarium scene with the said robot comes to mind), but the human prototypes are strangely jerky and un-life-like. But the landscapes and the hollow caverns and intricate sets make up for some of it. Maybe.
So overall, visually pleasing, semi-enjoyable, but ultimately disappointing. Oh well. I was just hoping that a film with so much money and passion invested in it would have considerably more substance than, say, Alien vs Predator. The latter actually may prove to be more fun.
PS. When are we going to have the technology required to make wrinkles look convincing on actors?
POSSIBLY SPOILING THOUGHTS:
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- The self-surgery machine was cool, but really, Dr. Shaw? You really just severed all your abdominal muscles, got the monster out, STAPLED your tummy shut and freaking DASHED DOWN THE HALLWAY?! That's not how a C-section works, no matter how high-tech your staple gun is.
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