Scientists Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) discover cave drawings that predate anything previously uncovered on Earth. Believing that the drawings are a clue as to the origins of mankind Shaw and Holloway join a crew of other scientists to search for answers. The crew travel to a distant planet aboard the ship 'Prometheus' only to discover an unsettling secret that may threaten the very existence of mankind.
Prometheus is director Ridley Scott's long awaited return to the genre of science fiction. The genre which he helped redefine with films such as Alien and Blade Runner. Prometheus was originally meant to be a prequel to Alien but instead the film is merely set in the same universe, adopting an original storyline with a new set of characters. Although the film may not be a direct prequel to Alien there is no denying Prometheus has many connections and references to Scott's original masterpiece. The film itself has an almost identical story arc as Alien: a crew embarks on a mission to explore a distant planet only to discover the inhabitants were not what they expected. Although the two crews have different motives for traveling to their destinations you can't help but notice similarities once they begin to explore the planets.
This film is pretty ambitious film, let's face it a film centred around the origins of mankind was always going to be hard to pull off. Scott has ensured there is a very interesting mythology involved with the film and ultimately created a very intruiging story. Sure there are plot holes but the main issue with this film isn't the daunting task of searching for our beginning, it's the screenplay. Almost all of the characters are underdeveloped and the story itself is very frustrating. There are times where the films flows smoothly and you find yourself getting sucked into the story but for the most part the timing in the film doesn't flow. I wanted to see more suspense in the film and more drama, despite the film running for 2 hours it felt as though there wasn't enough time to tell the story properly. The conclusion itself came very suddenly feeling like an anticlimax to such a promising idea and concept.
The cast for this film is very strong with Charlize Theron playing the bitchy and determined Meredith Vickers who is the representative from Weyland Corporation of which the mission has been funded. Idris Elba playing Janek the layback pilot and Guy Pearce who plays the elderly Peter Weyland. The actors are given strange roles to work with and although Theron and Elba give good performances there is barely enough provided to build a character on. I have no idea why Pearce was even cast as he is completely unrecognisable under make up and special effects and is only in the film for about 5 minutes. The character was completely unnecessary and just left you feeling disappointed that you never got so really see Pearce on screen. Rapace was fine as the main lead and features in perhaps the most memorable scene involving a surgical operation but overall her performance was pretty disappointing.
The only real stand out performance came form Michael Fassbender who plays android, David. Fassbender seems to be getting all the good roles in Hollywood at the moment and David is no exception as he is definitely the most interesting an most developed character which is ironic as he is a robot. Fassbender's character continues in the alphabetic tradition of androids in the Alien franchise from Ash in Alien, Bishop in Aliens and Alien³, Call in Alien: Resurrection and David in Prometheus. David is a very inquisitive and of course intelligent android who likes to model his behaviour and speech from Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia. David is a very intriguing and at times creepy character who seems to have an agenda of his own.
The one aspect of the film that is fairly undisputed is the quality of the special effects. Scott is famous for using very minimal special effects in his films, instead choosing to use real life approaches and utilising the fear of the unknown. Scott embraces special effects here with many scenes showcasing his impressive vision. Whilst Scott has embraced new technology there are still plenty of memorable moments where fear is brought on from the unknown, highlighting as always that the imagination is the most powerful way to induce fear.
It was always going to be hard for Prometheus to live up to it's high expectations given that Scott was returning to the genre of science fiction and that the film was a sort of prequel to Alien. Add to the mix a very effective marketing campaign and it was hard not to get swept up in the excitement. Unfortunately like many others I was left disappointed. Despite the disappointment Prometheus still manages to intrigue and thrill and offers some very impressive visuals. Although you can't help but compare it to Alien there is still plenty to admire. Despite the lack of character development and frustrating story fans of the genre and of Scott's work will not doubt still find the film entertaining. In the end Prometheus poses more questions than it answers.
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