R, 2 hr. 4 min. Directed By:
Ridley Scott. Release Date:
Jun 8, 2012.
I have really mixed feelings about Prometheus, and not in the way these
summer movies normally tear me apart. On
the one hand, this is EXCELLENT science fiction. The science is believable, the technology is
well-executed, and notably for a near-future sci-fi piece, appears easily spun
out of our “modern” technological capabilities.
Magic/technology don’t blend, and we don’t suddenly have capabilities
that seem way far out of our grasp. The
cast is outstanding, even the members of the cast who aren’t famous (or known
for being good in front of the camera) do a fine job. The special effects are great, and Scott didn’t
fall for the Michael Bay mousetrap and make all the special effects over the
top. I have to commend him on the choice
to make most of the things that would set this as science fiction understated.
But even there, I spotted a few
holes in the theory. I don’t have a PhD
in biology (xeno or otherwise), nor do I play one on TV or in a movie, but I
can spot a threat display when I see one and I’m smart enough to know when to
take my ass back a step or two so some critter doesn’t prove that humans are
not the top of the food chain, we just pretend we are. The fact that this PhD didn’t is kind of mind
boggling. I also took exception to Data,
I mean David, even with Fassbender’s art behind him, David is too frigging much
like Data to be worthwhile. If someone
had, even in jest, asked if he was “fully functional” I was GTFOing.
And then, I’m not sure WHY this
movie was made. They clearly spent some
dough on this movie, and I’d bet a TON of money that this is the herald to some
Alien reboot or remake… well, you’d
be pretty foolish to bet against me.
That’s all I’m going to say. But
back to my point: I’d rather have just
watched a new Alien model roll
through.
And I say this because, while I
found this film to be technically close to flawless, I didn’t love this
movie. I didn’t have the same awe-filled
reaction to this that I had to the last really good piece of science fiction to
get churned out of Hollywood… oh, almost three years ago. I didn’t love the characters. Actually, I didn’t like any of the
characters. Not even a little. But, they were presented to us as they were
intended to be. At the end of the day, I’m
mostly wondering why we aren’t just waiting for the eventual remake/reboot.
