Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Now Playing: Prometheus

To prepare for Prometheus, AnCe suggested an Alien marathon, since the movie is from the same universe.  Despite Mr. Scott's insistence that this was not a prequel, we erred on the side on caution.  After seven hours of Aliens, we felt prepared for a knock-down, drag-out epic.

Alas.

I won't talk spoilers, because that's not fair.  There's little this movie offers and taking away its meager plot thrills would leave you with nothing but scraps, my poppets.
The tagline reads: "the search for our beginning could lead to our end."  You may suppose that the movie is indeed about the philosophical and scientific debates on the origins of life: what the implications are of extra-terrestrials visiting Earth during its primordial soup phase.  You may think that there will be cool premises and awesome mindfucks.  You may think: MatrixInception!  Maybe something like The Fountain or even a trippy ST:TNG episode.  You may think all of these of things.  You may think none of them.  But if you think you will get any answers, any satisfaction at all... you will be mistaken. 

Prometheus has a great cast: Theron, Elba, Rapace and the remarkable Fassbender.  They are wasted on lifeless characters.  Prometheus has stellar cinematography, showing vast expanses of Iceland and Africa...too bad we spend so much time in a dark cave.

Thoroughly disappointing.  It had serious potential, none of which is realised.  I'm giving it a harsh, but fair, 1.5 out of 5 stars.  Why?  Because it squandered all its wealth and gave us nothing at all.  Whatever you may think this movie is about, I can guarantee that you've thought about it more than the writers did.

No comments: