Movie Review: Prometheus

So i know it's been some time since i last posted anything and part of that is due to my spending 3 weeks away from my computer getting some much needed R&R. As such, i figured i'd ease myself back into the flow of things with a movie review of a movie that i'm probably a little late to the game when it comes to seeing. Prometheus which is developed by Ridley Scott, director and, sometimes producer, of the Alien quadrillogy, Blade Runner, the cult classic Thelma and Louise and Gladiator is a science fiction horror which seems to be Sir Ridley Scott's favorite genre. And a good one at that. However, like the consummate movie critic that i like to pretend i am, i did have a few issues with the movie as a whole but we will approach those at a later time.

I would more narrowly classify this movie as a Sci-fi drama with thriller aspects to it. Staying with the Ridley Scott status quo, the movies are a little slow to start but once they start climbing the tall mountain to the climax, it starts picking up very quickly to where it goes blindingly fast then begins to slow down towards the end; giving you just enough time to come up for air. Which brings me to my next point, this movie is very gripping. Even though half of the cast was a bunch of unknowns to me, i found everyone's performance to be superb.

Also, as with any sci-fi from the, what must be a terrifying, mind of Ridley Scott, you will see more than your daily recommended dosage of freaky fucking aliens which are hell bent on slaughtering the human race. There are some 9 foot tall giants, some aliens that look like a cross between a cobra, an electric eel, and ugly (I worms or anything that looks like worms), some aliens that look like squids and plenty of horrific deaths to sate the pallet of most sadists. As overly dramatic as i may have come across there (have i mentioned i hate worms?) the implementation of these Aliens are used tastefully and the first half of the movie keeps you in suspense about what's going to pop out of where.

I really did find myself sitting on the edge of my seat and white knuckling my hands together so i didn't end up accidently giving the poor soul next to me some serious bruises. That being said, i would like to address a few of my complaints with the movies.

I vividly remember reading in several places that Ridley Scott was fairly insistent that Prometheus was NOT going to be a prequel of the Alien Quadrillogy, however there were some pretty blatant signs pointing to the notion that this was exactly what the movie was, a prequel to Alien. The events of this movie take place only a few years (if i have my time scale correct) before the events of Alien. The corporation that is funding the events that occur in the movie is the Weyland Corp. In Alien, the Weyland Corp had merged with Yutani Industries to make Weyland-Yutani, as shown in the previews, the giant alien ship that is crashing to the ground IS the giant alien ship that is wrecked and re-discovered by the Nostromo in Alien. There are several other telltale signs but for the sake of anyone who hasn't seen it and still wants to i don't want to throw in any spoilers. Not to mention that if this is a prequel like they're claiming that it isn't they've left some pretty big discrepancies in the original story arc.

My next beef is that the storyline is pretty procedural when it comes to Ridley Scott sci-fi's. The best way to describe Prometheus's story arc would be Alien with a touch of Aliens and a surprise twist ending.

All in all, I think it was a fantastic movie which anyone could sit down and watch without having any prior knowledge of the Alien Quadrillogy. And as Sci-fi thrillers go, it does it's job extremely well compared to most of the shit that Hollywood pumps out and calls entertainment these days. Definitely go and see it if you're in the mood to go check out a movie. Probably not good for dates though.