Marvel’s Avengers, the conclusion of Christopher Nolan’s
Batman trilogy, Sam Mendes’ apparently not controversial take on Bond: three
films heavy with expectation and subject to intense scrutiny.
Trumping all of them is of course Prometheus, Ridley Scott’s
return to the film that made his name. Blessed with the best trailer of the
year and a level of secrecy that served only to heighten expectations,
Prometheus (arguably like The Dark Knight Rises) is surely condemned to fail –
it simply cannot be as good as the fans and critics want it to be.
And this fan and would-be-critic had lofty hopes for the
film, given the astonishing trailer and Ridley’s own pronouncements on the
theme(s) of the film. Of course the film falls short of my imagined benchmark –
but that does not make it a bad film.
I must be clear: I’m a huge fan of Alien, every single
aspect of the film is exquisite; I love Aliens, quite simply one of James
Cameron’s best films and a worthy sequel (by dint of being entirely different
to its predecessor); and I enjoyed Alien3 for it contains much to be admired.
Clearly Alien 4 adds little to the canon.
Indeed ‘canon’ is the crucial element here and the hook to
Prometheus: we all witnessed the so-called Space Jockey skeleton in Alien
shortly before John Hurt came to face-to-face with a face-hugger, and if not
the biggest cinematic question of the last 33 years, there’s always been that
nagging doubt – who or what is the Space Jockey and how and why did it die?
Prometheus’ basic premise hinges on that question and then
expands on it to provide a direct link into Alien. The characters in the film
ask several different questions, many of which go frustratingly unanswered. A
key plot point effectively established in the trailer is confirmed for the viewer
in the opening scene – so that’s a big narrative shock that is simply dismissed
– but why the antagonist in that scene does what he does is never revealed.
Indeed, the ‘why’ question is the one question to virtually
every topic raised in and by the film and yet it goes consistently unanswered.
Why did our creators create us and why do they seem intent on destroying us?
Those interested in the alien’s biology and its life-cycle
will find themselves confused by Prometheus: yet more questions are raised than
answers given.
What Ridley does give the audience is of course a fully
realised future – and much more so than James Cameron’s Avatar. There’s nary a
shot that’s not sumptuous nor studiously yet effortlessly composed. The design
of the Prometheus and its descent through the clouds are pure sci-fi porn. All
the tech and hardware is utterly believable, the CGI almost impossible to spot,
and the 3D imaging frequently breath-taking. Frankly, it destroys Avatar.
The film’s story being what it is, we know from the start
that no character is likely to meet a happy end, nevertheless this is no body
horror/frightfest. There are scares – the first appearance of the antecedent of
the face-hugger and the removal of the first alien insemination, the latter of
which had me squirming out of my seat, for example – but Prometheus has not
been created to be the lean, mean machine that Alien was.
One of the elements that raised the original above its
B-movie story origins was the time it took to establish its characters and the
stunning cast in place to bring them to life. Prometheus fails to reprise this
success: Charlize Theron convinces in her ice queen role, but I’m not sure her
character is convincing; ditto Noomi Rapace as one of the scientists leading
the expedition (her journey from hippy space cadet to lab rat to Ripley-esque
jars); and Idris Elba is under-used as Prometheus’ captain. Almost inevitably
what acting honours available go to Michael Fassbender as the
impossible-to-read android David, who in a nod to his maker’s favourite film,
adopts the hairstyle, tone and cut of Peter O’Toole’s TE Lawrence. David is the
film’s stand-out character and is an intriguing addition to cinema’s rich robot
history.
And to an extent here is one of the film’s weaknesses: the
first three Alien films are three-way confrontations between the alien’s
pyscho-sexual assault, the men who would seek to control it or kill it, and the
one woman who must overcome the latter before she can conquer the former –
namely Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley. Without her, an Alien film is
inherently weaker.
I will see the film a second time, so the score below may
yet change.
Score: 7.5/10
