In the year 2089, a small team of scientists and explorers have reached a distant planet, following clues discovered back on Earth to hopefully find the beings responsible for life on their home planet. Immediately upon entering the planet’s atmosphere, the team comes across a structure that appears to be created by beings and not natural causes. Cautious but optimistic, Elizabeth Shaw and Charlie Holloway explain the mission to discover any clues or possible life in the structure and find the answers they are searching for. Mission director Meredith Vickers appears to be against the whole mission, but she allows it to go forward. As the team goes deeper into the structure, they find a deceased alien body. As a storm approaches, the team rushes back to the ship and nearly loses their specimens, but the changes have already begun and the crew is in danger from the very specimens they hope to research.
Starring: Noomi Rapace (Elizabeth Shaw), Michael Fassbender (David), Charlize Theron (Meredith Vickers), Idris Elba (Janek), Guy Pearce (Peter Weyland), Logan Marshall-Green (Charlie Holloway), Sean Harris (Fifield), Rafe Spall (Millburn)
Being able to start a story anew requires the right collection of actors to make the story work. Noomi Rapace has received a lot of attention since The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, but her character has a very different feel from the gloomy Lisbeth. Rapace has a rather passionate presentation of her character’s desire to uncover the truth and her few moments of more personal challenges are balanced with a sense of pain. As the bionic David, Michael Fassbender mixes together a slight element of deception with a mostly structured, robotic sense of interaction. Charlize Theron, as the cold Meredith Vickers, ends up being a little less vital the story but makes her presence known. As the strong-willed pilot of the Prometheus, Idris Elba exhibits a strong charm and supports the cast well. Going through a significant physical transformation, Guy Pearce takes on the role of the elderly Peter Weyland, with all the wonder of a man searching for answers. Logan Marshall-Green puts forth a strong effort, particularly as his health deteriorates.
In an effort to revisit the world of Alien, Ridley Scott developed this prequel that has potential to turn into a set of origin films. The team traveling on the Prometheus is rather divided in their reasons for being on the mission. While Elizabeth and Charlie are hoping to find information about the origins of the human race, Meredith is more focused on simply carrying out the mission as quickly as possible, keeping the secret of her father’s presence on the ship and her frustration with his dying desires. The storm serves as a omen that danger is coming. The black ooze that seems to be perspiring from the containers throughout the structure have a mutating effect, which seems to intrigue David to sneak a sample into Charlie’s drink. The result sends the entire team into a frenzy to attempt to learn from the alien, humanoid species and avoid losing their lives to the harsh environment of LV-223. Ultimately, the surviving teammates are left to question whether the effort was worth the trouble.
If there are two issues that Ridley contends with in this film, there are definitely the existence of God and the concept of evolution. Many of the characters make references to or have conversations about the existence and involvement of God in the creation of humans. Elizabeth actually makes reference to continuing to believe in something, even in the pain of loss. This contradicts with the story’s focus on evolution, but the events involving the Prometheus crew contradict themselves as well. The black ooze has evolutionary powers, but it clearly reacts differently with different beings. The worms seem to grow into snake-like parasites, while the same ooze causes Charlie to mutate into a thoughtless beast. Even stranger is how the ooze causes a creature to grow inside of Elizabeth (possibly a mutated sperm or a strangely different type of creature than Charlie’s mutation) and it becomes much larger than any of the other creatures. In the end, the squid-like creature causes what may be the first classic alien creature to grow from the cavity of the humanoid. These inconsistencies do not seem to get explained at all in the film, but it could possibly come up in the sequel.
Prometheus is a compelling and gripping sci-fi horror film, and while it does have a number of holes in the plot and inconsistencies between the characters, it will certainly grab the attention of more than just the sci-fi junkies.
Dan’s Rating: 3.5/5
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