"Prometheus" (2012)

Prometheus

Rated R

2 Hours 4 Minutes

Story

A team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a journey to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race.

Starring

Noomi Rapace
Michael Fassbender
Charlize Theron
Idris Elba
Logan Marshall Green
Guy Pearce

Rotten Tomatoes Grade
74%

My Grade
B-

The big hooplah: is this or is this not a prequel to "Alien"? Well director Ridley Scott has come out and said Prometheus is not a direct prequel to the Alien saga, but it does take place in the same fictional world and does occur "some time" before Alien. Other then the Weyland Coorporation, and maybe one or two other very minor things, I didn't really get the big connection to the sci-fi film from 1979 starring Sigourney Weaver. Call me dumb, call me ignorant, call me whatever you want, but I just didn't see it.

So to me, Prometheus is it's own separate film, and by the way it ends, it sets up a sequel (that would not be Alien). This film had a ton of hype going into it's release. A lot of viral videos surfaced, and there was just an abundance of advertisements. So this is the perfect example of a movie that will automatically not be as good as you want it to because you pumped yourself up so much for it. This obviously won't be the case for everyone, but I feel the movie opened up to such polarizing reviews that it has to be the case for a lot of people.

I really was looking forward to Prometheus and I so badly wanted to love it, but ultimately it left me feeling a little let down. This is not a bad movie, don't think that's what I'm saying. Prometheus is a stunning sci-fi film that falls a little short of being epic. It also doesn't live up to the films it's supposed to preceed. Here's the thing for me, the movie looks incredible. Stunning visuals, breathtaking special effects. I mean that big final scene of the "engineers" ship crashing was phenomenal to watch. You will get no complaints from me about how the film is presented to us visually. It's one of the better looking movies this year.

Prometheus promised us good storytelling. It was supposed to offer us a big unveiling of how mankind began. From what I saw, it only sort of did this. Yes, I know, the engineers created us through their DNA. But does it say if they did this intentionally or by accident? Then for some reason they are hell bent on destroying human kind. Something else that is not really answered. The engineers also created these other beings (alien like creatures). There is also some kind of black ooze (reminds me a LOT of The X-Files) that is alien in nature and apparently grows into a physical form. It impregnated our leading lady and gave us one of the more disturbing birthing scenes in recent memory.

My problem is that there was a lot of story going on here but every path seemed to not have an end in sight. This movie reminds me of a season of Lost. Really entertaining, fun to watch, great acting, but ultimately leaves us with more questions than we had going into it. If Prometheus has a sequel than it's an awesome set up film. It ends with a cliffhanger, or more so a "To Be Continued" moment and gives us very little satisfaction about the story being wrapped up. I don't need answers spoonfed to me, but I don't think they even gave vague answers to the film's biggest questions. So if there is NOT a sequel, than ultimately I feel that Prometheus was a huge let down while remaining to be an entertaining movie.

So I'm seriously torn with the movie. I loved it but I also didn't love it. It didn't provide enough for me to care as much as I wanted to. But it's just so well made that it's hard to really call this one. I'd suggest that everyone go see it...if you are into this kind of movie at least. Again, maybe my brain wasn't working when I watched it, who knows. I'm admitting that perhaps I was a little ignorant to the storytelling here so don't give me shit. But I also know I'm not the only one who wanted so much more from this film. I just really, really hope there is a sequel.