If you haven't seen it yet...you might not want to read on. There will be spoilers.
One of my favourite reviews so far has come from @infamouskidd's article on Aintitcool.com, here's the link if you want to check it out:
Some reviews have been quite scathing, soap boxes have been dusted off and claws sharpened. Others go too far the other way, rose tinted glasses and blinkers must have been handed out on the way into the cinema.
The reason I like Billy's is because it's, in my opinion, remaining objective on what appears to be turning into a bit of a marmite topic.
On a side note, this is clearly the most hilarious review of Prometheus ever:
Whilst Ridley Scott had to reference the links to the Alien story pre release, for contextual reasons as well as to heighten anticipation, it's the constant connections and comparisons I was trying to make that took away from the overall film. The most important thing for me with relation to the Alien films were that I found out about 'the spaceship' and 'the guy in the chair'. Beyond that, Prometheus has to be viewed as a film of it's own.
I found the film to be visually stunning. Also creative and ambitious in it's story telling. I could have ambled along towards the ending that we were all expecting. Instead it aimed for some real flourishes, which in my opinion it pulled off. The idea of our creation by a race who then go to great lengths to destroy us is very thought provoking. Also the 'black ooze' which manifests itself in various different ways throughout the film I found very interesting. Whilst it's been heavily criticised, the fact is that the Aliens from the franchise we know and love are birthed from the ooze, and you could argue that the acidic xenomorphs are the stuff of nightmares, so I find this variable manifestation quite poetic.
I also particularly like Fassbender's David. I genuinely felt that sense of being morally unburdened, his curiosity is childlike and untethered by thoughts of consequences and ramifications.
The one thing that lets the film down for me is the character development, or lack of. Again a feature of many people's criticisms, though one I believe to be justified. The two best characters are Meredith Vickers and David. Charlize Theron manages to execute Meredith's slide from cool and in control, to out of control and panicked perfectly. Whereas early in the film, we feel sorry for David when he is mocked for trying to mimic his human counterparts. Before a great scene at the end with Noomi Rapace, where David claims to feel fear and I adopted the same mocking nature that earlier had made me feel sorry for him. The biggest disappointment in terms of character development is Idris Elba's Captain Janek. I'm a great fan of Idris (for anyone who isn't familiar with his work, go and watch Luther), so I was very excited to see him included in the cast line up. He has some great moments, and a very heroic sign off, 'HANDS UP!'. The only problem is that he has the kind of insight that someone only gets from experience or a bloody past, but we never even get a whiff of what those experiences may have been.
Overall Prometheus is a hugely enjoyable film that I will be watching again. The best thing about it, everyone will come away with something different. I could sit and pick over elements of the film and the story for hours, but you just have to see it for yourself. I just wish I could go back in time to advise myself to forget about the Aliens franchise before going to see it the first time, and to just sit back and enjoy the ride.
Imagine not knowing the flick had anything to do with Alien, and it being slowly revealed through the architecture, design and ultimately the Space Jockey ship. Then losing your mind when you see the last shot. That would have been the ideal way to have experienced this film.
ReplyDeleteThat would have been something very special indeed!
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