Who's Seen Prometheus?

I'm always happy when a new science fiction movie comes out, because they're few and far between. Prometheus has been a long time in the making, the first origins began in the early 2000s. After many incarnations, it finally came out recently, made at an estimated cost of $120-130 million (Director Ridley Scott had asked for $250 million).

My friend the movie critic Leonard Maltin, who would be the first to admit that science fiction is not his favorite genre, liked and recommended the film saying it was “big, impressive… well-cast.” He did have issues with the ending. See his review here. On the Rotten Tomatoes Site, it's pulling a 74% “liked it,” from both critics and audiences.

Don’t worry, no spoilers here.

I love Ridley Scott, one of the greatest living directors (Alien, Gladiator Blade Runner, Thelma and Louise to name a few of his best). And the visuals are amazing. There is one scene that I guarantee no one will be able to forget, involving the main character, the lead scientist played by Noomi Rapace. I did have questions about the script. These are not the thoughtful questions that make you wonder about the universe, but much more in the shattering of the “suspension of disbelief” category. Sometimes these involved motive, possibly the result of unforeseen edits and group decisions, but they are still troublesome. The ones that really bother me are the too-easy stupid crew moments such as why take off your helmet when you're in an alien environment full of flesh-burning slime?

But I'm willing to forgive this in lieu of wonderful elements such as the Keir Dullea quality of Fassbinder, the robot. I don’t think this is a coincidence. Most critics note how Fassbinder’s robot, named David, is modeled after Lawrence of Arabia, as stated in the film. But Dullea is much more reminiscent of David, the main character on the ship in 2001, A Space Odyssey, his wiry body, bony face, handsome but also creepy, and his icy, detached demeanor, stripped of messy emotions. It’s an homage, I suspect, to the classic science fiction film and the brilliance of Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke.

Fassbender

Dullea

A sequel is most certainly on its way, assuming the high box office numbers continue. Scott has said he would need two sequels to link up to the Alien film, so maybe we’ll get lucky.

What did you think of Prometheus? Like? Hate? Or…?