Movie Review: Prometheus

The world is no more what it used to be when Ridley Scott revolutionized sci-fi movies with Alien, a 1979 horror film set in outer space. Despite initial mixed reviews, it quickly acquired cult status and has stayed put on its perch ever since.

No modern American film has probably been analyzed in books and journals quite as extensively as Alien.

Thirty-three years on, Scott’s marvelous return to the genre he helped redefine is a sweeping, visually stunning and impressively mounted production that makes for compelling viewing for the most part.

It is difficult to say if eggheads will have the Alien kind of field day with Prometheus as well, but the film sure is a worthy addition to the sci-fi horror canon.

In spirit, Prometheus belongs to the same narrative terrain as Alien. It was after all planned as a prequel to the classic.

But in terms of substance and style, it sets a completely different pace, moving away from the grimy, claustrophobic spaceship of Alien to enter an infinitely more expansive universe just as fraught with danger.

The famed chest-bursting scene in Alien is matched here by a no less jaw-dropping machine-aided abortion that the principal female figure subjects herself to flush out an alien in her womb.   

The overarching questions about the origins of mankind and the place of human beings in the larger scheme of the universe are probably too huge for the sci-fi horror genre to embrace in their totality.

But Scott, a master storyteller, orchestrates the resources at his disposal with such skill and precision that the fact that Prometheus does not provide all the answers does not undermine the enjoyment of watching this riveting space adventure.

It’s 2089. Two scientists, Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green), having studied ancient cave paintings from around the world, conclude that knowledge about the advent of human beings on Earth is probably hidden in a distant corner of the universe.

A few years after their last such discovery on the Isle of Skye in Scotland, the duo joins a trillion-dollar expedition on a space exploration vessel called Prometheus – named after the Titan who was cast out of Mount Olympus for stealing fire for the use of humanity.

On the vessel are a corporate executive Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron), an android David (Michael Fassbender) and the captain Janek (Idris Elba) among a motley crew.

They reach an abandoned planet, wake up from deep slumber and venture out of the ship. They are in search of a race that they have christened the Engineers, who may have been responsible for the origins of the human race on Erath eons ago.

They run into deadly creatures who begin eliminating the explorers one by one even as the android among them works away to prove that the humans who created him were themselves created by a life force that exists on this distant, dangerous planet.

There’s mythology, theology, cosmology and metaphysics in this amazing mix, but even though at the philosophical level all of it might not make sense, Prometheus is a dynamic enough sci-fi entertainer to keep you glued to your seat.

Noomi Rapace may not quite be in the Sigourney Weaver league, but Michael Fassbender (whose reputation as a high-quality actor will always be secure after his performances in Steve McQueen’s Shame and David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method) is outstanding as the eerie David.

Charlize Theron goes all out as she always does but, unfortunately, the screenplay does not give her enough to do. Idris Elba as the no-nonsense, sharply observant captain of Prometheus is first-rate.

Prometheus is a thrilling ride. Hop on.