Prometheus

It’s not often that sci-fi movies come along which are as ambitious as Prometheus.  Most just introduce us to some new creature or place we haven’t seen yet.  Prometheus includes both of those elements, but also asks the question “why”.  Why do other parts of the universe exist and what does their existence say about us?  It addresses how little we really know.  Many people wonder about whether other beings exist outside of Earth, but most of us are content not really knowing the answer.  Furthermore, if there is a God, it’s easy to question why that God would only create life on this one planet.  But what if our creation is due to something that exists on one of these other planets?
Of course, the film takes place in the future when we might actually have the technology to physically investigate these questions. Prometheus is the name of the spaceship sent to the place believed to explain the origins of the universe.  A crew of 17 people is assembled which includes scientists, geologists, doctors, and even a robot created in the likeness of man.  The robot’s purpose of being there is that it’s truly more useful than any of the humans.  It can translate any language and answer questions that most people can’t. 
The film is directed by Ridley Scott who directed Alien.  So naturally, you can expect some scares in the film – this being his most similar film since, it was also rumored to be related to that one.  There’s always the suspense of what you’re going to find when exploring uncharted territory.  Aliens can wind up being peaceful or malevolent.  Malevolent usually makes for a much more exciting movie though.  The action scenes and special effects are sufficient for handling that aspect of the film.  But what’s not sufficiently answered is the “why” that I mentioned earlier.
We’re given some tidbits of information that point to an answer of “how” we got here, but the final act of the film still leaves some things unexplained.  These types of films like to keep you clamoring for a sequel.  There’s nothing wrong with a bit of mystery – we shouldn’t need everything to be spelled out for us – but when the central aspect of the film is not given any closure, it leaves you wanting more. 
The best performance in the film is that of Michael Fassbender who plays the robot, David.  Playing something that is not human is always a daunting task for an actor, and he pulls it off well.  There’s always the suspicion of the robot possibly turning on its human colleagues, knowing that it has the greater knowledge to overpower them, similar to H.A.L. in 2001: A Space Odyssey.  In fact, the experts aboard the ship do not seem nearly as intelligent as you’d expect them to be on a mission like this.  Flaws aside, this is the kind of large-scale epic movie that goes a little farther than the average sci-fi film does.

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Last updated: 2012-07-08 21:32:16 by thatmoviedude