Prometheus - spoiler free

I had avoided all promotion, publicity and spoilers for Prometheus as I wanted to go into the cinema on opening day completely blind. It was a complete 180 turnaround from The Avengers as with each passing tv spot I had practically watched the film before it was released.

PLOT: Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) find a sequence of unrelated cave paintings which suggests the answer to the origins of mankind may be found on a distant planet. The scientists join a crew of explorers and set off to find the planet. Once they arrive there are more questions than answers as they stumble upon something which requires me to go back and watch the film again to understand it fully (ever the professional). END PLOT

The pace of the plotting is slow yet engaging but only up to a point. I have never been a fan of films that attempt to explore the creation of mankind as they ultimately leave the question open to allow for “viewer interpretation” however in Prometheus it wreaks of “how the hell should I know but the movie is already over two hours long so let’s just wrap it up and leave it up to viewer interpretation – or the sequel”.

The film ended with so many questions you just have to question the strength of the writing.  I have no problem with open ended films but it just felt that Prometheus was too vague to be considered clever or thought provoking.

Although the storyline left a lot to be desired there were many other aspects of the film which saved it.  The cast were exceptional for the most part with Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender being the unsurprising standouts although it has to be noted that their characters were the only two that the film attempted to flesh out.

Charlize Theron was fine however her character was ultimately pointless. If Meredith Vickers was removed completely there would be no gap to fill. Vicker’s revelation towards the end of the film was so cheesy it induced neck muscle straining levels of cringe.

Idris Elba, although as effortless as ever, wins the award for the most unnecessary American Accent of the year and the rest of the cast are all vaguely familiar from somewhere (Sunshine and minor Game of Thrones roles).

The film looks as gorgeous as you would expect – it was dark, atmospheric and simply stunning.

The effects and set pieces, although sometimes lacking in tension, were well executed however there was no grand finale, or if there was, I was underwhelmed.

The poorest effect was probably the most basic – Guy Piece being aged looked awful and he reminded me of a very old Bill Tannen gone wrong.

I like my sci-fi slow moving and atmospheric and Prometheus did fit the bill perfectly but it has also left me cold and I cannot explain why. It is most definitely a film that needs to be watched a couple of times to be appreciated so I will check it out again on dvd. Prometheus gets decent first viewing score of 7.5/10. It just lacked something but I’d be dammed if I know what it was.

I would not be unhappy if James Cameron rocked up with the Marines for Prometheus’s, Prometheus’, Prome2heus, Promethei, the sequel.

PS – the Alien references are there and blatantly obvious but you can find them for yourselves!