Prometheus

[Wuming01]

The film doesn't work as an epic, but it does ask some very interesting questions and is a fun and cheesy way to pass time. I was actually meh on most of the crew members except for Janek, David and Vickers (silly Milburn and his penis snake monster obsession!). Perversely, I found it funny when the giant hula hoop spaceship crushed Vickers and she died almost as soon as she landed on the planet. Why didn't she think of running, you know, to the side?

But old!Guy Pearce was a mistake. Totally unconvincing. Why not just get an actual old man?

[SockMonkey]

Maybe they saw the viral marketing as more important than it actually was, and that people would enjoy seeing the young Guy Pearce from the viral with porridge on his face.

[chris4862]

Just got back from seeing this, and I totally loved it. I do think there were a few minor flaws, but overall i thought it was fantastic.

I agree that there were too many characters. Although, this was a vastly different type of mission from the mission in "Alien", so i do understand the need for more characters, i just feel like there were so many faceless background people that weren't needed, and even some of the ones that did get a handful of lines could have just been merged into 1 character with more individual relevance rather than 5 nobodies who get killed off without anyone give a shit.

I also echo the sentiments that killing Vickers was a mistake. From the moment i heard that Charlize was cast in the movie my first thought was that she would be the Ripley-esque character of the movie, and even though Noomi was the eventual heroine of the film, i still think that Vickers was in fact the true Ripley of this film, they just chose to go down a different route, which i suppose is wiser then ending up with an "Alien" retread. Still i think her character had far too much potential to simply crush her with a bloody space ship.

As for unanswered questions, I personally don't think it needed to answer all the questions, and i'm guessing they never intended to, as this was clearly set up to be the start of a new franchise. But I do think that the basic question posed at the beginning of the film (Where did we come from) was answered flat out. The primary question that provoked the creation of the movie in the first place was answered as well. It clearly outlined what the space jockey was, for the most part it told us why they where on that planet, and it told us exactly how it ended up the way we see it in "Alien". And they even went a step further to show us the origin of the Xenomorph.

The question posed at the end, (Why do they want to kill us?) will be answered in the next movie, if there should be one. And according to the writers, they and Ridley Scott actually know the answer to that question, so it *hopefully* wont just be something that gets dragged out endlessly and never fully resolved.

[Baby Clyde]

What a bag of shite.

[RobR]

This is definitely leading the running for my biggest film disappointment of 2012.

It posed some interesting questions and when viewed as a wider metaphor it's worth is perhaps elevated somewhat, but as a straightforward standalone film it just doesn't work at all. It's also a bit too silly for my liking and not as scary as I had imagined/wanted.

[GhettoPrincess]

I really enjoyed it! I however didn't like Vickers death (more so for the fact she was a great character rather than it was a stupid death) or the ending.

[The Still Major On Sheets]

I liked it but it's flawed
The horror movie elements didn't really work as I thought the film was curiously lacking in tension. I felt no nervousness when watching it. There were a few mild jumps.

It takes a bit to get going but I had no problem with the unrushed beginning as I like space exploration style stuff. It was mysterious and interesting.

The acting was very variable. Only Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender and Charlize Theron had decent characters to work with. They also gave the only good acting performances. Everyone thinks Michael Fassbender steals the film as David, but I thought Charlize Theron was the most interesting character. She got to play a coward in a role that usually wouldn't be portrayed in that way.

Guy Pearce in old age make up didn't quite sit right with me.

Kate Dickie further confirms my theory that it is impossible to act with a broad Scottish accent. It always sounds phoney and mannered in films.

Idris Elba as the ship captain felt miscast. I can't escape the feeling he was great in The Wire, but has been pretty poor in everything else. He strikes me as a one trick actor who only had the one role in him.

I just didn't feel many of the actors really fitted their roles. It wasn't distracting or anything, but I would say it's one of the worst cast films I've seen.

It's a good looking movie but it's not a knockout. I think the production design and the creature concepts were rather prosaic, fairly unimaginative and unsurprising. I liked that the lighting was rarely fully dark. It's very nice to be able to actually see what the camera is looking at.

***BIG SPOILERS START***

I didn't care for the Noomi Rapace birth sequence. The whole thing was poorly handled, almost like it was no big deal getting infected, having surgery while awake to remove it and then escaping from it. No one chased after her, no one checked on her or asked questions about her or the alien. She also walks away from it as if she only has an upset stomach. The whole section was just weirdly done to the point of incompetence. The lack of proportional reaction to what was a very big deal destroys the credibility of the scene. In my opinion they should have just deleted this whole section (and altered the ending since this alien wouldn't be in the spaceship anymore).

The film raises a mountain of questions about the alien life cycle. How do these creatures connect to the ones in the Alien series? I have no idea. It's all pretty much new stuff. I feel there might be some incoherence and logic lapses. The ending for example with the fully grown traditional alien that bursts out of the Space Jockey is puzzling. Why no intermediate stage this time? I suspect the makers have little idea how these creatures join up with those to come. There is a strong hint of random cool stuff happening with no explanations.

Why does one of the crew comeback from the dead as a super strong humanoid monster? I have no idea. Again I don't think the makers can answer this question.

Also there are questions over the motivations of the Space Jockey race. I don't think the makers have much more of an idea than the audience does.

How did David know how to infect a crew member? Why did he do it? What was all that black liquid?

What was happening in the first scene with the alien by the waterfall?

Also a lot of people complained that it's clearly only part one as the whole thing feels like one big set up for a sequel. I feel that the story was told to completion. What happens immediately next isn't essential to know. I think people expected proper solid answers. The lack of them makes them assume a sequel will provide them. I wouldn't expect a follow up film to give any more answers than this one does. So no, I didn't feel it was half a story with the rest still to come.

I'm puzzled by how all this connects to Alien (1979). Is this the same ship and planet that they investigate in Alien? I assume it is, but the space jockey died in the escape ship, not in the control room? [ADDITIONAL: Apparently the movie is set on a different planet and it's not a direct prequel to Alien. This is far from obvious. Only the geekiest audience members who can recall the alphanumeric name of the planet from that film will be aware of this. Everyone else is bound to make the same assumption I did.]

***SPOILERS END***

The film throws a bunch of weird stuff at the viewer and then makes no attempt to explain any of it. It's best to think of it as David Lynch's version of 2001: A Space Odyssey. I think they were deliberately making a movie that was meant to be an enigma full of unanswerable questions. They want you to be confused, to be asking questions. Maybe I'm thick? Or maybe I'm too lazy to try and work it out? Either way, I don't think the film has any answers. My advice is to stop trying to intellectualise what you are seeing and just go along for the ride. Weird unfathomable alien things are happening. Maybe we're not meant to understand it.

I liked it. At first I thought it was going to be like Alien: Resurrection, which I liked while watching it and then days later found myself slagging it off as a load of rubbish. Now, after writing this review, I feel the movie was quite substantial.

8 out of 10

[SockMonkey]

*** QUESTION ANSWER SPOILERS ***

I didn't care for the Noomi Rapace birth sequence. The whole thing was poorly handled, almost like it was no big deal getting infected, having surgery while awake to remove it and then escaping from it. No one chased after her, no one checked on her or asked questions about her or the alien. She also walks away from it as if she only has an upset stomach. The whole section was just weirdly done to the point of incompetence. The lack of proportional reaction to what was a very big deal destroys the credibility of the scene. In my opinion they should have just deleted this whole section (and altered the ending since this alien wouldn't be in the spaceship anymore).

By the point it happened, the rest of the crew was too preoccupied with getting Weyland off the ship to meet the Engineer. What had happened to her was unimportant in comparison. Bear in mind this film is set in 2092 - think about the medical advances that have been made in the last 80 years, how fast things are still moving, and we have no idea how amazing painkillers and staples might be in the future. It's not like she took a paracetamol afterwards.

The film raises a mountain of questions about the alien life cycle. How do these creatures connect to the ones in the Alien series? I have no idea. It's all pretty much new stuff. I feel there might be some incoherence and logic lapses. The ending for example with the fully grown traditional alien that bursts out of the Space Jockey is puzzling. Why no intermediate stage this time? I suspect the makers have little idea how these creatures join up with those to come. There is a strong hint of random cool stuff happening with no explanations.

There are still unanswered questions but in interviews, Ridley Scott and Damon Lindeloff have said that the aliens take on part of the form of their hosts when 'born' - there's an evolutionary aspect. The xenomorphs changed in each of the previous 4 Alien films to some degree so this one was almost an early version I suppose.

Why does one of the crew comeback from the dead as a super strong humanoid monster? I have no idea. Again I don't think the makers can answer this question.

He doesn't come back from the dead, he never died. The black goo stuff affected him that way, just as it turned normal worms into the white snake-like thing that killed his colleague.

Also there are questions over the motivations of the Space Jockey race. I don't think the makers have much more of an idea than the audience does.

Sorry but that's just rubbish, they know exactly what they're doing. Don't take it personally, but this concept of "I don't think the makers know what they're doing" is just "I'm blaming them for not being able to understand it". The film is open to a lot of interpretation, but that's how it's meant to be.

How did David know how to infect a crew member? Why did he do it? What was all that black liquid?

He did it because Weyland told him to. David spoke to him and told him about the black goo, Weyland told him to infect someone with it to see what would happen. David is a robot with no emotion or morals so he had no issue with it. The black liquid was what turned the worms into alien snake things, the geologist into a monster, and would have done the same to Holloway had he not been barbecued.

What was happening in the first scene with the alien by the waterfall?

That has been interpreted as The Engineers coming to Earth to create us. One Engineer sacrifices himself, and we see all his DNA leaking out into the water, forming cells, the cells dividing - they were creating life. "They created us", as Shaw said. But of course if it was the same black goo as on the planet then they could also be going to a planet to infect it with alien life.

** SPOILERS END **

I think this film requires effort on the part of the viewer, time taken to go beyond the film - watch the viral videos, read the Weyland Corp website - it really adds something to the experience.

Then read some theories about the name of the moon LV-223 being a reference to Leviticus in the Bible. "Say to them: 'For the generations to come, if any of your descendants is ceremonially unclean and yet comes near the sacred offerings that the Israelites consecrate to the LORD, that person must be cut off from my presence. I am the LORD." Many believe this refers to the Engineer who had his head cut off before getting into the 'giant head' room, because he was "unclean" and infected with the black goo.

THEN read some theories about the Engineers wanting to destroy humanity because Jesus was one of them and we killed him. THEN blow your mind reading theories about Shaw being Mary and David being the Angel Gabriel...

[Itty Bitty Piggy]

This is my favourite article on theorising the film: HERE

And in this article Ridley Scott somewhat dismisses the theories relating to Jesus. Although they obviously left in some quite glaring parallels as "red herrings' (for want of a better term).
Also, this one from Digital Spy acts in defense of the "gaping plot holes" accusations, summarising how the added footage in the extended edition fleshes out the (perhaps intentional) mysteries of the film.

Having watched it for a second time (not with the added scenes yet, it was a friends rip of the theatrical version) I think I enjoy the film even more, having gone in without expecting to learn the creation myth of the Xenomorphs/Mankind. I actually like that it's a bit of an enigma, and you're not really spoon-fed how the two stories (Prometheus, Alien) tie-in. Admittedly, I wouldn't have been able to figure out all the subtle hints on my own (thank god for the articulate geek who wrote the first article I posted) , but I certainly was beginning to gain more of an understanding just on my second viewing. It doesn't seem quite as random and frustrating the second time around. There definitely was a lot of thought put into the story, and there's a lot of scope for expanding it via sequels. It leaves you wanting more, and could any definitive answer to the ultimate question really satisfy everyone?

Aesthetically, the film is perfect. That is something I'm sure of. And I love the sinister undertones that the Xenomorphs pre-date even the Engineer characters, and what that might mean we could meet in "Paradise" in the sequel.

A bit more fattening out of the characters and this would have been a true classic. I still think it's pretty marvellous as it is.

[Someboy]

The caesarian, or abortion if you want, sequence is the film's double-edged sword. It is, by far, the big blockbuster moment in the film, and yet everything around it doesn't make much sense. Elizabeth had been quarantined and yet no one runs after her when she knocks out David, and no one is waiting for her when the procedure is finished. I think it's awesome the scene is even in the film; if you're in a theater, you're watching a woman get a 'live' caesarian on this massive screen, and it was both scary and exciting. Unfortunately, everything after this point went down hill, and even if the film is set in 2092, it felt a bit weird to see a woman who had just been traumatized (she certainly looked it) running away from killer aliens.