Prometheus

I purposely avoided all reviews of Prometheus until I got a chance to see it for myself, as I wanted to go in knowing as little as possible about it. Last night, I got a chance to check it out. I put my crippling social anxiety on hold, and braved the terrifying experience that it going to see a movie not by myself in the comfort and safety of my own living room, but in a (moderately) crowded theater. After I left the theater, I immediately returned home and began reading reviews from blog buddies, and a couple of other places, and I'm genuinely confused as to why people walked away disappointed in any way. That's probably because I'm not very smart, and it doesn't take much to entertain a brain such as mine, but I digress. This will not be a "review" as there are plenty of those out there for you to read should you so choose, this is basically more of me rambling about my reaction to the film however there will be some spoilers, although I will do my best to make them minor. If you want to experience Prometheus like I did, knowing almost nothing, then do not read on.

On the one hand I suppose I can sort of see the side of the argument for people who were expecting a Alien prequel which answered all their questions. If that's what you were looking for, then sure, be disappointed. But really, would that have been totally satisfying? Isn't part of the fun of a movie franchise which has had it's popularity rise to the point that we refer to the characters and creatures featured therein as a "universe" the mystery that comes along with it? I know it is for me. Looking at the big picture when it comes to my favorite movie or comic book series' and being given little glimpses without having the whole thing spelled out for me is what keeps me interested. I like to come up with my own conclusions, or think ahead for myself and see if I end up being right or not. Sometimes I call things, sometimes I'm completely wrong, but either way I like when I can get enough into a movie franchise that I actually do find myself thinking about it before AND after I watch an entry.

As you've probably surmised for yourself at this point, I absolutely loved Prometheus. So many times I sat in my seat with a big, stupid grin on my face at what was happening on screen. Yeah there were some slow parts, and some questionable character development, but they did little to detract from my enjoyment of the movie. I fell in love with the overall tone almost immediately, and I was way too wrapped up in the story to notice if Prometheus briefly asked me to suspend belief when a character had to complete a physical feat that they shouldn't have been capable of as dictated by their present situation. Basically, I accepted the fact that I was watching a fucking movie about ALIENS and if a human jumped a little farther than they probably could in real life, I was ok with it. Overall I seem to be a bit more forgiving than most of the internet when it comes to movies, which only makes sense to me as there aren't any movie studios giving me hundreds of millions of dollars to bring my imagination to life on the big screen so as to entertain others.

Let's talk about performances, two of which in particular stood out for me. First and foremost is Michael Fassbender as David basically carried the movie for me. This guy is as A-list as actors come for me right now. I liked him as Magneto in X-Men First Class, but I was floored by Shame. David is the obligatory android in Prometheus, because you just know when Weyland Corporation is involved there's gotta be an android. Fassbender does a fantastic job of moving back and forth between an almost forced faux robotic attempt at compassion, to a cold lack of regard to human life when it came to his own curiosity at the events as they were transpiring. The other was Idris Elba as Captain Janek, the pilot of the Prometheus. I suppose in the most traditional sense, he ends up being the "hero" of the movie, but even if that doesn't particularly apply, there's no denying he's definitely one of the most likable characters. I first noticed Idris in 28 Weeks Later, then in The Office as Charles, but it wasn't until he played the traitor Roque in The Losers that I really started to see how good he is. For him to stand out in a movie that featured both Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce, and Charlize Theron says a lot about him to me.

It was evident from the very beginning that Prometheus was going to be a gorgeous film in terms of visuals. As was expected with a sci-fi movie with a budget this size, the effects in this movie are stunning. The Prometheus itself looks fantastic, there's an extremely impressive looking scene where a storm front moves in early on, and planet's residents all look believable and interact well with their real life counterparts on screen. If I have one complaint in this department it's that they don't actually have enough screen time, but Prometheus is big on atmosphere and the tension of waiting for something fucked up to happen. This isn't a big action flick that's littered with alien monsters and huge explosions.

Being that I'm not old enough to have seen Ridley Scott's original masterpice Alien on the big screen, I couldn't help but feel like Prometheus was probably going to be the closest I'm ever going to get to having that experience. While I hesitate to label it strictly as "horror" those elements are certainly present. There are a couple of splatteriffic scenes, but not really any over the top gore. As I mentioned, there's a lot of atmosphere at play in Prometheus, but when things do get going, it certainly satisfied the horror geek in me. I'm sure anybody with even a slight interest in the Alien franchise will most definitely be watching, but I urge anybody who may have had their intentions swayed by a negative review to still go see it and make up their own mind. Prometheus does indeed raise more questions than it answers, but also ends up opening a door into a whole new area in the Alien mythos, and I'm excited to see what's coming next. I just hope I don't have to wait as long this time for the next chapter.