Prometheus (2012)

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I've been reviewing some of the movies within the 'Alien' franchise as being somewhat split down the middle when it comes to varying opinions. For my money, there is not title in the franchise that splits people more than 'Prometheus'. Some of it is because it's really not an 'Alien' movie at all, so much as a prequel TO a prequel, giving us what is essentially the origins of the Xenomorphs. They got OG director Ridley Scott back on board to direct though, so that was what ended up being most of the pull for this. But the question is, does he still have it?

Since Scott, we've had James Cameron, David Fincher and Joss Whedon behind the wheel of the singular 'Alien' titles; all of whom have really gone on to bigger and better things since, so it's a franchise in which pulling in the original director to make it feel "right" doesn't necessarily apply, especially when Cameron really set the bar for making them sci-fi action as opposed to sci-fi horror. So I think a lot of people went into this expecting more of the same, but what they left with was either confusion, disappointment, or to some people I know, some sort of questionable existentialism.

We go back in time here to 2089, about 33 years before the events of the first 'Alien' film where a couple of archaeologists by the names of Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) discover a star map that matches many others they've found from varying cultures around the world. It all points to a very specific cluster of stars, and is interpreted as an invitation by who they call "The Engineers," believed to be the potential creators of humanity, throwing years of evolutionary study out the window as well as religion.

Peter Weyland (Guy Pearce), CEO of the Weyland Corporation funds an expedition to said star system to check out moon LV-223, arriving about four years later, in December of 2093. Once they arrive, the crew finds not much more than destruction, leading them to believe the Engineer race has gone extinct, and probably over something very horrific. They basically get their answers, but ever the curious fellow, an android named David (Michael Fassbender) retrieves a strange cylinder that seems to contain some sort of life form, reminiscent to something like a symbiote from 'Spider-Man'.

As they get back to the ship with their bittersweet answers (David with his critter), crew members Millburn (Rafe Spall) and Fifield (Sean Harris) get left behind, so a rescue mission is set up, directed by the ship's captain, Janek (Idris Elba). During said resuce mission is about when the crew finds themselves in over their heads, much to the dismay of the strict ship-owner, Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron). She's mostly there to be the stick in the mud, rational person on the crew, and somehow become a villain because of it. It's a bitchy character, sure, but a lot of me wonders how right she was about everything all along.

Anyway, things unfold much like an average 'Alien' movie would, showing us a panicked crew, getting introduced to a brutal killer of an alien species, a handfull of crew gets infected, things get pretty gross, and people try to survive, all thanks to that ass hole android, David. In the meantime, however, I have to credit the film for, while not being an 'Alien' film in the traditional sense, offering up something a little different, and providing an interesting take on not only the Xenomorph's origins, but ours as well... that said, I'm an Agnostic, so it is NOT going to sit well with everyone - especially those in religious sects.

While this may be a weaker chapter in the franchise, there's still a lot about it to enjoy. The body horror here is fantastic, making one squirm for all the right reasons. Beyond that, the sound design is bumped up to make things a bit more creepy, and it feels more like horror again. There's a bothersome scene here, however, involving a couple of people running from something about to crush them, and everyone who has seen this knows what I'm talking about. It sticks out like a sore thumb of stupidity. It's stupid. Otherwise, though, I would encourage people to give this another shot, just a a decent sci-fi horror.

3/5

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