Went to a midnight showing of this last night. I have to say (contrary to the thrashing it's getting on some corners of the internet) with my strategically-lowered expectations, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It has some downsides (MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD) - the ancient astronauts thing plays out VERY predictably, it's kinda slow in parts, there are one or two GODAWFUL lines of dialogue, Guy Pearce's whole perfomance is a joke, and the massive potential the of Space Jockey characters is somewhat (although, not totally) squandered.
It also doesn't feel anything like an Alien film - in place of claustrophobia and suffocating terror, we get characters traipsing back and forth over (beautiful) alien vistas and chillaxing in their luxuriant open-plan starship - but that's not altogether a bad thing here: for the first time in the franchise we have a film that is happy to be it's own thing, without trying to outdo what's been done before, without trying to be all things to all fans. It has the balls to be it's own film, and I can respect that; it has it's own unique atmosphere and vibe. In an age of Hollywood blockbusters constantly trying to out-amp each other with bigger, faster, shinier, Prometheus bucks the trend. Yes, it is a huge budget film. Yes, there are explosions and massively expensive action sequences, but it's not bursting with them. In its editing, pacing and direction it has much more in common with slow-burn 70s-80s sci-fi like The Thing, or even The Andromeda Strain, than it does with modern adrenaline-obsessed flicks like Resident Evil or Transformers. It's a beautiful-looking film too, not just in terms of effects (which, although often CGI, are amazing) but just the beauty of the cinematography. You know how in Suspiria, somehow every single frame looks like a perfectly-rendered oil painting even though it was shot for, in Hollywood terms, peanuts? Well this movie has some of the same magic, but on a huge scale. It looks like one of those awesome 70s sci-fi novel covers, and I've not even seen the 3D version yet.
I liked the characters, although some of them weren't developed enough, they all seemed like real people and there was an interesting mix of Alien-style blue-collar workers and Star Trek-esque professionals. Noomi Rapace's character is a refreshing change from both a) the typical withering scream queen and b) the cartoonish back-flipping, high-kicking femme-fatale that male sci-fi writers nowadays seem to feel the need to incorporate into everything in order to avoid accusations of "a". She's a sweet, down to earth character who acts believably (both in terror and great strength) to unbelievable danger and emotional crisis. Michael Fassbender, though, is OUTSTANDING and totally steals the show as David, the ship's android. Aliens played the moral-ambiguity of the Company-droid pretty well, but this movie takes it to a whole other level and he kept me guessing right to the end.
The creatures are pretty good. Although they lack the exact biomechanical detail of the Xenomorph, they still look like Giger must have been involved at some point in the design phase (I'm guessing he was) and they continue to tie in with the Freudian sexual metaphor of the other films,in different ways. You've seen one of them in the trailer - the worm thing - and there are at least three other types shown (Space Jockeys not included), and each of them forming a sort of evolutionary prototype to forms seen later in the chronology. It's fascinating to see how they get closer and closer, over the course of the film, to the creatures we know and love, and how the narrative toys with your expectations over it: I won't say too much, but a couple of times you see something that looks completely new in form, until it exhibits some chillingly familiar behaviour...
The move is not a constant battle between humans and aliens, though. I know I've already said that, but it's best to get that into your head now, and get your expectations under control. The whole first half of the movie is basically characters exploring and discussing ideas, so just don't be going in expecting Aliens.
I was worried the film would spoil the sense of mystery that the first film built up around the origins of the Jockeys and Xenos. Whilst, to some extent, this is the case, it actually throws open *more questions than it answers, and pretty interesting ones too. Whatever people think about it, I guarantee this movie will have people discussing aspects of it for decades to come.
Yeah, basically, in a nutshell: worthy.
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Originally Posted by Danny
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