Prometheus Review

Big things have small beginnings.

Hi, my friends! Sorry it took so long for yet another update. I have been busy these past two days. It really isn't much of an excuse, though. I will work harder in the future.

So, I finally went to see Prometheus yesterday! I have been wanting to see it for quite some time now, and can you blame me? It looked, quite frankly, like it would set your pants on fire with its sheer atom-vibrating awesomeness.

Before going to see Prometheus, I learned that it was actually a horror movie.

Oops.

You see, my overactive imagination causes even some of the more mundane of images to haunt my nightmares. Why, the other day, I looked up pictures of opussums and I nearly scared myself sleepless. I never thought opossums were nightmare worthy. Seriously, Google them.

I also looked at the Parental Advisory Warning on IMDB for this movie, and I grew terrified. In reality, the Advisory Warning made the whole thing scarier in my mind. When I actually watched the darn thing, it wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it would be. Actually, it doesn't really qualify as horror. It's more gorror. It wasn't nearly bad as that manga I once read called Uzumaki.

*Shudder*

Here is my review of Prometheus!

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While on an excavation in Ireland, two researchers make a fantastic discovery. Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) finds a cave panting that is a replica of a dozen others. The only quirk is that all of these replicas were made by different civilizations, during different time periods. All of these paintings or glyphs show a person staring up into the sky, looking at a certain star constellation.

This constellation is way to far for our ancestors to have known about, but for some reason, it actually exists. And there is a moon, completely capable of sustaining life in that little cluster of atronomy. After jumping to some conclusions, the researchers decide to head over to that moon because they think that the creatures that live on it are what created humans. They call these aliens engineers.

After riding in cyrostasis for two years while the spaceship glides through space, the crew wakes up and sees the moon looming before them. It's time to go on an adventure to find if the engineers still exist, and if they can answer all the questions about the origins of humanity.

Instead, they find a parasitic lifeform that is doing its darndest to kill them all.

Myahahahah....

Visuals

Prometheus, simply put, is a beautiful movie. The special effects are fantastic and realistic to boot. The director, Ridley Scott, does not push the use of CGI. Instead, he uses real sets and characters as often as possible. This gives a tangible feel to the movie, which adds to the creepy feel. Let's face it, you're going to be more afraid of things that actually exist, than things that are drawn on a computer.

The engineers and the aliens are well designed. The engineers look very real, and human too, just with a ridiculously high uncanny-valley appearance.

The horrific aspect of this movie is the gore, and it is very well done, I must say. Any bodily damage delt is anatomically correct. Bones that are broken jut through the skin in just the right way. I totally almost gagged!

The makeup is also excellent. Anyone who has been -- erm -- violated by an alien gets some very realistic makeup effects.

Please tell me why I want to lick this three-dimensional projection.

                                                                                                   
The CGI is crisp and clean. Spaceship Prometheus looks awesome. I love its propulsion design. The 3D space maps that always touch my inner geek also make me squee.

Squee!

Characters

Prometheus has a relatively large cast of characters, but you don't get attached to any but two. Elizabeth Shaw (Rapace) and David (Fassbender) are two incredibly memorable characters. Rapace's performances as the shell-shocked and resourceful Elizabeth is great to watch. Her bravery, especially during a particular scene including a ceaserean, is almost haunting.

Fassbender plays the android David, an invention supposedly devoid of emotions, but for some reason capable of jealousy and intense pride. It is impossible to tell whether David is neutral, evil, or even good, and his is a refreshing character. Fassbender's performance is spectacular, and I have a crush on him. A very large crush.

Charlize Theron plays the nearly-unflappable Meredith, who is the boss on the ship. Her character is predictable and shallowly written. It feels like Charlize was wasted a little here. However, Meredith does have a few moments that make you cheer her on or just smile. Meredith is also very genre-savvy. She seems to know that letting a suspicious creature on the ship is a bad idea, and that flamethrowers are the answer to everything.

Idris Elba has a notable performance as Captain Janek. He is arguably the only comic relief in the movie.

Any other performances aren't notable, and actually fit typical cliche stereotypes. You can actually predict which characters that will die based on the character they play. For example, the arrogant guy usually dies first, and this is the case here. The only characters that aren't cliche are David and Elizabeth.

Plot

Plot is where Prometheus falls on its pretty little face. The premise is interesting, the lore is seemingly well-thought out, and this movie has the potential to be quite deep.

However, there simply isn't enough plot in this two-hour movie. Questions are in abundance, and barely any are answered. In fact, we get even more questions as the movie progresses. It leaves a certain mysterious feel to the movie, like we are only catching a glimpse of the major events of history. In this way, it's pretty cool. Still, the movie feels underdeveloped, like the director didn't quite know which way to go with the movie. At some points, the movie feels philosophical, and then it switches over to the typical traits of a horror movie. It's frustrating, but forgivable. The story that exists is interesting, although at many points it is predictable.

Sound
Prometheus has a relatively impressive soundtrack. No song in particular stands out. Even the Prometheus Theme is only somewhat impressive. The sound effects and the general ambiance are very impressive from the soundtrack is impressive, however.

I've always found sound to be the thing that scares me the most. I think lots of others would agree. It would have been nice to have the sound contribute more to the horror, instead of having the visual effects doing all the work.

Overall

Prometheus is a haunting movie that I thouroughly enjoyed. It is a peek into a fascinating type of lore, but only a tiny peek. You may feel disappointed for the lack of plot, but ignoring that you'll find the characters and the experience very enjoyable. It seems that the director was unsure whether to make this movie a phillosophical commentary or a straight up horror movie, and this unprofessional blend makes the movie's tone and moral abiguous at times.

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Don't touch the squid,

Esther