Image courtesy of wallpapercave.com
The day after I saw King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, I re-watched Prometheus in preparation for its sequel, Alien: Covenant.
There will be two types of warnings for this one. The first is the obvious one concerning mild spoilers. The second is one that applies to Alien: Covenant as well. Before I get started, my warning is this: for both movies, go in knowing the overall consensus is quite polarizing.
The story starts in 2089 where archaeologists Elizabeth Shaw and Charlie Holloway are in Scotland and find a star map. Later, onboard the Prometheus exploration vessel, they explain to the crew that the pictogram in the map is the same one as those in other maps from unrelated civilizations. Thus, they believe it is an invitation from our supposed creators, referred to as "Engineers." An expedition led by Shaw and Holloway is funded. Four years later, in December of 2093, they find a structure on a moon and begin exploring, unaware of what could possibly go wrong in searching for answers.
My thoughts?
What Worked: There are definitely more positives than negatives here. The first I will delve into is actually the production design, namely the looks of both the structure and the ship; the movie looks gorgeous. The cinematography and direction show a sense of scale, while the score helps convey it. The first track in the score may stand out the most since it comes up a few times, so it can be considered the theme.
Another contribution to the look and feel is through the effects. The majority of them are practical. Two examples used here are prosthetic makeup and the creature designs. The makeup is used primarily for another character that shows up briefly in the beginning and then in a key moment towards the third act. The creature designs look very terrifying and add to some intense scenes.
As for the performances, some noteworthy ones are Noomi Rapace (the original Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) as Shaw, Charlize Theron as mission director Meredith Vickers, and Idris Elba as Captain Janek. The standout here is Michael Fassbender as David because while you are interested to learn more about Shaw, you may feel more interested in him. Fassbender really sells it as a different type of crew member; fans of sci-fi and of the Alien franchise in particular will understand.
What Didn't Work: The biggest issue is that this is another movie where characters make stupid decisions. There are some obvious ones in the middle and at least one in the third act. This issue may come from the writing, which leads to an inconsistent tone. In the first two acts, it feels like a sci-fi horror movie. Then in the third act, it suddenly feels more like a thought-provoking sci-fi movie with a few horror elements in it.
Before I go into my overall thoughts, here is an advisory for those who may be interested. If you get scared easily, prepare yourself because there are at least four moments like that here: two startle scares and two genuine jump scares. Some of the more tense parts (including a storm scene, a surgery scene, and the ending) may affect you even more.
Overall: Prometheus is one of the better entries in the Alien franchise. While this is a prequel of sorts to the original Alien, don't expect all questions to be answered here. Don't expect a flat-out horror movie, either. It's more sci-fi, despite having its share of creepy moments. Even if you look at Prometheus on its own, it is still a very good movie. Whether you want to watch it prior to seeing Alien: Covenant or not is up to you, but doing it might help.