Kids
these days probably think movies like Ridley Scott’s Alien was boring as hell. It was long, quiet, and you were required
to pay attention or you’d miss out on the good bits. There were lengthy shots
that established atmosphere and frames that made you feel like you were there onboard the Nostromo, hauling cargo to the
far reaches of the galaxy with Ripley and her crewmates.
Scott’s
new
Alien prequel,
Prometheus, is a lot like that. It
reminds me of
Cameron’s
Avatar in a way. Emphasis is put
on ambiance in this film: time spent walking around the mostly virtual environments
with the characters. You wait for scares as the tension builds up, finally
realizing that you’ve been holding your breath for a several minutes. When
something does happen, you’re thoroughly immersed in the movie’s environment, enough
that it still comes as a complete surprise. The spectacle here is mood rather
than action set pieces.
There’s
a slow boil as the movie starts with otherworldly landscapes (which were in Iceland)
and moves into the rising action, where you learn of Doctors Elizabeth Shaw’s (Noomi
Rapace) and Charlie Holloway’s (Logan Marshall-Green) study of ancient cave
paintings that have led to the discovery of a kind of map left in humanity’s genetic
memory. By the time the film has transitioned to the outbound trip of the science
vessel, Prometheus, you’re hooked.
The
biggest weakness in the film it’s the plot. Because this is part of the Alien universe (if not necessarily part
of the franchise itself), certain things had to happen in order for it to tie
into the mythology that has already been established. The writers and
filmmakers did a pretty good job keeping Prometheus
as a stand-alone story, but it’s individuality seems to have been
sacrificed a bit. What you expect is what you get and because of that
restriction, the movie doesn’t seem to be able to carry the philosophical underpinnings
that are so obviously being presented.
However,
the draw of the movie isn’t really the plot, it’s the visual design. Building
on H.R. Giger’s work for the first film, the production team created tons of
practical costumes, creatures, sets and props that fill the screen with
tangible awesomeness. As the human team explores the alien compound, you really
feel as if it’s a real cavern, as if it’s a real ship, as if there are real
bodies moving through space. The CGI work seems to have been restricted to fantastic
virtual matte paintings and some so-so work on the new alien race.
They
were able to assemble a pretty good cast of actors. The always likeable Idris
Elba plays the cool Captain Janek. A prosthetic-covered Guy Pearce plays Peter
Weyland, the dying owner of the Weyland Corporateion (what eventually grows up
to be “The Company”). And Charlize Theron plays Meredith Vickers, the ruthless company
representative who enforces the Weyland agenda onboard the ship.
On
the flip side, Noomi Rapace (Dr. Shaw) is an actress I still can’t buy as a
lead. Maybe it’s the athletic body or the odd (to me anyway) Swedish accent or her
unique manner. I didn’t like her in
Sherlock
Holmes: A Game of Shadows either. Maybe I’m just too married to the
idea of Sigourney Weaver as the lead in an
Alien
film. After all, we have four of them. I can’t picture Rapace shouldering a
flamethrower and saying, “Get away from her, you BITCH!”
The
real standout is Michael Fassbender as David (this outings’ version of the “Bishop”
android) who steals every single scene he is in. He first appears on the
outbound voyage, taking care of the ship as the passengers sleep in cryo-tanks.
He watches movies, learns dead languages, and shoots some hoops while riding a
bicycle. His character comes off as far more unbalanced than Lance Henriksen’s helpful
Bishop or Ian Holm’s sinister Ash. At one point he talks about the disappointment
he feels (or doesn’t feel) after “meeting his maker” and you just want to cry (or
run away in terror). His performance here alone is worth the price of
admission.
While
Prometheus has not replaced
Sunshine as my all-time
favorite science fiction movie, it’s come in at a close second. The technology
available to Scott and the other filmmakers today have allowed them to create a
world like the ones I imagine when I read books from Niven, Clarke, or Heinlein.
While they may not have been successful in conveying the (one assumes) deep
messages that they wanted to communicate about the “big questions”, the movie
they’ve made is highly entertaining and satisfying as all get out.
I
can’t wait for the sequel!
