Who’s our DADDY?

Prometheus has all the elements that made Alien a classic, plus 3-D

A team of mere Earthlings searches for the origins of human life in the far corners of the universe in Ridley Scott’s Prometheus.
A team of mere Earthlings searches for the origins of human life in the far corners of the universe in Ridley Scott’s Prometheus.

— Prometheus is not so much a prequel to Ridley Scott’s Alien as it is a remake. Fortunately, Scott remembers what made his unsettling 1979 classic work.

He isn’t breaking any new ground, but Scott’s striking visuals and measured but effective pacing prove that lightning can smite the same place twice. This time around a pair of giddy scientists - Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace, the original Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) and Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) - have discovered a recurring pattern in artwork from ancient civilizations.

Regardless of where and when the illustrations were made, all point to the same location in space and indicate that humans owe their existence to beings from faraway worlds. As a sort of final act, aging corporate tycoon Peter Weyland (Guy Pearce) has commissioned a deep space voyage aboard the Prometheus, a ship named after the titan who gave fire to humanity, to see if those cave paintings could bring people in contact with the beings who made them.

While Holloway and Shaw might be excited that Weyland has committed so much to their cause, the corporate manager Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron) isn’t as enthusiastic. She has her own suite that prevents her from having to interact too often with the crew and is more interested in the excursion’s effect on the Weyland Corp.’s books than on meeting God.

Whereas almost all of Alien took place on a claustrophobic, grungy spaceship, Prometheus has moments of wonder that have an undertone of almost imperceptible dread.

There’s a sense that the crew of the Prometheus has reached the golden gates of Hell.

That feeling of doom is embodied by David (Oscar nominee Michael Fassbender), an android who follows the humans around and has an almost Pinocchio-like desire to be one of them. He comes off as obsequious, but careful viewers can detect that he has no real loyalties to his flesh-and-blood crewmates.

David is a juicy role, and Fassbender makes the most of it, being friendly and treacherous in the same glance.

Having started his career in commercials, it was a given that Scott could make a movie that was great to look at, but he really outdoes himself here. His use of 3-D is remarkably subtle and makes the planet that Shaw and her compatriots discover worthy of awe and dread.

Scott leaves several questions unanswered. He may be setting us up for a sequelor, perhaps, as in the gnomic Blade Runner, the answers are there for viewers who want to dissect the film once it’s on Blu-ray. Both are probably valid explanations, but it’s refreshing not to have a character tell us everything we’re supposed to get from the film.

In that way, Scott becomes his own type of Prometheus.

Prometheus 88

Cast: Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, Guy Pearce, Logan Marshall-Green

Director: Ridley Scott

Rating: R, for sci-fi violence including some intense images, and brief language

Running time: 124 minutes

MovieStyle, Pages 31 on 06/08/2012

Upcoming Events