‘Prometheus’ (2012): The Weirdest Franchise Spinoff in Years

Directed by: Ridley Scott || Produced by: Ridley Scott, David Giler, Walter Hill

Screenplay by: Jon Spaihts, Damon Lindelof || Starring: Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce, Idris Elba, Logan Marshall-Green, Charlize Theron, Sean Harris, Rafe Spall

Music by: Marc Streitenfeld || Cinematography: Dariusz Wolski || Editing by: Pietro Scalia || Country: United Kingdom, United States || Language: English

Running Time: 124 minutes

We now welcome Ridley Scott’s return to science-fiction and the Alien (1979) universe he helped build. The visuals, special FX, sound-editing, and general tone of Prometheus are reminiscent of classic Ridley Scott-filmmaking, while its performances, particularly those of Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender, carry the movie through its weaker parts. Speaking of those weaker points, pacing issues, confusing creature biology, and questionable character motives bog down the majority of the film. Still, Prometheus is a notable addition to the Alien mythos relative to the previous most recent franchise additions, i.e. both Alien vs Predator films (2004, 2007), Alien Resurrection (1997), and Alien 3 (1992).

The most puzzling thing about Scott’s return to science-fiction is how it is not a complete return to the series he helped create. In an age where virtually every filmmaker is encouraged to produce a direct franchise-sequel, prequel, reboot, re-imagining, or crossover, Scott and writers John Spaihts and David Lindelof chose to pursue a semi-original route by making a sort of spinoff film that took place in the same universe as the Alien films, but was not a direct sequel or prequel. While Alien mythology is pervasive and utilized like product-placement throughout Prometheus, the fact that Scott, Spaihts, and Lindelof omitted the word “Alien” in the film’s title is perplexing.

Logan Marshall-Green (left), Noomi Rapace (center), and Michael Fassbender (right) explore the ruins of an extraterrestrial facility.

I guess I am not sure what to make of Prometheus even after seeing it in theatres. It is a far cry from the classic Alien-Predator (AP) titles, those of course being Scott’s original Alien, James Cameron’s Aliens (1986), and John McTiernan’s Predator (1987), but Prometheus also has much more care and effort put into it than any AP film released since the 1980s. Sure, Predators (2010) was alright, but its glaring lack of originality, which almost bordered on plagiarism, made it hard to love.

While I can sympathize with fans’ defensive nature regarding the franchise-canon, and I do admit to raising an eyebrow at how some of the series’ mythology was fleshed out, I have a hard time bashing Scott for trying something new. Unless Scott had returned with a truly epic, direct Alien sequel that blew away everyone’s expectations — something I doubt will ever happen at this point — those same fanboys whining about Scott “ruining” canonical history now would have been criticizing him for not being original. I think fans, especially those Alien die-hards who believe buckets of gore and excessive profanity are what make the franchise great, need to cut Scott some slack here.

As for the actual movie, though, it was a fun adventure, albeit an uneven one. Noomi Rapace, known to most audiences as the star of the original Swedish version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009), plays the lead role well and continues the franchise’s staple of memorable heroines. Michael Fassbender, who has risen through the Hollywood acting ranks of late, reestablishes the franchise’s other trend of strong android characters. Both of these actors do fine jobs with the material, and their well written characters more or less support the entire story on their shoulders through the film’s weaker parts.

Those weaker parts mainly have to do with the lamer characterizations of the rest of the cast. Most everyone performs well, but veteran actors Charlize Theron, Guy Pearce, and Idris Elba don’t have much to do or to work with from the screenplay, and less consistent castmembers Logan Marshall-Green, Rafe Spall, and Sean Harris are outright annoying. The story hits its lowest point when Theron gets squashed by a falling spaceship that she could have evaded by running right or left, all without a glimpse of meaningful character development.

Prometheus also suffers from an unfocused story and misleading antagonists. While the narrative sports a glorious visual style and enthralling tone, various supporting characters meander about with little rhyme or reason to their actions during the second act; and several have confusing motivations that are never made clear to the audience. The film also hints at several mysteries about the origins of humanity, our sentient creators, the origins of the xenomorph threat, and the purpose of the facility that our cast explore, but in the end raises more questions than it answers.

On the other hand, Prometheus’ visuals are outstanding and its cinematography pulls you into its immersive alien environments. There are several great scenes like Noomi Rapace’s impromptu alien-surgery, a sort of alien “super-zombie” attack, and the introduction of the fabled space-jockeys (now renamed “engineers”) featured in the original Alien. The film boasts amazing production values and its set-design is immaculate. People gush about the “immersive” quality of bloated 3D-epics like Avatar (2009), but if I may say so, the visual atmosphere and tenacious violence of Prometheus are more engrossing than anything George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, or James Cameron have filmed in well over a decade. Ridley Scott’s best films may be behind him, but he hasn’t lost his artistic mojo.

A super-proto–facehugger?

Prometheus, despite my problems with it, provides more room for the Alien franchise to grow. With its source material now expanded in a critical and commercial success, future filmmakers who attempt to further revive the baddest sci-fi beasts known to man may be able to act more creatively with the license. The human elements remain the weakest part of Prometheus and Ridley Scott’s directorial style as a whole, but in my mind, the terrific performances by Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender pick up much of the slack. Alien fans, who are some of the most ruthless, masochistic individuals in popular culture, should check their egos at the door, especially when they laud unimaginative copy-cats like Predators.

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SUMMARY & RECOMMENDATION: Prometheus‘ alien environments feel alive and fill you with a familiar, irresistible sense of foreboding. Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender are standouts, as are the wacky creature designs and several sequences that blend sci-fi, action, and horror with ease.

— However… the rest of the cast are criminally underused, especially given all the acting potential on board. I almost threw my hands up when Charlize Theron’s character was killed off in the most unimaginative, comical way possible. Writers Jon Spaights and Damon Lindelof can’t seem to decide where they want to take this story.

—> ON THE FENCE; if Alien fans have been too harsh on Prometheus, then newer audiences have perhaps been too kind; I fit somewhere in between.

? Seriously, Charlize, could you not have just run right or left?!