Prometheus Has Landed

Is Prometheus worth the wait?  Does it live up the hype?  This weekend hundreds of thousands of people will crowd theaters for Ridley Scott’s long awaited return to sci-fi with Prometheus.  For over a year fans have been trying to figure out if Prometheus is a prequel to Scott’s 1979 Alien…or not.  So is it, or isn’t it?  The film contains “strands of Alien’s DNA,” hints director Ridley Scott.  Which after seeing the movie, I find it’s the perfect description.
Prometheus is a prequel of sorts.  You don’t need to see Alien to enjoy this masterpiece, but for those fans of Alien, I think watching it again before Prometheus is an added bonus.

Greek legend tells us Prometheus was a God who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to man.  For punishment, he was bound to a rock for eternity.  Everyday an eagle would peck out his liver, and every day it would grow back, just to be pecked at again.  There’s a cycle, just as all things have a cycle.  Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron) states, “A king has his reign and then he dies.”  Again, it’s a cycle.  So, is the cycle of the Human race at an end?

Two scientists, Dr. Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Dr. Charles Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green), find ancient drawings and carvings across Earth from different millennia and civilizations showing the same message or map.  The scientists take this as an invitation to find the origins of mankind.  A group of biologists, geologists, and others assembled by Weyland industries, which we now know from viral ad campaigns is the creator of the androids seen in all the movies in the Alien franchise, set out to find the “Engineers” of our race and end up finding much much more.

The crew finds large dome shaped caverns complete with a maze like network below.  Chilling events are set in motion after David, the android, played masterfully by Michael Fassbender, starts touching stuff.

David has an almost childlike quality.  He has no fear, no emotions, but has facial expressions are full of wonder and amazement. His mischievous actions could be taken as the inquisitiveness of a child, or programed orders.  Of course, we know the answer, but Scott likes to play with our minds.  Nevertheless, David accelerates things.

Meredith Vickers (Theron) is the company watchdog that actually seems to have a different agenda than the company; something new to the Alien franchise.  She doesn’t believe in sacrificing human life to fulfill someone else’s quest for knowledge.

I don’t think Prometheus lands on LV-426, the planet in Alien.  We do see in the many trailers that there is a ship, a chair, and an alien (affectionately named by fans the “Space Jockey”) that seem identical to the ones found by Dallas and his crew in Alien.  But Prometheus takes place roughly 30 years prior to the events in Alien and the planet just looks completely different to me.

But just like the magic of Alien, we don’t see much at first, but when we do…pooh man.  Scott lets us see ripples and dripping and melting and shadows, but saves the big stuff for later.  He smoothly progresses from tiny to small to large to big.  As David says, “Big things have small beginnings.”  By allowing the story to evolve this way, Scott keeps the main focus on the characters and how they handle evolving situations.  Even the questions constantly evolve, with most being answered with more questions.  It is really a philosophical and psychological thriller.

Scott also gathered a stellar cast (excuse the pun…I couldn’t help myself).  I mainly noticed the chameleon type actors he chose.  Noomi Rapace, Charlize Theron, and Michael Fassbender have all had recent films released where their characters are completely different from Prometheus’.  I didn’t watch Dr. Shaw and think she’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  It’s the same for Meredith Vickers and David; the actors morph themselves into different people.

Prometheus is beautifully written by Damon Lindelof & Jon Spaihts.  It delves into the quagmire of religious beliefs vs. scientific evidence, and the questions that linger.  Pay close attention to the opening scene, it’s brilliant.  In fact, Lindelof, Spaihts, and Scott ask the question, if was populated by an alien race, where does God fit in if anywhere?  Most questions are not answered.  They leave that up to us.

One such question could be about the beacon in Alien, thought to be an SOS, and the cave drawings in Prometheus, thought to be an invitation to find a civilization.  Some characters later believe they were warnings to stay away, but what if they were an invitation and an SOS to lure us in?  This is a type of the delicious questions you will have leaving the theater.