Prometheus

Prometheus opens with some glorious shots of nature. Visuals of films like Baraka and Koyaanisqatsi comes to mind to describe the beauty of the ope... read more

Prometheus opens with some glorious shots of nature. Visuals of films like Baraka and Koyaanisqatsi comes to mind to describe the beauty of the opening sequence and the 3D just multiples the joy of watching it.

Through that opening sequence director Ridley Scott in a way tells us that this is going to be more of a visual spectacle and it turns out to be one, if you look at it that way. But, if you are going in purely for the story then the film will disappoint you.

In a spaceship called Prometheus a crew of 17 people land on a planet searching for the most important question asked by mankind - Where do we come from? As expected they have to fight Aliens and survive on the planet and save planet Earth.

Interestingly and ironically this weeks two releases Shanghai and Prometheus pitched itself completely opposite from what the final film eventually turned out to be. Shanghai was pitched as a fast paced political thriller and Prometheus was pitched as a fast paced sci-fi action adventure. Like Shanghai Prometheus too is more of a mood piece in which the visuals, art design and the 3D overshadows everything else.

None of the actors except Michael Fassbender make an emotional connect. Why Guy Pearce was cast is also an important question that needs to be asked. There is also Sean Harris (my favorite character in Borgias). Noomi Rapace comes across as if she is walking in Sigourney Weavers shoe especially in one nail biting sequence which involves an emergency surgery. In the end most of the questions dont get answered and you walk out with a lot more questions in your head.

Word of mouth Prometheus will leave you in awe of its visual splendor.

Rating 3.5 (Good)

Ticket Meter Worth a visit to theatre and watch it in 3D.
view less

Hyped as a prequel to the Aliens, Ridley Scot's tryst with sci-fi at the age of 74 is underwhelming despite a spectacular production scale rivaled ... read more

Hyped as a prequel to the Aliens, Ridley Scot's tryst with sci-fi at the age of 74 is underwhelming despite a spectacular production scale rivaled only by Avatar in imagination and execution.

A crew of a space ship 77 years in the future is woken up from cryogenic sleep by a Droid caretaker. The ship and its crew are out to meet the makers of humans if it were, the people who they believe created mankind, basing on ancient maps found back on earth. What they fins instead, is a species that is angry, gross looking and ready to tear humans apart from the inside out.

Absolutely nothing happens in the first half of Prometheus. The crew lands on the undisclosed planet, searches around in a stunning set piece of a planet, and thats pretty much about it. Scott manages to build up an air of expectation in the audience through the entire first half, as we wait with bated breath fro some thing to happen even as we take in the enormity and scale of the visuals. 3D here is less about things falling into your face and more about creating a sense of depth expanse and size. The problem however is that after this long wait, what comes is worse than a fizzled out firecracker on diwali.

The second half of the film seems rushed into. As the droid turns against its human creators and alien beings start growing in wombs of ladies, the story seems to madly force its way to an end, giving a sense of the makers resorting to cutting corners as they ran out of time and money. The performances are decent, Faasbender as the :Lawrence of Arabia watching droid is particularly impressive, though seasoned actors like Theron are wasted.

With very little octopus like aliens spewing out of human chests and growing into ugly looking monsters, Prometheus is far less about the out of space visitors. The moral grandstanding displayed in the dialogues and essential core idea of meeting with the maker notwithstanding, Prometheus at best works as a decent visual spectacle with once in a while chilling thrills and some awe inspiring technical wizadry. Watch it if you have to. view less

Ridley Scott returns to the Sci-Fi genre after a period of nearly twenty years with a movie that is disguised as an action blockbuster but holds a ... read more

Ridley Scott returns to the Sci-Fi genre after a period of nearly twenty years with a movie that is disguised as an action blockbuster but holds a great deal of lofty concepts and ideas about the creation of the human race. It evens spares a thought or two about Darwinism and religion; so how does it fare overall? Its failure lies in its glorious ambition.

In a prequel of sorts to Alien, the movie kicks off with a sequence that probably explains the origin of intelligent life on Earth to jump forward to Scotland in the year 2089 with two archaeologists, Elizabeth (Noomi Rapace) & Charlie (Logan-Marshall Green) discovering a bunch of old cave paintings depicting a distant star system, which we are later informed were discovered in various archaeological sites from around the world too dating back to thousands of years. They match the locations to a distant star system and set out for the planet LV-223 on a mission aboard the spaceship, Prometheus, funded by the Weyland-Yutani Corporation. Elizabeth & Charlie hope to find the creators of mankind, while others on the ship like the android, David (Michael Fassbender) and company executive, Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron) are in to protect the companys investment, at any costs. What they find at LV-223 is more than what they expect and maybe none of them might make it back alive or will some?

The movies plot is ambitious in its themes and ideas but oddly bland in generating suspense and delivering payoffs to plot points and concepts. I was intrigued by the back story it provides to the Alien movies but unimpressed by the horror and action elements of the film. Even the twist in the plot late in the film seems way out of place in a movie like this.

The movie excels at creating breath-taking vistas, be it on earth or on LV-223. The panoramic tracking shots are impressive to say the least, even of something as simple as the crews racing back and forth between the Prometheus and the large alien structures they discover. The effects too are brilliant to say the least, particularly when it comes to creating new worlds.

The movie has some pretty gruesome deaths and one caesarean carried out by a member on herself that is assured to have you shifting uneasily in your seat. Alien fans are for a treat towards the end, while the aliens shown in the movie resemble something closer to The Thing.

One of the highlights of Prometheus is undoubtedly Michael Fassbenders performance as the androgynous robot, David who watches Lawrence of Arabia and not only combs his hair like Peter O'Toole quotes lines from the film at the drop of a hat. He displays a childlike innocence but underneath all that runs a sinister streak that he beautifully conceals. He gets some of the best lines of the film. Idris Elba is the other standout as the nonchalant captain of the Prometheus. Noomi Rapace though good is no Sigourney Weaver and Charlize Theron is wasted. Guy Pearce is unrecognisable under layer of make-up.

Prometheus is an ambitious project that will be enjoyed more by fans of the Alien series than anyone else. It kind of answers a few questions from before and raises interesting ones of its own. Watch it for the amazing cinematography, special effects and Michael Fassbender.
view less

"There is nothing in the desert and no man needs nothing"This quote from Lawrence of Arabia (1962) features in Prometheus. It is one of my very fav... read more

"There is nothing in the desert and no man needs nothing"

This quote from Lawrence of Arabia (1962) features in Prometheus. It is one of my very favourite films. It so happens that I share this with David, the android who is the caretaker of the ship, Prometheus, during the 2 year journey. Michael Fassbender is so good here you could almost miss his facial sorcery while the film blind-sides you with more pertinent questions like: Who created us? Where did we come from? Oh yes, and the magnificent 3-D. This film stands alongside Avatar (2009), Hugo (2011) and The Adventures of Tintin (2011) as the films that actually use 3D aesthetically while several others were busy showing off. The old-schoolers show us how it's done.

Prometheus begins with a prologue that is rather confounding but sets up what is to come later. Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) discover ancient cave paintings which has a link with what we saw in the prologue. The conception of humanity and the large looming answers may be within the reach of Weyland Corporation that has funded this mission. Once they land, we loyally tread the blueprint of the original Alien (1979). Shock, slime, wonder, gore, shock again, slime again, wonder turns to nightmare. The findings aren't ones that will necessarily restore your faith in life. Ridley Scott's sci-fi universes aren't the most hopeful ones. Alien (1979) and Blade Runner (1982) are as bleak, dark and dreary as they come. Enter Prometheus. They are more concerned with the vices of humankind than its virtues. Any ending is a happy ending. But then we have the female heroine and I absolutely love a strong unconventional female protagonist. Elizabeth Shaw is the Ellen Ripley of Prometheus, even donning the same clothing in a scene (or the lack of it).

There are numerous stunning action spectacles that fulfill you summer blockbuster appetite. But there is equal bouts of horror that demands a strong stomach. This is horror that makes you cringe. There is a staggering scene where Elizabeth is forced to perform a surgery on herself. This takes Hitchcockian suspense to a whole new level. This is cinema, not just horror cinema, at its best! Later, David remarks "I didn't know you had it in you". Damon Lindelof, the screenwriter juggles clever dialogue and B-movie dialogue. The film is definitely problematic. It indulges in its excesses when the audience should be getting a more substantial experience. But by then you don't care. You've either fallen in love with this film or started hating it.

Alien has been rebooted in all its quasi-prequel glory. The epilogue wraps up the Alien connection and a sequel is implied. Keeping all the reservations in mind (or rather ignoring them), I'm sure I will be watching this film again. Remember, in space no one can hear you scream. view less

Ridley Scotts Prometheus is visually enthralling for most part however as the film shifts gears, loses its purpose and pulls you in to a stage of p... read more

Ridley Scotts Prometheus is visually enthralling for most part however as the film shifts gears, loses its purpose and pulls you in to a stage of predicament. You will spend most of your time thinking whether its a sequel or prequel during the course of the film? Eventually, by the end of the film, I doubt if youd be able to figure it out because the film is so complex yet brilliant in a way. Prometheus wouldve been better off had it been some kind of psychological game than a movie.

The year is 2093, about 30 years earlier than the original film. A group of explorers travel to a distant galaxy in a manned ship to unravel the mystery behind mankinds beginning. The crew includes a pair of scientists Noomi Rapace and Logan Marshall-Green; the discoverers of the expedition, Charlize Theron as the monitor, Idris Elba as the ship captain and Michael Fassbender as an android. Upon reaching they discover the evidence to the presence of something ungodly. As the crew members begin to decipher the clues, conflict arises between the members making way to unspeakable consequences. What is the purpose of each of the crew member with what theyve discovered forms the rest of the story?

This Scott film in particular requires lot of attention and patience to actually understand. It doesnt mean that film is bad or pathetic; it just requires most of your attention to help you understand its purpose. Nicely wrapped in darkest whims, the story creates layers of deceit, trying to explain why there is a relentless urge to play a super power, which by the way is hard to understand.

The film produces many thought provoking moments, so many, that at one point everything becomes awry. From what I understand, Prometheus turns out be the prequel to the original film, but in no way directly connected, explaining along the way the inception of Weyland Corporation and killer aliens, and why they exist at the first place.

The 3D experience leaves you in awe with some breathtaking visual sequences that is no match any film of the recent past. On the contrary, the long running time drains the life out of you and pushes you in to oblivion. This mega budget flick is definitely watchable for its visual grandeur and earth shattering score by Marc Streitenfeld.

Noomi Rapace, after a brilliant performance in Girl with a Dragon Tattoo portrayed Elizabeth Shaw with exuberance and elegance. Although, others too did a satisfying job of portraying their roles with immense potential, Noomi stole the limelight undoubtedly.

If youre planning to watch Prometheus then may I suggest you leave the thinking for afterward and watch the movie with utmost attention because it needs it.


For more reviews of Haricharan
log on to - www.movieroundup.in view less