Prometheus
At: Inox and other cinemas
Directed by: Ridley Scott
Cast: Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Logan Marshall Green, and others
Rating: * * *
It’s been over 30 years since Ridley Scott’s Alien first came out—it was a revolution in sci-fi cinema, had the grisly critters of nightmare and a kick-butt heroine (Sigourney Weaver).
With Prometheus, Scott seems to be revisiting his old cult classic, but unfortunately for him, the old one comes out looking more powerful. With modern-day CGI, the film looks magnificent, but is not half as exciting or scary as Alien or it many imitations.
Prometheus starts in 2089, when Noomi Rapace (the origin-al Dragon Tattoo girl in the Swedish film) playing archaeologist Elizabeth Shaws find a cave drawing that leads to a space mission to find the origins of humankind.
Shaw, her boyfriend Holloway (Logan Marshall Green), a humanoid David (Michael Fassbender) and an icy blonde, Vickers (Charlize Theron) in a catwoman-like suit and a few other scientists are aboard the swanky space ship. They land at their destination, find what they have been looking for, and then, as expected, terror strikes.
All the characters bustle about looking intense and worried and throw lots of pseudo scientific jargon around; David has his own menacing agenda. It’s hardly as awe-inspiring as it was meant to be, and gooey, slimy pink aliens wreaking havoc is so yesterday—HR Giger, the designer for Alien created these too.
Shaw is strong, brave and indestructible, perhaps because Scott had fond memories of Ripley (Weaver inAlien) — she has a yuck-making scene in which she operates on herself and pulls out a baby critter from her stomach.
Prometheus may have a lot going for it, but it’s not likely to make it to cult status... though there are sequels undoubtedly on the way, and maybe in the end they will find out more about the origins of life on Earth; but this film just leaves a lot of unanswered questions.