Movie Review: Prometheus

I still remember seeing the first Aliens movie on one of five channels we had on our box-shaped TV from the early 1980s.  I remember being utterly terrified with the first two iterations.  The third and fourth entries were decent, but more mystery than scary.  This fifth movie follows the last two movies more than the first two.

The story picks up much like Jurassic Park, two scientists discover a thirty-five thousand year old painting in a cave.  The information is discovered by a large cooperation and they pay to have everyone transported to a distant planet.  The two-year trip is only witnessed by an android, who wakens the rest of the crew as they draw near to the planet.

The two scientists lead the exhibition to the planet and quickly find a body that was long dead, outside what appeared to be a tomb.  As the crew get more scared, two members peel away from the group and we have our first two casualties.  The scares are minimal, but the graphic nature of them makes for some eye-covering scenes.  The crew make their way back to the ship, the group that has not gotten lost and slowly fall into a false sense of security.

There are a great deal of mysteries to be had, the person the android, David, played ably by Michael Fassbender, truly works for and who he owes his life to.  There is a great discussion about what the purpose of his existence is, given that greater plot is unearthing aliens that predated humans on earth.

While I could sit her and spoil the entire movie, there is no need.  If you’ve seen one Alien movie, you’ve seen them all.  What makes this one standout was the 3D, which was subtly done and perfectly executed and a star-studded cast.  Noomi Rapace plays the lead scientist, truly believing in her cause as things fall apart around her.  Playing her boyfriend is Logan Marshall-Green, most notable for his performance from Devil.  Charlize Theron and Guy Pearce both deliver quiet performances that make their characters stand out more.  It was interesting to see Theron in two surprisingly similar roles in two consecutive weeks.

I’m glad I saw it, and before noon, as most movie theatres charge half the admission fee at that time.  It was a fun movie, but it didn’t hold up after a few hours and I’d already forgotten I’d seen it.  For the special effects, it would be worth seeing in the theatre, but it isn’t a must-see by any means.