Rent Prometheus (2012)

Excellent photography and effects - shame about the rest - Prometheus review by RP

Alien' is a superb sci-fi film, and 'Prometheus' was hyped as a prequel - which it is, sort of. I say 'sort-of' because the storyline is very, very confused and without reading an explanation on IMDB or Wikipedia or whatever it would be difficult to make it out. And that's a great disappointment.

The film looks great, with the same use of dark, densely-realised backgrounds that Ridley Scott films are famous for (cf 'Aliens', 'Blade Runner', 'Black Rain'). The effects are great. The sound is great. The acting is so-so - 'wooden' comes to mind - and to say that the best acting comes from the android character David is to damn the film with faint praise.

Unfortunately instead of 'Prometheus' being a prequel to a sci-fi thriller / horror film it falls into the somewhat over-ambitious and certainly over-pretentious trap of trying to make a film about the origin of man. And in this it fails. If it had simply stuck to the formula it would have been really good, but as it is - and despite the excellent photography and effects - it becomes just another over-complex, messy film. Which is a pity because it could have been great rather than just average. Or perhaps I'm missing something and the inevitable 'Prometheus 2' will reveal it to be a masterpiece...

3/5 stars - very average.

Alien - Prometheus review by JD

Noomi Rapace has got a lot to live up to since "The Girl.." trilogy. I think she is an outstanding actress (do you have to say actor?) and is entirely convincing and entertaining, but the film is poor generally relying on mucus covered C.G.s to revolt and shock. The space shock scenes have not changed since Alien and I would suggest that if you can't improve on them, do it differently. The plot is broken and uninteresting with too much straining of incredulity. The slimy monster up the nose trick I have seen so many times (men in black is the best) recently I think it should be banned except for satirical or comic purposes. Ultimately pointless and unoriginal.

Could have been such a better prequel! - Prometheus review by DJ

I read somewhere that originally this script was written with a much stronger linked ending in the movie Alien but Ridley Scott didn't want to go over old ground again ("it's what the viewers would want!") but personally this should have been linked more to Alien and then Aliens. This movie is at it's weakest in the direction it went in after being rewritten that it's the prequel to us as humans. The origin of our species, not the alien species. Where did we come from? Is there a God? This movie is simply not intelligent enough for the deep philosophizing it does. It's at it's weakest in those parts and also the narrative and some of the acting related to this. There are even plot holes due to editing with crew members coming alive again, due to moving around the movie.

The movie is beautiful though with great special effects. Some of the main characters are fabulously portrayed, Elizabeth Shaw portrayed by Noomi Rapace is a really interesting lead protagonist. Just falls apart with the faith stuff (which they have to make really obvious) and the relationship with her boyfriend fails because he is cute but they just don't sell the relationship well enough. Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron and Idris Elba are excellent characters. Idris keeps his accent up the whole film! The rest of the actors are so so and you end up not really caring if they live or die which is a problem in this movie.

If you watch the movie several times, it becomes more endearing somehow. The first watch is just confusing as you try to follow the narrative. Without spoiling it, the movie does end with big hints or links to the Alien series. I liked this movie in the end but it could have been a lot better! I did like the character of Elizabeth Shaw and she could have been a new Ripley but was disappointed to read they don't continue with her very long in the next movie of the series. In fact I have read that Alien Covenant a lot worse than this one but that I still have to watch :) Worth a watch, does contain some horror and scenes that make you jump but not as good as Alien / Aliens ultimately.