UK Release Date: 01-06-2012
Starring: Noomi Rapace, Charlize Theron, Michael Fassbender
UK Certificate: 15
Director: Ridley Scott
Country: USA
Distributor: 20th Century Fox

Ridley Scott’s Prometheus has finally berthed in the multiplexes. Over 30 years after his original SF-horror classic Alien spawned a franchise as persistent as the Giger-inspired creature that would not die, Scott has returned to space to reclaim his deadly baby from the monstrosity of films like Alien vs. Predator: Requiem (during which you could hear yourself scream). Robot Ash’s description of the alien life-form as the “perfect organism” was equally applicable to Alien the film. The plot was pared down to something of sublime simplicity; the uniformly excellent cast riffed off each other with seemingly effortless improvisatory skill amid a huge but claustrophobic, lived-in looking commercial spaceship; and this was complimented by a hostile otherworld landscape and alien spacecraft interior truly vast in art-directorial conception. It all added to an air of immersive verisimilitude in what was, after all, a vision of the future.

 

More than three decades on, Scott’s ability to create breathtaking futuristic landscapes remains supreme. That’s part of the good news, as is the performance of Noomi Rapace in the nominal central role. She proves herself to be a worthy younger sister to Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley, her tenacious performance holding its own against those jaw-dropping otherworldly vistas, even though the script gives her much less to say or do.

 

Although Rapace gets top billing, Charlize Theron is the big star name here, playing a lean, mean corporate dominatrix. But the script and Scott weigh things heavily in favour of Michael Fassbender’s android David (no spoilers; it’s clear from the beginning that that’s what he is). As the cryo-sleeping crew head towards a previously unknown planet, prompted by the amalgamation of celestial markers discovered throughout the ages of mankind, David wiles away the years as he curates his human cargo, referencing David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia and modelling himself, hair, voice and all, on Peter O’Toole’s mannerisms. Do androids dream of electric Lawrences? Can a robot have something akin to a soul? Or is it a case of “choosing to believe”, as Rapace’s Dr Elizabeth Shaw does, in a supernatural creator?

 

It’s clear that this is what interests the Scott of Blade Runner, as does the horror of bodily invasion and the sort of terminal sexual violation the Alien franchise is famous for. There’s plenty of that here, courtesy of some truly gut-churning moments amid all the visual magnificence. Clearly, most of the crew are surplus to requirements, and plenty of oozing, writhing, repulsive piercings and invasions ensue. You’re almost glad, though, so asinine are some of their actions as supposed top-flight scientists (the Scottish geologist makes Trainspotting’s Begbie look like a neuro-surgeon). It’s the script and the ill-conceived characterisations it affords the actors that almost sabotages this dark flight into the stars.

 

Being the seasoned celluloid master that he is, Scott has been quick to deny that Prometheus is a prequel to Alien, which was always a one-off. The spin-offs are James Cameron’s, not Scott’s. Prometheus does answer some of the questions posed in the original Alien – for one: who that starman is, seemingly organically growing into his gigantic telescope.

 

As a film, it has moments of greatness. When Scott’s vision transcends the script, Prometheus reaches into the realms of sci-fi wonder, which is what I wanted to see. At least some of the time, I wasn’t disappointed. But too often the script’s inane expositional nature gets a stranglehold and Scott’s imagination becomes chained to it.

 

The film was shot in “genuine” 3D, but I confess it totally passed me by. The sheer scale of Scott’s conception, in which every picture tells the story, means that Scott doesn’t need 3D.

 

Is it terrifying? No. Is it entertaining? Yes. Is it visually magnificent? Yes. Is it a masterpiece? No.

Over 30 years on and the studios have little patience for big budget films that require, well, a bit of patience. Scott has spent much of his energy here trying to circumvent the unspoken laws of the studio gods and big-screen outings: that we are all stupid; that things have to be explained to us as if we were two-year-olds; that we all have the attention spans of goldfish. And yet, and yet… there are moments when Ridley Scott succeeds magnificently, illuminating the screen in a defiantly Promethean way.