Movie Review – Prometheus (2012)
Released today in the U.S. is Ridley Scott’s latest science fiction / suspense movie, Prometheus.
Prometheus is set earlier and in the same universe as his 1979 classic thriller, Alien. Prometheus isn’t necessarily a prequel to Alien, but in the movie you’ll see some similar elements, especially when it comes to the derelict spaceship in the beginning segments of Alien.
Take note that Prometheus runs with the notion that life, specifically human life, was brought to Earth from another world. Humans were genetically engineered by a greater race of beings, though the reasoning for the creation is still unknown.
Prometheus begins with an alien spaceship visiting the Earth thousands of years ago. We see a humanoid alien (later called an “Engineer”) drink a vial of black liquid. Suddenly, the alien goes through severe biological changes as the black liquid attacks it. The alien disintegrates as it falls into the waterfall. The remaining black liquid also falls into the waterfall, supposedly spreading the seeds for life on Earth.
The film then jumps ahead to about eighty years from now. We see an archaeological team in Iceland led by Dr. Elizabeth Shaw (played by Noomi Rapace) and Charlie Holloway (played by Logan Marshall-Green). Inside of a previously unsealed cave, Shaw and Holloway discover ancient cave paintings depicting people worshipping a much larger person who is pointing to a cluster of stars.
Prometheus (2012) – (c) 20th Century Fox
The film then jumps forward to the year 2093.
Prometheus (2012) – (c) 20th Century Fox
Scientific research vessel Prometheus is currently en-route to the group of stars drawn in the Icelandic cave. David, an android, monitors the crew who are asleep in stasis for the long journey. We see him learning a variety of tasks to stay occupied and updated with the latest information regarding their research mission. As the ship nears its destination, a moon known as LV-223, the ship’s computer wakes the crew.
Prometheus (2012) – (c) 20th Century Fox
After waking and orienting themselves, the mission’s leader, Meredith Vickers (played by Charlize Theron) conducts a briefing for the crew. She plays a recorded message by Peter Weyland (played by Guy Pearce), the founder of the Weyland Corporation. He briefly explains about himself and the purpose of the Prometheus. He then introduces Shaw and Holloway and points them as leaders of the research mission.
Prometheus (2012) – (c) 20th Century Fox
Elizabeth Shaw then takes over the meeting and explains to the crew members why the Prometheus is all the way out in deep space. Holloway explains how many of society’s ancient civilizations have very similar cave paintings depicting the cluster of stars despite the fact that none of the civilizations had direct contact with each other. As Elizabeth Shaw says, the paintings are an invitation to come out and meet their makers.
Prometheus (2012) – (c) 20th Century Fox
The Prometheus lands on LV-223, and the crew set out in vehicles to explore the planet. They quickly arrive at a massive rock structure and find some caves leading inside of it. Once there, one of the crew members uses ball-like sensors to begin scanning and mapping the tunnels. After going into a chamber, Holloway discovers that something inside of the caves is mechanically producing oxygen. He takes off his protective helmet to prove his point, and the others soon follow.
Prometheus (2012) – (c) 20th Century Fox
David finds a control panel and he’s able to activate it. The team watches in amazement as life-size images of larger alien beings come to life. The virtual aliens run through the tunnels as if escaping from something. The team follows the images and they are led to a large dead alien curled up at the base of a giant door. It turns out that the alien was decapitated when the door closed on its body. After a quick carbon dating scan, the dead alien is believed to be at least two thousand years old.
Prometheus (2012) – (c) 20th Century Fox
While some of the team members debate what to do, David finds a control panel and manages to open the door. Inside the chamber is a massive stone statue of a humanoid head. On the floor in front of it are many stone cylinders and yet more dead aliens. It’s believed that the alien species, the Engineers, may have gone extinct. A massive storm is approaching the Prometheus, so the team makes a quick grab of the decapitated Engineer’s head and makes a break for their vehicles. We see David secretly grab one of the stone cylinders after he discovers it oozing a black liquid. He smuggles it back to the Prometheus.
Prometheus (2012) – (c) 20th Century Fox
But that’s just part of the sci-fi movie.
The second half of Promethus gets intense at a few points including a gripping scene where Elizabeth Shaw uses a robotic operating table to remove an organism from inside of her body. This is equivalent to the “chest burst” scene in the original Alien.
Although Prometheus gets creepy at points and clearly has the dreadful feeling so common in Alien, it’s not much of a horror movie. There is some blood and gore along with a few rather interesting scenes, but it’s not fair to label it as a horror or really a scary movie. It almost feels like Prometheus leans more on Ridley Scott’s other classic science fiction movie, Blade Runner, and sets those thoughts in the Alien universe.
Prometheus promotion – Peter Weyland – TED Talk 2023
I think my favorite part of Prometheus was the spaceship itself. The ship looks outstanding and it goes out in a blaze of glory near the end of the movie. Just like the ship Nostromo in Alien, the Prometheus itself is a fantastic element in the movie that really gets your imagination going.
When seeing Prometheus, do not expect to see the “face huggers” or xenomorph killers made famous in the Alien movies. Yes, there are other killer aliens in Prometheus, but they just don’t have the same creepiness or horrific looks as the xenomorph in Alien. The aliens in Prometheus are almost laughable in comparison.
Prometheus promotion – Dr. Elizabeth Shaw – Quiet Eye
One of the odd things in Prometheus is that despite the events taking place before the movie Alien, the overall technology in Prometheus looks to be far superior than envisioned in the 1979 film. It’s hard to see Prometheus as the earlier of the two movies in the overall timeline. But that’s a minor issue with an otherwise good movie.
The biggest connections between Alien and Prometheus deal with the Weyland Corporation company itself and the Engineer’s spaceship (derelict spaceship that we see in Alien). The Engineer’s spaceship is pretty cool and you’ll learn a few neat things about it. Some of the scenes involving it will look very familiar to what we saw in Alien back in 1979.
Prometheus (2012) – movie trailer
As a whole, I liked Prometheus. Keep in mind that the story isn’t going to be for everybody. It might help if you think of the movie as a science fiction story with a few thrilling elements rather than a horror movie like the second half of Alien.
David – “Big things have small beginnings.”
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NOTE – The screenshots of Prometheus were added after the DVD was released.