Ridley Scott’s return to the genre he himself set incredibly high standards for, was a highly anticipated move that fans of ‘Blade Runner’ (1982) and not least ‘Alien’ (1979) were anxiously anticipating to see.

Therefore, it is frustrating to know that among the glorious panoramas, eerie catacombs and frantic breathing lies a misguided plot that neither satisfies ‘Alien’/Ridley Scott fans, nor establishes itself as an independent statement or vision.

Scott has previously stated that the script did start off as a prequel to the mysterious ‘Space Jockey’, known as the giant fossilized creature in the chair. But unlike creating an actual, original alternate universe, the writers filled in the blanks by grabbing ideas out of thin air. Very thin. Misplaced subplots, poorly written – and poorly delivered – dialogue and scenes which were logically unsound; these are the reasons why the spaceship has come down on ‘Prometheus’.

Spoiler Alert!

The faults center around the script and plot. Who knows if Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof were so star struck over the opportunity that their main preparation was to watch the four movies over and over again, but the original elements in this film limit themselves to vague characterizations and an unfulfilled thesis on genesis.

Here are some of the points for criticism: Supposed expert scientists are suddenly incredibly stupid, throwing a (poorly delivered) fit after discovering a decapitated being only to get lost, despite having invented a high tech, flying homing beacon (and having contact with the mother ship at all times). Also, who sticks out their hand towards an unknown snake-like creature, when they’ve just been freaked out by a pile of dead aliens?

There are also several points for criticism on Noomi Rapace’s Elisabeth Shaw. Besides her poor dialogue (the one between her and Idris Elba, who plays Captain Janek, about whether to leave the planet or not, is especially cringe-worthy) and incomprehensible character development (wanting to stay on the planet despite just having washed off the blood from her own ‘freak-robot-alien-baby-cesarian’), Shaw is a woman, brought up by a man, living with a man and searching for a man — the dire opposite of the strong female character we are dubbed into thinking she should be. Most of the time, she seems to tumble around, surviving only by the hands of incompetent opposition.

In fact, the characters are uniformly dull and one-dimensional, with so little work done on character development that it was hard to remember the on-screen names of anyone — with the exception of David, the mischievous android.

Things that worked for ‘Prometheus’

Thankfully the script did not stop the visuals of ‘Prometheus’ from being truly other-worldly. Ridley Scott put a vision in place fraught with danger and architectural grandeur that will blow your mind. His uncanny talent for making sure the expressions of the plot elements emanate from the surroundings never fails him, which is why the eerie darkness, yet beauty of the superior alien residence is in stark contrast to the calculated, bright and aesthetically delicate human spaceship.

The imagined higher beings who become the focus of the film are also extraordinary in design, power and mercilessness. Though they feature very little as active characters, their presence means everything. They also seem more real as characters than Shaw and Charlize Theron’s corporate stooge Vickers manages – combined.

David the android is also worth the money as his curiosity and wonderfully fitting malicious intent saves nearly all the plot twists from lying dead in the water. Michael Fassbender cannot seem to do anything wrong these days.

The potential drowns in misguided ambition

It may just be the other-worldly elements you desperately hold on to if you go watch ‘Prometheus.’ However, it seems duly inappropriate that a movie about man’s obsession with their own humanity features such indifferent caricatures of human life that the only sympathy we could muster was toward a robot and a species that we’ve just met.

Many original Alien fans may also find the whole thing a bit of a violation upon the concepts that Scott’s new foray into a genre he hasn’t touched for 30 years, is based.

Saying that ‘Prometheus’ shares DNA with ‘Alien’ is an understatement at best. Rather, ‘Prometheus’ took an arm and a leg from ‘Alien’, muddled in a philosophical thesis and a couple of poorly conceived replications of Ripley’s struggles only to end up at a vague anti-conclusion.

There was potential for both plot directions: It could have been the incredible story of how scientists’ first encounter with their maker coincided with that of the bony, acid-bleeding, sly creatures we know and relish from the Alien quadrilogy. The twist? The last survivor sends out the transmission to warn Weyland-Yutani, the company, which the company wrongfully interprets as an opportunity thus igniting the Ripley saga when the Nostromo passes by.

On the other hand, ‘Prometheus’ could have been a stunning re-visualization of the original thesis – what if WE found the aliens? The idea that humans with the right capabilities would explore the galaxy, looking for their maker, is not unimaginable and definitely interesting.

It seems wrong to blame Ridley Scott for the excruciating feeling of disappointment with which I left the theater. After all, ‘Prometheus’ is a visual treat by all accounts. Neither does it seem right to blame Noomi Rapace, Idris Elba, Logan Marchall-Green and Charlize Theron for failing to infuse any realistic personality into their characters. We can blame all of them for their poor judgement but the real culprits in this major let-down are Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof. Their script has to rank among the worst for such a grand, anticipated production.

We haven’t even mentioned why Guy Pearce is on the cast list because that story is just another sad plot boil on an already disastrous script.

Verdict: 2/5 – Wasting potential like this is an abomination. Was it not for the incredible Fassbender and the aesthetics of the visuals, we would have to unlike Ridley Scott on Facebook.

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In the much anticipated ‘Alien’ strain ‘Prometheus’, the cold efficiency of Charlize Theron’s character might be characterized as machine-like, but another crew member, David, portrayed by Michael Fassbender, is, literally, a machine – an android creation of the corporation.

While David possesses extraordinary intelligence and other capabilities, his principal tasks on the Prometheus, says director Ridley Scott, are servile. “He’s basically the ship’s housekeeper, keeping an eye on everything while the human crew is in suspended animation [necessitated by the two-year journey].”

David is however far more “human” than one might expect of a synthetic person. Executive producer Damon Lindelof explains: “David is programmed to help the human crewmembers, but he thinks the mission, in and of itself, is ridiculous because he’s in the company of his creators – humans – and he’s completely and totally unimpressed with them. I was driven by the idea of having him articulate his disdain in ways that his programming would allow.”

The combination of David’s intellect and menial directives makes for some of the film’s most unexpected moments of humor. When we meet David, he’s like a child in a playground – but his playground is the Prometheus. “While the rest of the crew is suspended animation, David is enjoying himself, tinkering with the ship’s many technical wonders,” says Fassbender. And like a child, David enjoys watching the same movie over and over again.

His cinema touchstone is David Lean’s epic masterpiece ‘Lawrence of Arabia’; David, like Peter O’Toole’s T.E. Lawrence, is in many ways an idealized construct of a man. Further, says Lindelof, “Lawrence was a stranger in a strange land. He fancied himself a liberator – and all these things are a part of David.”

Additionally, David’s views on the human crew are somewhat child-like. “He is jealous and arrogant because he realizes that his knowledge is all-encompassing and therefore he is superior to the humans,” says Fassbender. “David wants to be acknowledged and praised for his brilliance, yet nobody gives him the time of day. They don’t accept David and that upsets him. And like a child, David can be very bold in the decisions he makes.”

Janek, the captain of the Prometheus, is described by Scott as an “old sea dog” – an officer in the classic tradition, and an alpha male whose primary mission is to protect the ship and its crew. His ambitions and vocation provide a sharp contrast to the heady goals of the scientific protagonists Shaw and Holloway and the venal corporate interests of Vickers.

British actor Idris Elba, who portrays Janek, reunites with Scott, with whom he collaborated on the director’s award-winning American Gangster. Elba’s formidable presence and performance in that film left a strong impression on Scott, as did the actor’s searing work as drug overlord Stringer Bell in the series The Wire and as a complicated police officer in Luther.

Elba describes Janek as “a longshoreman and a sailor. It’s his life and the crew is his responsibility. Ultimately, he makes a huge decision that sums him up as a man.”

Logan Marshall-Green takes on the role of Holloway, who is Shaw’s partner, both personally and professionally, in a quest for answers to some of humanity’s most important questions. Like Shaw, Holloway has a thirst for answers, but he thinks the end of their search will yield very different results from those Shaw expects.

“Shaw is the heart of the search; Holloway is the guts,” adds Marshall-Green. “I think Holloway is searching for answers to these huge questions because he’s always pushing the envelope. He goes to the extreme in everything he does, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse of the team. I think what drives him is the thrill of the search.”

Image Courtesy of   Prometheus

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In Ridley Scott’s upcoming science fiction epic, Arthur Max’s equally magnificent sets that bring to life the alien planet include a Pyramid, which contains the Juggernaut, a ship similar to the crashed crescent shaped ship seen in ‘Alien’. Using a series of chambers, corridors and tunnels connecting the larger spaces to each other, and after post-production enhancement, the space is as enormous as the Empire State building. It was so cavernous that some crew lost their bearings.

Outside the British Pinewood Studios, on Pinewood’s backlot, Max and his team built the Prometheus Garage, one of three sets that sit beneath the main body of the ship. The enormous set houses the crew’s vehicles, which the production built from scratch. “We had to create vehicles that could actually be driven on a hostile surface, which is undulating and rocky,” says Max.

“We needed transportation that would be industrial enough to deal with these environments but at the same time give us a futuristic characteristic.” It took eleven weeks to create these robust vehicles, complete with state-of-the-art technology, LED lighting, and padded seats, all presented in a dazzling metallic finish.

After 15 weeks at Pinewood, cast and crew relocated to Iceland to shoot the climactic sequences as well as the prologue. In the town of Hekla, the production captured epic action and thrills – while one of Iceland’s most active volcanoes threatened to erupt.  Additional scenes were shot at a spectacular waterfall in Dettifoss.

Facing challenges every bit as demanding as those confronting Max was another of Scott’s frequent collaborators, Academy Award-winning costume designer Janty Yates. “Ridley was adamant about avoiding the puffy, NASA-style spacesuit audiences know so well,” says Yates.

“He loved the linear look so we went with a novel approach to spacesuit design that uses biomedical breakthroughs in skin replacement and materials to create a suit that could believably provide lightweight flexibility and comfort in any extraterrestrial environment. Each costume consisted of the outer spacesuit and a Neoprene under suit, a yoke to which a helmet was attached, and a backpack. Scott mandated a globe-shaped helmet with no blind spots.

Each helmet had nine working video screens, lighting, an oxygen supply run on two fans with battery packs within the backpack. The exterior of the helmet features a fully functioning torch and HD cameras with a transmitter and recorder.

David’s onboard costume conforms to the human apparel, but with fine lines to provide a more linear look. Theron wears a beautiful silk mohair suit in ice silver. “Vickers is the ice queen. It was always our vision to make her look as sculptural as possible,” explains Yates. Keeping the naval simile in mind for Janek, Janty gave Elba a canvas-greased jacket giving the appearance that he’s been at the helm of a ship for many years. Marshall-Green as Holloway exudes a casual comfortable timeless look, in his hoodies, Thai fisherman pants and flip-flops.

The film’s new creatures are the work of Creative Supervisor for Creature Effects and Special Make-Up Effects Neal Scanlan and Prosthetic Supervisor Conor O’Sullivan. “We present the evolution of these nasty bits and pieces of creature evolution in a logical and biological fashion,” says Scott.

Adds Scanlan: “Each stage of a creature’s life cycle has a distinctive purpose. For our xenobiology, we brought in new elements that are not necessarily backward from those in Alien, but are of a similar DNA. Many of Ridley’s references are derived from nature – plants, vegetables, sea creatures and other animals.  Nothing is invented.”

Exploring 3D

Prometheus marks Scott’s first film shot digitally and in 3D, a format whose technical challenges and aesthetic opportunities were embraced by the filmmaker. Scott and director of photography Dariusz Wolski used the technology to enhance the action and thrills in small confined spaces, as well within epic vistas.

In returning to the genre he helped define, Ridley Scott continues to push the boundaries of storytelling, both visually and thematically.  As he notes, he’s all about the “everything” – from story structure to casting, from sets and costumes to new ways of telling a story.

And while the renowned filmmaker is scaring the shit out of you, he never loses sight of the big picture.  “After you’ve seen ‘Prometheus’,” Scott concludes, “you will have experienced something completely unexpected.”

Image Courtesy of   Prometheus

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