Prometheus and ALL OTHER NEW ALIEN/PREDATOR SPOILERS

[Matt]

Just got back from seeing it.

It's the IDIOT PLOT all over again: the only reason that you get from plot point A to plot point B is because everyone acts like an idiot.

I love the fact that this film tried to create a mythology. I admire what it strived to do in that regard. Still, apparently the genesis of the 'alien' is as follows:

1. Black goo that Engineers created as a weapon of mass destruction. Creates worms under certain circumstances that do something
2. Infect the guy with the goo. Have him fuck the infertile woman.
3. Have her give birth (via caesarian sections) to a squid thing
4. Have the squid thing act as a prototype face-hugger on an Engineer.
5. Bam: prototype alien bursts from the Engineer.

THAT is the mythology that you're going to put forth? Did they honestly write that up and go 'yeah, that sounds good. Go with it.'????? Did they not step back even once and go 'wait a minute, have you honestly thought this through???'

The script reads like a first draft spec script written over a weekend. It definitely needed a heavy polishing from somebody with a functional brain.

That being said, I kinda enjoyed the film. The visuals and the acting were strong enough to keep me engaged in the material (such as it was) and there were many definite WOW moments courtesy of the special effects. It's worth seeing on the big screen, and the 3D was quite good.

[Nathan]

It's very pretty. Plot left me with many questions. Finally getting to read this thread was interesting.

[Bobby Bear]

Here's the thing about it. It's not an excuse, so much as acknowledging where Scott is as a director. If they fixed it, then would it be Scott? Also, how much of the series is really Scott? What if much like the prequels, we're getting the director we deserve?

Take away Giger, Take away O'Bannon, Giler and Hill...what do you have? A commercial director who is rather rough on actors.

We do need to be mindful of the fact that this isn't the work of Scott circa '79, enamored with Moebius's artwork and really pushing the tech available to him as far as he can within the budget available. Still, the man's produced so much quality work, learned more and more over the years, and has so many toys available to him now that I just can't get on board with such a pedestrian effort.

I'm trying to be as cryptic as possible whilst still making my points below. Spoiler warning: Code Blue

As for your design/tech question, PHEDG, it's not that I hated it. I was just let down by how unremarkable much of it was... the ship, in particular. Going back over the Alien Blu-ray special features last night, it made complete sense to me that people just walked those corridors to feel transported onto a real space ship. It still looks amazing, in large part because there's a sense of functionality underpinning those modules and control screens. Ron Cobb et al earned their bread on that show. Every design aspect just purred.

Prometheus, by comparison, lacks the same attention to detail. There's almost no atmosphere to speak of, perhaps the saddest thing of all from a visual/tonal master. Only the design touches already familiar from the series feel on par with the original movie. There is no new Space Jockey, no equivalent "wow" moment. It all falls back on the established motifs and iconography to get us excited because the rest of it could be dropped into basically any other mainstream sci-fi flick.

I don't even care that it's a comparatively flashier vessel / movie. I wasn't biased against it because it's not beat-up space truckers and haunted star castles. I just don't want it to have that impenetrable Apple Store Spaceship quality, that sterility which can really kill the mood of a sci-fi movie before it even gets going.

The Fassbender "map" scene was a rare moment of quality, I thought. The strength of the concept, how the score and his performance bolstered the effects... it all worked beautifully. All the more so because the story was being told visually, free from heavy-handed dialogue unlike the rest of it. The blurry "recordings" looked great as well.

[Ben Thomas]

The tech can be compared to a meeting with Q in a Bond film.

'Hey, Q - cool gadget!'

'Thanks. You'll need this one in the 2nd act and this one in the 3rd...'

It's kinda dumb, frankly.

I'll repeat - the film looks great and the effects are often flawless. It's the application and occasionally the design that's off.

[Anderson]

So I haven't read any of the last two pages so forgive me if this has been covered.

Is the science and technology at least cool? Or does it come off gimmicky and/or obtuse?

Vague and as little detail as possible please. heh

I didn't think it came off as gimmicky, save for one instance of cryo sleep. However, if I was indifferent/semi liking it. Bobby will want to kill it with fire.

[PHEDG]

So I haven't read any of the last two pages so forgive me if this has been covered.

Is the science and technology at least cool? Or does it come off gimmicky and/or obtuse?

Vague and as little detail as possible please. heh

[B_Metal]

The last word courtesy of me.

"You said something a little dismissive and dumb, so I called you a bitch. This surely can't be the first time you've been called a bitch. Hell, I bet it's not the first time today that someone's called you a bitch."

Hahhahahahaaha brutal but true.

[Anderson]

Details for those of us who missed it?

The last word courtesy of me.

"You said something a little dismissive and dumb, so I called you a bitch. This surely can't be the first time you've been called a bitch. Hell, I bet it's not the first time today that someone's called you a bitch."

[Anderson]

Details for those of us who missed it?

Since Bobby's the only other non-embargoed person I know that has seen it, we were commenting on our polar opposite impressions of the flick.

All the while, we're working out points while not trying to spoil people. Meanwhile, Hocken is slipping in every post to talk nonsense or just slap down anything I said.

So, it got to the point where I called Hocken out for being a bitch.

[B_Metal]

As you should. Scattershot barely begins to describe it.

Also, sorry about derailing your shit on FB, Bobby.

Hocken's a bitch and he needs to be reminded of it.

Details for those of us who missed it?

[Abraham Smashington]

As you should. Scattershot barely begins to describe it.

Also, sorry about derailing your shit on FB, Bobby.

Hocken's a bitch and he needs to be reminded of it.

I lulzed.

[Anderson]

I have some qualms about ratings systems. More of an "essay without a score at the end" kind of movie review guy, myself.*

Thanks for saying, Anderson. I just didn't expect it to take that turn.

* Hypocritical fondness for my own Radiant Isla Fishers out of 5 scale notwithstanding.

Well, he was being really pissy and dismissive. I learned from here that you can't directly call him on, so I just did what I did to shut him up.

[Anderson]

Ben, my friend, you are tearing it up in this thread. Haven't put a foot wrong with anything you've said.

*SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT!*

With the exception of a few decent scenes, Prometheus plays like glorified fan-fic. It's been gussied up with all the craft you'd expect from Sir himself, but it's still a sorry excuse for a movie masquerading as Epic Sci-Fi. Arguably, a disappointment on par with the Prequel Trilogy, no doubt about it.

Terrible writing abounds and there's some really suspect effects/creature design work near the end. It's easily the most toothless entry in the series, a saga it really has no place in being as bland as this. My biggest problem with the film, aside from its dependance on tired horror beats -- delivered with a surprising lack of flair, mostly -- is how pointless it all feels. The Space Jockey wouldn't have become the Space Jockey, a symbol for That Which Is Best Left Unknown, if we'd seen, y'know... that which is best left off-screen. The film's very basis, then, totally betrays the Lovecraftian sensibilities that so enriched Dan O'Bannon's work. For a production that trumpeted how assured it was about this and that, I find it amazing how such a fundamental tenet of Alien-ness got overlooked.

It's not like I'm spitting blood about this. It's just a movie, after all. I'm more frustrated than anything because, like you said, Ben, this is a part of the Alien saga now. whether I like it or not (hint: I don't); and it's very existence is already taking away some of the magic of the original for me. It no longer exists as an unspoiled slice of utter fear and wonder, inviting an extraordinary amount of questions from such a simple, rich premise. It's the latest Crystal Skull, another Final Reunion Tour that should never have been. The black sheep who can't help but tarnish his siblings.



Agreed about the 3D, although I think that says more about the poor standard of that generally, especially post-conversions, than it does about the quality of this film.



What an indictment of this year so far that we can already be talking about this potentially being on a Best Of list. I understand what you're saying about what Scott was doing within the stiflingly poor limitations of the script, but that's still not enough to excuse its shortcomings. If this came from any other director, free of all the baggage, we'd be tearing this more holes than a Scottish Premier League defence. With good cause.



And how. I'd rather pretend this has nothing to do with the series, to be honest. It doesn't fit in tonally, no matter how many clunky attempts to bridge them there are.

Seriously, how redundant was the constant effort to elevate this into cinematic Sci-Fi haute cuisine? What was meant to be elegant and restrained -- like Alien -- felt disjointed and clumsy, from the cypher-characters to the structure on down. It was like watching someone fumble around using a language they can't quite grasp, trying to deliver poetry.



The claustrophobic Noomi set-piece was probably the standout moment for me (or the Magneto map scene.) But it probably seemed better than it actually is surrounded by the rest of the movie. Everything about even that first booth moment, from the Geena Davis "I want it out of me!" line to the aftermath felt flat, tired, desperate to wow. It's so sad that a film with as much hype and anticipation around it, a film that promised something Sophisticated, gave us more running down corridors than anything else. Hardly the game-changer we were promised.

Here's the thing about it. It's not an excuse, so much as acknowledging where Scott is as a director. If they fixed it, then would it be Scott? Also, how much of the series is really Scott? What if much like the prequels, we're getting the director we deserve?

Take away Giger, Take away O'Bannon, Giler and Hill...what do you have? A commercial director who is rather rough on actors. I feel like we're on the tip of something here and I want to write about it. But, I'm fucking swamped.

[Bobby Bear]

I have some qualms about ratings systems. More of an "essay without a score at the end" kind of movie review guy, myself.*

Thanks for saying, Anderson. I just didn't expect it to take that turn.

* Hypocritical fondness for my own Radiant Isla Fishers out of 5 scale notwithstanding.

[Anderson]

This is why I give fuck all about reviews

As you should. Scattershot barely begins to describe it.

Also, sorry about derailing your shit on FB, Bobby.

Hocken's a bitch and he needs to be reminded of it.