Prometheus Reviews are in: Great, not Perfect

Prometheus is being billed as one of the biggest things to happen to sci-fi movies since, well, the 70's. It marks Ridley Scott's return to the genre after decades with the promise of creating a modern classic much like he did with Blade Runner and Alien. Prometheus has been hyped beyond all reason, so with that in mind, how does it hold up?

Well the reviews are in. Prometheus is a good movie. A great one, even, a masterclass in cinema and tension-building. But it isn't the defining, genre-mutating goliath that it was billed as.

Ridley Scott, Charlize Theron and Michael Fassbender

Prometheus tells the story of a group of scientists who, on a grant from a mega-corporation, go to seek out the meaning of some pictographs. What they find is not good.

The movie is a pseudo-prequel to Aliens, set in the same universe and featuring one same alien, but none of the xenomorphs that made Alien famous. It has an all-star cast, with Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron and Idris Elba.

First off, no one doubts the fi;m's visual splendor. Scott is a master of style, and it shows here. As Space.com's Rick Marshall summed it,

"From start to finish, "Prometheus" is a fantastic treat for nearly every sense you use as a member of the audience. The visual effects are just as epic as the previews suggest, and Scott has made excellent use of both the 3-D aspects of the film and the advantages an IMAX presentation can provide. Every moment truly fills the screen and “pops” with the sort of detail only a master filmmaker can provide, and Scott extends that expert touch to the film's sound effects and score, too. Whether it's a quiet scene brimming with tension or a massive, deafening explosion, you feel the world Scott has created just as much as you observe it."

The problem is that, for all the visual splendor, the tale told is fairly standard fare. And the film seems to be enamored with asking questions that it doesn't answer. Which would be fine if it wasn't for the fact that some of the motives of the individuals were suspect, leaving you wondering just as much about why a person did one specific thing as about our place in the universe and how far is too far.

Overall, Prometheus is a great film, if you approach it with the knowledge that the hype overdid it. The movie has some truly terrifying moments, but it never recaptures the greatness of Alien. Perhaps that is a good thing.

Photo by : Gage Skidmore