Searching for Answers – Quick Review of Prometheus

Prometheus

The tagline for the movie is: They went looking for our beginning. What they found could be our end.

Synopsis: Ridley Scott does science fiction again. I remember watching Alien at the Old Mill 6 Theaters in Mountain View. My sister took me. I don’t recall if I knew what the movie was about before watching it. I think all I knew was that it took place in outer space. Star Wars took place in outer space, so this movie should be cool, right? Well, after the infamous chest buster scene, I knew this was a different film.

I heard this started out as a prequel to Alien but changed to a movie that takes place in the same universe as Alien. Whatever. The film is about going into space to find the answer to the origins of man. Oh, and there are scary aliens in space.

The Good: The general idea of the film, trying to discover the origins of man, is a fresh thought. If our creators left signs of where we came from, and perhaps how to find them, wouldn’t any reasonable person go looking for them if they had the opportunity?

The science and design win the day for me in this film. The technology has a sense of realism to it. I can believe they are on the ship Prometheus, and that this ship actually exists.

The aliens (there is more than one type) are interesting without being too foreign. They are familiar yet new. I am not sure how much CGI was done for the aliens, but to me, it didn’t look like much.

As far as memorable scenes, I must say I enjoyed the operation scene is on par with the chest buster scene of Alien.

The acting was well done. I especially liked Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, and Idris Elba. Noomi Rapace is a great choice for the lead. The character she plays, Elizabeth Shaw, is a strong character in the same vein as Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley.

The Bad: Overall it was a predictable story. A keen film watcher can determine what is going to happen. You could t]see the hidden relationships between characters. There are almost no surprises.

The exploration scenes were good, but I wish they were darker, more tension filled. They were too straightforward and light in comparison to Alien.

There are a few plot hole “huh” moments, like why does one person get affected this way while another is affected another way. The film leaves you with few answers and more questions. Will they be addressed in a sequel if there is one? Who knows.

Overall: The film is worth watching. I don’t think you should compare it to Alien. Take that movie out of the equation. You will probably enjoy this more if you do.

**My Rating: Matinée

My Ratings Scale Revisited

A few months back I decided to change the way I rate movies reviews. Previously I used the old standard of assigning a letter grade to a movie. I then moved to a liked it slash didn’t like it scale. I didn’t find much flexibility in that rating system. Now, I’m moving real world scale I use when asked about a movie. The scale, which I am sure is used elsewhere, is based on how much you are will to pay to see a movie. The scale is as follows:

  • Full Admission – Willing to pay for a full price theater ticket, especially on a crowded Friday night.
  • Matinee – Must see the movie in a theater, but do it as cheap as possible.
  • Rental (DVD, Blu-ray, whatever media you choose) – See it right when it hits the retail market.
  • Cable TV – You can wait until it shows up on cable to watch.

I’m sure there are other ratings that can be placed in there (e.g. cheap theaters, broadcast television) but I don’t find those ideal situations to watch most movies. Plus I don’t have a cheap theater near me and broadcast television has too many commercials to suffer through. Here are a few samples of movies I’ve reviewed and how I would rate them on this new scale:

  • Full Admission – 300, The Dark Knight, Wall-E, Juno
  • Matinee – Quantum of Solace, Grand Torino, Knocked Up
  • Rental – Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Transformers
  • Cable TV – Nights in Rodanthe, Spider-Man 3

Let’s see how this scale works for me.