Prometheus

It's probably one of my biggest movie UO's that I absolutely despised Alien. I found it to be terribly slow, way too long, definitely not scary, and poorly written. But when the previews for Prometheus began to air, I thought it was going to be tons better considering the pace of most science fiction movies these days moves a lot faster then back in the day. I was certainly right, in that I did appreciate Prometheus 1,000 times more than Alien, however I felt a bit disappointed overall. I was expecting Prometheus to blow me away but something didn't add up to that.

Prometheus stars Noomi Rapace and Logan Marshall-Green as Elizabeth & Charlie, two archaeologists on a mission to discover the first documented forms of human existence and how/why the human race was created. Their journey leads them on a mission lead by Vickers (Charlize Theron) that finds the team on a foreign planet with intrigue at every corner. Unfortunately for them, they're far from alone, and whatever was already on the planet is certainly not welcoming them with open arms.

I feel like I should love Prometheus so much more then I should. The visuals are astounding; the atmosphere is beautiful, the set pieces are immaculate, and in some scenes (most noteworthy being the C section), there's not one ounce of artifice involved. Charlize Thereon as the robotic leader and Michael Fassebender (as an actual robot) deliver the goods with their characters as well, easily becoming the two most intriguing characters of the film. And for the most part I would say I was entertained, despite a few draggy bits and a length that arguably could have been trimmed a bit.

I think my biggest issue with Prometheus is that it just doesn't take the leap from good to great. There aren't any great risks of surprises here. When I think of movies I would label as superb/excellent, there's at least one scene that knocks my socks off and I don't think Prometheus contains one of those. It's definitely good from beginning to end but it's not something that has an element that makes me count down until I watch it again. Solid, but Prometheus fails to really knock it out of the park, or the planet in this scenario.

3/4