Alien was slow paced, haunted house in space.
Aliens was a rollercoaster ride of a Vietnam movie in space with Xenomorphs playing the part of the tough enemy that likes tunnels.
Prometheus will be "LOST in Space" already on thousands of review headlines, each pretending to be the one who came up with this original witty remark.
I'll add my own, probably also thought of by someone else, (I googled, found none yet, except another thread where I used it.) so here comes the cliché..
This is a FACEHUGGER of a film.
Just like being attacked and impregnated by one of those things, the 3-D prometheus jumps off the screen and its many tentacled plot lines grab on to your head in an unpleasant manner.
It is a bit of a shock to the system, it's uncomfortable.
It plants a seed of a puzzle in you, which broke out, and now, you're here, on the internet 'still searching' as one of the characters says..
Ridley Scott has written a devious detailed story, that may only be a gripping experience for people who cannot handle something that has no sense, if it gives every indication that it SHOULD.
Have you ever seen "Cow Tools" by Gary Larson?
Coming out of the cinema part of me felt that this is me after cow tools. Looking for answers that the artist didn't put in. He was just trying to entertain. He didn't expect all the letters begging for answers.
I don't think Prometheus is that simple, but I think Ridley Scott has fun with that notion.
I think another comparison might be "Lost"... everyone keeps mentioning it, but it's a TV show, and I have no TV... so unable to comment beyond saying that it's very hard to keep a show going for that many series of confusing plot lines that somehow tie together, unless you are a GENIUS or unless, you are using the "I HAVE to know what it MEANS" factor to keep them watching, and buying the DVD.
Anyhow, we all know Damon Lindelhof is the common factor between LOST and PROMETHEUS... so what you thought of LOST might apply here. Either it really does explain it all on screen, or lets you dream up your own (as our minds tend to do) .
Some people are reading up on all types of mythology in MASSIVE detail...
Really the surface detail will do, enough to spot why you are being teased.
The film is full of red herrings, and almost nothing is conclusive.
You can watch to the end and think
"Wow, the believer was right, there is a god somewhere and she can fly off and find it" - These people need to remember James T Kirk's wisdom on this.
It is also possible to take a completely skeptical look and arrive at the conclusion.... "Wow, she got people killed for nothing, including one which would have answered ALL her questions, and now she's seeking out some very bad people who probably care little about her need to know, and even less about philosophical debates" and theres no need for a sequesl, because of the implied ending.
In every scene there is misdirection and multiple interpretations. It's a trap for the curious.
I'll spoil one commonly referenced scene -subject to HUNDREDS of internet debates.
Why did the biologist pet a space cobra, resulting in his death? he was scared of everything a few scenes earlier. You will find people arguing that "You don't understand, to a biologist, discovery is crucial" and others with the "who knows, who cares, people just do stuff" angle on it.
Some say it was because of all the biblical references, (a dramatic decapitation scene earlier one seems to be tailor written to 'fulfil" Leviticus 22:3 ... and this moon is called LV 223 geddit?)
So applying that 'logic' that means Milburn died in the temple because of Leviticus 21:20.(which forbids those with a defect in their site approaching the altar.) Milburn wore spectacles.
This apparently dooms people, just as surely as being anonymous and wearing a red shirt in Star Trek. And he was tempted by a snake... go figure.
The LEAST discussed option was much simpler. We have two very freaked out scientists stuck in a cave during a storm. the following discussion then takes place.
Hey, is that tobacco in your respirator
huh?
Tobacco in your respirator?
yeah, sure, tobacco.
It cuts to another scene and we never see any evidence on what to base it on, but it would seem that the reason for the mellow biologist is that they shared some weed and 'hotboxed' it in their suits.
But that's just conjecture right?
Personally, I think it's very clever in many ways, make a film that perplexes people, but put in the draw of Ridley Scott visuals great acting and the backdrop of the popular Alien universe... and then convulse their minds.
They will spend ages on the little puzzles of so many 'plot holes and unanswered questions' before it dawns on them. Someone is MESSING with your mind, partly for fun, I;m sure, and partly because of wanting the story to be something you have to think about to avoid the "hell of not knowing" Ridley Scott may be responsible for millions of sleep deprived geeks looking up Sumerian myths, and obscure books about UFO-nauts seeding Earth.
It might be just my interpretation, but for me the message of the film is be careful about jumping to unfounded conclusions. Either way you interpret the end, that is ultimately the cause of death for 15 people in this film.
Scientists who ignore the scientific method (no peer review, no consideration of alternative explanations, and a bias towards the ones that fit their desired outcome.)
A trillionaire who made his money from science, throwing it away because the thought of living forever appeals to him, as it's all that's missing from his god complex - he already 'made' 80 worlds through his terraforming and colony industries.
And people who trust these judgements end up dead, except for the one who started the theory, and an android who doesn't care if it's true and who isn't going to die of old age anyway.
As a stand alone sci fi film, if you didn't bother thinking about it. It's pretty decent, with some crazy plot holes, that you might later laugh at with your friends, but it delivers Space Jockeys, violence, chases, crashes
As a puzzle, it can keep you scratching your head for hours, if not days.
And it does seem that the 'plot holes' are in fact traps for our obsessive little minds.
If you're somewhere between popcorn escapism, and "I have to know the meaning of the scene with the twin bodyguards" obsession, you may have felt a bit let down by this film. After all, not everyone will enjoy being 'face-hugged' although some of us are masochistic enough to want a sequel.
But as I said, make of it what you will. The important thing is to be aware of WHY you reached that conclusion. The worst answer, if asked why you think it's great, terrible or 'meh' is "I choose to believe'.
