So then, Prometheus...
I've been a huge fan of Alien ever since I was 10 and saw the original on TV. It was so fantastically dark, terrifying and beautifully made. It's a film I've watched countless times and apart from some ropey special effects (limit of the age unfortunately), it's almost as perfect as film making can get.
Then came along the gung-ho Aliens and a massively strong sequel. Again, quite possibly the perfect action films with strong characters, constantly moving, tense plot and a massive crescendo to go out on.
Alien[super]3[/super] is much derided, but is only a bad film when compared to the other two. It's actually not awful and fits well in with the Alien canon. We'll just not mention Resurrection and pretend it never happened
Along with loving the original Alien, I also really love Ridley Scott's work. He's such a poised and deliberate director. I just love the way his camera work paces a film, and the attention to detail he demands.
Prometheus has a lot to live up to, but it's okay, because I know that there's no way it can be another Alien or Aliens. There's only so "good" the film can ever achieve compared to what happened before. Alien wrote the rule book on suspense horror/Sci-fi and any attempt to emulate that would be a poor facsimile.
So what do we get? Well sadly we get a tale that is trying too hard to be clever. It's tied into canon that it wants to explain. The thing is, the other films have never tried to explain. The other films have simply been people running for their lives from an unknown, un-knowable horror. We don't care what the alien is, we just care about it's sharp teeth and tendency to rip people apart.
There seems to be two stories going on here too. There's one story that the film starts with which is potentially interesting. It shows another race interacting with ours, but dying under the same herded cattle issue that we see in Aliens. It's exciting and interesting and the first half of the film is actually really very good. It's mysterious, compelling and tense.
Then a second story arc is introduced that seems at odds with the first. It's introducing a mystery that is extraneous, just so that the film can then introduce an antagonist and produce the canon for the first film. It feels forced and doesn't flow properly, it's also very obvious with the conspiracy coming back in. It's like the script is trying to squeeze in as much as it can to mirror what happened in the other films.
Then there's the "action". At first it's great, but then it rapidly becomes formulaic and unbelievable. Well, it wasn't believable in the other two films either, but at least it didn't take the piss like Prometheus did.
It's a shame, because the film starts with such great potential. It's a gorgeously directed film too, but it doesn't quite have the edge Alien did. I do think the biggest issue is that there seemed to be a "checklist"* somewhere of things that had happened (either obviously, or background) in the other films that they felt they just had to get in there or "it wouldn't work". Sadly it's forced the film down a narrow path in the end which is unsatisfactory.
Having said that, it's still a good film. It's like Alien[super]3[/super], it's actually good, it's just that it's limited by how great the first two films are.
Solid 8/10 really.
*Here's the checklist I could see (in spoiler tags):
I've been a huge fan of Alien ever since I was 10 and saw the original on TV. It was so fantastically dark, terrifying and beautifully made. It's a film I've watched countless times and apart from some ropey special effects (limit of the age unfortunately), it's almost as perfect as film making can get.
Then came along the gung-ho Aliens and a massively strong sequel. Again, quite possibly the perfect action films with strong characters, constantly moving, tense plot and a massive crescendo to go out on.
Alien[super]3[/super] is much derided, but is only a bad film when compared to the other two. It's actually not awful and fits well in with the Alien canon. We'll just not mention Resurrection and pretend it never happened
Along with loving the original Alien, I also really love Ridley Scott's work. He's such a poised and deliberate director. I just love the way his camera work paces a film, and the attention to detail he demands.
Prometheus has a lot to live up to, but it's okay, because I know that there's no way it can be another Alien or Aliens. There's only so "good" the film can ever achieve compared to what happened before. Alien wrote the rule book on suspense horror/Sci-fi and any attempt to emulate that would be a poor facsimile.
So what do we get? Well sadly we get a tale that is trying too hard to be clever. It's tied into canon that it wants to explain. The thing is, the other films have never tried to explain. The other films have simply been people running for their lives from an unknown, un-knowable horror. We don't care what the alien is, we just care about it's sharp teeth and tendency to rip people apart.
There seems to be two stories going on here too. There's one story that the film starts with which is potentially interesting. It shows another race interacting with ours, but dying under the same herded cattle issue that we see in Aliens. It's exciting and interesting and the first half of the film is actually really very good. It's mysterious, compelling and tense.
Then a second story arc is introduced that seems at odds with the first. It's introducing a mystery that is extraneous, just so that the film can then introduce an antagonist and produce the canon for the first film. It feels forced and doesn't flow properly, it's also very obvious with the conspiracy coming back in. It's like the script is trying to squeeze in as much as it can to mirror what happened in the other films.
Then there's the "action". At first it's great, but then it rapidly becomes formulaic and unbelievable. Well, it wasn't believable in the other two films either, but at least it didn't take the piss like Prometheus did.
It's a shame, because the film starts with such great potential. It's a gorgeously directed film too, but it doesn't quite have the edge Alien did. I do think the biggest issue is that there seemed to be a "checklist"* somewhere of things that had happened (either obviously, or background) in the other films that they felt they just had to get in there or "it wouldn't work". Sadly it's forced the film down a narrow path in the end which is unsatisfactory.
Having said that, it's still a good film. It's like Alien[super]3[/super], it's actually good, it's just that it's limited by how great the first two films are.
Solid 8/10 really.
*Here's the checklist I could see (in spoiler tags):
1. Slightly insane robot/who is the robot (reference to Ash in first film, directors cut/script see also 4.)
2. Company plot which doesn't care about the survival of employees
3. Mysterious containers that infect crew
4. Lax social ideals towards sex
5. Rape
6. Patricide/matricide
7. Pandora's Box (linked to 2)
8. Fear of childbirth (which ties up lots of these :lol: )
9. Infanticide (Mother in Alien, the company in Aliens).
Probably loads more as I think about it. A lot are wrapped up in each other anyway, but are the major "themes" of the first two films that run as an undercurrent to the plots (the plots of the first two films are simple, curiosity opens a Pandora's box that then unleashes hell that chases everyone down until the conclusion - they're very simple but you don't need much more as long as it's well written/filmed).
2. Company plot which doesn't care about the survival of employees
3. Mysterious containers that infect crew
4. Lax social ideals towards sex
5. Rape
6. Patricide/matricide
7. Pandora's Box (linked to 2)
8. Fear of childbirth (which ties up lots of these :lol: )
9. Infanticide (Mother in Alien, the company in Aliens).
Probably loads more as I think about it. A lot are wrapped up in each other anyway, but are the major "themes" of the first two films that run as an undercurrent to the plots (the plots of the first two films are simple, curiosity opens a Pandora's box that then unleashes hell that chases everyone down until the conclusion - they're very simple but you don't need much more as long as it's well written/filmed).