Prometheus


How does Ridley Scott fall so short of the mark set by Alien?  


The original was written by Dan O'Bannon, who also wrote Total Recall, and it featured a gritty, realist view of space travel.  The ship oozed grime and the crew were clearly disgruntled hired help working for a sinister corporation.  The cast was seamless with great American character actors Yaphet Kotto and Harry Dean Stanton, British stars Ian Holm and John Hurt, all led by Tom Skerritt and Sigourney Weaver.  The plot hummed with tension as the characters slowly succumbed to the nearly invincible creature. 


 Prometheus boasts an almost equally fine lineup with Guy Pearce, Idris Elba, Noomi Rapace (Girl/Tattoo), Charlize Theron and the amazing Michael Fassbender.  But here the action doesn't hum, it drones.   My sister complained that Ms. Rapace wasn't up to Sigourney Weaver's toughness in the original, but Rapace was plenty tough in Girl w/Dragon Tattoo.   As the role is written,  she simply isn't viable as an anthropologist who conveniently morphs into an action hero.   Bad directing and writing.  Charlize Theron seems to be typecast as the cold bitch here, more or less the same role she has  in Snow White and the Huntsman.  Her part in the movie is extraneous, as are those of most of the crew. There are too many plot points stolen from the original - landing on a dangerous planet, infection, betrayal by android, corporate skullduggery - undercutting the possibility of suspense.   Bad writing.    And the brief but powerful use of bodily gore in Alien becomes over-the-top horror in Prometheus.  Bad writing and directing.  Horror doesn't equal tension.  The film is undeniably gorgeous on the big screen and it has moments, but it's a sadly pale companion to the beauty of Alien.