Ridley Scott does not want us to call Prometheus a prequel to Alien, because prequels have a stigma.
They often lose sight of what people enjoyed about the original film, focusing instead on connecting the dots, filling out meaningless details and providing too much information about things that were cooler without a backstory. They obsess over making pieces fit into the puzzle, even if there was nothing particularly puzzling about the original to begin with.
Obviously, Scott is aware of these pratfalls, but he still hasn't avoided them. Prometheus is very much a prequel, for better or worse (mostly worse). Whereas Alien was a lean, mean synthesis of sci-fi and horror tropes with no fat on its bones, Prometheus is positively bloated.
Despite the best intentions of those amazing trailers, it's not a taut, tense thriller, but an occasionally saggy deconstruction of Alien arcana I suspect most audiences were never that bothered by. (Who was the 'space jockey'? Who cares?) But just because the director made a better film 33 years ago doesn't mean this one is without merit.
Scott may not have reclaimed his throne as the king of intelligent sci-fi here, but Prometheus is certainly an upgrade over Robin Hood and A Good Year. It's his best film since Black Hawk Down, at least, and on a technical level, it's virtually flawless.
Blissfully, practical effects are used wherever possible, and the environments are real — unlike George Lucas' much maligned prequels, Prometheus is not undone by an overreliance on green screens. Scott and cinematographer Dariusz Wolski can (and frequently do) linger over the gorgeous locations, while post-Avatar 3D technology seamlessly creates the illusion of depth without ever becoming a distraction. This might just be the strongest argument yet for the continued deployment of the process.
As you'd expect from a script written by Damon Lindelof (Lost), Prometheus raises the spectre of big, cosmic questions without ever intending to answer them. The answers aren't important, really — the closest we get are boilerplate sub-Chariots Of The Gods? conspiracy theories. What's interesting is how the characters react to the questions.
None of the leads are particularly likable, but they are fascinating, and the performances are uniformly strong. Noomi Rapace's Elizabeth Shaw is no Ellen Ripley, but her struggle to reconcile her religious beliefs with her scientific discoveries makes for compelling viewing, as does android David's joy as his human makers get closer to the sad truth of creation he's known all along. (Michael Fassbender, as always, is sublime in the role.) Even Guy Pearce's old-age makeup is surprisingly effective, if completely unnecessary — why not just hire an older actor?
Rather than an Alien prequel, this is best enjoyed as something of a mash note from Ridley Scott to one of his heroes, Stanley Kubrick. The influence of 2001: A Space Odyssey, and even The Shining, is painfully apparent, and Scott seems more interested in further exploring the themes of Kubrick's A.I. and his own Blade Runner than in creating another claustrophobic extraterrestrial thriller. On those terms, Prometheus works very well, providing plenty of lingering doubts rather than jolting scares.
In every way that matters, Alien always had a prequel anyway — it's called Dark Star. Written by Alien screenwriter Dan O'Bannon and released in 1974, it's a bizarre sci-fi comedy involving a beachball with claws that nonetheless serves as the basis for so much of what Ridley Scott would develop and perfect five years later. For all the literal talk of alien DNA in Prometheus, it's still Alien and Dark Star that are bound by that particular building block.
We won't spoil the final scene of Prometheus here, but rest assured, it will thrill fans. It's the money shot that will no doubt justify the whole film for some people. Ultimately, though, it sums up so much of my ambivalence towards the project — some things are just better left unknown.
3.5 Stars
Prometheus is released on June 7.
