The best science fiction films pull moviegoers out of reality. They’re dropped into someone else’s bizarre imagination and forced to grapple with human themes in a mind-blowing, unfamiliar world. Few pull this off better than director Ridley Scott.

 ‘Prometheus,’ the quasi-prequel to his 1979 classic, ‘Alien,’ leaves far more questions than answers. The otherworldly thriller is perilous, shocking and downright confusing – just how sci-fi should be.

Scott’s triumphant return to the genre is a philosophical journey with all the slimy gore and cringe-worthy deaths ‘Alien’ fans love. But this visually immersive fantasy delves much deeper, exploring creation, evolution and the cycles of life and death.

The film opens with a picturesque landscape on an Earth-like planet. In the mythical scene, an alien – a towering, humanoid being with pale skin and black pits for eyes – drinks a potion and sacrifices himself, falling into a rushing waterfall as his body and DNA dissolve into nature.

Fast-forward to 2089 A.D., when Dr. Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace), and her partner and lover, Charlie (Logan Marshall-Green), discover ancient matching pictograms around the globe. They depict primitive humans surrounding a gigantic alien, pointing to a cluster of stars above. They believe it’s a star map laid out by the creators of mankind, dubbed ‘engineers.’

Four years later, Shaw, Charlie and the rest of the crew awake from cryogenic sleep as the spaceship, Prometheus, arrives at a mysterious planet on the other side of the universe, hoping to literally meet their makers.

The mission is bankrolled by Weyland Industries, a shady corporation from the ‘Alien’ franchise, and supervised by icy representative Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron). The rest of the crew includes Captain Janek (Idris Elba), an enigmatic android named David (Michael Fassbender) and a dozen other poor souls destined for grisly deaths.

The film’s crowning achievement is its haunting visual grandeur. Scott peers into deep space on a massive scale, akin to a modern ‘2001: A Space Odyssey.’ He sets mesmerizing scenes as the ship hurtles through a galaxy alive with vivid color or roams the planet’s bleak gray desolation.

The wide landscape shots are juxtaposed with close-ups of the characters, and an eerie score evokes goose bumps at precisely the right moments. It creates an intense visceral experience of the characters’ sheer terror, all coming together in a growing sense of impending doom.

Rapace shines as Dr. Shaw, giving a captivating performance in the Ellen Ripley role. Shaw transforms from passionate scientist to badass action hero in the course of two hours. Rapace turns agonized screaming into an art form, from fleeing deadly extraterrestrials to, in one unforgettable scene, getting a gruesome cesarean section bound to haunt filmgoers for years.

Yet the film’s standout performance comes from Michael Fassbender as David, a darkly complex android whose true motives are never clear. He’s charming from the get-go, quoting Peter O’Toole from ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ and thoughtfully peering into the crewmembers‘ memories while they sleep. He embodies the robot with a layered restraint, stoically carrying out his own discreet mission with an underlying sense of unbridled excitement.

His dialogue also gives the greatest insight into the film’s message. ‘Why do you think your people made me?’ he asks Charlie, who responds, ‘Because we could.’ David then remarks, ‘Can you imagine how disappointing it would be to hear the same thing from your creator?’

‘Prometheus’ isn’t perfect. There are plot holes, unnecessary characters – for one, Guy Pearce in laughable old-age makeup as CEO Peter Weyland – and scenes that make very little sense. But in the big picture, those flaws are easily overlooked.

The film doesn’t spoon-feed you the answers but uses its gripping futuristic world to pull off what most Hollywood films don’t – actually making people think.

rjmarvin@syr.edu

 

Published on June 14, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Rob: rjmarvin@syr.edu