Quote:
Originally Posted by 42041
You'd prefer if he made an Alien rehash?
I can't fault him for not wanting to repeat himself. If anything, I think the film suffers from trying to tie itself to the Alien series rather than just doing something fresh.
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Agreed 100%. On some level, I almost wish that Ridley had just scrapped everything
Alien related and just created a fully original science fiction picture. But, then, I'm not sure he completely wanted to do that either. The film seems caught between two aspirations - wanting to do an
Alien prequel and wanting to venture into something fresh and unexplored. Still, I enjoyed the connection to
Alien. Perhaps, he could have just been more subtle about it (i.e. maybe by leaving stuff like the Deacon finale out - imo, the Xenomorph mural was enough).
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This remains one of my favorite cinematic offerings of the year - but it certainly has issues. I tend to think Ridley is as good as the script he's working with. Yes, he can elevate material beyond what is ever dreamed about on the page, but I think the written substance needs to be incredibly strong for him to deliver something truly brilliant. What separates
Prometheus from
Alien &
Blade Runner is that the latter two films have such real characters who feel organic and three dimensional.
Prometheus, on the other hand, trades largely in two dimensional stereotypes (David and, to a lesser extent, Elizabeth aside).
I'm not condemning the
Prometheus script for these character depictions - many films commit the same offense. However, Ridley's best films have characters that are extremely multi-dimensional and challenge the viewers expectations in surprising and nuanced ways. Prometheus, other more commendable qualities aside, does not achieve that for the most part.
Where it does succeed is in an impeccable visual design - from the art direction and cinematography to the special effects. It also features a beautiful musical score and an extraordinary performance from Michael Fassbender (as well Noomi Rapace). The weak link, I agree with others, is the script. But not because it lacks answers or has plot holes. The characters, by and large, are simply caricatures. Any character development that is present is largely done in broad strokes. I must say that the character of David is an anomaly in this regard, as I think the character is both intelligently written and performed.
I think it's no secret that I like this film a lot - so these critiques are not meant to be damning, just honest observations. What I do love about the script is what many others seem to despise. I love the ambiguity of it all. There are so many ideas left unexamined about the engineers, the creation of humanity, and the origin of the "black ooze" that will ultimately lead to a whole bunch of trouble for the crew of the Prometheus and other characters of the
Alien franchise. I love the open-endedness of these questions for the same reason I loved Lindelof's own controversial drama series
Lost - I love to dissect things. I love hypothesizing about story elements and coming up with my own theories that may or may not be debunked in future sequels.
My hopes for
Paradise involve Ridley continuing to impress with the outstanding visual and aural design of this world, while bringing in people to produce a more nuanced, evocative, and polished screenplay. If this is accomplished, I think the future sequel(s) can be quite extraordinary.