Prometheus
Directed By:
Ridley Scott
Written By: Jon
Spaihts and Damon Lindelof
Starring: Noomi
Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, Guy Pearce, Logan
Marshall-Green, and Patrick Wilson
Director of Photography: Dariusz Wolski, Editor: Peitro
Scalia, Production Designer: Arthur Max, Original Music: Marc Streitenfeld
WARNING: Like my
review for Cabin in the Woods, I plan
on discussing Prometheus in full,
without any consideration for what are considered “spoilers” If you are curious
to see the film, just go see it. My opinion of whether I liked it or not
shouldn’t be the factor. If you are curious to read on why I think the film
functions as it does, without any consideration for hiding the aspects of the
narrative, then read on. Also, I’m also going to spoil Lost.
In 2010,
the hit ABC series Lost came to an
end with what many considered a crashing thud. For six seasons, audiences
watched a show about constantly accumulating mysteries on an island. Lost fed its hungry fans with more and more—polar
bears in jungles, buttons that saved the universe, alternate timelines—and then
abandoned it all for a spiritual sit down with its characters, discarding the
main reason that it originally drew viewers. For months before the finale,
showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse warned their fans: “true fans” only
care about their characters; the mysteries were irrelevant.
Why this
long primer on Lost, when the film of
the week, and for many their most anticipated film of the summer, is a prequel
to Alien? Because as much as critics
will be discussing the craft of director Ridley Scott, Prometheus is assuredly a Damon Lindelof work. His hands are all
over this film about a group of scientists traveling to a mysterious planet to
find the origins of life. And in many ways, the faults of Prometheus lie in his blame (though Scott shouldn’t escape all the blame).
