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"PROMETHEUS"
(2012) (Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender) (R)

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QUICK TAKE:
Sci-Fi: A late 21st century spaceship crew lands on a distant moon in search of evidence of extraterrestrials they believe created the human species on Earth.
PLOT:
It's 2093 and scientists Elizabeth Shaw (NOOMI RAPACE) and Charlie Holloway (LOGAN MARSHALL-GREEN) -- having found many examples of ancient and prehistoric Earth cultures worshipping what appear to be human-like extraterrestrials from another galaxy -- are onboard the spacecraft Prometheus. It's headed toward a distant moon where they think they might find evidence of these beings, their so-called "space engineers" -- that they believe actually created Earth's human race.

Funded by wealthy investor Peter Weyland (GUY PEARCE) with the mission overseen by the steely Meredith Vickers (CHARLIZE THERON), the Prometheus has a small crew in space travel stasis, watched over by an android named David (MICHAEL FASSBENDER). Among the crew is the captain, Janek (IDRIS ELBA), biologist Milburn (RAFE SPALL) and geologist Fifield (SEAN HARRIS), among other scientific, medical and safety personnel.

They're brought back to conscious state upon arriving at the moon and soon begin exploring a "pyramid" structure. Inside that, they find the long-dead bodies of the "space engineers," along with many canisters holding an unknown substance that's slowly oozing out. As they continue their quest, they soon discover things they'll later learn were best left undisturbed.

OUR TAKE: 6 out of 10
Today's kids have so many entertainment options that few of the latter likely end up logged in their memories as pivotal moments in their psyche. When I was growing up (yes, cue the old geezer in the rocking chair vision), the choices were far fewer in number and thus registered far more clearly. The first film I remember actively begging my parents to see -- at the age of 7 -- was "Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster," a campy and low-budget Toho flick. A few years later, my tastes were a bit more refined and my elementary and middle school years were filled with films such as "Jaws," "Star Wars" and "Close Encounters."

But the really pivotal movie going moment of my generation was seeing your first R-rated film. After all, that meant that you were sort of an adult viewer, especially since back then there was no home video or Internet, so the only place to see an R-rated flick was in the theater with a parent or other adult who accompanied you in, and thus was a big deal.

Mine, in 1979 when I was 15, was "Alien." I had already devoured the novelization of the movie before seeing it so there were no surprises (such as the chest bursting scene), but it still made quite the impression on me. And that's because director Ridley Scott and screenwriters Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett brilliantly brought together genres (sci-fi and horror), re-imagined combining elements of "20 Million Miles to Earth" and "It! The Terror from Beyond Space" and introduced some cool new ones (including a monster having acid for blood).

It worked for me, as did James Cameron turning the 1986 sequel into an amazing action experience. But then David Fincher got too artsy with "Alien 3" six years later, and 1997's "Alien Resurrection" didn't do much for me either, which also held true for the "Alien vs. Predator" spin-offs from 2004 and 2007. To borrow the "Happy Days" generated catch-phrase, the "Alien" franchise had jumped the shark.

Audiences (and most critics) felt the same way, with each film sequentially dropping in terms of actual tickets sold (and inflation-balanced dollars generated). Thus, any attempt to resurrect the franchise would seem foolhardy at best. But what if the filmmaker who started it all came back for another try, and rather than continue moving the tired story forward, it was put into reverse in the form of a sequel to the 1979 film? Would viewers come back? And would kids experiencing their first R-rated film have something to remember?

Only time will tell for all such questions, but there's no denying that "Prometheus" is a welcome return to what made the franchise good back at the beginning. While not anywhere as excellent as the haunted house stylings of the first flick or the pedal to the metal ferocity and maternal depth of the second, it's still a decent offering.

For those wondering about the title, it has a host of meanings as applied to the script by Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof. In Greek mythology, Prometheus was a titan who stole fire from Zeus and gave it mortals, and thus is credited as a pivotal part of early human development. As a result, however, Zeus chained Prometheus to a stone and had an eagle eat his liver, "Groundhog Day" style (meaning it would grow back each day only to be eaten by the bird of prey again, etc.). And since then, Prometheus has been associated with the quest for scientific knowledge and the pitfalls that come along with that.

Here, we have a crew of intrepid explorers (and some disgruntled grunts hired to tag along) who fly in a spaceship -- that shares the film's title -- on a quest to find the extraterrestrial origins of humans, not on Earth, but on a moon in a distant galaxy. In doing so, they could potentially undermine the entire human notion of God creating man and then end up not with an eagle feasting on their organs (as a direct or non-direct consequence), but some particularly nasty alien critters instead.

Yes, the themes run deep in the flick, but they eventually end up taking a back seat to the peril, action and mayhem that eventually break out in this two hour film. And Scott actually seems more interested in tying this latest "Alien" pic to his first one from so long ago, with plenty of related connections and bits of homage. Some will probably love all of those tie-ins, but others may find it as somewhat lazy filler, rehashing what we've already seen rather than coming up with something new.

I fall somewhere in the middle, but it's hard not to miss the strong female action hero (Noomi Rapace taking over for Sigourney Weaver), especially in the film's concluding moments. There's also an android with ulterior motives (although we know his robotic status from the get-go rather than as a surprise as occurred in the first film) and a gross-out scene involving an alien inside a human body. That said, the latter scene puts an interesting twist on the original material and ends up being one of the more intense sequences I've seen in any movie over the past several years.

Those and other effects are handled nicely, while the performances -- for the most part -- are decent but not particularly memorable. That is, except for Rapace late in the film when she finally gets to stand out from the crowd, while Michael Fassbender is terrific as the aforementioned android, emotionally cool and logical with something obviously brewing behind those man-made eyes.

Overall, I liked the film and it's a welcome return of a franchise that had been experiencing a steady decline in artistic and box office returns. Just don't go in expecting the quality or total experience of the first two films. And if this is your first R-rated flick, it certainly has some moments that could etch one's psyche. "Prometheus" rates as a 6 out of 10.




Reviewed May 31, 2012 / Posted June 8, 2012


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