Film Review: Prometheus {{2012}}

When I heard Ridley Scott was making a film that ties in the Alien series. I was very excited because my question really was....what the hell was that thing that had something bust through his chest??  Aliens after all was the first movie that I had a memory to as a child and it really gave that passion into wanting to write or be like Ridley Scott in creating creatures that were very similar to bugs.

Prometheus

~~Warning Spoilers Ahead~~


The film opens on a planet. The camera pans throughout the planet and it comes across a beautiful cascading waterfall.  Above it in the air is a black floating object...and we all know it's a spaceship of some sorts.  A robed man walks to the edge of the waterfall and watches the ship take off.  He places a container and removes his robe and opens the container.  As the air hits the contents it starts to change.  The pale man drinks it and starts to disintegrate. We watch the black fluid destroy his body and as he falls into the water, we also see the DNA taking on new life.
In Ireland, we see Elizabeth Shaw {{Noomi Rapace}}uncovering a cave and calling for her associate Charlie Holloway{{Logan Marshall-Green}}.  Charlie arrives with Elizabeth and they are both amazed and in awe over the cave drawing that they have found that seems to be the oldest cave drawing of what they have been searching for.  Elizabeth feels it's an invitation of some sorts to follow the giant beings coordinates.
We now come upon the ship and a single inhabitant David {{Michael Fassbender}}that is in a way ease dropping in on Elizabeth's dreams.  David is seen doing activities and learning a strange alien language.  David is also trying to send a transmission and it seems to fail.  In the midst of David's activities, the ship announces they arrive at their threshold.
David walks into a private chamber where we see Meredith Vickers {{Charlize Theron}} doing push ups and orders David to get her a robe.  She asks if everyone is alive and to wake them up.  David wakes them up and tries to console Elizabeth who is throwing up.  David informs her that her body and mind are in a state of shock from the stasis. Charlie tells Elizabeth that they made it as she continues to throw up.
Everyone is in the mess hall getting something to eat.  Meredith is making her rounds as she observes everyone and comes up to Janek {{Idris Elba}}, the captain of the ship as he is decorating a tiny little Christmas tree.  Which establishes a time frame in which they are in.  Meredith has everyone for the mission briefing, where we see a hologram projection Mr. Weyland {{Guy Pearce}}talking about the mission and about David, the android.  When he mentions that David is the closest thing to a son, you can see a bit of disdain in Meredith's eyes.  Charlie and Elizabeth explain to the crew about why they are there and showing drawings of giant beings that are being worshiped.
All these drawings are all from different time eras and regions of earth.  They explain to the crew that these beings are showing a star system that primitive humans wouldn't know about or how to get there.  The crew feel a bit skeptical about these drawings.  Elizabeth explains that these beings are called Engineers and they created us, which is why they are on this mission is to find them on their home world.  Or so they think.  Elizabeth shows that her belief that these things created us made her a zealot to some of the crew.
David calls Charlie and Elizabeth into Meredith's quarters.  Charlie is impressed with her room.  David explains that it is in essence a life boat, where Elizabeth goes into another sector and finds a Medical Pod or Pauling Med-Pod.  Ms. Vickers informs her to not touch anything.  It gives Elizabeth some concern as it is calibrated for by-pass surgery and they question the agenda of Weyland corporation.
Meredith explains to them that she doesn't want them having any contact with their so-called Engineers and to report back to her.  Charlie and Elizabeth are upset with this information.  Meredith informs that since Weyland Corporation funded the project that they would be nothing more than employees and that if they had funded the projected...then the agenda would be theirs.
We see the David, Elizabeth and Charlie talking about the transmission that is not getting any response to.  Charlie gives some banter about David's language lessons and David comes back with cold, calculating facts that seem to impress Elizabeth.
Janek takes them into the planet atmosphere and they found some hot spots on the planet.  They  come across what appears to be a barren planet.  Charlie spots a location that appears to be a flat ridge.  He tells the captain to put it down close to that location.  They arrive and even though the captain warns Charlie about going in the morning.  Charlie seems to feel that since it's Christmas...that he wants to open his presents...hence taking the survey team to scout the area.  
The team preps itself and Elizabeth tells the one of the security detail that this is a scientific expedition, so no weapons are allowed.  He doesn't go with them.  Charlie questions David about wearing a space suit since he is an android.  David explains that his form is to please us and not wearing the suit would defeat the purpose. 
The expedition team departs and arrive at the location.  Fifield {{Sean Harris}}sends out his mapping orbs to graph their location. Inside Prometheus, Janek is surprised by the massive building.  Which shows tons of different corridors.
Granted the one thing about the planet is that 2-minutes without a suit would mean that you could die but inside the location/dome that there is breathable air in there.  Oxygen.  Yes, we have seen in Mission to Mars where Gary Sinise character removes his helmet on faith to breath the air inside a giant white face where the air outside was unbreathable.  Charlie does that against Elizabeth's wishes.
They all remove their helmets and something like that always warrants trouble, especially in an alien location.  Walking through the corridor, they mention the temperature and there is leaking water around.  They all give some banter about it, while David stops and looks at this block of some sorts and touches it.  There is some goopy film/slime like the aliens let out. David is impressed with it.  He operates something and the a whirring light glows through. They start to see a holographic projection like a video feed.  They follow the feed to where it ends and they see one of the things get beheaded.
Janek and Meredith are at awe in Prometheus.  Fifield decides to leaves and takes Milburn {{Rafe Spall}}with him because he doesn't want t be around the gigantic dead body.  As Charlie, Elizabeth and Ford {{Kate Dickie}} examine the body which give or take the body has been dead for about 2-thousand years or so.  David seems to activate the door and they find the decapitated head. As they walk into the room.  We see a step and there is tiny worm like creatures.   David and Charlie walk further and they see tons of canisters.  They see a mural on the ceiling and some type of sculptured mural on the wall. They all realize they change the atmosphere in the room. David realizes the cylinder is having some black organic goo coming out.
Back on Prometheus, they find out a storm is coming that could destroy their suits.  They request a bit of time to bag the head, while David is taking a cylinder with him.  They arrive in time but Elizabeth loses her head and she goes after it.  Charlie worried about her, also goes after her.  Which they are both trapped in this dangerous storm.  David rescues them and brings them back to the ship.  Janek asks where Milburn and Fifield are at.  So he tells the guys that there is a storm and to find a way to keep warm.
Safely aboard they start to do some tests on the head.  They find out that the head is actually under a helmet and have David remove it.  They find new cell growth and try to find out why and to trick it into thinking it's alive, they send electrical volts through it.  Something happens and the face looks like it is in pain and when they contain it.  The head explodes.  They take a genetic sample of the head.
David is in a room talking to some one in a stasis pod.  Where Meredith Vickers stops David outside the door. Questioning what did the person request.  David regretfully tells her that he can not tell her.  Angrily she slams David against the wall and demands to know.  David tells her that the person told him to try harder.  In the lab, they find the DNA is a match.
In another lab, David takes the canister out of a freezer and opens it.  He pulls the contents out and sees another canister tube.  David looks at the content.  David shows up in a room where Charlie is leaning against a pool table.  David asks if he would like a refill in his drink.  Some how Charlie has a bit of a disliking to David.  Which in one point David questions him about his so-called makers and to bad that they are dead.  Charlie had wanted to meet them and get answers as to why we were made.  David asks why ur people made him.  Charlie gives him a very harsh answer of because we could.  David not liking hearing his response asks him what he would do to achieve answers.  Almost as if he is waiting for an invitation.  Charlie mentions he would do anything to find what he seeks. So David pours him a drink.
Back in the dome, Milburn and Fifield find a pile of Engineers.  They mention that they appear to be running from something and that they seem to have something burst out of them.  Janek informs Milburn and Fifield that there is something reading on the orbs.
Elizabeth is doing a report on the hologram and if an outbreak killed them off.  Charlie comes into the room and talks to her.  Elizabeth shows him a DNA strand that means they are the creator of all life on earth. Elizabeth informs in Charlie's rant about anybody can create life that she can't have children and with that...they have sex.
Meredith shows up and looks at the pyramid and wonders how long is it going to take.  Janek and her spark a conversation which leads to sex and how it happens when he asks Meredith if she was a robot.  Meredith's face is that of confusion.
Milburn and Fifield end up in the area where the canisters and see all this black stuff and they start talking about these beings as Gods.  Fifield and Milburn spots a big worm like creature.  It seems that the black goo some how transformed the tiny worms.  Milburn being a biologist is curious about the snake like creature and it gets a hold of his arm and is about to break it.  Fifield tries to help him and cuts the thing.  But the snake-like creature has acid for blood and gets on Fifields mask.  Fifield is about suffocate and his head lands on the ground absorbing the black liquid.  While the worm like creature enters Milburns mouth and kills him.
Morning has happened and Charlie notices something in his eye.  Janek and some of the crew go out to locate Fifield and Milburn.  While David tells them that he would fix the broken probe.  The crew return to the area that they last were at, while David goes to another location and is ordered to upload his feed to Ms. Vickers room.  David finds the probe and opens another door.  He sees tons of canisters and enters another room and cuts Ms. Vickers off from his feed.
They get back to the location of the head.  They find Milburn's body.  Charlie is feeling sick and tells Elizabeth to look in his face.  The snake like creature comes out of Milburn's mouth, while Charlie is carried away in a hurry back to the ship.  Elizabeth orders a full quarantine-fail safe procedures.

David operates another hologram memory log and finds out something about the ship and it's contents since he understands the language.  He also sees a constellation of the many planets and finds one of the Engineers alive.
Janek is upset that the door isn't open while Vickers has a blow torch and doesn't allow Charlie on board.  Charlie tempts Vickers into torching him because he has no idea what is wrong with him.  Elizabeth passes out from shock and wakes up with David attempting to take off her father's necklace.  David asks if Elizabeth and Charlie were intimate with each other but cuts off when he finds her pregnant.  She wants to see the fetus especially after David tells her that it isn't a traditional fetus.   David suggests that he put her back in cryostasis until they get back to Earth. David also confesses that he has watched her dreams.  Elizabeth falls asleep under the shot that David gives her.
Ford and another crew member come to take her back to stasis but she pretends to be heavily sedated.  She knocks Ford and the other crew member out and runs to Vickers quarters to the Pauling Med-Pod and finds out that it is calibrated for males only.  She manually over-rides it with the procedure that she needs and has a surgery to remove it.  We see a squid like alien come out of her body and she tries to get away.  Elizabeth assumes that the creature is dead and leaves it in the Med-Pod.
Janek informs the crew that Fifield's camera has popped on just right outside the ship.  When a crew member check it out, Fifield seems to be bent over looking at the ground.  The security detail can not seem to stop the transformed Fifield.  Elizabeth is running around the ship disoriented.  Janek and Chance manages to kill Fifield off and Elizabeth stumbles into Weland's medical quarters.
Elizabeth asks Weyland why was he is on the ship.  Weyland wanted to meet the Engineers to give him longer life.  Since one of them is fund alive. Elizabeth tries to warn Mr. Weyland that this location isn't what they thought it was and Charlie is dead.  Mr. Weyland convinces her in what would Charlie do??  Elizabeth in her room tries to regroup herself in re-believing. 
Janek tells Elizabeth that this planet is a military installation because the Engineers were not stupid enough to create this stuff on their planet.  Janek and Elizabeth agree that what ever happens that they can not let any of those things back to Earth.  Ms. Vickers shows up in Weylands quarters and has a discussion about her being there and how she should have stayed at home.  Which in the end, we find out that Mr. Weyland is Ms. Vickers father.
Elizabeth and David have a conversation about what would happen Weyland is dead and no longer is around to program him.  They return to the place where David encounters the sleeping Engineer.  Elizabeth informs Janek about the cargo hold and they find out that there is a ship under the dome.  David activates the system like the Engineers were doing and informs them that they were in the process of leaving.  Elizabeth finds out that they were leaving to go to Earth...and as David put it "sometimes to create, one must first destroy"  Which means that they were going to destroy life on Earth.
David awakens the Engineer from his sleep.  He stumbles out, where Weyland starts to tell David to ask him a series of questions.  Elizabeth interrupts and starts asking her series of questions. The Engineer seems to be observing the actions of what is going on around him.  Mr. Weyland gets upset and tells his crew member to shut her up and he hits her on her belly inflicting more pain since she just had an alien baby removed.  Mr. Weyland now satisfied that she is quiet tells David to ask him the question.  David communicated with the Engineer and at first the Engineer examines David and realizes he is not human and cracks his head and removing it...using it t hit Mr. Weyland across the head.
The others try to kill off the Engineer and he angrily kills the others off.  He looks and sees Elizabeth escape, but activates his cockpit and gets in and we see the suit form around him like the Space Jockey from Alien.  Elizabeth warns Janek that they are on their way to Earth to destroy it.  Ms. Vickers tells her that they are going home but Elizabeth convinces Janek to destroy the ship.  Janek tells Mrs. Vickers to get in the escape pod so she can be in her life boat or die with him. She escapes in the escape pod.
Janek uses the ship to destroy the ship.  Ms. Vickers and Elizabeth watch the Engineers ship crash to the planet surface killing Ms. Vickers.  Elizabeth enters the life boat and grabs an axe and realizes that the squid like alien has escaped and is moving around.  David contacts her and tells her that the Engineer is on his way to kill her.  He enters the life boat very angry, but Elizabeth opens the Med-Pod room doors and lets the squid like creature to attack him.  The creature is a very form/crude form of face hugger.
She refuels the oxygen in her suit and gets out of the life boat.  David informs her that there is other ships so they can get off the planet.  Upon reaching David, she tells him that she wants to go where they are from  to ask why they changed their mind.  She puts David's head in a bag and lowers his body to the floor below and uses a rover to go back to the dome. She gives a report about not coming back to this planet because their is only death and you see a ship take off. 
Back in the Life boat we see a dead Engineer and something black pops out of the body like a shark fin.  But pops out what appears to be a crude form of the Xenomorph like a baby with sack attached to it.  The thing lets out a yell...and revealing a secondary attached mouth.


~Production Notes~

Directed by Ridley Scott.  Written by Damon Lindelof and Jon Spaihts. 

Ridley Scott had actually thought about returning to the Alien series in 2002 with creating an actual sequel to the 1979 film  Alien.  Which would have explored more of the Engineers and the deceased Space jockey.  Writing took place in 2009 to create a universe where the Alien origins would be explained.

Most of the Alien world shots were done in Iceland


~Final Thoughts~
I guess this can also be novel length in itself.  There is so much to this movie and if you watch it carefully, most of your questions are answered.  Except for the removed scenes.  That actually blows chunks when you find out the Engineer does briefly speak.  I have read in forums when they ask about Meredith Vickers being a robot as well, because of the way she acted.  If you saw Peter Weyland and his personality.  You can see why she was close to robot emotions, but her eyes spoke more than her words.  She knew that her father was aboard and the agenda was simple.  It was for her father.  Yes, when you see the Medi-Pod being calibrated for a man means that even Meredith wasn't suppose to be there...it was her father's survival boat that lasts 2-years.
When the Engineers are on the way back to Earth when their own biological creations go crazy and killing everyone at the military instillation.  Yes, they gave up their bodies to help create life.  They were selfless in devoting themselves to their cause.  Yes, I know some people would think-that is fucked up that they wanted to wipe out man and put a different species in our place.  But if you look at all the signs...we ended up being a failed life that doesn't even respect life...with all this death and killing and wanting to live forever....
We sort of proved that we are a dangerous species. Yes, their Xenomorphs happen to be deadly but at the same time-they are a pure form.  They hunt to eat and breed in them.  To create more of them.
The black goo that changed you into something just meant that could have been the life altering substance that helped make us.  I love the concept of this movie and it was very self-explanatory to me, but of course when I watch movies...I don't need a Morpheus doing all the explaining.
The one thing about watching the movie...there was sections missing and you find out they are in the deleted scenes and they would have blended well...and said more about the story.  Like why Milburn was so fascinated with the alien snake and he wasn't as afraid as Fifield was when he wanted to take the fuck off.  I know there is tons of questions, but David held some disdain towards his creators and was very robot in his way of becoming free of them.
Most people were expecting a prequel to the Alien series and got disappointed, but I wasn't.  I was glad he went a different direction and more or less introduced the Engineers and a different story line on LV 423 and the message that David kept sending  could have been to the planet LV 426 because they was not getting a response.
LV 426 and his chest being busted could have been from the same infection that spread on LV 423 and he took off but his creatures where ready to be delivered to another planet, but took off because this species was more deadly than the one on LV 423 that was suppose to be delivered to Earth.
There is so many explanations and wonderful theories to play with.  But most movie goers want  everything explained and stop even thinking about what if....or other scenarios of the start of LV 426 and it's beacon.   NO, people want everything handed to them and become lazy.
Prometheus is a movie, I would own in my movie collection because it is very Ridley Scott.  Some people may think it's predictable, but honestly-it follows a movie formula...I thought it was pretty well thought of.

Am I excited for Prometheus 2??  HELL YA!!  I want to see what happens to Elizabeth Shaw and David.


~Ratings~
Each film is rated individually








~Hellz Writer~