For Reel

Director: Ridley Scott

Three-quarters of the way through Prometheus, writers Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof begin to answer some of the questions that viewers might be having about the plot. “Might” being the operative word – rather than delving into satisfying explanations regarding the intentions of mankind’s supposed creators, a series of “twists” involving, among other things, Guy Pearce in fifty pounds of old man make-up, begin to trickle down with a resounding thud. The dramatic delay one character executes before using “…father” as an identifier is perhaps the biggest unintentional laugh that the summer has had to offer. Easy as it is to tease the faults of the screenplay (clever articles elsewhere on the web have made comprehensive lists of every plot inconsistency and unanswered question), Prometheus is nonetheless the most handsomely made blockbuster in some time, with Dariusz Wolski’s camera searching with wonder the expansive hive-like set from production designer Arthur Max. For all of the talk that precluded the film about how it interacts with the world of Scott’s science fiction classic, it is a slight disappointment that, for all intents and purposes, it is a direct remake – when Noomi Rapace runs through a spaceship is skimpy clothing and comes face-to-face with the monster that she thought was dead, the sense of déjà vu is inevitable. Yet, for having what is largely a disaster of a script, Prometheus is just compelling enough, thanks in large part to a game cast, led by the aforementioned Rapace and, more significantly, an android played by the ever-reliable Michael Fassbender, who molds himself after the protagonist of a certain David Lean epic.