PROMETHEUS (Ridley Scott, 20th Cty. Fox, 2012)

I know little of Greek mythology and most of this knowledge has long been forgotten. I knew more when I was a kid than I remember now. Anyways, after watching the recent release Prometheus (Ridley Scott, Fox, 2012) I decided I needed to brush up on my knowledge. So I did what anyone does these days and I wikied Prometheus. Astonishingly, the wiki page was just as convoluted to me as the film was in watching it. Which makes the film aptly named to say the least. Now it's not that I didn't like the film. I rather enjoyed it actually. I had looked forward to seeing it, even making a deal with a buddy of mine to watch it together, shall we say in a visually enhanced atmosphere. And it is well worth viewing as the film is shot beautifully. The world that is created by Scott is magnificent. Stark and desolate of life, the landscapes of the alien planet are beautiful. One can easily see the parallels to an Earth and it's origins. Besides this beautiful cinematography, the filmmakers do an excellent job (as always) in special effects, particularly with the humanoid predecessor to us humans. I only wish they had given these creatures more to do in the film and more explanation towards their actions. My only real problem with the film exist narratively and if you know how I judge films you know this to be a major issue for me. Like its namesake, the film is overly ambitious in scope and strives to fill itself as more important than it really is. There are too many plots going on many of which I feel are left unresolved. Particularly the character of Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron). I am still wondering what exactly her purpose was in the film other than to look really damn good. Her character definitely didn't add anything to the films larger plot. Also the character of Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall -Green) seemed to be quite an important figure and was killed so damn quickly it left me wondering why he was even in the film. There were just too many instances like this for the film to work completely for me. The film did score some major points for me in its allusions to past films. Crafting the android character of David (Michael Fassbender) as a mixture of HAL (2001: A Space Odyssey, Stanley Kubrick), David Bowman (same film) and T.E. Lawrence (Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia, David Lean) was brilliant by Fassbender. I sense some award winning in his future as he continues to put out great performances. As well as Fassbender, I really like Noomi Rapace. This being her first chance in an American film after cementing herself as Lisbeth Salander in the Swedish originals of the Dragon Tattoo series, Rapace is really good. She does an excellent job giving her turn as the Ripleyesque character in the film, definitely making me think of Sigourney Weaver from earlier Alien films. As I said, I liked this film quite a lot. Visually beautiful with great effects and creatures, some great casting and performances all stand out. It's definitely worth a view, particularly in a theatre.