[spoiler]
Why I like Prometheus : It definitely succeeded in carrying the feel of the first
Alien movie as a horror movie, while introducing its own values. It answered questions and provided more about the Space Jockeys (Engineers) that long time Aliens fans have contemplated for probably a decade now. There is plenty of room for a sequel, but in doing so it may shed the atmospheric value of Alien that it managed to carry on to an extent. Spin off series, perhaps.
Why I didn't like Prometheus : It felt like it suffered design indecision about half way through the movie and carried it on towards the end. The question of the meaning of God and the sanctity of life, as shown in the drama between David (Android) and Shaw (Human), was not handled in a subtle manner befitting it - but slammed and sledged through a wall.
The introduction of the Weyland-Yutani CEO trying to cheat death was not a fitting subplot, and over all was also not carried well. Those resources could've been spent refining the God and religion debate about humans and creation. It injected the counter part notion of what death means, but that flopped around as a by product rather than a standing piece.
The Android, David, should have been more carefully hidden in my opinion - its a classic reveal to show one of the crew members as being The Android and betraying everyone. From minute one me and my brother signaled him out, because they didn't even try to hide the fact. He was quite unrepentantly The Android, and was basically a giant dick the whole movie.
What conflicted me about the movie : The body horror and the Space Jockeys (Engineers).
The Aliens series is very tactful about its body horror - its not gender specific, fears that can realized by both men and women can be transmitted. Face Hugger goes to town on your orifice, and sometime later you get Kool Aid Man jumping out of your chest in a shower of jello. Psychology fans will note it shares the primal fear of being raped, and by having it target a non-gender specific area it triggers the fear in both sexes.
Shaw's pregnancy scene after having sex with her infected husband squicked me on levels that haven't been molested since
Aliens Versus Predator 2, a movie in its own right that belongs in a refinery. She essentially goes through rapid gestation of a proto-Face Hugger embyro, horrifically warping the normal female pregnancy cycle. As a man this offended me more than it horrified me - This is very distinctly something happening to her as a woman, and my primal fear was not being triggered. The same tactlessness that happened in AvP2 (movie) felt like it happened here, but to the credit of Shaw's character she was able to beat the body horror and survive. It wasn't enough to make me walk out on the movie, but it sure tanked how much I was enjoying the film up until then.
The Space Jockeys, as fans call them, are an old and very sketchy race that has existed in the Aliens mythos. Players of the Aliens Vs Predator games (particularly #2) will be familiar with them in their role of creating the Aliens. Who they are, what they do what they do, and why they do it is never clearly explained - only ever guessed at. Prometheus gives a hint to their motivation, but it serves more to pose another question rather than answer the old ones floating about.
Me and my brother discussed their role in the movie a fair bit, and our general conclusion always ended up with the question posed - why create life, then destroy it with organic bioweapons (The Aliens)? Not even the old speculation from the game communities can provide a meaningful answer. I personally would love more exploration in this area, but as a main stream media it may not deliver it in the way it would suffice. Their role over all felt very clumsy; they touched upon great Sci-Fi and Meaning of Life questions, but never developed in that direction after introducing them.[/spoiler]
My general thoughts and feelings after watching the movie. Would recommend it to see it for a taste of the Aliens experience, would not call it a great movie or one to see multiple times.
Fascinating review. I don't agree with all of it, but one thing I do like about this film is the conversations like this that you can have about it.
This is a very good review for an academic analysis of the movie, and thank you for showing me it. I agree with a lot of his speculation, and he raises good points in particular to the nature of the main Plot McGuffin.
