Give credit to Bryan Singer. His presence was sorely missed during his absence from the Marvel mutant universe. I think we can all agree that “X3” was a total mess under the direction of Brett Ratner. And Wolverine’s solo films have ranged from sloppy to unnecessary.
“First Class” proved that the X-Men still had something in the tank, and now with Singer back in the director’s chair, he is nearly able to fix all the mistakes that have been made since he left, and put the franchise on the right course for future installments.
A lot of people are going to see “Prometheus” expecting a prequel to the 1979 classic, “Alien”. Which it is. The best advice I can give though, is to not go into this movie expecting it to be a prequel to “Alien” because it’s not…but it is. Confused? Just wait until you see the movie, then you’ll really be confused– and that’s not exactly a bad thing. Let me explain.
“Prometheus” starts with some scientists discovering a message in a cave. They connect it to other discoveries with the same drawings and determine its a star map– an invitation left by superior beings. This leads to an expedition aboard the vessel Prometheus. A crew has been dispatched to seek out the engineers of the human race. It takes them to planet LV-223, where they find more questions than answers.
The cast is great, featuring Charlize Theron, Idris Elba and Noomi Rapace but the real star here is Michael Fassbender, who plays an android named David. There is a lot to look at and a lot to think about. The script is from Damon Lindelof, one of the “Lost” guys. So when I say you will get more questions than answers, it should come as no surprise. “Prometheus” is setting up a new trilogy and the trailer may have people convinced they are getting a direct prequel to “Alien” but its not that easy. This movie is it’s own story but within the same universe. Director Ridley Scott, who directed the first “Alien” and Lindelof have described this as a DNA prequel. You can see the groundwork being laid out to lead to “Alien” and it will tease the hell out of you with visuals from that series but it never turns into an “Alien” movie.
“Prometheus” is a well crafted science fiction movie that does what a prequel should do and that’s remind the audience of the previously existing world but also sets up new story lines without feeling cornered into playing into expectations. Don’t worry, those going in expecting face huggers and xenomorphs will be happy, there are plenty of creepy aliens and monsters. Just go in with an open mind and be prepared to be left with more questions than answers. Such is life. It is far better than “Aliens”, “Alien 3” and “Alien Resurrection”, so that should count for something.
Steven Soderbergh has made some of my favorite guilty pleasure movies in the last ten to fifteen years. I love “Out of Sight”, “The Limey”, “Traffic” and “Solaris”– even the “Ocean’s” movies were at least, for the most part, solid entertainment. Lately though, it’s starting to seem more and more like Soderbergh may have completely lost his mind. “Magic Mike” was awful. “Contagion” was — okay. I went back and watched “Haywire” and it’s just another gimmick movie that is completely void of everything that made some of his early work so great.
