Misconstrued Expectancy

As a new trailer for a highly-anticipated film gets released every so often, it’s not surprising to notice the subsequent hype that expectantly follows. Whereas the ‘hype’ of a particular feature can be justified through many different circumstances, including preceding films that received praise from audience members and critics alike, or the premise which seems to be as original as possible, it can easily be quashed by simply watching what is presented on the screen. An ample case where this has indeed happened, was the release of Star Wars: Episode 1 -The Phantom Menace in 1999; the first Star Wars film to be released into cinemas for 16 years that audience members and die-hard fans were eagerly readying themselves for, which subsequently faltered due to what happened in terms of the context and story-telling. Indeed, the expectancy that you and many others will have over a film, will inevitably formulate the feelings you have in regards to what was shown, either in a positive or negative light. In similar fashion into how The Phantom Menace was received, Ridley Scott’s sci-fi mythological film of Prometheus, a prequel to said director’s previously lauded film of Alien, was also a feature that many were expecting great things from, but were left disappointed due to not only was what presented, but also in what they initially expected. Although there are arguably filmic and contextual techniques that the deprive this film from being as equally as impactful as other significant sci-fi films that have come to grace the silver screen, Scott’s return to the Alien franchise through this film of Prometheus isn’t all bad as what many people acclaim…

Set in the year of 2093, many years before Alien, Prometheus centralises its story around a group of explorers who discover a clue to mankind’s origins on Earth; leading them to the darkest and most unknown parts of the universe. In leading an expedition to uncover this miraculous sign, Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) hopes that they will meet a race of benevolent, godlike, beings who will in some way verify her religious beliefs whereas Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) is out to debunk any spiritual notions. However, neither the scientists nor their shipmates are prepared for the unimaginable terrors that await for them…  

In viewing many of the much critically respected sci-fi centric films throughout the cinematic age, one of the more crucial things to firstly note of Scott’s return to the ‘Alien Franchise’ in Prometheus, and with sci-fi genre films in general, is how they present mythological and socially-challenging themes and ideas in accordance with a premise that evokes a sense of wonderment and eerily grandeur. As natural as it is to anticipate Scott’s Prometheus to inject horrific motifs that were firstly used in his preceding film of Alien and have been continuously integrated as a synonymous trope in this lauded franchise’s life-span, it’s clear from the way in which it opens (with it illuminating the mythical tale of ‘Prometheus’) and how it continues throughout the second and third acts that Scott’s directorial entanglement with Prometheus and the ‘Alien’ cinematic mythos is primarily fixating on intriguing themes and story-ideas that were never expressed in the much lacklustre and streamlined ‘Alien’ sequels. The main motif which it concentrates in displaying and purposefully makes familiarised and general audiences question afterwards, is this conception of ‘meeting our makers’ and how it subtly contrasts religious notions that a particular character could reference towards. In metaphorically con-notating the actual tale of Prometheus, from the opening in which we see a humanoid alien drinking an iridescent liquid that quickly dissolves, foreshadowing the mythology of the said titan for ‘improving’ human life by stealing fire from Mount Olympus and giving it to mankind, it’s easy to observe from the way in which the two characters of Shaw and Holloway are eagerly seeking the true origins of mankind for their own beliefs that this is a feature that further delves into this notable sci-fi contextual trope of ‘life’s meaning’ by ‘challenging’ it with the religious notions that Noomi Rapace’s character wholeheartedly upholds. As arguable as it is to note the notion that Ridley Scott has the temerity to intertwine the mythology of the ‘Alien’ world with the benevolent motif of the origins of life since many, more notable, sci-fi films have delved into this practise before, such as with the likes of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, which visually express these suggested themes, or even through the contextualisation of  Star Trek V: The Final Frontier where William Shatner’s character of Kirk physically fights ‘god’. the inclusion of implementing these themes within Prometheus makes sense. Not only does the usage of these themes simply differentiate itself with the far lacklustre preceding ‘Alien’ filmic titles that had the audacity to come up with story-scenarios that were ludicrous and boring, unlike the original film that spewed originality and believability, it curiously fleshes out this cinematic world that many have come to know and wonder about. Of course, with Prometheus centralising on this premise, we’re not going to get the same sense of horrific terror or the petrifying creatures that many people, who went into watching this film at the time of release in 2012, were expecting to be featured which is an odd sentiment to have. For a viewer to expect a film such as Prometheus, that purposefully makes the audience question and wonder about certain fictional mythologies that are expressed within the characters and what they’re interacting with, to have continually-intense sci-fi action featuring explosions and creatures is not only unfair to the film-makers, but it will set you up for disappointment which unfortunately happened anyway. Yes, there are a few filmic aspects that could have been utilised more effectively, of which we’ll get to, and it’s not a feature that’s going to surpass the originality of Alien. However, with Scott adding a much -welcomed dimension to this lauded-cinematic universe, by introducing concepts that were never explored before in the preceding films, Prometheus‘ purpose of blossoming the ‘Alien’ world through these prominent ideals, make for a far more compelling watch in comparison to the likes of other ‘Alien’ centric films that ultimately spout out absurdity to the highest-degree. 

Along with the welcomed and explored themes that will make make audience members wonder in awe afterwards, one of the more prevalent aspects that Scott utilises that coincides with Prometheus’ odd engagement, is the characterisation which is articulately spear-headed by the meretriciously-slick performance of Michael Fassbender as the android, David. In evoking similar formalities from one of Scott’s recognisable film characters in Rutger Hauer’s enactment of Roy Batty from Blade Runner, not only is Fassbender’s performance as the mercurial David emphasise on this arguable notion of Scott’s further fascination in dealing with A.I. and mechanical beings inhabiting feelings, but it just simply shows how much Fassbender, within this cinematic age, is an actor that consistently performs in every-role that he take up-on. Even within the minute interactions that he has with the various members of the ‘Prometheus’ crew, especially when he subtly and yet spitefully replies back to Holloway’s drunk remark about humans purpose by creating androids “…because we could” by saying, “Can you imagine how disappointing it would be for you to hear the same thing from your creator?”, is riveting to watch and certainly sweeps aside the unfortunate unbelievable secondary characters that don’t talk or behave as they should in the situation that they’re in; a stark contrast from the original Alien which displayed characters in an environment that were unruly believable in what they were doing and saying. With their being many moments throughout the running-time of the feature where David seamlessly goes about doing his own for which he’s been asked to do, Noomi Rapace’s portrayal of scientist Elizabeth Shaw serves as a subtle juxtaposition to David’s undermining attitude towards the scientists cause and beliefs. While she isn’t as robust or spontaneous as the other known femme fatale of Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley, Rapace’s character certainly fuels the ever-present ethical motif that Prometheus is trying to convey and is vastly unique compared to past ‘Alien franchise’ characters due to her willingness to know the origins of mankind; metaphorically assimilating questions and ideas that audience members are intrigued by.

Through the contextual tendencies of some of Cinema’s well-known sci-fi films comes the inclusion of cinematic technology that has the compelling ability to reflect our world back at us through either the outright spectacle of the latest special effects, or with practical reconstructions that simply inert a sense of verisimilitude. Sci-fi films implementation of certain aesthetics are at their best when they fully-utilise both practical and special effects coherently and seamlessly with one another and Scott’s prequel benefits from doing this. With their hardly being any screen time for exterior backdrops, the focal point throughout Prometheus relies upon familiar yet alien (mind the cruddy pun) backgrounds that are constructed for great effect. As insignificant as it many see to many, the very fact that Scott prioritised in using built-sets and pragmatic film-making techniques over CG effects that would be the norm for any atypical sci-fi film to use, is an achievement of itself and quashes technological aspects that some ‘auteurs’ would naively apply. 

As uncommon as it might be to arguably suggest that film prequels and sequels don’t live up-to expectations and demands of audience members who had previous affections for the originally preceding film, there are follow-up features that can offer something new in relation to an already lauded established world and Ridley Scott’s 2012 mystic yet wondrous sci-fi filmic outing of Prometheus is a good example of this. Sweeping aside not only the misconstrued expectancy and demand that fans of the ‘Alien franchise’ had in place for this film beforehand and misinterpreted the film’s profound goal of fleshing out the worlds mythology, but also the confound criticism that followed-suit, Prometheus isn’t as bad as what a lot of naysayers make it out to be and definitely is a lot more meaningful and profound than the disastrous entries of Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection. Indeed, it’s certainly interesting to perceive how much people can hype-up a particular film in readiness, but are quickly to disregard what is being portrayed on-screen…

On that note, it’s time for me to end this week’s review. As always everyone, thank you for reading my latest film review of Prometheus and I hope you’ve all enjoyed the read!! 😉👽. If anyone has an opinion on either my review or on the film itself, feel free to drop a comment down below. Next week, following on from the fact that I just reviewed this film, I will try and find the time to watch and discuss Scott’s recent return to the Alien franchise in Alien: Covenant. Once again, thank you to everyone for reading this week’s Blog Post, and I’ll see you all next week… I hope!!🤞Have a nice weekend!! Adieu!!😀😎✌

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ – Alex Rabbitte