Prometheus (2012)

   My first review on this blog is of Prometheus, the Sci-Fi thriller directed by Ridley Scott. The film has had an extremely successful first weekend in the box office, taking £6.24 million in the UK, add in takings from the added bank holidays as well and the figure rises to £9.92 million (more than any of the original Alien trilogy's total gross).
   The film focuses on a group of scientists exploring an Alien planet, in hope of finding answers in regards to the early existence of mankind. As well as this there are a few gory death scenes and a particularly gruesome self-abortion. 
   If I'm honest, I didn't find the film very interesting. I have seen the Alien films before, and enjoyed them, but I felt that this was very loosely connected to the original films. It answered a few questions here and there but aside from that I felt the film was more stand-alone than a prequel.
   I feel this is quite a bad film to start the blog on, as even though it was an enjoyable film, I don't feel I can write an interesting review on it. Story wise, I feel the film was dull and the first hour or so quite prolonged but visually it was stunning. The camera work and CGI was fantastic throughout. The aforementioned self-abortion scene was a highlight visually, no matter how disturbing it was to watch. Yet the storyline just lacked something. It wasn't the gory, gruesome storyline I expected, it was more an hour and a half of build up for a lackluster few minutes of violence. The story doesn't really produce much drama, I felt like it was intended to evoke thoughts of life outside of the Earth and all it really succeeded in doing was relying on predictable conventions of the genre.
   The film starred Noomi Rapace as Elizabeth Shaw, who despite a fantastic performance, I felt she didn't have quite the same presence as Sigourney Weaver did in the earlier Alien films. Rapace lives up to the role though, and Shaw's naivety turns her in to an unexpected heroine and the most resilient of the team, battling with the Aliens right through to the end of the film.
   My personal favourite performance of the film has to go to Michael Fassbender as the android, David. Right from his introduction into the film, the character's emotionless personality cleverly has you wondering what his mentality is and at times makes you doubt what his motives are.

Fassbender as David.
© 20th Century Fox 

   All in all, I felt Prometheus was an enjoyable film to watch - sort of. If I had gone to the cinema with hopes of many ties to the original Alien films, I would've left disappointed - as they were few and far between however I did feel that the film worked as a stand alone project and it's affiliation with Alien wasn't really necessary. The first third of the film was too drawn out, and dull in parts. There are a few moments of comic relief, such as Charlize Theron and Idris Elba's flirting scene in the ships control room, but the film left me feeling a bit dreary and unsatisfied afterwards.
  Definitely worth watching, but despite it's stunning visuals, Prometheus is an empty shell. 6/10