Year: 2012
Directed By: Ridley Scott
Written By: Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof
RYAN’S REVIEW
I actually made it out to the theater to see this film. A privilege that’s becoming rarer and rarer as life gets busier but back in 2012 we found time to see a few and this was one of them. I thought it was excellent and in fact I wrote down my initial reaction in a post that’s some three years old now. Geez where does the time go? You can read my initial reaction below in its entirety:
6/10/2012
There will be a more in depth review of this film when we get to the “P’s” in our movie collection because we will own it. I just really want to share a few thoughts with our readers because we just watched it and I think everyone should know how great it is.
I think the marketing for this movie was incredible. The previews show you a lot of excitement without giving any hint to exactly what the movie was about. That type of advertising reminds me a lot of Inception from last summer because it did something so similar. It was very effective too because it builds anticipation for the movie while leaving a lot of surprises for you at the same time. When I sat down to watch this movie I had no idea what it was really about. I went in knowing only the basics and that it was a prequel to Alien. I knew within the first five minutes that I liked it and that it was going to be awesome. Some movies manage to convey that immediately, it works both ways though. More often than not I can tell in the first few minutes that a movie is going to suck, but I’m glad there are still movies like this coming out that can actually surprise me.
I do not think this movie would have worked without Ridley Scott behind the camera. I think that he is the only person that could actually make this movie and blend it so well with the original. Everything looked so great and in the same fashion we saw over thirty years ago. It has been a long time since Scott went back to his roots to make a Sci-Fi picture but he obviously still has the talent that made him a legend in the beginning. This movie will probably be very successful and I hope that success means we might see more of this to come from Scott. As of right now I am going to really hope Scott comes back into the genre strong and does exactly what he did for it thirty years ago with Alien and Blade Runner. Scott left a lasting impression on the genre and his films are both legendary. Scott has made many great films throughout his career but I think it is rather obvious after this film that this is where he truly belongs.
The cast all did an outstanding job in this movie. Michael Fassbender was specifically good, I think his role called for the most acting to be done as the android and he did it really well. His face seemed so implacable throughout the whole movie and he spoke with such a great tone. I am not a fan of Charlize Theron but she did an excellent job as well. I think she was well suited for the role and appropriately cast. Idris Elba was great too; he played a smaller part but still managed to be a badass. I think Noomi Rapace did very well as the lead; she could quite possibly be the new generation’s version of Ripley when all is said and done. Rapace is mainly known for playing Lisbeth Salander in the Swedish version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo movies. One way or another I think we will be seeing a lot more of her after this. I think Guy Pearce is wasted in this movie; I had to come home and look up the movie on IMDB just to figure out who he was. I’m OK with that though, if he has to be in a film this great the less we see of him the better.
Overall I think this was a great movie and I hope I have encouraged all of you to give it a chance. There aren’t many movies coming out these days that I think are worth your money to make the trip to the theater. I can attest that this film is without doubt worth the ridiculous price of admission at theaters these days. We watched it in 2D because we aren’t risk takers when it comes to 3D but if the 3D effects were good I would imagine this movie looked great in the format. If you watched the movie in 3D please let us know how it looked because if we make it back to see it a second time we might try it out.
6/18/2015
Now back to 2015. I never heard a response about the 3D effects in this movie but I am still glad we didn’t see it in that format. 3D films continue to come out but I have no more faith in them now than I did in 2012. Until James Cameron finishes the next Avatar films I will be inclined to keep my four extra bucks and watch a regular version I can trust. If you want more on how I feel about 3D films just check this out.
Pretty much everything I said in my initial reaction still rings true. Noomi Rapace of course hasn’t become the next Ripley of sci fi but there is still potential for that in the future. Otherwise I still feel like she is exceptional in this movie, and I’m surprised it didn’t lead to bigger things for her, or hasn’t yet at least.
I remember there being a lot of talk about the opening scene of the movie. It’s vague so I can understand why so many people questioned it and what it meant in the movie. I didn’t give it that much thought actually. I saw it as a form of creation and didn’t question it because I think such things are and should be beyond us. Once we figure out how to do whatever that sculpted albino alien was doing we’re most likely doomed as a species. I think the process of creation should be beyond our understanding no matter how it was done, be it God, the Big Bang, or some sort of advanced albino alien science. I saw this scene as nothing more than a suggestion that alien intervention started life but didn’t think the ‘hows’ or ‘whys’ mattered very much. When you focus only on the ‘hows’ and ‘whys’ sometimes you lose sight of what ‘is.’
Despite my affinity for comic book films I would not call myself a sci-fi fan in general but only on occasion. When a sci-fi movie is exceptionally good I make exceptions because regardless any genre when something is awesome it simply ‘is.’ This movie stand out to me as an example of just how good sci-fi films can be. It’s a genre filled with every nerd’s fantasy and too much of what is made doesn’t have the muster that a film like this has. This movie is top to bottom sci-fi and it’s as good as anything the genre has to offer, I think so at least. In my opinion this movie deserves its spot among the other greatest in the genre, the Aliens and Blade Runners, Star Wars and the like. I have patiently awaited the sequel to this film but haven’t been fulfilled in that anticipation whatsoever. It’s still on the docket and slated to be released in 2016 but there seems little movement on it and I’m not even sure if Ridley Scott is involved anymore. That would be a waste because part of what makes this movie great is that it is simply the beginning of something bigger.
I mentioned many of the actors in this film in my initial response. I won’t go through them all a second time but I do think a couple are worth note. Michael Fassbender continues to impress as an actor and I really hope to see him in this role again. As David he is just outstanding and truly believable as a robot. His is such an interesting character with unknown motives and an intelligence to be feared. The only other actor I wanted to cover again was Idris Elba. He carries a coolness in his very presence and he is a badass when there is action at hand. Stringer Bell was my favorite character on The Wire and I seriously like any opportunity to see Idris Elba in anything.
While I love the sci fi part of this movie I also appreciate how it echoes Alien with elements of horror. The scene with the alien snake like thing is enough to turn the toughest guy in the neighborhood white. Snakes, generally make everybody uncomfortable. In this case it’s a mutated alien snake that will crawl right into your mouth and down your throat while you are screaming. If that scene doesn’t get you then I name you a liar who closed your eyes to hide from the horror of it all. If that scene wasn’t enough to make you cringe then the procedure Noomi Rapace endures when she births a monster it certain to put you over the top. Coupled with perfect timing is all hell breaking lose in the dock bay with a former character no longer who he was. Scary and exciting as it is it only leads to more intrigue as the movie begins to come together. Mr. Supercool Idris Elba gets it, he knows what the problem on this planet is but after that insight all kinds of answers start spilling out.
This movie is intentionally vague, it leaves it for the viewer to figure certain things out. I like that about this movie because I love the ones that make us think. That’s the way a good science fiction film should be and this is easily my favorite of the genre in quite a while. With hope, we see an equally as exciting sequel in time that only leads us further down the rabbit hole. As of right now Prometheus 2 is still slated to come out next year with a release date in March. I hope that holds but the clock is ticking now for that kind of deadline and Michael Fassbender has become such a busy actor these days.
Obviously I think this movie is well worth your time and if you haven’t seen it then you are missing out. This isn’t the only movie working in the Alien universe these days as there is a new sequel to the Alien franchise being worked on by Neil Blomkamp. The news coming out about what he is working on seems really interesting and looks quite cool. Blomkamp and Signourney Weaver worked together recently on his latest film Chappie and the two have collaborated together on the new sequel. It’ll be exciting to see what they are able to come up with. With a double dose of the Alien universe coming to the big screen in the next year, hopefully, there is no better time to revisit this film and the Alien films. Aside from Alien 3 they are all exciting, even Resurrection with it’s ridiculous breath technology on doors was not a bad movie if you enjoy the franchise.
NEXT MOVIE: Psycho (1960)
The Movie Snobs 