More Like Polyphemus

By

Prometheus
2012. 124 minutes. USA. Directed by Ridley Scott. Watchdate: 6/13/2012.
Screencap from only great scene in Prometheus.
The best segments in Prometheus seemed to be those that did not quite necessarily fit with the overall shittiness of the movie. The opening sequence with David the creepy robot (Michael Fassbender) worked really well. But it's practically straight out of Kubrick, stylistically at least. It felt orphaned from a different (possibly much better) movie that did not cater to the summer blockbuster crowd with poorly conceived action sequences. In general, the David character worked best for me but I think that's as much a testament to Fassbender as it is to the filmmakers. He took a very intriguing but underdeveloped character and made it fascinating to watch. (So far, he's made riveting every role I've seen him play.)

In one scene, Dr. Shaw (Noomi Rapace) gets an abortion from that machine (see image above). This was the only scene in the movie where I was fully engaged and transfixed. It was so visceral and simultaneously such a rich vein to mine thematically. If I recall correctly, it's even more indelible than anything in Ridley Scott's original Alien movie.

Other than that, Prometheus is a sci-fi mystery with no center. As is par for the course with the Lost crew, it relies heavily on playing obscurity for depth. What's worse is it hinges on a bunch of faithy mumbo jumbo totally devoid of any self-awareness or real thoughtfulness.

Most sci-fi movies grow out of a simple "what if" scenario or premise. Prometheus never grows out of its "what if," it just patters around in it stagnantly. To put it simply, it is a movie that thoroughly lacking in dynamism.

PS - Prometheus lost a lot of my remaining patience when it randomly added zombies to the action without explanation in a lame attempt to keep things interesting.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Whore of Rhodes

By
Image
The abandoned front of Smokey Joe's Artemis Restaurant  Don't go to Faliraki. Ever. It is one of the worst towns I've ever been to in Greece or anywhere else. Faliraki is on the eastern coast of the Greek island of Rhodes. It is infested with the dreary remnants of the most outlandish kitsch and sleaze. On one block you will find the Tiger Tiger Strip Club, on the next Bedrock - a Flintstones themed 'family restaurant - and on the block after that, an abandoned amusement park of horrifying clown faces that looks like it comes straight out of a monster reincarnation of Coney Island. The town is studded with massive, overpriced resorts that aspire to luxury but could never achieve such a thing in the place they are located. Everyone looks like they are taking their last vacation ever before they have to pack it in and face the cruel justice of death. Faliraki: Where the Fun Never Stops Killing You You would never know you're in Greece. All sig
Read more

These Bland White Men Are Movie Stars For Some Reason

By
Image
Chris Evans Chris Evan is perfect for the role of Captain America because just like Captain America, Chris Evan is an utterly boring shell. He's a hollow white male mascot with nothing to say. Therefore he's a perfect avatar to represent diversity in Hollywood circa 2016. Sam Worthington Speaking of avatar, Sam Worthington starred in Avatar. The highest-grossing movie of all time. Everyone saw  Avatar , right? I will remind you, Avatar (apparently) starred Sam Worthington, at least if we're going to believe IMDb.com. How would you describe Sam Worthinton? Can you remember anything about him? Anything at all? Well, here's one thing I can say about Sam Worthinston. By virtue of his being a total non-entity, Sam Worthington is the only actor capable of making Giovanni Ribisi believable as a dynamic, menacing villain. Giovanni Ribisi. From Friends . Aaron Taylor-Johnson The new Godzilla movie was going to be great until Bryan Cranston died 15 minutes
Read more

Somebody is Waiting in the Hallway

By
Image
Stop Making Sense 1984. 88 minutes. USA. Directed by Jonathan Demme. Watchdate: 1/26/2011 This is a movie about a giant suit that makes everyone happy and terrified. It's a giant suit that magnifies what is perhaps the craziest sense of rhythm in the Western World (whatever "the Western World" means nowadays). This movie is about sweat and white light and running and everything else people did in the 80s like wearing giant suits to make themselves seem bigger and more important than they actually were. It's great, it should be required viewing. PS - David Byrne looks startlingly like Cillian Murphy in this movie.
Read more