Review of Prometheus (2012) by Judahjsn — 07 Jun 2012

A monumental disappointment. Up there with the Star Wars prequels, the X-Files movie and, of course, Lost. It's not a spoiler to say that none of the fundamental questions posed by the trailer or marketing materials for Prometheus are answered. Worse, as an insult to the viewers, these questions are re-asked at the end of the film to entice them to spend their money on the next installment of a potential franchise. In the way that Lost became merely a commercial for itself (all tease, all promise, no pay-off), Prometheus shows reveals Lindelof's involvement by simply being a 2-hour commercial for a sequel. Lindelof is fundamentally an advertising genius posing as a storyteller. But it's not the lack of answers that hurt most. Early reviews prepared me to leave without resolution. What really hurt was its tone-deaf script, logical incoherence, lack of suspense, and sluggish feel. I thought, at the very least, I could get off on this movie aesthetically but it breaks no new ground there and feels oddly devoid of passion visually. There are a million choices that go into a movie to make it feel real, which will then make it interesting. But nothing that happens in Prometheus feels real (even by sci-fi standards). There aren't any real people in this film. The characters never come to life. The action barely arrives. Everything feels television-thin. There's no depth to soak in. Just hack work and expensive-looking cinematography.

There's something dangerous about artists who once had a traumatic experience in the industry in their earlier, art-film periods and lived to fight another day. George Lucas and both Scott brothers seem to almost resent their fans and the early, experimental years of their own legacies. All three now make bloodless work on a grand scale that seems to have forgotten the cadences of good, human storytelling.

And I wish Lindeloff would stop hurting my feelings.

In the end, Prometheus is a metaphor for itself. My friend and I who went both wished we had never gone and felt an urgent need to warn others not to make the same mistake.