PrometheusAnd, here we go! After over two years of waiting, I was finally able to see the somewhat-prequel to one of my favorite movies of all time,
Alien. Did it live up to my, expectations? Well, that's a tough question to answer, as I wasn't exactly expecting anything (well, except the couple spoilers I read, but that's besides the point). Right from the start, with the
2001: A Space Odyssey styled opening, I knew this movie was going to be a very different beast than the original
Alien, but I was fine with that; Ridley clearly wanted to go in a new direction with this movie, and to be completely honest, I'm very glad that he did.
Right from the start, I loved the characters that we were introduced to. Shaw was an excellent lead (and I was very pleased that she was nothing like Ripley), and Halloway, while he was a prick, was no where near as bad as he was made out to be on the forums. David completely stole the show, and completely surprised me.
Spoiler
I expected him to be a much more sympathetic character, when he turned out to be the worst one of them all.
Other standouts from the cast include Vickers, Janek, and
Spoiler
Peter Weyland, who I expected to be dead after seeing the hologram.
Now, onto the story. I'll just get this out of the way first: I loved it. Was it perfect? No, of course not. Were there things I didn't like? Yes, a few. But all in all, I really loved the movie. I'll get my only real complaint out of the way first.
Spoiler
The birth scene, which is odd, because its also one of my favorite scenes in the film as well. I just felt that it didn't have proper build up or a good finish, and may have benefited from happening a bit later in the film. And why didn't the medics or whatever they were run after her more, or try to stop her from getting into the med tube thing?
Still, the birth itself is one of my favorite parts in the movie, and watching it with both eyes opened was one of the hardest things I've had to do at a theater. Very disturbing scene.
And when the full grown squid attacked the Engineer at the end, I felt that I finally got my pay off for the scene. I guess good things come to those who wait
I loved the whole look and feel to the film, and actually really appreciated the ambiguity and open-endedness of it. If they explained too much, I think it probably would have just come across as forced. They seemed to have found a healthy balance, and it worked in the end.
I feel like I'm rambling now, so there's just a few more things I want to say before I finish up this post.
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I really wish they didn't plaster the crash scene all over the posters and trailers.
And as for the big ending spoiler, I knew going in I was getting a chestburster. I never expected that. Wow...
So yeah, I really, really loved the movie. While it wasn't perfect, it definitely does not deserve the amount of hate its been getting. I eagerly anticipate seeing it again, and I really hope we get a sequel. I loved it
