It's the fourth best Alien film, after
Alien 3 but over
Resurrection.
I'm going to get the negatives over with first, 'cause I want some absolution from them!
It's a B-Movie in the way the originals never were. That's not to say that they didn't have B-movie origins, however enough was left unsaid and mysterious for them to transcend those origins. Prometheus cannot achieve this, as Ridley has adopted an entirely different approach to his direction. Where Alien played out like a documentary, everyone in Prometheus waits for their turn to speak, and often then trot out very rote sci-fi cliches. Kate Dickie in particular gives an outstandingly bad performance during the landing sequence which derails all the grandeur therein. Sean Harris too overdoes the old Cock-er-nee to ludicrous effect. He even makes Clive Mantle's "lawd luv a duck!" accent in
Alien 3 sound passable! (However, as an Englishman I can't hear the problem with Idris Elba's accent that many talked about, so maybe that stuff is subjective) It's a real shame, because a bit of naturalism could have really upped the quality.
The score just drove me barmy. Non-stop bloody noise ALL THE WAY THROUGH. Again, all of the quiet tension of the originals is jettisoned for BAM! BAM! BAM! It's really disconcerting, and makes the film incredibly hard to reconcile with the others. One of the better moments comes when the flippin' score abruptly stops in the juggernaut cockpit. More of that and it'd be a lot better.
The plot itself has so many dead ends and holes you're left feeling that it must have been butchered in the edit. The whole thing feels ridiculously rushed from beginning to end, even at two hours. I wouldn't be surprised at all if there was a three hour version coming down the pike on blu-ray. We never see the snakes again after their attack on Milburn. A newborn alien creature is just left in a room and forgotten about until the plot requires it comes back. Fifield is a killer super zombie... because he is. Things just seem to happen, for no good reason. I'm loathe to blame the writers at this point, as I can't shake the feeling that some heavy editing has gone on. I don't think I've ever seen a Lindelof thing before, so I certainly have none of the hate for him that seem de rigeur. It felt chopped up, not badly plotted, although I could be totally wrong! In which case, hang your heads in shame spaihts and lindelof!
It doesn't feel like a Ridley Scott film. It doesn't even feel like a
Tony Scott film. All of that beautiful painterly framing is gone. It feels like someone doing the best impression of various Kubrick moments. It's really weird. Come back smoke machine, all is forgiven!
And the proto-xeno. Oh dear god, the proto-xeno. You know the adage that a picture speaks a thousand words? Well then:
Yep, that's him. A fleshy cross between the things from The Descent and a traffic cone. Whoo.
Despite my long belief that the film was better off ploughing it's own furrow, it really, REALLY misses the xenomorph and Giger. Ridley has thrown the baby out with the bathwater, really - in losing the best part of the franchise, he's lost the true otherworldliness. The controls on the Juggernaut are laughably badly designed. The whole thing is screaming for Giger to come along and make it beautiful. Odd. Sadly, I can't help but feel that if any sequels are forthcoming they need the xenomorph back, but I know many will disagree. There's just nothing frightening here.
And there is no final eight minute "Oh yeah!" thing, that's just cobblers. There is what is essentailly a trailer for a sequel and the squishy grey bit of fan service above that would please no fan. Skills, Sir Rid, skills.
However, it has plenty of interesting moments. Despite her inglorious demise, Charlize Theron plays a blinder as Vickers - the vulnerability comes through well, and she's much more likeable really than Shaw, if only because she acts like a sensible human being in the main. If her motivation is "these people are idiots and my dad is an egomaniacal arse" then she does all you could with that. she has some lovely moments with Idris Elba, who is also grand. Harking back to Skerritt, but a different class of laid back. He feels like a character from an Alien movie. It's good to have him around. the rest of the cast are a bit interchangable, although it does seem is though LMG is playing a vainglorious idiot, rather than can't act, for the doubters. Some more time with all of them would have been welcomed. Seriously, it is easier to know the characters in Alien 3 than in this.
As everyone is saying, though, Michael Fassbender is wonderful. He is worth the entry price alone, and is a magnificent addition to the series. As a midpoint between Ash and Bishop the film comes to life whenever he is around. And the unanswered question of what he really says to the jockey is one of the film's more interesting questions. It is genuinely worth going to see the film just for David. If they'd done away with all the monsters and just had David vs. the humans. vs. the Jockey in some philosophical tug of war, it'd be a better film.
There are some lovely and surprising callbacks to
Aliens as well as
Alien - the LV designation for planets is in, as is the 'building better worlds' slogan. It feels good to be back in that world. To lesser effect there is even a variant on the classic, "Drake! We are leaving!". Hammy, but a nice acknowledgment of a world beyond just Scott's original.
Now, this all sounds like a real drubbing, but I did enjoy it. It's a good film, and it's an entertaining watch. It just can't live up to the classics it is following. I don't think anyone ever really thought it would, really. I'm really hoping for an extended cut, and I'm intrigued as to where the series could go from here. I'll go see it again next week at a more civilised hour and when I've let the dust settle and see how I feel then. But yeah, do go and see it, it is worth it, just don't expect a masterpiece. This is a flawed film, but much better than anything we've seen from the series since 1992.
As an afterword, my partner Donna really enjoyed it, and although she knows the first two Alien movies, is in no way fanatical about them. I think it probably does work better if you aren't so close to the source material. to fans I'm afraid it's following up the ceiling of the Cistine Chapel with an incredibly impressive photoshop of the Cistine Chapel. Both are objectively enjoyable, but only one is truly wonderful, y'know?
