Watched Prometheus with a friend yesterday. During the mission briefing he paused the film to ask: "Wait. So these people are sent on a multi-year, multi-billion mission, but they don't know what the mission is about? And they're there just because that woman chooses to believe the images in the caves represent our creators? And this guy in the horrible old guy makeup puts her and her boyfriend in charge?" Needless to say, he didn't really enjoy the movie. In fact, he was laughing his ass off during certain scenes and bored to death most of the time.
This was my third time seeing it, and I've kinda come to terms with the movie. What really makes me sad is that Prometheus could have been really good. The visuals are wonderful, the basic idea of the film is ok, but the characters, their actions and the script overall just sucks, there's no way around it.
I still can't believe what went on in the writers mind when they decided that Janek should leave Fifield and Millburn alone in the caves, just to get laid. I mean seriously, WTF? First of all, It's completely unnecessary - the raging storm could have just cut down all communications. Second of all, it makes the captain, and consequently the whole mission seem completely reckless, irresponsible and haphazard.
I'm also baffled by Hollloway's sulking when he didn't get to talk to the engineers. They've been in the structure one single time for a period of few hours, and he's down because they didn't immediately find what he was thinking. Scientist, in general, know very well that gathering information and getting answers usually takes a long time. There's also the alien corpses, their culture, the structure itself, the vases, the black stuff, etc... to examine and study, just for starters. And what about the rest of the planet? Did the writers really think it was a good idea to have him get drunk and depressed? And speaking of the first visit: Since there's tons of stuff still to explore (really, they've been in the structure once!), why does Weyland immediately want them to "try harder" when he talks with David? They've traveled two years to get there, and now he can't even wait for a couple of days, just so they could at least try to figure out what's going on the planet?
Me thinks the writers really didn't know how to push the story forward in a natural way, so they had to come up with something very much artificial.
There's absolutely no point in revealing that Vickers is Weyland's daughter. It doesn't change anything or add anything to the film. Instead, it just seems like a desperate attempt to add "depth" to one the characters, which is also the case with Shaw's inability to have children.
There's also no point in having Holloway taking his helmet off. Or Fifield smoking a joint in his spacesuit. I hear "defenders" of the film say stuff like "they could very well do that, it's not impossible" Sure, it's possible. But both actions are, again, completely unnecessary for the film. It's like a character letting out a massive fart during some scene. Sure, people do that. But you don't need to put that in a movie. It's unnecessary and makes the characters, as well as the writers, seem stupid.
Random causes of complaint: The flute. The way random guy #6 just goes "Fifield, hey Fifield" (really bad acting, by the way), when Fifield's forehead is all bulging, his face melted and he's obviously a monster at that point. The fact that nobody asks Shaw what happened after she's had the abortion (seriously, everybody looks at her like she's just menstruating all over the place or something). The discussion before the suicide run just makes me cringe, every single time. How the hell did Fifield manage to get lost, when earlier he's obviously navigating with his pups and wrist computer? Why does Shaw still believe in a Christian god, when it's obvious that the engineers created us, thus rendering the Bible, it's stories and pretty much all of Christian faith false?
I know most of these issues are old and already discussed to death. Just needed to ventilate a bit. Rant over.
