Matt and I have made a decision recently. We are going to go out twice a month. Hopefully, one of those outings will always be to the movies...and then I can tell you if said movies are worth getting the sitter for. You see, dating your partner is really important and getting out, even if it's only once a month, should be something sacred, right?
We decided to splurge and go see Ridley Scott's Prometheus in "UltraAVX." It cost us a small fortune, but that extra five bucks per ticket was worth it. Big comfy seats, lots of leg room and 7.1 surround sound! I was happy before the movie even started.
So, the movie. Well, everyone has been SUPER gung-ho about it since the studio started an intense viral campaign (more on that in a minute) and everyone's been talking about how superb and perfect the first Alien movie was (Ridley Scott didn't direct the second one, Aliens, James Cameron did)...and I think the combination of the nostalgia plus intense campaign may have disappointed a lot of people.
I'm a big sci-fi nerd (have we been over that yet?), and Matt loves horror so a movie like Alien or Prometheus is right up our collective alley. Both of us made an effort to NOT watch viral stuff or read too much about the movie because we know that like all Ridley Scott films, there will be a lot of stuff that people will generally dislike. So we went in with a rough idea of the plot and the fact that it was somehow a "prequel" to Alien.
We were not disappointed. I don't really want to give anything away with the movie by delving too much into the plot, but the overall idea of finding our makers is central to the story. There's still loads of gore and monsters and crazy gross out stuff, but at it's heart, this giant-space-themed movie is very personal and claustrophobic at times. The colours and shots were excellent and Michael Fassbender as David 8 will, in my opinion, go down as one of the greatest characters in sci-fi.
Some of the dialogue was not-great, and some of the acting was just OK (except Fassbender), but we were able to put that aside to really enjoy this movie. There are a lot of really neat subtle references to Alien as well as HP Lovecraft, Greek mythology (my university major!) Christianity, modern science, philosophy and even some very clever bits with Lawrence of Arabia (Ridley Scott's favourite film). One line from Lawrence of Arabia that is quoted in Prometheus fits perfectly with the story, "Big things have small beginnings." And I think this sums up the movie perfectly.
Where Alien was big, dramatic and action-packed, Prometheus is insular, quiet and slow.
Should you get a sitter? Yes, especially if you like sci-fi or are a fan of the earlier movies in the franchise. But don't go in expecting an over-the-top Hollywood blockbuster. It may have a lot of the same moving parts, but this machine works much differently.
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