Prometheus is Ridley Scott's first foray into science fiction since his one-two punch of genre masterpieces, 1979's Alien & 1982's Blade Runner. This alone is enough to give fanboys worldwide a raging nerd-on. It's exciting to see a director who made his bones in sci-fi returning to his cinematic roots.
And despite my misgivings with Scott's recent output, I was absolutely thrilled to see Prometheus, as were my pals Titus and Ky. We all remained completely spoiler-free, having only seen the trailers. We wanted to go into the film unsullied. This film was our big event for the summer season. Were our expectations too high? Perhaps.
I can't speak for my friends, but all I wanted out of Prometheus was a good movie. I have no real expectations for any other movies this blockbuster season. I'm not excited about seeing anything else this summer. I know I'll end up seeing The Amazing Spider-Man and The Dark Knight Rises, but I'm not terribly enthusiastic about either of them. Honestly, the only movie I can think of off the top of my head that I really want to see is Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.
I don't know what that says about me. It can't be a good movie. It just can't be. I have no idea how it even got made. The fact that a big-budget, R-rated motion picture about our nation's 16th President waging a one-man war against the undead is a real thing astounds me. I think that's why I want to see it. This bizarre thing that shouldn't be is just calling to me. I need to see it.
But that's more of a sideshow thing for me, like paying two bucks to peek behind the curtain and gaze at Enoch, the Two-Faced Man. For Prometheus, it's a genuine, un-ironic thing. It pushes all my geek buttons. I wasn't looking for the next Alien. I was just looking for something that entertained me without insulting my intelligence. A good movie. Not necessarily a great movie, although if it turned out to be great I certainly wouldn't complain.
So on Thursday, June 7th, our merry band of misfits set off on a magical journey to the west side of town to catch a midnight sneak-preview of Prometheus in IMAX 3D.
 |
| Photographic Proof! |
Upon our return, we decided to record our thoughts on the film in the form of a podcast. This... might not have been the best of ideas. We spent nearly two hours after our screening sitting around, drinking, and talking about the movie. We were all tired. And drinking. Did I mention the drinking?
We certainly had a blast just lounging around and shooting the breeze, I won't deny that. More fun than we had watching Prometheus, at any rate. But the circumstances I described above were not conducive to any meaningful, in-depth discussion regarding the film.
 |
| The vodka just tasted too good to ignore. |
So don't listen to this podcast if you're looking for a well-reasoned breakdown of Ridley Scott's Prometheus, because it isn't there. You should also avoid listening to this podcast if you don't want the film's plot to be spoiled for you, because we definitely do that.
Our conversation barely touches on most of the movie's astoundingly stupid story points and shockingly shallow characterization. This is really more of a mood piece, illustrating our disappointment with a film we wanted to love, a film that profoundly disappointed us.
This podcast is a drunken, unfocused eulogy for Prometheus, a movie that could have been great, but couldn't even stand up to my lofty expectations of "being good".
Stay tuned for the latest episode of Lies My Podcast Told Me, coming this Wednesday. It's gonna be a real barn-burner.
 |
| Still my favorite alien. E.T. can go fuck himself. |
The movie's not nearly as bad as you say it is. Sure it has problems, but I think it's smarter than you're letting on. I also thought the 3-D effects were subtle and effective. It's not a masterpiece like Alien or Blade Runner, but at this point in Ridley's career, that's just not gonna happen. I hope this movie makes good money at the box office, because at the very least it will give other, smarter sci-fi scripts a chance at getting made.
ReplyDeleteAnd Sil's my favorite alien, too! Another H.R. Giger creation, as well.
I think I'm going to end up writing a review of sorts to really encapsulate my feelings, so I won't go in-depth in this reply, but I appreciate your point of view.
ReplyDeleteI also hope the film does reasonably well at the box office for the same reasons. Maybe something better will rise from this film's ashes. That's all I can really hope for at this point.
Thanks for the feedback!