Prometheus Midnight Showing

Happy to report that Prometheus is a fun, tense, skeevy film. If you like the Alien movies or just a good sci fi action flick, check it out.

I have a rocky relationship with Ridley Scott, but I think he's in his element here and it shows. The film itself is quite beautiful (when it's not being nauseating). From the exterior shots utilizing amazing Icelandic terrain to the special effects that integrate almost seamlessly, the movie has a wonderful polish.

Speaking of special effects, they are pretty damn good. Good as in "I just realized one entire segment must have been CGI and I didn't even notice at the time" level good.

The plot itself is pretty straightforward and the script telegraphs most everything that's going to happen well in advance, but that doesn't detract from some of the really fun jumps and scares. I feel like the screenwriters took extra care to try and make all the pieces of this plot fit together. There are a few scenes that have me wondering what really happened, but overall I didn't see any gaping plot holes. (Yes, sci fi does get a bit of slack from me in this department. I'm far more credulous for this genre than, say, romances.)

As far as weak points go, the dialogue is a little wooden and over expository at times, a little too lacking in other times. The script doesn't spend adequate time developing certain characters or allowing characters to evolve in an understandable way. The actors do their best with the material.  And their best ranges from creepily good to serviceable. Nobody turns in a boner performance, which is nice.

Some spoiler stuff after the cut.

1. So, what was that first scene all about? Why was that Engineer drinking that substance, and what was the deal with the spaceship? My friend suggested he had been left behind during the evacuation, and was offing himself. I can't think of any other explanation that fits into the narrative at this time.
2. Fassbot is creepy. Creeeeeeeeeepy. I actually was thinking about a story idea last week that involved an android sort of date-stalking a human. It's like I had a premonition about how Fassbender was going to play the role of David. 
3. Everyone is already talking sequel, but why? I think the movie ended on an appropriate note. There's still some mystery left, leaving the imagination room to play.
4. Robutz are evil.
5. Really liked a few of the scenes with the crew, particularly Idris Elba as the captain. Wish this ease and familiarity could have bled into the rest of the film's dialogue. The captain/crew exchanges almost seem tonally opposite to the rest of the movie sometimes.
6. They really went for completion on the Aliens-As-Space-Rapists theme in this one. There's an honest to god pregnancy.
7. I like how everybody wore space-flops.
8. Was anyone else waiting for some kind of reveal on the company founder? With so much age-makeup, I thought for sure he was going to show up as a younger version at some point. 

 Okay. Should try to sleep or something.