Finally, caught this joint on FAther's day. Then went home and watched the director's cut of ALien.
I don't know how you all can't say it's not a prequel for Alien franchise. It's in the same universe (planest designated LV-XXX), The Weyland corporation in the movie clearly evolved into Weyland-Rutan corp in Alien) and finally there's exposition at the end the shows exactly how the crash site in Alien could have happened.
THe whole engineer alien as creator of human race was not original (ST:TNG did it 15 years ago). But even with that they could have done a lot more with it.
Things that left me scratching my head.
1) How did the the geologist and bioligist get left behind. They broke out before anyone else and somehow got left behind? I just don't understand that.
2) Why does the black goo infect David in some unknown way that doesn't kill him or cause an alien to grow in him, but then is somehow able to result in a Xenomorph baby in Shaw after 10 hours????? I mean that shit was quite a stretch even for a science fiction movie. I guess the message is mix any DNA with good and you get some random alien.
3) How does anyone come to the conclusion that the Aliens were on their way to destroy earth? Was there some message in the holograms that only the android could understand?
After I re-watched ALien (a much better movie btw) I realize they just recycled a lot of it in Prometheus and just slapped some Intelligent design mythology around it.
theyre called plotholes and theres no excuse for them... here's what I found when I watched it:
Just saw the film yesterday and here's why I think people were disappointed with it. The filmmakers took great care to make sure we knew the film wasn't a direct prequel to Alien and Aliens but there's enough reference to those films plus fan desire for it to be a prequel so the protest and corrections don't matter anyway. The biggest issue I had after seeing the movie wasn't so much with the themes, theology or metaphors the film gets into as much as the basic characterizations, dynamics and continuity of the story itself.
Things happen that either don't matter in the grand scheme of things or just plain don't make sense. Character motivations and actions must be consistent for the viewer to be able to put themselves in the film and feel the tension and drama. This was done most effectively in the Alien and Aliens. But it was really kinda lacking in Prometheus.
In Alien, we follow a crew of intergalactic contractors returning to Earth with a shipment of mineral ore when they encounter a distress signal. Acting on protocol from their employer Weyland-Yutani, they check out the signal and hilarity ensues. But what really makes the film work is the dynamic between the crew members. Everyone had a jaded, mercenary attitude and spoke to each other with the familiar shorthand and camaraderie of people who have worked together for a long time. We saw the same thing in the sequel Aliens, with the colonial marines investigating a lost contact signal from a colony on planet LV-426. These guys were nonchalant acting even when told they were about to encounter a "contagion" which they referred to as a bug hunt. So when the killing and running starts, we have some kind of connection to the crew because we can relate to them.
In Prometheus, we never get to know the crew because we spend so much time with android David, Meredith Vickers, a Weyland exec assigned to oversee the expedition and the two head scientists Elizabeth Shaw (in the Ripley position) and Charlie Holloway. Their relationship is contentious at best and we get beyond that. The other crew members pretty much get a lick and a promise as far as characterization goes.
But lets get to the points of contention that threw things off for me in the movie.
In no particular order...
The two scientist who break away from the group to "go back to the ship" only to be found in a different part of the complex.
Upon discovering dead bodies of the Space Jockey/Engineers all over an underground complex on the planet one of the scientists, Fifield, the geologist, basically freaks out (ala Pvt Hudson "Game Over, Man!) and says his expertise is in examining rocks not dead aliens and with Milburn, a biologist, in agreement (who curiously leaves even though studying organisms is right up his alley) both men decide to go back to the mothership. Okay that makes sense. Its a creepy place with dangerous looking shit all around and no one knows how all these aliens died so fuck it, I'm outta here. Great. Not too long after they leave the main group has to leave the complex anyway because a storm is coming and they'll be trapped in the complex if they don't leave right away. Upon getting back to the mothership, the captain says wheres Fifield and Milburn? Wait, they didn't get out even thought they had a head start before everyone else? They got lost even thought there are mapping bots actively charting the complex in real time and they're in constant contact with the mothership who can track their location? Hmmm..somethings not right about that. But more on that a little later.
No one pursues or seems surprised to find Shaw is covered in blood and had major surgery?
Shaw gets pregnant by her infected boyfriend Holloway. In typical Alien fashion the gestation period is rapid and soon she showing a potbelly much to her own surprise since she couldn't get pregnant in the first place. Its decided, against her will, that she will be placed in stasis for the duration of the pregnancy and the ride back to Earth. Shaw then fights off the medical crew members trying to put her to sleep and runs to a robotic medical station and has an emergency cesarean section performed on herself in a particularly graphic scene. Out comes a squid fetus and Shaw is stapled back together. She then staggers to another part of the ship where she finds oldman Weyland himself (long thought dead) coming out of stasis sleep and being tended to by the medical crew that tried to put her to sleep. Whats curious about this scene is at no point did anyone pursue Shaw as she broke free. No one came to the med lab she was in getting her C-section done. No one even bothers to question why she's drenched in blood. Neither Vickers nor the ship's captain Janek are even aware of what transpired and its not a huge ship nor very many people in it. This scene just does not work logically.
Vickers revelation about being Weyland's daughter goes nowhere so ultimately means nothing
After Weyland is awakened, he has a private conversation with his employee Meredith Vickers, During some intense back and forth its revealed that incredibly old man tagged along to find a way to live forever and is hoping the Engineers can help him. Vickers, none too happy that the old dude won't kick the bucket, derisively calls him "father". Well that explains the muted hurt look she had when Weyland happily called David the closest thing he had to a son. Proudly acknowledging parentage about an android but not his own flesh and blood. But what that little revelation doesn't do is go anywhere or amount to anything significant. When she spits the word father at him, it was during an extreme close up with tense music underneath. Surely this reveal presented in such a fashion would mean some sort of long overdue showdown between these two? Nope. Weyland is her pappy, then they both die. Oookay.
David's behavior and actions seem to have nothing to do with Weyland's agenda.
Unlike the other films in which we discover further into the story that there is an android operating among the crew, we are introduced to David very early on. We find him monitoring the crew who are in travel stasis and watching old movies. Also unlike the other films David acts like an artificial human where in Alien we didn't find out that Ash wasn't human until he head was bashed off. David acts suspiciously and sinister-like from the jump but the difference here is that the androids from the Alien films were acting on orders from Weyland Corp to bring back a specimen for their bio-weapons division. There is no bio-weapons division yet because there is no reason for the company to think that anything aggressive is going to happen if they meet anyone. Also we later find out that Weyland himself is on the ship and his agenda is to extend his lifespan. At one point David is in contact with someone from Weyland and tells Vickers the order is to "try harder". So in an effort to do that David infects Holloway with the black goo substance he obtained from the complex. This makes no sense since there is no way to know what the effect could be. Maybe Holloway transforms into a higher order being, maybe he dissolves into a puddle of goo, maybe the infection becomes airborne or easily communicable and kills everyone on the ship including Weyland himself. If David is acting on his own then he's doing something that no other android in the Alien universe ever did. Hopefully rather than a plot hole David's actions will be explain in the sequel.
The lost, scared scientists suddenly become nature lovers.
Back with Fifield and Milburn who are still lost and wandering the complex. At this point these two are something like comic relief. They're jumping at every noise like Abbott and Costello meets the Mummy. Okay, I'll buy (grudgingly) that these two are legitimately lost even though they can get into contact with Janek. There's the (weak) explanation about some sort of signal interference but they seem to be communicating fine while the storm is raging. Janek tells them that the mapping bots have picked up a lifeform reading somewhere in the complex to which Fifield (the rock guy) freaks the hell out at the news. Okay that makes sense. They continue to wander the complex and go into a chamber where the big head is located and see something moving in the pools of black goo on the floor. Do they run screaming out the room? Nope. Then suddenly a snake like creature rises out the goo. Do Fifield and Milburn turn tail and haul ass? Nope. Fifield, Mr. "I study rocks not dead bodies", the same guy who flipped at just hearing that something alive is down there with them, this same guy gets all fascinated and kneels down to get a closer look at the damn thing. That doesn't make sense. That behavior is in fact completely contrary to his behavior earlier. Especially when you consider the fact that most mammals are naturally afraid of snakes, especially humans, its wholly unbelievable that upon seeing a space snake rearing up in a room full dead bodies, Fifield's reaction would be "ohhh, its beautiful". That's not consistent at all with their earlier behavior.
All of this adds up to basic lazy writing and a big let down for a film that's been so heavily anticipated.
http://mczfilmtvreviews.blogspot.com/2012/06/5-big-plotholes-in-prometheus-spoilers.html