By LISA KENNEDY
The Denver Post
Forget what Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and Joni Mitchell taught us. We aren’t stardust. We’re basket cases. We are orphans left by our creators on the doorstep of a beautiful planet to fend and figure out things for ourselves.
To seek out these “engineers,” as Dr. Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) refers to them oh-so-hopefully at the start of “Prometheus,” will likely lead to disappointment if not full-on ruin. Such might be the cautionary lesson of Ridley Scott’s sci-fi adventure.
Frequently referred to as the prequel to “Alien,” this film is more complicated — and less immediately satisfying — than Scott’s rousing, scary 1979 space-travel-meets-horror flick.
Rapace, Charlize Theron and Michael Fassbender are among the travelers aboard Prometheus as it heads to a planet that may hold answers to humankind’s origins.
The movie opens gorgeously as cinematographer Dariusz Wolski provides aerial images (perfect for 3D) of a pristine planet of mountains, vales, thunderously roiling waters. Just when you think this world primordial and empty, a disc of a spaceship hovers above. A cloaked biped resembling a human but with otherworldly abs, pecs and pipes arrives on the shore below and performs a rite that appears to end badly.
What does it mean? What does this figure portend? Is this Earth or some other planet? And what does he have to do with the reptilian aliens Sigourney Weaver’s indelible heroine, Ripley, battled years ago?
It’s an eerie start to a ride that is often more thought-provoking than thrilling. And we’re relieved when the movie places us in the company of humans, even if they’re dysfunctional. Even if one isn’t really human.
The passengers of Prometheus — like those in “Alien” — have wildly divergent motives and interests.
Shaw and her partner in research and romance, Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green), have hopes of meeting their makers, the ones that have been leaving clues on Earth.
Meredith Vickers (Theron), an executive for Weyland Industries, is one of those corporate hard cases made popular by this franchise. She has little time for the sentimentality of scientists or any other niceties.
Her departed boss, Weyland (Guy Pearce), makes a holographic appearance to cheer on Shaw and Holloway.
Idris Elba, so great as the tormented detective in the BBC series “Luther,” portrays the ship’s pragmatic captain Janek.
While Prometheus’ expeditionists are in a state of suspended animation, the robot David goes about his business — and his pleasure. Portrayed with precision by Fassbender, David models himself on one of his favorite movie characters: Peter O’Toole’s T.E. Lawrence. Of course, “favorite” and “pleasure” are freighted notions for a fantastically engineered if soulless bot. Much like Rutger Hauer’s turn as a replicant in Scott’s “Blade Runner,” Fassbender’s performance may launch “Prometheus” into the cult stratosphere.
One of the director’s better gifts is his ability to flesh out lesser characters with emotional efficiency.
“Prometheus” has muck-in-the-dark menace. It has the slithering, undulating, gaping mouthed beasts of “Alien” that so resemble a Freudian fright mashup of sex organs. But if you’re hoping for a visceral reprise of “Alien,” you’re bound to be thwarted. “Prometheus” is the work of an older, wiser director, one entertaining the grander questions raised by space travel and corporate incursions, raised by the idea of humans not being alone, and raised by our fears of not being well-regarded in the galaxy.
At times, the movie is more “The Tree of Life” than “Star Trek.” For some, this will be a good thing. For others, a letdown. For lovers of each, a strange and intriguing ride.
Regardless, it would probably be good to know which you are before boarding “Prometheus.”
