Ridley Scott presents flawed but solid masterpiece with 'Prometheus'

In a summer movie season that has proven itself to be rather mediocre thus far, "Prometheus" is the welcome injection of life that I have been waiting for. After nearly a month of slogging through several rather mediocre to bad weeks of film releases, director Ridley Scott's return to his creation of the late 70s was an entertaining, if heavily flawed, breath of fresh air.

Billed originally as a prequel to Scott's 1979 sci-fi classic "Alien," "Prometheus" is set in the "Alien" universe although tells a story that is, for the most part, completely independent of the events of the original film. Set in the late 21^st century, Noomi Rapace and Logan Marshall-Green play archaeologist couple Elizabeth Shaw and Charlie Holloway, leading an expedition on the titular scientific space vessel Prometheus to a distant planet that, according to their research of lost civilizations, may hold the key to the origins of life on Earth. Shaw and Holloway's journey has been funded by the Weyland Corporation, represented by employee Meredith Vickers -played by Charlize Theron- and David, -Michael Fassbender- an android designed to ensure the safety of the crew, who's exact level of self-awareness comes into question. Along the way, the crew comes into contact with the planet's inhabitants and fight to survive the encounter and ultimately discover the answers that they were looking for.

The strong leads are very well supported by a cast that lends a sense of humanity to the film. Idris Elba, who plays the captain of the Prometheus, could have easily hammed up his role as an accordion playing, womanizing lover of classic rock music but he plays it straight with such a level of charisma that he leaves an impact greater than his amount of time onscreen would typically allow. Fassbender's performance as an android constantly questioning his own programming is masterfully handled as well. The question of whether or not he is truly looking out for the well being of the crew or whether he has evolved beyond his intended design makes for the creepiest and most tense moment of the film, rivaling that of Hal 9000's monotone presence in "2001: A Space Odyssey."

The incredible performances and stunning cinematography, in addition to its fantastic pacing and practical usage of special effects prepped the first half of "Prometheus" to be a masterpiece on the level of its parent series; a truly phenomenal titan of science fiction for the modern day. Unfortunately, despite putting its best foot forward, the second half of the film stumbled a few times too often on the follow-through.

Around the halfway point of the film, the pacing, direction and the entire narrative thrust of the film shift in a rather jarring manner. The pace begins to feel rushed and the understated elegance of the film that once took its time to reach a major payoff quickly begins to juggle characters and plotlines in a manner similarly to a juggler asking for more balls than he can actually handle. The movie quickly begins to collapse under its own weight, evolving into a typical race to save the day plot and a third act that runs out of steam almost 15 minutes before it actually ends.

To see the wasted potential is heartbreaking, as the second half of the movie almost feels like a different film entirely, to the point that I can't help but wonder if there's any cut footage from the film. If there is any movie that is ripe for a director's cut, it's "Prometheus" because something about how unnatural the rest of the film plays out screams extended edition. It doesn't sink the film as it would a lesser movie but as pleased as I am with the final product as it exists, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed in seeing "Prometheus" do an A+ worthy level of studying only to ultimately clam up and get less than it so rightly deserves.

Fortunately for each of its flaws, I can still manage to find about two things that I genuinely adored. Where "Prometheus" ultimately let me down on its emotional payoff, its incredible camerawork and special effects, discussions and insight on human nature and spirituality, and superb acting performances all around have made this a lock in for my DVD collection the second it hits home media.

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