Frustrated? Angry? Bored? Hungry? Ready to move on? Yes, the online conversation surrounding Ridley Scott‘s ambitious, belated return to the science-fiction genre in “Prometheus” is nearly exhausted. Depending on who you are, you’ve either experienced enough for a lifetime (online writers and editors surely have), but if you’re the audience who may have just recently caught the film, your thirst for more discussion around the film might not have been sated quite yet. While currently operating with a positive 74% Rotten Tomatoes score (though MetaCritic is lower with a 61 score and if you look at the way RT grades “positive” reviews… well… let’s just say there’s a problem there), in many corners of the blogosphere, and certainly ours, Scott’s “Prometheus” is viewed as a divisive piece of work that’s occasionally thrilling, but frequently opaque and narratively murky to the point of infuriation (check out our recent inaugural podcast on the film or our “Good, The Bad & Ugly” feature on the same topic).
And interestingly enough it’s hard to get any kind of true consensus: the geek cognoscenti are torn within their own community, as is the film critic intelligentsia. Everyone agrees the film tries for depth and summons weighty themes, but whether it has smarts to go along with them is certainly still up for debate. Anyway, that discussion’s been had ad infinitum, so what happens next? Spoilers ahead so please disperse if you haven’t seen the film yet.
As anyone who’s watched it is acutely aware, “Prometheus” ends on a cliffhanger note and purposefully sets up a sequel. So if and when we see a “Prometheus” sequel, what could it entail? Well in reading about the film, we’ve come across what you could call plausible clues and come up with some of our own potential posits. But first, some ground rules: while its narrative is murky, and motivations veer all over the map, let’s try and establish some basic facts from the plot of “Prometheus.”
What Happens In Prometheus
“Prometheus” begins with a mysterious prologue with a hooded Engineer figure. What’s actually going on in the scene is certainly up for more debate than any moment in the film, but we chose to see it as a sacrifice that begins life on earth. One could argue it’s a trigger for abiogenesis — the spark that forces biological life to arise from inorganic matter through natural processes. In other words, the Engineer’s sacrifice into black goo is the catalyst for the primordial soup which life on Earth likely arose from. And the alien ship seen far off in the distance, tellingly much different from the alien ship we see in the film’s conclusion? Presumably it’s the creators of the Engineers. Whether that’s incorrect or not is almost immaterial to this piece, but it’s probably good to get that out of the way.
What is not so ambiguious is the rest of “Prometheus” (and some of this is subjective, but much of it is spelled out in “Prometheus” albiet in murky, clipped sentences). It’s (mostly) clear that the Engineers were creating bio-weapons to destroy earth, and it’s clear from both the events in “Alien” and the ghost-like recorded holographic data on the LV223 moon where “Prometheus” takes place that these bio-weapons (aliens of some sort) turned on them (or were accidentally activated early) and horrifically killing the entire lot of them (or most of them anyhow). The crew of the Prometheus do after all come across a brutal, crime-scene-like mountain of Engineer bodies trying to reach a ship, but unable to enter closed doors (with one left decapitated by said colossal doors), seemingly with evidence that something has erupted from cavities in the chest. Hmm…
Part of the Engineers’ plan was to destroy their creation with these bio-“weapons of mass destruction” as Idris Elba‘s Captain Janek character hypothesizes. The film’s sub-protagonist (because Michael Fassbender‘s David android character is probably the more real protagonist of the film) Elizabeth Shaw (played by Noomi Rapace) certainly agrees with Janek, which is why at the end of the film, she takes David and plots a course to find out where the Engineers came from and why they decided to rescind their decision to create planet earth. And so the themes of “Prometheus” are doubly told; both humans and engineers are punished for playing with technology that only should be owned by “the gods” — humans are punished for seeking immortality (the true nature of the mission as revealed by Guy Pearce‘s dying Peter Weyland character and part of the reason David infects Logan Marshall-Green‘s character with the alien goop DNA — to experiment with this “technology” and see what will happen exactly) and Engineers are mortally penalized for attempting to destroy the very civilization they created.
As some character hypothesis in the film, LV223 is not the planet where the Engineers come from, rather an operational testing ground for these weapons of mass destruction, which makes sense, given that Elizabeth Shaw compels David to fly them to Engineer’s origin planet. Ok, so onto what we might see in “Prometheus 2,” now that we’ve hopefully established the events of the first film.
“The Alien” franchise story seems to be over. At least for this particular prequel franchise.
“Prometheus” tells essentially two stories. One, how the alien xenomorphs came into existence (again, see both the podcast and the ‘GB&U’ piece for thos specific details), which is pretty definitively told, and the second story we’ll get to in a minute. But as many have noted, the events of Prometheus take place on the moon LV223 (which orbits the star Gleise 86) and the events of Ridley Scott‘s 1979 “Alien” take place on a moon called LV426 (some posit that they are two neighboring solar systems that are nearby, but not exactly next door, but let’s not go there for now). So does this mean, in their attempts to escape their own bio-weapons turned bad, that some of the Engineers end up on LV426? Well, maybe, but the “Prometheus” creators don’t seem interested in telling that particular story, probably because it’s a bit immaterial to the bigger picture story. “How do we end up on LV426? Where did that derelict ship come from? All the answers are not directed out of ‘Prometheus,’ ” the film’s screenwriter Damon Lindelof said in an interview with ShockTilYouDrop. ” ‘Prometheus’ has two children, one of them is ‘Alien’ and the other child — hopefully God willing people want to see another movie — goes off in an entirely new direction, so there could be a sequel to ‘Prometheus’ that is not ‘Alien.’ “
That story seems, to us, pretty dull and thankfully, Lindelof agrees. “You don’t have all the direct correlations to the eggs, to the chestbursters, but [you have a sense of context] and I don’t think we need to connect all of those dots in subsequent movies. That that would be a fulfilling idea… we’ve given you A and we’ve given you Z, so why would you want to watch a movie that’s B to Y? Now ‘Prometheus’ is ready to go off in its own direction on its own entirely different tangent that is not going to be reliant on the things we’ve seen a thousand times before.”
So that tangent is what?
Well, clearly it’s about Noomi Rapace trying to find some answers and risking her life (one that she doesn’t care too much about since she’s already lost the love of her life Charlie Holloway) to uncover why the Engineers decided to give up on Earth even though David advises her that the information is now irrevelant and she should go home. It’s as if her religious beliefs have finally trumped her scientific ones. Unconvinced? Ridley Scott spells it out more in a recent interview. “Well, from the very beginning, I was working from a premise that lent itself to a sequel. I really don’t want to meet God in the first one,” he told Movies.com. “I want to leave it open to [Noomi Rapace’s character, Dr. Elizabeth Shaw] saying, “I don’t want to go back to where I came from. I want to go where they came from.”
And note, as we mentioned in an earlier piece, “Prometheus” was once called “Alien: Paradise” and that title, or at least, theme could reoccur in the sequel, paradise being a type of heaven. “I’d love to explore where [Dr. Shaw] goes next and what does she do when she gets there,” Scott told THR. “Because if it is paradise, paradise can not be what you think it is. Paradise has a connotation of being extremely sinister and ominous.”
Meanwhile, so why did our creators turn on us and do Lindelof and Ridley Scott know that answer yet? The answer is definitely yes. “I’m all for ambiguity, but if we didn’t know the answer to that one, the audience would have every right to string us up,” Lindelof said in a recent interview with MTV. “Yes. There is an answer. One that is hinted at within the goalposts of ‘Prometheus.’ I’ll bet if I asked you to take a guess you wouldn’t be far off.” And so what would make the creators decide to turn on humans and earth 2000 years ago? Well, the birth of one Jesus Christ was a pretty significant moment that happened round then, was it not? And it would rather fit in well with a film that grapples with questions of creation and a character that juggles theology with science.
As to why the birth of Christ would anger our creators to the degree that they decide, through rather tortuous methods, it must be said, to exterminate us? Well, this is even more highly, highly speculative of course, but clearly they weren’t bothered by humanity’s worship of a creationist God or gods prior to that point. Christianity, however, posits that Jesus was not just another prophet, but the actual literal Son of God – he was divinity made human. Was this the ultimate blasphemy to our creators? Or, going even further out on this tenuous limb, was there a more complex motive involved, for example, could they have been prompted not by pique but by jealousy, say, if Christ was the evidence that their own gods, that is the Engineers’ creators, favored us above their own creation? Ok, we’re skewing dangerously close to fanfic here, so we’ll pull back, but suffice to say, the part that the creators of our creators play in the evolving mythology of the franchise, and how that will intersect with our own theology, is one of the areas that any “Prometheus” sequel will have to address.
And if the film does dare to wade through these fascinating but dangerous waters, we have to say we’re intrigued, but also wary: frankly the filmmakers are going to have to do a better job of elucidating their themes and theses than they did here, if these weighty matters are what they’re concerned with. More importantly, how are they going to make a film of that nature be a sci-fi horror/thriller when on paper, all signs point to something much more existentialist (i.e. the part of “Prometheus” without action that’s though-provoking). Then again, as Scott says, paradise could be rather sinister. Tease some of the most profound philosophical questions, probe our very ontology if you will, and throw millenia of religious doctrine and theology into the blender too, but only if you have the smarts, and the chutzpah, to see it through. Otherwise you get, well, “Prometheus.” — Jessica Kiang & RP
Interesting write up. I also wondered about the Jesus connection – with the Engineers planning to attack earth 2000 years in the past, plus the significance of the entire movie taking place over Christmas. The other thing I thought sort of tied in with the theme – the mural in the room with the giant head statue. It clearly shows a figure which looks like a traditional xenomorph (which incidentally I found very interesting because the xenomorph that appeared in the movie came about in such a round about way – David infects scientist guy with black goo, he inmpregnates Shaw, she gives birth to an octopus/face hugger, which infects Engineer who subsequently has a xenomorph erupt out of him – very weird life cycle, and so random it seems highly suspicious that a xenomorph would feature on a mural in the Engineers own ship). But back to my point – the xenomorph in the mural is in a very weird pose – not one we are used to seeing it in. To me, it looked like it was splayed out on a cross – a position it would be in if it was being crucified. Similar to the common image of Jesus on the cross which is present in churches around the world. I found that very interesting.
This is an amazing film. People need to be open-minded about exploring space and answer. Not like other Reality TVs or comedies, this film sets out to provide talking points so that people start to think and to question our universe and origin.
Throughout, the identity of Yutani remains undisclosed. Why are they keeping Yutani secret? Is there a bigger plot revolving around Yutani?
I just saw a viral footage about Yutani in youtube yesterday. It looked sinister.
I don't necessarily think the Engineer in the beginning was sacrificing to create Earth, but another Earth-like planet. What if the infection came from the planet – an unexpected presence of a worm-like life form or mold that infected the Engineers before they were going to 'colonize' different worlds? The head got decapitated and the mold on that head came in contact with the transformative solution – When David originally holds it, it is sparkling and seemingly much different from the black goo-like stuff that infects members of the crew…. Perhaps the ship was the original engineers on their way to create worlds… And, if Prometheus went thru a time warp, they arrived on an earlier time and basically destroyed Earth's evolution by destroying the Engineer… Why was he so hostile? And why were the engineers all men? Perhaps he did not get that the beings were humans… since he was on the way to create them and he couldn't have imagined them… could be the reason for his hostility… BUT, what did David actually translate? Was it the old man's wish or the Doctor's? The hostility began after receiving that message… It is a huge assumption that the Engineers purpose was the destroy Earth with their cargo. Their cargo could have gotten infected by the Engineer's head moldy goo… And, the Engineer sleeping in another port of the ship was unaware of this infection???? The Aliens were a byproduct of that infection… Perhaps totally unintentional….???? And, when David had the scientist drink the goo… perhaps it was the infected goo and that negative transformation was not the intention.. perhaps it was a positive transfiguration like that in the Bible of Christ….
What i want to know – How fast does that (alien bomber) ship travel ? Did she bring enough space pretzels ? How is she going to make it ? Did she bring food with her ? Will David 8 tell her that he is the one that killed her boyfriend & impreganted her with the squidy ? Will she kill David 8 ?
Do not agree with the critique…to me, it was obvious that the Engineers turned on their "children," because there was a possibility that those self-same children would one day turn ob "them!!!"
The reason they turn might be more inline with theology. Maybe Jesus was the son of a Engineer and his murder on the cross was what made them angry and look to wipe us all out in a cruel and unusual way as penance.
this has been bothering me for a while, and im not sure if its been covered in this already. But why would the engineers paint a starmap with all of these earth civilizations of their bio-tech test planet? Please if anyone can help me understand that, its been annoying me ever since i saw the movie
To call it "frequently opaque and narratively murky to the point of infuriation" is giving the film praise it doesn't deserve. There is no narrative. Period. I heard Linelof say in some interview that he likes to think of his stories as being dense, "like the New York Times crossword," and that they need to be figured out to be enjoyed. Okay, sure, but you have to learn to paint a duck before you can be a Cubist. Lindelof has yet to prove that he can tell a straightforward story. Until he drops a satisfying 3-act popcorn flick, I don't believe his B.S. This is a guy masturbating himself. He is not a talented storyteller. There is no tension, no momentum, no character development (no character, for that matter), no set-up, no payoff… He's just not very good at what he does. Look at the ending as an example of Lindelof's fundamental failures as a storyteller: It's fine if your character wants to ride off into the sunset for further adventures, but you have to wrap up THIS STORY first. COMPLETE OUR JOURNEY. We are nowhere closer to a conclusion at the end of the movie than we are at the beginning. That's a problem, no?
Good movie, nice to see that people are thinking about it and the engineers do leave you plenty to think about, namely why did they decide to be jerks after all that time spent encouraging life on earth???
Simple answer suits me. They are cultists that worship the xenomorph. They need living beings, human or other animals, to breed their gods. That is the only reason I can see for the engineer at the beginning of the movie to sacrifice himself, or herself (Right???) with the yummy black goo. With the total belief that the world on which they died would be repopulated with all kinds of life generated from their sacrifice. Let a couple of thousand years go by to breed up the population and then come on back and drop of the good stuff. Some sort of bio-weapon that is at once nonspecific and also extremely well adapted to generating and completing the life cycle of the xenomorphs. All of the creatures that encountered the black goo were radically changed but were on the road to being face huggers or ova-positors. If a population of 6-10 billion people were infected en mass the engineers would have fulfilled their utopia of an entire world overrun with xenomorphs. Unfortunately for them they were infected by the same stuff they meant to infect us with.
There was a very clear image of the xenomorph on the wall of the crypt they visit in Prometheus which leads me to believe they knew the end result of the weapons they were manufacturing. All that pale skin and hooded cloaks also supports my theory of cultists. Finally I go back to the words of Ash the synthetic humanoid from the movie Alien "You still don't understand what you're dealing with, do you? Perfect organism. Its structural perfection is matched only by its hostility." "I admire its purity. A survivor… unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality."
And my favorite… "I can't lie to you about your chances, but… you have my sympathies"
It could be they were scared of Jesus, that he had abilities they did not. Like walking on water, turning water to wine, and healing people. They were worried that humans would surpass them, but then we killed Jesus after the engineers had already died from their own bioweapon. The sleeping engineer might not have known what year it was or what had happened on earth since then.
Or they could have just been scared that we were advancing in technology too fast. Pyramids, aquaducts, roads, and other technology created too fast for their taste.
I agree – who cares. I don't agree that the debate is over. THEY BLEW IT. I feel bad being so harsh until I remember Ridley got like 14 million dollars to do this hunk of crud. You know why he can't criticize ALIEN VS PREDATOR… because it was actually better or at least in the same league as this. Just another crappy Alien movie that has put another stake in this franchise. Good work… you killed your baby.
I don't care what they do with the plot or themes of the sequel. Chances are Scott & co will screw it up anyway. But I'm totally down with more headless David 8. That was comedy gold.
If Prometheus 2 is anything like the hamfisted story of the first one, I'll gladly pass in favor of Chris Nolan's next film, whatever that turns out to be…
I know, I know, the film left many questions unanswered and even raised more questions. But I still loved it. Why? Because of just that! I love sci-fi that gets you thinking and flicks the imagination switch into full mode. People seem to forget that in 1968 there was particular sci-fi film that just boggled the minds of everybody that breathed and left a zillion unanswered questions. Well, that film has gone down as one of the most groundbreaking and influential films of all time despite it being poorly recieved on it's initial release. Of course I'm talking about Stan-the-Man's 2001: A Space Odyssey. And let's not forget Scott's own Bladerunner that certainly caused some heads to be scratched. Sci-fi is suppose to be mysterious and imaginative. If you walked out of the theater trying to put together your own interpretation of the film, then Ridley Scott, your mission is complete. Bravo!
My first thought was also that the Engineers were angry at us for WORSHIPING Jesus, but apparently Ridley Scott has given an interview saying it's very different thing. They were angry with us of KILLING him, because… he was one of them:
Movies.com: We had heard it was scripted that the Engineers were targeting our planet for destruction because we had crucified one of their representatives, and that Jesus Christ might have been an alien. Was that ever considered?
Ridley Scott: We definitely did, and then we thought it was a little too on the nose. But if you look at it as an âour children are misbehaving down thereâ scenario, there are moments where it looks like weâve gone out of control, running around with armor and skirts, which of course would be the Roman Empire. And they were given a long run. A thousand years before their disintegration actually started to happen. And you can say, "Let's send down one more of our emissaries to see if he can stop it." Guess what? They crucified him.
This article has a great write-up analyzing the film's themes:
http://cavalorn.livejournal.com/584135.html
As a sci-fi, horror enthusiast I really loved Prometheus. It was really an intense, fascinating and visually stunning piece, and I'm looking forward to a sequel. As a Christian myself, I certainly hope that whatever ties may be made to the birth (or death) of Christ are handled with care, if handled at all. It can't just be another story where we discover that Jesus was actually (fill in the blank) and the gospel is a myth. Not only has it become a trifle cliche, but it can also come across as a cheap attempt at sparking controversy. Whatever route the sequel takes, it needs to have a bit more intellectual integrity than that.
Very interesting article. It is very possible that Jesus Christ was one of the engineers sent to earth to guide us towards kindness and better things, but the children, referring to humans here on earth made the biggest mistake by killing Jesus, which angered engineers and they decided to turn their back on earth. David gets his head snatched from him by the engineer after David asks the engineer to make him go crazy something like that, maybe David wanted Engineer to kill Wayland, because David cannot terminate himself.
Prometheus on the other hand is a tease. I am looking forward to the sequel, PARADISE. Prometheus is also about discovery, I am wrote a brief article in regards to this on my blog which can be read here. (http://www.mastersofcinema.net/2012/06/point-of-view-prometheus/)
brilliant article.
The BEST. The most interestingly intellectual Musings on an AMAZING film I have yet read. Thank you. It is unsettling how, let's call them "some critics" feel it necessary to hold a films feet to the fire according to internal voices rather than what was actually on the screen! Has the PERFECT FILM been made yet?? If so I missed it. Your piece is encouraging in that it cares to postulate on what's next after this incredible thought provoking and SCARY movie. I wander back to APOCALYPSE NOW. Another film I was HYPE TO SEE as I was PROMETHEUS. "some critics" ripped it a new butt hole. NOW it stands as a classic. As will PROMETHEUS.
I personally loved 'Prometheus' & while I do wish the third act kept the ideas of the first two going, I am not one of those people who immediately views the film as a failure.
Ridley Scott has always talked this up as being a two part film & truthfully, it sounds like Scott & Co. have an idea of where they'd like to take the story in Part 2. Hopefully we can get that film cause it sounds rather unique & even more out there than 'Prometheus' is as a summer blockbuster.
I mean hell, if we have to get 3 Transformer sequels from Michael Bay we can at least get one more 'Prometheus' from Ridley Scott.