No One Can Hear You Scream in Space: Evaluating Ridley Scott’s Prometheus Michelle Tang 11th Grade

After eternally transforming the science fiction scene with his groundbreaking film Alien, Ridley Scott returns to his home turf years later with an implied prequel, Prometheus. Though the potential of the new film sent devoted Alien fans into a frenzy of anticipation, it quickly became evident that Prometheus would be nothing like its predecessor. Lacking the fast-paced action sequences that would make it the epic crowd-pleaser that many viewers expected it to be, Prometheus also fails to meet its intended tone of a profound contemplation of the origins of humanity. All in all, the film is unable to meet the demands of both its action-seeking audience as well as its meaning-seeking viewers. Instead, what results is an uncertain, try-too-hard film with a murky atmosphere and slow pace, redeemed only by the sudden, unexpected entrances of violent aliens.

Prometheus follows the story of a small, ragtag bunch of space explorers, led reluctantly by the ideals of two strongly spiritual scientists – protagonist Dr. Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and her partner, Charlie (Logan Marshall-Green). Believing that they have pinpointed the exact location in the galaxy where God (or, the “engineers” of civilization) exists, the couple is awestruck at...