Prometheus: was that it....

Illustration by Kev Harper.

Since it was announced that Ridley Scott would be returning to Sci-Fi with an Alien prequel (click here if your interested) It has to be said I have been more than a touch disappointed and indifferent to the whole affair. Now having seen Prometheus for myself and going by a majority of the reviews it has been given I will rise above my uncontrollable desire to tell you 'I told you so', but that's not to say it's a bad film (which was never my prediction). Even on a bad day, a poor Ridley Scott movie will almost always be better than your usual Hollywood fodder (GI Jane?) and in essence Prometheus is a good Sci-Fi flick but it is not a good 'Alien' movie. Regardless of what the press release (or the director) says this is an Alien prequel and that is it's biggest flaw. With all it's metaphysical and religious undertones I would rather see Scott cut loose and attempt to make his Kubrickian Sci-Fi odyssey without it being bogged down with the weight of being shoe horned into the Alien franchise. Alien was a horror movie set in space pure and simple and that's what remains great about it. It was never intended to answer (or indeed provoke the discussion of) 'the meaning of life the universe and everything', an equivalent scenario would be Spielberg making a Jaws prequel that tells the tale of how Poseidon released the Kraken to destroy Atlantis whose inhabitants fled to dry land where their ancestors will continue to be terrorized by the Krakens offspring, the Shark (que the music). In short the film it's self was OK but nothing great and I'm sure the sequels will come and go with much of the same explosive apathy that prequels deserve. The question is now after the relative disappointment of Prometheus who still wants a Blade Runner sequel....?