Prometheus. Twice I've seen it now; no idea why I liked it after the first showing.
It's rubbish, really.
the bane of the modern blockbuster is to pack 'dramatic' contrivances in there to please the dumb audience:
- the cliched characters everyone can identify with.
- the scientist who wants to touch the cute alien snake.
- the old rich man behind the project is actually on the ship (what was the point of him again?).
- the android with secret ulterior motive.
- the superior alien humanoid acting needlessly antagonistic.
- the nod to
Alien to get the internet hype in full swing.
- modern films have to have a central relationship story between two lovers, again to help the audience identify themselves.
If you watch Alien after watching Prometheus, you notice a few key differences in how they set up the drama:
- the pace is much slower, building up genuine mystery and tension.
- the music is sparse.
- the camera-movements are mostly quite still.
- the dialogue of the characters feels natural.
- the characters themselves aren't archetypes, they're just a random bunch of space crew.
- the alien is mechanical, feels more real in film. Unlike CGI which feels like you're watching a computer game.
- the scenes of the alien hiding are more unsettling than any full-on reveal.
- the classic stomach-burster scene is still superior to the OTT self-caesarean scene in Prometheus.
- there's no contrived relationship drama, as the audience don't actually need the distraction.
70's films show little concession to the audience (great art doesn't need to). I don't understand how this lesson has been lost, but I fear the reason is money.