On an IMAX Experiment with Prometheus

Can IMAX and 3D technology remedy the shortcomings of a film? The answer is no, but it goes along way to making the immediate experience more enjoyable. In terms of IMAX pre-sales, Prometheus is the most anticipated film to be shown on the (really) big screen. And for good reason. With Prometheus, director Ridley Scott is offering up the opening chapter to the mythology of the alien from his seminal 1979 sci-fi horror film, Alien.

There are positives and negatives on display here. The positive being that Scott has lost none of his flair for visual magnificence. On a regular screen some of Prometheus’ shots are incredible. At the IMAX and in 3D, they are breathtaking. Scott makes the most of his inhospitable landscape as we soar over waterfalls and barren rock surfaces. The setting where the majority of the film occurs (the pyramid) is equally enhanced by the immersive nature of IMAX, ensuring we feel the fear and oppressive nature of the space.

The difference lies with the negatives. On a regular screen they become frustrating during the film. There is a lack of decent character development and an inconsistent script, either making characters sound like arrogant teenagers or self-righteous prophets. The best line being, when they arrive on the distant, unvisited planet and find a runway, that “God doesn’t build in straight lines.” There are plot holes and questions left unanswered which should not have been especially surrounding characters’’ motives. With the exception of Michael Fassbender’s David, none of the characters are that interesting. All these issues stem from the same problem; the idea is given precedence over characters and story. The premise is so big (and hinted at by its title) and given so much attention that it takes over from the most important part of any film, the story and the characters.

There are some very well constructed scenes (an unwelcome birth scene will resonate for days), but they bring disappointment with them as we wonder how much more effective they could have been if we cared about the characters. Prometheus isn’t a bad film, but its flaw are heightened by the ceremony with which it announces itself and that begins with Ridley Scott’s name.