194 replies to this topic

[garjones]

Oh, absolutely, I'm not denying that. It's just that the point that most people were disappointed with didn't seem to be lack of explanation, but rather contradictoriness/randomness.

Go and watch it. It's too abstract for me to debate even as one of the 'arty' crowd.

[Arjan Dirkse]

It's often problematic to me as well, when characters in a movie seem to lack "sense". It could be something contradictory they do or say...lots of things like that irk me to the point that I can't enjoy a movie anymore. Also any kind of plot hole, or perceived plot hole I guess.

It's not always the case though, sometimes movies purposely move away from realism, in which case I'm not really bothered by it. David Lynch movies are a good example of this I guess.

[Robert B]

But if you knew the woman, you'd probably understand why she acts the way she does. In fact, you would probably expect her to. If she was actually somebody who behaves extremely poshly and would now suddenly do this, you'd have to conclude that something was wrong with her, maybe that she'd be having a breakdown or a midlife crisis or something.

Coherent, believable, three-dimensional characters are one of the many aspects that make a story work. They're not always important to the same extent, especially in movies, of course.

Why would that help? I don't know why I do half the things I do!

Edited by Robert B, 13 June 2012 - 06:38 PM.

[Chris D]

Yeah, I think Sarah and I maybe see things like this a bit in the way that Federico Fellini does:

“I don’t like the idea of “understanding” a film. I don’t believe that rational understanding is an essential element in the reception of any work of art. Either a film has something to say to you or it hasn’t. If you are moved by it, you don’t need it explained to you. If not, no explanation can make you moved by it."

Yeah, I can subscribe to that kind of thinking. There are definitely movies out there that I couldn't really say why I like them so much. Even with Prometheus, I know that there were plot holes and sometime characters acted stupidly, and I'm often bothered by stuff like that. I couldn't tell you why, exactly, it didn't bother me here. But it didn't.

[craggy]

And that David would be watching Laurence of Arabia of all things - it's a movie you rarely see today. I wonder if they had ALIEN in entertainment queue - the entire crew probably should've watched that before going out there.

Heck, if they have Alien, they would have Prometheus too. I'm sure it will be available online by 2089. That woulda saved them a lot of time and expense.

Laurence of Arabia is on all the time here!

[Robert B]

Yeah, I can subscribe to that kind of thinking. There are definitely movies out there that I couldn't really say why I like them so much. Even with Prometheus, I know that there were plot holes and sometime characters acted stupidly, and I'm often bothered by stuff like that. I couldn't tell you why, exactly, it didn't bother me here. But it didn't.

I think there are movies that sort of operate on the level of dream or myth, where things like plot holes and character motivation don't matter as much. Prometheus sort of set it up that way right from the start, communicating with imagery for quite a while before much dialogue is spoken. That sort of re-adjusts your expectations, or it does for me. If the movie opened with a big action scene or character-establishing dialogue or whatever, I'd have been less forgiving of some of the later plot holes and character issues that people have complained about.

[John Mosby]

I don't mind if a film does something unexpected and goes left when I expect it to go right or even upsets the apple-cart and becomes something else entirely - truthfully, as a critic, I LIVE for the moments when a film does that and I can come out going " I didn't see that coming...but well played'

The problem for Prometheus for me was not that it wasn't Alien, it's that it wasn't really... anything. Though the production design for the 'nothing' was everything. It wasn't even a film that asked 'big questions' - it was a film about a group of people who were ASKING those big questions and then got bored with that, so decided to get killed in very stupid cliched, illogical ways. It's like casting Pamela Anderson in Barb Wire and being astonished that the critics didn't spend hours talking about how it was a homage to Casablanca or going to see a whodunnit and finding out they don't tell you who the who was (but they equally don't tell you why they don't tell you who it was) then say stop moaning because, hey, that unexpected dance number was great, wasn't it?

I don't always need answers, but I do need to see a cast and story that pretends to *care* about the questions rather than just repeat lines about questions...

~

As I sometimes have too much to say or not everything fits into the Impact site remit, I'm creating more new content of my own for my own site, Prometheus and Brave reviews included...

Feel free to stop-by...

www.theregoestheday.com

[craggy]

I did like the dance number in Barb Wire. At the time, anyway. And a few times on video later.

[Robert B]

Feel free to stop-by...

www.theregoestheday.com

Good write up, although I don't agree with your conclusion.

A very minor gripe I have, and I think you said it here in this thread too, is that I really don't think this was an A-list cast. Fassbender may be getting there, and Theron never quite made it, but neither one I'd consider to be A-listers (although to be fair I'm not sure either one wants it). But that's splitting hairs I admit.

[Sarah Horrocks]

In Prometheus, the reasons why the Engineer made us, why they created the Xenomorph and why they wanted to destroy the human race on Earth are interesting to speculate about, but they don't escape the confines of the narrative. They have not become intrinsically significant, and I think that is due to the carelessness of the storytelling and insignificance of the characters' actions.

Oh I disagree. The discussions I've had about Prometheus have been about Space Jesus's, Death Gods, Death cults, Androids, Free Will, Creation, Sex as an escape from death, Fratricide, Deicide.

Inception is a bad comparison because most of the discussions about Inception are about figuring out the plot. They're not thematic symbology debates.

[steveuk]

Good write up, although I don't agree with your conclusion.

A very minor gripe I have, and I think you said it here in this thread too, is that I really don't think this was an A-list cast. Fassbender may be getting there, and Theron never quite made it, but neither one I'd consider to be A-listers (although to be fair I'm not sure either one wants it). But that's splitting hairs I admit.

Who's on your A-List?

<SNIP>

The problem for Prometheus for me was not that it wasn't Alien, it's that it wasn't really... anything.

<SNIP>

There's a repeated idea that one of the reasons people didn't like this film was that it wasn't a proper 'Alien' film. Again, I think the people who like the film are looking for reasons why others didn't like it, and the simplest answer, that it wasn't a very good film, doesn't compute for people who enjoyed the movie.

[Steve Sensible]

...and the simplest answer, that it wasn't a very good film, doesn't compute for people who enjoyed the movie.

It doesn't compute for me because I thought it was a good film.

[steveuk]

It doesn't compute for me because I thought it was a good film.

'Swot I said.



http://www.threadless.com/product/3860/The_Tragic_Deep_Space_6_Mission/tab,guys/style,shirt

[John Mosby]

Oh I disagree. The discussions I've had about Prometheus have been about Space Jesus's, Death Gods, Death cults, Androids, Free Will, Creation, Sex as an escape from death, Fratricide, Deicide.

With Showgirls I had many discussions about the innate need of a young female in a masculine-dominated culture, deciding between the Neitzche and Jung philosophies on removal of clothing as a substitute for her almost-Oedipal structured take on pole dancing. Hey, it's there if you look really hard.

[Robert B]

Who's on your A-List?

Pretty much just Statham.