Space. 2093. A time that joins humanity with its distant past. A holographic future in which an android can
watch human dreams and a wealthy, disabled man can wear a functional
exoskeleton for greater mobility. Prior to that in 2089 two archaeologists notice a six star
configuration depicted in a cave drawing, it is
similar to imagery appearing in the artwork of other ancient human cultures and
they believe that not only is it describing the constellation but is an invitation
for humanity to return to the constellation to find their human creators or ‘engineers’. Exploration
of the moon LV-223, part of this constellation would have to wait until humans
had the technology to allow them the 2.5 years of travel in stasis, android
technology and the hyper-equipped Prometheus
star ship to take them on their voyage funded by the aging Peter Weyland
who is not only interested in finding the human creator but in gaining vital answers
to increased longevity; a desire I believe of all transhumanists.
Prometheus (2012) is a prequel to Alien (Ridley Scott, 1979) and all but explains early scenes in the
film in which a large alien astronaut is discovered on a distant planet by the
crew of the Nostromo and our own not so humble human evolution, which has
(according to the films logic) nothing to do with Darwinian evolution and ‘natural selection’ and everything to do with our embryonic place in a vast and timeless
universe.
Clues about our human/alien
evolution are given in the opening scenes of Prometheus in which a humanoid creature,
standing on the edge of a cliff within a vast watery expanse, drinks a
surging black liquid from a vessel and begins his metamorphosis into
something less distinguishable from the human form. Above him a star ship departs
the planet. The viewer is privy to microscopic strands of DNA that dissolve
from the humanoid’s corpus as he disintegrates and eventually collapses into
the water; thus beginning a biogenetic
reaction between human and alien genetics. It’s a scene, which refers to the morphing image at the beginning of Alien Resurrection (Jean Pierre Jeunet, 1997), which also
underscores technological imaging, birth, death and transformation. Everything in these first few scenes
of the film points to a narrative about evolution, human beginnings and our possible downfall. Prometheus is, in Greek mythology the
creator of humankind as well as a figure who represents our desire for
scientific knowledge and the necessary risks involved, so is an appropriate
name for the star ship and their dangerous excursion.
The Prometheus crew discovers a
dome-like building on the surface of the distant moon and whilst inside find thousands of containers,
a gigantic statue of a human head and the corpse of a large decapitated alien.
Carbon dating reveals the corpse to have lived several centuries before, so
they decide to take its head back to the ship. After investigation they realize
the head is covered by a helmet and once removed they stimulate the nervous
system, which causes the eyes to open and the head to explode. Analysis of the
residual tissue reveals that the alien’s DNA is genetically similar to that of humans
suggesting to the archaeologist couple Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Charlie
Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) that the alien is indeed one of our human
engineers. Paleo-contact and ancient astronaut hypotheses to explain the
origins of the human date from at least the late 1960s when the Swiss author Erich von Däniken proposed that humans
were descendants or creations of aliens who have visited earth and like the archaeologist
in the film he used markings on land or other ancient structures as indicators or
evidence of his theory.
As expected Prometheus draws heavily on the previous four Alien films (Alien, Aliens, Alien 3 and Alien 4: Resurrection) but with a
twist because although in the later films the alien face hugger penetrates the unwilling
subject by violating their opened mouth, in Prometheus
alien DNA can be ingested and transferred through seminal fluid to
impregnate the human. Which becomes evident when Elizabeth discovers that she is pregnant with an alien
being after having sex with Charlie. She was (as he was) unaware that the
android David (Michael Fassbender) had previously collected one of the alien containers
and slipped some of its deadly, dark DNA into Charlie's drink. Soon after, when the crew returns to the dome
the whites of Charlie’s eyes become bloodshot, his pupils dilate, the veins on
his head darken and enlarge and his body begins to metamorphosis into an alien
entity. He knows that he has become a dangerous contagion to the rest of the
crew and pleads with Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron), daughter of Peter and monitor of the Weyland
Corporation expedition, to destroy him with her flame
thrower, which she does. It is telling that Prometheus stole fire so that
humanity could progress, however it is this very fire which will lead to their
downfall and is necessarily involved in their salvation. When Ripley discovers in Alien 3 that she is pregnant with an alien fetus she sacrifices
herself in order to save the world from its destruction by the indefatigable
alien when she dives backwards into a vat of molten liquid, however in Prometheus when Elizabeth discovers to
her horror that she is carrying an alien in
utero she able to enter a discrete, enclosed robotic surgery unit on the
ship to have the entity removed by Cesarean section.
It becomes increasingly obvious
that the lonely outpost on LV-223 is not the original home of our distant ancestors and in is in
fact a depository for a deadly weapon, the DNA of which is held in the
thousands of containers with oozing black liquid. It appears that our forefathers
had created human beings but then decided to destroy them. It may be that what
is being proffered in this film is the notion that our aggressiveness, war
mongering and selfishness may be part of our genetic makeup inherited from a
malevolent ancestor and it is we who have created the alien, who is in fact us.
There is much more in this
spectacular film. The acting is superb, the CGI amazing and the storyline
believable and coherent. It is I believe more interesting if you have already
seen the first films in the Alien franchise, however you may enjoy this film
even if this is not so.
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