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[You don't argue with Ridley Scott about the movie he wants to make.You give him every single angle that you can. I said "When you ask questions that the movie doesn't definitively answer it's a double edged sword. Some people will be completely totally creatively engaged by it. Some people are going to be pissed off by it." That only galvanised him more because if there is one thing Ridley loves doing, it's pissing people off. Hopefully in the right way.]

I don't think it's been poorly received so much as it's enjoyed a mixed reaction, Keef. I really liked it, but some of the criticisms are certainly valid.

last few posts have certainly been interesting - especially this:

You don't argue with Ridley Scott about the movie he wants to make.You give him every single angle that you can. I said "When you ask questions that the movie doesn't definitively answer it's a double edged sword. Some people will be completely totally creatively engaged by it. Some people are going to be pissed off by it." That only galvanised him more because if there is one thing Ridley loves doing, it's pissing people off. Hopefully in the right way.

I really have mixed feelings about that.

On the one hand, leaving questions unanswered has been a trope of movies for donkeys' years. On the other, leaving an audience as unsatisfied as so many obviously feel has been a miss-step for about as long, too.

If there were drafts, as Lindelhof states, that spelt things out a little more clearly, then FOR GOD'S SAKE, that's what should have been used.

I had no problem following Prometheus, but my friends were full of questions as we walked home from the cinema. And not in a good way at all. When those questions are things as pivotal as [spoiler]'What's in the urns?',  'why do the engineers hate humans?' or even 'why did the guy with the funny haircut go beserk and start murdering people?'[/spoiler] that's a sign that the story's key concepts aren't being signposted clearly enough.

Too many movies are using throwaway lines of dialogue and blink-and-miss scenes to develop or explain their plot these days. That's a trend that needs to stop. If either Lindelhof or Scott are in favour of this approach, irrespective of what they tell each other, they aren't telling their stories properly. Somebody NEEDS to argue with them.

I'm not usually one to be so blunt about these things, but let's face it, story values are on the decline in Hollywood movies. When I see a movie like this, which COULD have been an A+ piece of sci-fi reduced to (for me) a B- whistle-stop popcorn flick with some big ideas thrown in, that makes me feel uncomfortable about the art of storytelling, and the perception of its importance among big studios.

Nice PR on this, it's just started production and they're already  putting it out there. Total confidence in the franchise, formula and character.  Nice one Marvel Studios (would they consider taking on DREDD's PR perhaps)?

Yeah, it inspires confidence alright. I read somewhere that apparently all the major movies that make up the Marvel Studios franchise appear to have met with critical acclaim. When I stopped to think about that, i realised that I'd enjoyed every single one of them.

Could it be that - shocker! - somebody's taking pride in these movies??? 

See, THIS is what get's my heckles up, this whole 'oh, you have to see all three films to get the whole story' racket, JUST TELL THE BLOODY STORY IN A SINGLE FILM YOU SHYSTERS!!!

Ah, see... THIS I can fully sympathise with!

I think Prometheus works pretty well as a two-hour set-up for something bigger, but there's always the risk that a good chunk of the audience don't want to sit through a set-up for a story that has a two year gap between continuing chapters. A movie (or any kind of story) has to have its own definite arc that rolls along as all that set-up happens around it. I don't think Prometheus is especially weak in that regard, but the main plot IS pretty slender. Nothing wrong with that, I think. After all, the plot to most of the Alien movies is pretty slender when you squint at them sideways.

My biggest reservation is that Damon Lindelhof just isn't the sort of writer to attach to a movie when grand promises of deep, thought-provoking and 'epic' scale are being made. I had a lot of fun with Prometheus, but it didn't tick any of those boxes for me (as I knew full well in advance it wouldn't.)

The problem with Lindelhof's writing is, he does really well with the set-ups, he's good at throwing out strands that could build up to something... but those strands don't really go anywhere. His payoffs are sometimes groan-inducingly weak and inconclusive. Just look at 'Lost'. the conclusion to that show was risible, and preceded by a massive jumble of ideas that really SHOULD have been addressed earlier, or felt like they were tossed in at the last minute for the sake of it.

I think those faults are all evident in Prometheus to different degrees, which is a shame.

But, like I say, I really liked Prometheus in spite of those faults. I just hope we can maybe get a more technically accomplished writer on the inevitable sequels, because the potential scope they have to offer certainly deserves better handling.

FINALLY got to see it tonight.

And I enjoyed it. Quite a lot!

I have to say, most of my suppositions were proven correct. I don't think the movie is at all perfect or above criticism, but I was pleasantly surprised .

Pacing, with one or two isolated blips aside, doesn't bother me at all. It's nowhere near the jarring, breakneck, scene-skipping idiocy of something like Green Lantern (which I mention for the sake of argument alone).

I do think there's a problem with the movie's ideas just not being as focused or interesting as we were promised (that over-hype thing again) and I can fully see why there are some folks who are unhappy with it. But I was entertained.

Gonna slap down a pre-order on the DVD tout suite!

Yeah - audience has to be the judge, ultimately.

One thing I will say, though, is that I've seen a lot of movies labelled as 'muddled' and 'confusing', or some variant of those terms, and they've proved to be anything but.

Will be going to see the movie sometime over the weekend if I can swing it. we've got visitors descending on us tomorrow, so I'll be grateful of an opportunity to get out of the house.

Yeah. It's like THAT. 

Oh come on - 'haters', 'negativity brigade'... really?

Yes, really.

A film like Prometheus was always gonna be big news. With those sorts of movie inevitably comes the mob of folks who are going to knock it because it's the cool thing to do.

I got no problem with anyone who sees the movie and doesn't like it. I've just got a problem with the aforementioned sneering sarcasm of certain pundits, and folks who think it's somehow big and clever to rain on the collective parade of eager fans who have awaited the movie all this time.

Regarding the whole state of some of the negative reviews and other feedback I've been seeing:

I'll say this up front. I've written critical reviews of anime for the AUKN website for the last year or so. As I've dealt with an art form I really enjoy, I've tried to take a respnsible, even-handed approach in my reviews.

I personally take great issue with reviews that are written with a sarcastic tone that aim to poke malicious fun. They aren't helpful. They don't inform readers. And they divert attention from the subject itself to the reviewer.

I've read a couple of utterly asinine reviews of Prometheus already, and it's clear that the negativity brigade can't make up their mind whether the movie is too much or not enough like Alien - a silly point to fixate on given that there's been a concerted effort to state ahead of time what this movie's relationship to that movie would be.

I am tired - SO tired - of reading reviews penned by critics who are preoccupied with demonstrating their own flowery word-smithing and voicing mealy-mouthed, nitpicky criticism. There isn't a SINGLE negative review of Prometheus that I've read that hasn't had me groaning over the way it's written. No exaggeration.

Very simply, critics may have issues with this movie, but by and large, those who have seen it and commented on it have effusive praise for it.

Now, my personal opinion (as someone yet to see the movie)  is that the movie has been mishandled from a marketing / publicity perspective. Quite badly. Ridley Scott's interviews have promised grandiose things that it would, to be blunt, require a MIRACLE to pull off. The run up to the movie's release has let slip some stuff that would have had FAR more impact had it been left for us to see for the first time in the cinema.

But we've seen enough to know it will be fun. And, as fans of the Alien universe, it's almost inevitable that we'll get more from the movie than Joe Media Critic.

Ignore negativity. Go see the movie.

Early reactions are starting to trickle in across the interwebz. So far, early signs are good.

Critical reaction seesm to be waffly, useless, and a bit sniffy. Which is most likely a sign that the film is great.

My understanding is that, no, it isn't actually a terribly shocking term. No more shocking than use of the term 'dick' is today.

And trust me - I'm VERY up on my use of profanity and swear words both mild and strong.

Mine's gone in.

Yeah, I think submitting ANYTHING, ANYWHERE is nerve wracking!

Ha, ha, ha! I was only being facetous, no insult intended.  .

Heh - no worries, buddy, and I got that - hence my use of the winky-wink smiley!

Oh yes, due to the poor quality of this poster I refuse to see this film

Now now - that's a little uncalled for.

The poster in and of itself isn't a terrible problem (although it DOES contain the sort of story info that's best left out of these things). But the sheer amount of stuff that's being leaked and opened up to speculation is getting a bit silly. I mean, what's the point of keeping the movie's content under such tight wraps if they're going to show us material that indicates WHO DIES IN THE MOVIE, for one thing? Or the new alien designs? or major plot developments?

Let this stuff slip, and there's a serious risk of engendering a feeling of 'Muh. Bored now' among the intended audience.

Why do people in modern film posters completely refuse to acknowledge huge explodey things going on in the background?

They should at least look a bit flinchy.

'Tis the beauty of Photoshop cut 'n' paste, yo!

I'm not keen on that poster for several reasons. For one thing, I wish the promo material would STOP with the spoiler heavy stuff. There's quite a few plot spoilers / reveals spread across all the stuff that's already out there.

I have to say, I am SIGNIFICANTLY less interested in this movie now as a result. I may not even bother withthe cinema screening at all.

Just finished editing my entry and checking it for typos.

Will send it in tomorrow sometime. It was worth doing this just for the fun I had with it, and for giving the ol' writerly muscles another work-out.

The DVD's going to have a lot of extras...

Well, it BETTER!

ow insane would it be for the DVD NOT to have all these virals collected onto it?