'Prometheus' Reviews: The Word Is Out On Ridley Scott's Sci-fi Blockbuster

Prometheus won’t land in U.S. theaters until  tomorrow, June 8th, but the film  already debuted overseas. Therefore, critics have already weighed in on Ridley Scott’s first sci-fi movie in 30 years, and for the most part they were not impressed.

A few well known critics have taken no precautions to minimize the amount of spoilers contained in their take on Prometheus.  However, the spoilers in this review roundup will be mostly filtered out.

Prometheus, which was initially supposed to be a prequel to Scott’s 1978 Aliens, follows space explorers who venture to a distant planet in search of humanity’s origins. The film stars Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, Logan Marshall Green, and Noomi Rapace.

Check out what the critics had to say in the Prometheus film review excerpts below:

Is Prometheus a classic like Aliens?

“Ridley Scott’s third venture into science-fiction, after Alien in 1979 and Blade Runner in 1982, won’t become a genre benchmark like those classics despite its equivalent seriousness and ambition, but it does supply enough visual spectacle, tense action and sticky, slithery monster attacks to hit the spot with thrill-seeking audiences worldwide.” — Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter

Is Prometheus scary?

“Prometheus is ‘earthbound in narrative terms’ and doesn’t live up to what Alien was able to accomplish in terms of scares. Incongruously backed by an orchestral surge of a score, the film conspicuously lacks the long, drawn-out silences and sense of menace in close quarters that made Alien so elegantly unnerving. The picture’s very structure serves to disperse rather than build tension.” — Justin Chang, Variety

“While Prometheus has some striking chilling moments it never plays the all-out horror card, instead developing the science alongside the action and punctuating the film with moments that jolt and amaze.” — Mark Adams,  Screen Daily

Is It Worth Seeing?

“Most of the space exploration in Prometheus is presented as so workaday and methodical that the movie could almost be called a space procedural.   For about an hour, the story goes almost nowhere and takes its time getting there. The last 45 minutes are more lively, and some will consider the movie redeemed on that basis. But even then, the pall of murk remains over the proceedings, making this a movie one for special tastes only.” — Mick LaSalle,  San Francisco Chronicle

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