I like Prometheus.
Still, I think these movies both have a serious problem with the characters acting like slasher movie characters, but not consistently like slasher movie characters. They'll act like normal movie characters for a while, then a switch flips in their heads and they develop an irresistible urge to split up from the group or act against logic just long enough to get maimed or killed.
What bothers me about Prometheus isn't stupidity, it's impatience. This group of charactes has basically surrendered their lives to this mission, given how long they'd be gone even if they just stopped and turner the ship right back around when they arrive. Space travel in this universe is time consuming, so it takes some dedication to participate in it. They've all surrendered the chance at a normal life on Earth and given up any friend or family connections to fly this alien planet for the sake of discovery, finding The Truth, and so on and so forth.
Then when they land they're unbelievably impatient. This is going to take
years. Let the map drones map the whole craft before you go in. Keep your helmets on until you've meticulously charted it and tested anything you find. Act scientifically. Actually explore.
It makes no sense that the kind of person who would just yank off their helmet in an alien environment because it's fiiiiine would be on this mission in the first place, or that they'd land and send the scientists in first and not a force of, I don't know, space marines to check it all out. Disciplined trained people who won't react badly to a frightening situation.
There's a lot of the same thing in the script. Space truckers exist in this universe; why isn't there a space trucker crew just towing the colony rig to its destination? Having all these personal attachments between members of the crew and the crew and the colonists makes no sense at all. You'd want experts operating the ship.
Rather than think these things through they're just glossed over to get to the "interesting" stuff and it's a flaw with both of these movies. Science fiction doesn't work without examining the human impact of whatever is driving the plot- unless the science fiction elements are very, very well thought out and compelling on their own and the characters don't need to do more than bear witness. That's not the case here. These movies aren't bringing up original thoughts or concepts, they're dragging out tired sci-fi cliches and adding very little that's new or original to them.
What I dislike most about A:C is that, by tying itself into both Alien and Prometheus, it effectively says: Remember all those cool questions we raised in Prometheus? The answers are really boring and trite, and the horrors of the universe are because playing God is bad, as if you needed to be told. Have a nice day!
TheFriskyIan wrote:The area we have scanned several times and everything says it's completely clean? Prometheus is not the dumber of the two in this scenario. They have scanned both the outside and the inside, the inside is CLEAN. Everything shows them that, there's nothing wrong with taking the helmets off when there is nothing showing that there is a problem with the air and all the tech they have at their disposal shows that it's safe.
The black goo is never shown to be in a gaseous form during Prometheus so even when they do walk into the Altar room and the vials begin oozing the black goo, they still would've been fine with their helmets off. This is a nitpick.
If I'm in an alien space ship I'm keeping my helmet on for a while. What if the part of the structure I'm walking around in is an exhaust vent for the fuel system and five steps after I remove my helmet I get blasted with chlorine gas?