Ridley Scott’s Prometheus is a fairly controversial entry in the Alien canon, but it’s actually one of the director’s most underrated films when viewed through a certain lens. Prometheus takes place many years before the first Alien movie, following a group of human astronauts as they journey to the far reaches of the universe in search of the mysterious race that’s seemingly responsible for the creation of humanity. Prometheus retcons the original Alien movie in several ways, but it was always viewed as a fairly loose prequel.
You’d be forgiven for not realizing that Prometheus is a prequel at all – the iconic xenomorphs barely make an appearance at all, and the film is much more centered around sci-fi than horror. Prometheus is a very different kind of film, rejecting the atmospheric terror of Ridley Scott’s original movie and replacing it with something much richer and more philosophical. This fact has been raised countless times as a critique of the film, though it’s also been used in Prometheus’ defense.
Prometheus Is Way Better If You Completely Forget It’s An Alien Movie
The Film Works Better Outside The Alien Universe
In many ways, Prometheus’ biggest downfall was that it was marketed as a prequel to the Alien movies. It’s a fairly misleading way to describe the movie because, while there are certainly connections, Prometheus could easily stand alone as an original sci-fi property. The story has almost nothing in common with Alien, it just happens to take place in the same universe. The Engineers are original characters, and none of the specific locations appeared in Scott’s original film – despite a few namedrops, everything is completely different.
Therefore, Prometheus works much better when viewed separately from the rest of the Alien movies. Those who go into the film expecting another action-packed showcase of horror and rich sci-fi lore will almost certainly be disappointed; the film makes no attempts to be similar to Alien, it merely uses this universe as a springboard for telling an entirely new and different story. Prometheus is an underrated and misunderstood movie, it just suffered from trying to insert itself into a universe where it didn’t necessarily belong.
Prometheus’ Biggest Problem Is Its Impact On Alien Canon
Without This Restriction, Prometheus Could’ve Been Truly Amazing
Prequels can be some of the hardest stories to write, because they’re always constrained by the information that already exists. There are rules in place that the writer needs to adhere to in order to ensure that everything adds up, and that can often result in frustrating plot holes or nonsensical ideas. This is exactly the problem with Prometheus – by placing this story in the world of Alien, Ridley Scott unnecessarily complicates matters and retroactively changes a movie that has a very potent and vocal fanbase.
Movie | Box Office | Rotten Tomatoes |
|---|---|---|
Alien (1979) | $204 million | 93% Critics / 94% Audiences |
Aliens (1986) | $183 million | 94% Critics / 94% Audiences |
Alien 3 (1992) | $159 million | 44% Critics / 46% Audiences |
Alien Resurrection (1997) | $161 million | 55% Critics / 39% Audiences |
Alien vs Predator (2004) | $177 million | 22% Critics / 39% Audiences |
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007) | $130 million | 12% Critics / 30% Audiences |
Prometheus (2012) | $403 million | 73% Critics / 68% Audiences |
Alien: Covenant (2017) | $240 million | 65% Critics / 55% Audiences |
Alien: Romulus (2024) | $347 million | 80% Critics / 85% Audiences |
The Engineers are fascinating creatures with lots of potential, but they were met with immense criticism simply because they changed Alien canon. If this had been an original project, it’s hard to imagine that audiences would have taken such issue with the story. Prometheus is a gripping tale of purpose, religion, and faith that uses sci-fi elements merely to enhance the narrative rather than define it. From Prometheus’ opening scene, it’s clear that this movie is going to be very different from the other Alien sequels – and that’s not necessarily what audiences wanted.
Should Prometheus Have Been The Start Of A Totally New Movie Franchise?
There’s Enough Material For A Whole New Series
In order to avoid this problem, Ridley Scott could have easily written out any references to the previous Alien films and made Prometheus into a brand new franchise of its own. While it may not have attracted the same appeal from long-term fans of the series, it wouldn’t have run the risk of upsetting those fans when it changed the canon so drastically. Scott would’ve had much more creative freedom with the story, as he wouldn’t have been constrained to the in-universe rules that he’d already established many decades prior.
But the main problem with these prequels is that neither film feels fully cohesive with the other, and there are clearly ideas that were adopted and dropped between the projects.
Interestingly, Scott seemed to listen to the criticism that he received for Prometheus and applied it to Alien: Covenant, which is more of a typical Alien film in many regards. But the main problem with these prequels is that neither film feels fully cohesive with the other, and there are clearly ideas that were adopted and dropped between the projects. It’s easy to imagine that Scott could’ve pulled together a clearer vision for these movies if he’d not been so busy making them adhere to the Alien timeline.
